Black Bean Hummus

I recently posted a recipe for White Bean Pesto Hummus which my family loved. We are big fans of hummus so I figured I would see what else I could do with hummus. I googled and found that the hummus options are endless. So be prepared for many more hummus posts. This recipe is really just a compilation of many different recipes. I took a picture of this one but it wasn't pretty so use your imagination.

1 15 Oz Can Black Beans, rinsed and drained
3 Tbls. Olive Oil
2 Tbls. Water
2 Tbls. Lemon Juice
1 Garlic Clove
1 tsp. Cumin
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/4 Cup Parsley, chopped

Place all ingredients in a food processor and puree for a few minutes until smooth.

Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins

Well I finally found a good cereal alternative that everyone in my house likes. The question is can I keep up with demand? I made Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins based on this recipe. I changed the flour so it uses mostly whole wheat flour. I also switched the brown sugar to silan and used a little less oil although in retrospect I am not sure why I didn't just use applesauce. I guess I was having a bad day as I also forgot to throw in a teaspoon or 2 of ground flax seed, both of which I would do next time.

1 C. Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 C. Flour
3/4 C. Oatmeal
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 Egg, beaten
3/4 C. Skim Milk
1/2 C. Silan
1/8 C. Oil
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
3/4 C. Blueberries, fresh or frozen

Combine flours, oatmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl combine egg, milk, silan, oil and vanilla. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add wet ingredients mixing until just combined and lumpy. Fold in berries. Line a muffin pan with paper liners or spray with pam. Fill cups 3/4 the way full. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes testing if they are done with a toothpick.

Granola

I got this recipe from a friend who adapted it from a recipe she got from a friend. It probably doesn't resemble the original recipe at all but isn't that how it goes? If you like your granola a little sweeter I would add more silan. I used 1 Tbls. of cinnamon as my kids aren't huge cinnamon fans. I didn't add any fruit as I thought my kids wouldn't be likely to try it but if you like fruit in your granola then by all mean, add it. The only other thing that I am on the fence about is the whole almonds. I find them kind of clunky and am not sure but perhaps next time I would replace the whole almonds with more sliced almonds. So if that is something you would find bothersome then I recommend switching the whole almonds with more sliced.

This is really good and I have to keep myself from gobbling it all up.

6-7 C oats
1 C. Sunflowers Seeds
1 C. Whole Almonds (or more slivered almonds)
1/2 C. Plain Coconut
2 Tbls. Sesame Seeds
1/2 C. Slivered Almonds
4 Egg Whites
1/4-1/3 C. Silan
1-2 Tbls. Cinnamon
1 tsp. Vanilla
Craisins, Raisins or dried fruit, optional



Combine oats, seeds, nuts and coconut in a large bowl. Whisk together eggs, silan, cinnamon and vanilla. Pour egg mixture over oat mixture and mix until all ingredients are wet. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (it took me 2 sheets to make a single layer of oats). Bake at 350 for 1/2 hour. Rotate the pan and continue baking until cooked through and crunchy- about 5-10 minutes. After it is done baking you can add craisins, raisins or whatever dried fruit you like.

Oat Apple Sauce Muffins

In my quest for healthy breakfast options I found this recipe for Oat Apple Sauce Muffins. They weren't too sweet and had a subtle flavor but my husband and I enjoyed them. The kids were not as excited about them as we were but they did try them, which is a step in the right direction.

Here's my edited recipe:

1 C. Buttermilk (or Buttermilk Substitute which is what I used)
1 C. Rolled Oats
1 C. Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 C. Brown Sugar
1 Tbls. Ground Flax Seed
1/2 C. Applesauce
1 Egg

Place oats in a small bowl, pour in buttermilk. Let sit for two hours at room temperature. Preheat over to 375. In a large bowl, stir together whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar and flax seed. Stir in oat/buttermilk mixture, applesauce and egg; mix well. Pour batter into lined or greased muffin cups. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out clean.

Fruit Roll Ups

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I found this recipe for Fruit Leather and thought it would be a good snack since my kids love Fruit Roll Ups, Gushers and all the dried fruit sugary snacks. It was very simple to make and very tasty. That said we found it hard to peel the fruit off the paper which could be the brand of parchment paper I use. I know the recipe already says this but I am going to reiterate- take notice of how even the fruit is on the cookie sheet before you bake it as this will make a big difference in the outcome.

Strawberry Fruit Leather:
3 Cups Strawberries or 1 box
1 Tbsp Honey

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Remove the stems from the strawberries and rinse.

Place the strawberries and honey in a blender and puree until smooth. Pour the mixture on to a parchment paper lined baking sheet and spread with the back of a spoon or spatula in a large rectangle making sure that the mixture is completely even.

Bake for 2-3 hours (or until it’s dry and not sticky to the touch). Remember, cooking times will vary depending on how thick you spread your mixture and how much water (juice) is naturally in the fruit. *Every oven is different, so the cooking time maybe less then 2 hours if your oven tends to be hot. Allow to sit and cool at room temperature. It takes several hours for the fruit to soften up (when you first take the leather out of the oven the edges will be a bit dry and crispy, but if you allow it to sit overnight it softens up nicely). Cut with a knife or pizza cutter into strips or use scissors, keeping the paper on, and then roll the leather into “roll ups”.

Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

A few days ago I made Banana Pancakes which were really good and my kids loved them. I decided since I still had some bananas left and they had been a hit I would try another banana recipe. I came across Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins and they sounded good and looked gorgeous! Plus Danya had been asking me to make chocolate chip muffins lately so I figured I would give it a whirl. Of course I don't know how to follow a recipe without changing it so here is what I made:

Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 C. canola oil
1/4 C. milk
2 Eggs
1 Tbls. Vanilla
1 C. Whole Wheat Flour
1 C. Flour
1/2 C. Silan
1 Tbls. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Ground Flax Seed
1 C. Chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease or place liners in a muffin pan. Mash the bananas in a bowl. Add oil, milk, eggs and vanilla. Mix until combined. Add the flours, silan, baking powder, baking soda, salt, flax seed and chocolate chips. Mix until combined but don't over mix. Fill each muffin up about 3/4 full. Bake about 10-15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place muffins on a cooling rack and allow them to sit for 10-15 minutes before attempting to remove the wrapper. Makes 12 large muffins.


These were absolutely delicious and got rave reviews from the kids and husband.

Do we think these are an acceptable substitute for cereal for breakfast??

Cookies

Today I attempted making my regular blondies with half the fat and sugar. I announced to my husband that half the sugar was replaced with splenda, all the brown sugar was replaced with silan, half the oil(which used to be margarine, but I stopped using that a year ago) was replaced with apple sauce, half the white flour was replaced with whole wheat flour. I then agreed with him that if they came out edible it would be miraculous. Then we tasted them and couldn't believe how good they were. Now I am going to be honest and say that they tasted a little more like chocolate chip cake than chocolate chip blondies however they were so good. 2 of my 3 kids tried them and loved them. I rarely make this cookie recipe into cookies mostly out of laziness however I think they might make soft cookies. I'll give it a try next time.

So here is my healthier version of Nestle Toll House Cookies:

1/4 C. plus 1/8 C. Splenda
1/4 C. plus 1/8 C. Sugar
3/4 C. Silan (Date Syrup)
1/4 C. plus 1/8 C. Apple Sauce
1/4 C. plus 1/8 C. Canola Oil
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/4 C. White Flour
1 C. Wheat Flour
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 bag Chocolate Chips

Mix Splenda, sugar, silan, apple sauce, canola oil and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time. Add flours, salt and baking soda. Mix well. Add chocolate chips. Bake in 9x13 pan at 350 for 20-30 minutes(if it wiggles when you shake the pan you need to cook it more). If making cookies bake 8 minutes.

I would also like to add that this is my first time using silan and I was very pleasantly surprised. I am curious to hear how you use silan and at what equivalent. After today's experiment you can expect to see it showing up more in my recipes.

Corn Muffins

In attempt to break my kids out of the sugar cereal routine I have been trying assorted muffins made with ingredients like whole wheat, ground flax seeds, oat meal, apple sauce-the list goes on and on. I think they are all tasty however since my kids are used to very sweet baked goods they don't enjoy the subtle taste. I finally found one that everyone likes. Either these taste sweeter than the ones I have tried in the past or their taste buds are finally adjusting. Either way I am happy to have found one everyone likes-even my husband.

I made a couple changes to the recipe for Tiny Corn Muffins. First off I have no buttermilk but I found this substitute for buttermilk which I always use now. In this case I used a tablespoon and a half of vinegar and added milk until 1 1/2 cups. In place of the 3/4 C. flour I used 1/2 C. whole wheat flour and 1/4 C. white flour. I added 1 Tbls. flax seed because why not and I used honey rather than agave because I am still on the fence about agave-feel free to pass along your thoughts about agave. Lastly I used canola oil rather than vegetable oil. Hmmm-I guess mine were very loosely based on that recipe. To make life easier I will put my edited version here:

Tiny Corn Muffins:

1 3/4 C. Cornmeal
1/2 C. Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 C. White Flour
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Tbls. Ground Flax Seed
1/4 C. Honey
1 1/2 C. Buttermilk(or 1 1/2 Tbls. vinegar plus milk to equal 1 1/2 C.)
2 Large Eggs
1/4 C. Canola Oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix the first 7 dry ingredients in a bowl. Whisk the remaining wet ingredients in a separate bowl until thoroughly combined. Pour the cornmeal mixture into the wet ingredients and thoroughly combine with a whisk. Pour into greased or paper lined mini muffin cups. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted inside. Cool and serve.


The original recipe says it makes 24 mini muffins however I came out with a little over 50:

I also lowered the oven temperatur and cooking time as they were very well done at 425 for 15 minutes.

Zucchini Bread

I made this recipe for Zucchini Bread the other day. It wasn't too sweet but it was very good. We told the kids it was cake and while they were hesitant about the zucchini they did enjoy it. I made 2 medium loaves and baked them for 45 minutes. Enjoy!

The Breakfast Dilema

Since I began this whole health food revolution in my house I have been struggling with breakfast. Since my family has a serious addiction to cereal and particularly sugar cereal I knew this would be a struggle. Someone suggested that I buy some healthy cereals and offer them to my family. I knew this wouldn't fly so I thought that perhaps if there were other food options in the morning then perhaps they wouldn't notice that there was no Cocoa Pebbles or Honey Nut Cheerios. I decided to try this recipe for Whole Wheat Muffins. I decided to try making them with strawberries since I thought they would be good and I had some strawberries that were going to get bad soon.

Also I didn't include the nutmeg as we don't like nutmeg.
Josh tried them last night and did not like them. I know they aren't the sugary treats he is used to so I decided to try them today and I think that perhaps the strawberries were not a good mix in for this recipe. I think I will try them again with nuts or bananas and maybe a little more honey. Let me know if you make them and find a better mix in.

For dinner I made Almond Crusted Chicken Fingers. I liked that they were oven baked and only a drop of oil. Of course Jordy ended up eating pizza at a friends house for dinner and once again Nadav wouldn't touch what I made but everyone else loved them. They were crunchy on the outside, juicy on the inside and flavorful. I doubled the recipe but ended up with a lot of extra egg whites so next time I would use less egg.

I served them with whole wheat couscous and salad. I didn't dress the salad and was really proud that Danya ate it without asking for dressing.

The Experiment Begins

The plan today was to ease the kids into healthier eating.  I cut up some vegetables and had them sitting on the kitchen table when the kids got home.  I figured I would just see what happens.  When Jordy came home from school and saw them he excitedly asked me if he could have some.  I said yes and couldn't believe it as he ate half the plate without requesting a chocolate sandwich.  While he was sitting there I pulled a loaf of whole wheat bread out of a grocery bag.  I had no intention of trying to get him to eat it as I have tried before and I know he doesn't like it.  I actually bought it to make bread crumbs for a recipe.  As soon as he saw it he asked if it was "brown bread".  I told him yes it was and took out a piece to show him.  Both he and his friend thought it looked good and wanted some.  His friend wanted it plain however Jordy wanted a chocolate and peanut butter sandwich.  Nonchalantly I suggested he just have peanut butter and he said ok.  He then ate the whole sandwich with a glass of milk.  So whole wheat peanut butter sandwich, vegetables and a cup of milk for after school.  Not bad!

When Danya came home she wanted to know what there was to eat.  I pointed her in the direction of the vegetables and she was ok with that.  She asked for salad dressing to dip them into which I was about to give to her when I saw the container of vegetable tahini.  I suggested that instead and she was game.  She finished the vegetables and requested more.  Later she returned to the kitchen when I was finished baking whole wheat popovers.  The recipe calls for them to be mini but I didn't have a mini muffin pan so I made them full sized.  I baked them for only a few more minutes than the mini's as they had popped.  I suggested that Danya put a little bit of jelly on top and she thought frosting would be better but I told her no, either jelly or peanut butter. In the end both she and Josh tasted them and enjoyed them with a little strawberry jelly spread on them.   
They didn't photograph well but they were cute.

On to dinner. Deciding what to make for dinner tonight was a bit of a process. I really wanted to find something that everyone would be willing to try and nothing to far out there. I settled on garbanzo burgers.

I renamed them falafel burgers or giant falafel for Jordy who doesn't like hamburgers. Everyone likes falafel so I thought we had a chance. Danya was upset that we wouldn't be putting french fries in the falafel like they do at her favorite falafel place. I had to explain that we don't always need french fries. Eventually she agreed and really liked the falafel-which I served in half pitas. Nadav wouldn't touch his but that isn't surprising. Josh and I both liked them and Jordy took a bite but was not happy about them being burger shaped and large rather than small and ball shaped falafel he is used to so he didn't eat them.

All the food I photographed today was the same color.

As we were in the middle of dinner we ran out of hummus. So I opened a can of chickpeas and made some. I only had vegetable tahini so the flavor was a little different and Danya didn't like it, which I thought was funny since she loves the vegetable tahini on it's own.

All in all not bad results for day 1.