Sweet Sunday - Malted Oatmeal Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies

We are coming to the end of another great weekend of togetherness in our house.  Today we woke up to the lovely sound of rain on our windows.  It was a perfect day for baking and lounging around the house!  I love, love, love planning what I'm going to bake on Sunday afternoons (and especially lately because we're about to cut a few certain sweets from our house, but more on that later this week).

During the last few days, I've had a pretty ravenous craving for oatmeal cookies.  So, on the hunt for a good recipe I went.  After a fair amount of searching, I found a very interesting recipe, not your normal oatmeal raisin cookie (mostly because the big man of the house doesn't eat raisins).  This one has malt powder in it, which I have always wanted to bake with, but hadn't gotten around to it, though we have it on hand.  Curious, and satisfied that this would go well with the chocolate chips and pretzels also in the recipe, I went to work.  Here is my adapted recipe (really only adapted based on what I had in the pantry):

Malted Oatmeal Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/2 cups quick oats
2 cups self-rising flour
3/4 cup malted milk powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup white granular sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup crushed pretzels

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, malt powder, and baking soda.  In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars, then add the eggs, followed by the milk and vanilla.  Beat until everything is well-blended, then, on low speed, add the oats mixture and mix until just combined.  Then fold in the chocolate chips and pretzel pieces.  Drop dough by the tablespoon onto your baking sheet and leave about 2 inches between each bit of dough.  Bake for 10-12 minutes (10 was perfect for me).  You want the edges just browning, but the middle to still look under-done - don't worry, after 5 minutes of cooling, the cookies will be perfect!

 

I want to add a note about 1 major difference in the recipe above and the original.  The original of course called for all-purpose flour, of which I was somehow completely out!  This never happens, and in the pouring rain, I wasn't going out for flour.  So, I followed a substitution I have used before with great success in biscuits - I used self-rising flour and omitted the baking powder and salt (I found this recommendation on my go-to site, foodsubs.com).  I also did not have traditional rolled oats, only quick oats, and those usually sub for each other just fine.  And I just skipped the peanuts.  I also had a yield of a little over 5 dozen cookies.... Chris's coworkers should be pleasantly surprised this week!

These cookies are delicious.  They have a slight crisp to the outside, and a chewy inner texture.  When the little man of the house got up from his nap, he helped himself to two!

I hope you had a great weekend!  Stay tuned this week for a pushups/crunches update, another "challenge" coming up (not what you would think though), and something fun/funny I have planned for Saturday at 2:30.... let's just say I'm hoping for another warm weekend!

Original cookie recipe from Brown Eyed Baker

Fit Friday with Chai Oatmeal

Hooray for Friday!  I hope you've been having a great week.  And if it's been less than great, I hope you get to look forward to the weekend!

It might be Fit Friday, but I think today may be this mama's day off from working out this week.  I usually reserve Saturday for my rest, but after pushing really hard in BodyPump yesterday AND coming home to do my pushups challenge, I'm a feeling a little beaten up.  I am very fortunate that when I go to my gym, James walks excitedly into the childcare room and never looks back at me.  He is SO social, and its a huge blessing.  That said, I'm looking forward to spending the day running errands with him and sitting on the couch reading some of his favorite books, and of course watching as he sings and dances to his favorite Thomas the Tank Engine songs.

(And a side note from yesterday - when I came home to do my 5 sets of pushups, James decided to join me.  If I can ever get a picture, I will share it with you.  It was THE CUTEST thing ever.  He got in plank position and did a few nice pushups for a toddler!  It was so endearing.  And then he showed Daddy when Chris came home.  BEST moment of the week by far.  That, and when he came chasing me with his little lips puckered up saying "ooooooooo", which is what he does when he wants to kiss you.  Melted my heart.)

Anyway.  Working out might not happen today, but I took our lack of a scheduled morning to make an oatmeal recipe I've been saving.  If you like oatmeal, and also spiced black teas, this is for you!  I don't have a picture, but here's the barely adapted recipe:

Chai Oatmeal

1 chai tea bag steeped in 1/2 cup boiling water for 3 minutes
1/2 cup quick oats
1/2 milk
1/2 cup of thawed frozed sliced peaches
2 teaspoons maple syrup (or honey)
cinnamon to taste
splash of vanilla extract

Discard the tea bag after steeping and combine the tea, oats, and milk in a microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave for about a minute and a half (depending on the power of your microwave, this was perfect for me).  Add the peach slices, maple syrup, cinnamon, and maple syrup, stir, and enjoy!  The original recipe suggests adding pecans, which I think would be great, but we didn't have any.

This oatmeal was a perfect blend of spice and sweet.  I'm not usually a fan of peach-flavored foods (like yogurt or ice cream), but the peach really complemented the chai spice, which itself was not too overpowering.  I personally like my chai-anything to be very spicy, but not everyone loves the cardamom that is in chai.  This was a great balance.  I will definitely be making this again.

Original recipe from Fitness Magazine

Faux Fried Chicken

So I mentioned in Sunday's post that I had made a very tasty "oven-fried" chicken.... who doesn't LOVE fried chicken?  Come on!  But, as Chris could tell you, I am always trying to take rather unhealthy recipes, even comfort food, and make them healthier without sacrificing flavor.  I'll admit, its hard sometimes.  Fat is naturally rich and makes food, for the most part, extra delicious.  Some foods that have been made low-fat or even fat-free, many times, do NOT taste very good.

But this chicken?  Oh yeah, its pretty awesome.  And you know what the secret is?  Cornflakes.  They don't lose their crispiness!  Not even on the bottom of the chicken pieces.  This recipe is great too because its a "wing-it" recipe.  Everything is to YOUR taste!  Want it spicier?  Add more chili powder.  Want more Italian flavor?  Add some parmesan.  Its all up to you.  Here's what I did, and this made more than enough for Chris, myself, and James:

Faux Fried Chicken

8 oz chicken breast
marinade of your choice if using (buttermilk, milk, etc) OR flour and 1 egg
2-3 cups cornflake cereal (measured before you crush it)
garlic powder
chili powder
creole seasoning
salt
pepper

Slice chicken breast into bite-size pieces (alternatively, you can slice it into tender-like strips).  Marinate the chicken (I used a low-cal honey mustard dressing that I happened to have on hand) for at least 20 minutes.  While the chicken is marinating, put the cornflakes in a bowl and crush them.  I used the bottom of a measuring cup to do this.  The cornflakes don't have to be a fine powder - in fact, its nice to have a good amount of texture to your mix.

I didn't include measurements for the spices because I honestly was just winging it.  I probably used about a teaspoon of garlic powder, and about a quarter to a half teaspoon of chili powder and creole seasoning (think Old Bay).  Then add some salt and pepper, and TASTE your mixture to see if you are happy with it.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil, and place an oven-safe cooing rack on top.  A few at a time, take pieces of chicken from the marinade and completely coat it in the cornflake mixture (or, if you are not using a marinade, dredge the pieces in flour, dip in the egg, then coat with the cornflake mixture).  Transfer each piece to the cooling rack.  Bake for 20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and pieces are golden brown.  For us, 20 minutes was spot on, but if you use larger pieces of chicken, it may take just a bit longer.  Just keep an eye on it, everyone's ovens are different.  Enjoy with your favorite sauce, mixed into a salad, or on their own.

 
This chicken passed the taste test with both men of the house, and if you know our family, you know that these two can be equally picky.  The chicken is every bit as crispy as it looks in the picture, and I couldn't have been happier with how it turned out.

So there you go - a great recipe for when you want some comfort food, but you don't want to compromise that great workout that you just put in, or the great healthy habits you've been following... or want to start following.

Enjoy!  And hey, it's almost the weekend!  Woo-hoo!

Tasty Snack Tuesday - Vanilla Protein Pudding

After Sunday's very decadent dessert, I believe it's time for another healthy snack!

I'm always looking for high-protein snacks that don't involve using protein powder.  I am not against a protein supplement by any means - sometimes its hard to make sure you're getting enough, and its especially important if you're working out.  Those muscles aren't going to repair themselves!  I just find that protein powder can get quite expensive, and for me, I like to feel like I am getting to put the most amount of food into my mouth for the calories.

This is a very easy recipe to throw together, and it provides a good base if you want to try adding or trading out ingredients.  So really hear me when I say that if you don't like one of the ingredients, replace it with one of my suggestions or something similar.  But here's my version:

Vanilla Protein Pudding

1/2 medium banana, peeled, sliced, and frozen
1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese (I like 1%, I find fat-free to be gross)
1/3 cup milk, your choice (I use almond, but anything will work)
splash vanilla extract

**optional add-ins that I love
cinnamon to taste (I like a lot)
1-2 teaspoons of fat-free sugar-free instant vanilla or cheesecake pudding mix, just the dry mix
1/4-1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1/4 teaspoon xantham gum (this helps with thickening and you can find it in the gluten-free section of the grocery store)

Using a blender (either stand-alone or immersion), or a food processor, blend everything together until you have a nice smooth pudding texture.  If you don't have or don't want to use the xantham gum, this will be more of a smoothie consistency, so you could add a little ice if you want to thicken this up.  Or, before I picked up xantham gum (an 8-ounce package is a bit expensive, but will last FOREVER), I would make this about one to two hours before I wanted to eat it and let it sit in the freezer.  Any way you go, it's delicious.

If you find yourself unsure of using cottage cheese, you can replace this with yogurt, but if you want to keep it really high-protein, I would opt for Greek yogurt.  One cup of fat-free Greek yogurt has 120 calories and 23 grams of protein!  I used to roll my eyes at what I deemed a "food fad", but then the generic versions started coming out - as in the more affordable versions.  Also, you could use a different fruit if bananas aren't your thing.  You could also try adding a tablespoon of dark cocoa powder, which I have done, and it tastes awesome!  Combine that with a nice dose of cinnamon, or even a pinch of chili powder and you have Mexican chocolate - uh, YUM!  Experiment!  That's the beauty.  When I made the batch in the picture, I made it with everything listed in the recipe above, and that sets me back less than 200 calories.  And its delicious!

all desserts belong in martini glasses. fact.

 I hope you find yourself at least one deliciously healthy snack today, and if you decide to try this one, I would love to hear what you think!

Recipe adapted from Kiss My Broccoli Blog

Starting the Pushups and Crunches Party!

I am so excited about this challenge!  And I am even more excited because Chris is doing it right along with me!  We both workout to eat to a degree, but we are 100% different in that I love working out as much, if not more than I love eating, and Chris.... well, like I said, he works out so that he can eat.  He's not in love with it.  But that's fine, not everyone is.  At any rate, I was so excited that he wanted to take the challenge too.

Chris's initial test of good-form pushups yielded 25, and my test yielded 23.... My husband will read this and will say to himself, wow, my super-competitive-in-the-gym-wife actually had a lower number and admits it?  Yes, yes, I did and I am, though right around number 19 this morning, James was literally trying to crawl on me and then under me.  It was actually kind of funny (I love when he sees me working out and then tries to imitate me, like when he sees me doing jump squats and then starts jumping, its endearing).  At any rate, our numbers from our initial tests put us at a recommendation of beginning the Hundred Pushups challenge in week 3.  Each of the 3 days consists of 5 sets, with at least a 60-second break between sets, more if needed.  Here is the breakdown:

Day 1 - 12, 17, 13, 13, max (at least 17)
Day 2 - 14, 19, 14, 14, max (at least 19)
Day 3 - 16, 21, 15, 15, max (at least 21)

Now, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at least slightly intimidated by this, so I'm just going to be honest and say that YES, I am slightly intimidated.  But then I think about how much strength I have during BodyPump classes, and I definitely never thought I would be there.  Its pretty gratifying to look around and be one of only a few girls doing X amount of weight on a given exercise.  On a serious note, its a reminder to continually keep myself healthy, instead of considering skipping meals here and there in an effort to be stick-thin (that's a soap box I will probably get on a lot here, be ready).

I also said that I wanted to do the crunch challenge (but the end goal is 200, as opposed to the 100 pushups).  My initial test yielded 90 crunches before I really started to feel like I might lose form, which puts me beginning the program on Week 3.  The format is the same, with the following breakdown:

Day 1 - 21, 27, 21, 21, max (at least 30)
Day 2 - 30, 38, 23, 23, max (at least 38)
Day 3 - 33, 42, 30, 30, max (at least 45)

This one I am less intimidated by.  Core strength is something I have been working really hard at, especially after having James, but that doesn't mean I expect this to be easy.

At the end of the week, I will report on our progress.  In the meantime, I'll have at least a couple of delicious healthy treats to share with you.  For now, it's time for my little Thomas-the-Train-loving-monster and I to get ready to head to the gym.  We have a busy day planned, and I am hopeful that he will surprise me and have a repeat of yesterday's 3-hour nap so that I can get in some more quality studying of my exercise science book for my group fitness training.

Have an awesome day!

Bacon Stout Chocolate Cheesecake

It's Game Day!!  Yay!!!!

Okay, if you know me, you know that to say I am not really into football is a huge understatement.  There are a host of things I'd rather do - go to the dentist, stand in line at Costco, sit in traffic.... But, football is probably Chris's second true love in life, and for me, it is definitely a reason to make something delicious!  And when I found this recipe, I knew that I would be saving it for Super Bowl Sunday.

So, let's get down to business.  Do you like bacon?  Of course you do, it's delicious!  Do you like chocolate?  If you're answer is no, you probably won't enjoy this blog much.  Do you like beer, especially stout?  Definitely not at the top of my favorite list of things to drink, BUT it goes perfectly with the dark chocolate and bacon in this recipe.  And I know what you may be thinking... mix bacon and chocolate and beer, bake it and serve it for dessert?

YES.  YES.  And OH YES.

These flavors complement each other so beautifully.  Even if you're not a cheesecake person (you know who you are), you would be doing yourself quite the flavor injustice if you passed on this.  I will warn you that this recipe is a little extra effort, but it is soooooo worth it.

Here is the recipe, slightly adapted:

Bacon Stout Chocolate Cheesecake

For the beer-candied bacon:

1 pound bacon
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons oatmeal stout

For the crust:

4 graham cracker sheets
1 cup whole pretzels
2 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:

7 oz dark chocolate, 60% (I used Ghirardelli bittersweet)
1 cup stout (leftover from above)
3 (8) oz packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 tablespoons flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
3/4 cup beer-candied bacon

For the chocolate ganache topping:

1 cup heavy cream
8 oz chocolate, chopped (I used a mix of bittersweet and milk)
the rest of your beer-candied bacon for garnish

To make the beer-candied bacon:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.  Whisk the brown sugar and beer together until they are well combined.  It will be syrupy.  Line a large baking pan (like a jelly roll pan, something with sides, not a cookie sheet) with aluminum foil.  Place an oven-safe cooling rack on top, and lay the strips of bacon on it.  You may have to overlap a few pieces, but that's okay.  Cook the bacon for 10 minutes, and then remove it from the oven.  Use a pastry brush to coat one side of the bacon with the stout-sugar mixture, flip the pieces over and repeat.  Return the pan to the oven for 10 minutes.  Repeat until you have used all of your syrup.  (I only had to do it one more time).  Once finished, set the bacon aside to cool completely.

To make the crust:
Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch spring form pan.  Pulse the graham crackers, pretzels, and sugar in a food processor until you have a finely-ground crumb mixture.  Stir in the melted butter until all of the crumbs are nicely coated.  It will look like wet sand.  Resist the urge to eat this, even though its delicious!!!  Press the mixture into the pan and set aside.

To make the filling:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Arrange your oven racks so that you can use the middle and lower positions.  Combine the dark chocolate and stout in a saucepan over medium heat, whisking until the chocolate has melted.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.  In a mixing bowl, or your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and sugar until its nice and smooth.  Add the eggs, scraping down the bowl periodically, and beat until well combined.  Add the chocolate-stout mixture, followed by the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and beer-candied bacon.  Mix on low until just incorporated.  Pour the mixture over the crust.  Before you put the cheesecake in the oven, fill a baking pan with water and place it on the lowest rack in the oven.  Add your cheesecake to the center rack and bake until the center of your cheesecake is set and no longer jiggles.  For me, this took about an hour and a half.  Start checking yours around 50 minutes.  Once done, remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely.

To make the chocolate ganache:
Bring heavy cream to a boil, remove from heat and add chocolate.  Leave it to sit for 5 minutes, then whisk until smooth.  Let it cool slightly and then cover your cheesecake with it (or with what's left after you and your 21-month-old sample it fondue-style with bread).

Finally, top evenly with the beer-candied bacon and you're done!

This recipe was definitely a winner.  I expected it to be overwhelmingly rich, but it actually has a nice balance.  Its the kind of dangerous dessert that you could keep going back for "just one bite", and before you know it, you've eaten half the or cheesecake.... or the whole thing.  Be warned!

Now, this deliciousness is not the only bite of yum that I made today.  For lunch, we had the best "oven-fried" chicken that I have made... you'll see that recipe later this week, because it is definitely a repeater.

Enjoy, and balance this out with some quality workouts this week!

Original recipe from Tide and Thyme

Ganache recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

Fit Friday and a February Challenge

Hooray, it's Friday!!  I have lots to share with you!

I've been looking for a fitness challenge for myself for February, and I think I just found it.  Its so easy to get stuck in workout routines just like anything else.  Over the past 2 years, I have worked hard at developing a solid foundation of strength.  I discovered BodyPump (an amazing strength training class that will push you to your limits) and worked my booty off doing at-home programs like Insanity (which is as crazy as it sounds), P90X, and TurboFire.  I'm no longer the girl at the gym who looks out of place in the weight training area, and it feels amazing.

Anyway, so my fitness challenge.  Have you heard of hundredpushups.com?  I had heard of it, but hadn't checked it out.  They have free training outlines that will get you to 100 pushups, but also programs for sit-ups (more like crunches), squats, pull-ups, and triceps dips.  The programs are designed for novices and people in slightly more advanced stages of fitness and strength.  I took a look at each of these and I think I will go for the pushups and crunches.  The programs are designed so that you're working on these exercises 3 times a week, which will hopefully work well with my current training.  I'll stagger it so that I'm not doing these on BodyPump days.  So we will start that on Monday!  I'm excited!  I'll keep you posted on my progress.

After all the fitness talk, are we ready for food?  Last night's dinner was awesome.  We tend to get stuck having the same things over and over, and I was feeling so uninspired.  Thankfully, I was able to bust out my new cookbook, Fifty Shades of Chicken, courtesy of Aunt Liza, for some ideas.  I opened the book and came to the recipe for Dripping Thighs, also known as Roasted Chicken Thighs with Sweet-and-Sour Onions.  This recipe, served atop the wheat bread rolls I made earlier in the day, was delicious!

For the chicken, my slight adaptations:

Roasted Chicken Breasts with Sweet-and-Sour Onions

1 pound chicken breasts (because we never have thighs)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
salt
pepper
garlic powder
sweet red onion, thinly sliced (about a cup, more if you don't have 2 picky people in the house who don't eat onions)
1 cup white wine (I used chardonnay)
1 bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.  Pat the chicken breasts dry with a paper towel, season liberally with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Place them in a rimmed baking pan.  In a small pan, simmer the chopped garlic, a pinch of salt, the onion, wine, bay leaf, and cinnamon stick.  Continue simmering until most of the liquid is gone (this probably took about 15 minutes for me, maybe less, just keep an eye on it).  Then add the honey and the butter and remove from the heat.  Add this delicious mixture to the chicken and coat it well.  Cook for about 25 minutes, or until your chicken is no longer pink.  25 minutes was spot on for us (I was concerned that this temperature would be too hot and that I would need to cover the chicken, but it was perfect.  The onions were caramelized and everything was perfect.).

And for the bread, my barely adapted version:

Whole Wheat Baguette

1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon instant year (or rapid-rise or bread-machine yeast)
1/2 cup warm water
1 egg, plus 2 teaspoons of water, mixed

Whisk together the first five ingredients in a mixing bowl, and then add the warm water.  Stir until this becomes difficult, then flour your hands slightly and knead the dough ball until everything is incorporated and the dough is nice and smooth.  Place the dough back in your mixing bowl, cover loosely, and place in a draft-free area for an hour to an hour and a half to rise.  After this initial rise, you have 2 options.  You can deflate the dough and shape this into a baguette, which is what I did the first time, or you can separate into individual rolls, which is what I did the second time.  Either way, once you have your dough shaped, place it on a parchment-lined baking sheet and set aside to rise for another hour.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.  When I made the baguette, I remembered to do the egg wash.  Just combine the egg with 2 teaspoons of water, and, using a pastry brush, cover the entire surface with the wash.  This will give your bread a nice browned outer crust.  When I made the rolls, I was too lazy to do this forgot to do the egg wash, so they aren't very brown, but still tasty.  You'll see the differences in the pictures below.

We combined the rolls and the chicken, and it was all delicious!

Sorry my picture isn't better of the combined product, but I didn't even think about taking one until I had almost finished the meal.  Oops!


 So that's it for Fit Friday... I have a lot of great recipes to share with you coming up, both healthy, and.... well, its Superbowl Sunday this weekend, so yeah.... I'm a realist.  I'm making something pretty decadent that day, and I'll be sure to share it!  I hope you have a great weekend!  The little man and I will be off the gym soon!

And oh yeah, today is the second birthday of James's first "best friend", Ian.  Happy birthday, Ian!  We love you and miss you so much!  Stay warm in Canada!

Original chicken recipe.... I guess you'll have to get the book!

Original bread recipe from For The Love of Cooking