Spring Madness Cookies

Happy Springtime! I love this time of year and love playing outside with my kiddos. I also love it when they ask for my home made cookies! Ok that is all a hunk of baloney! I made these cookies for myself. I just hope the kids like them. They are so yummy to me. I hope you like them too!

Spring Madness Cookies

1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 c chopped walnuts
1/2 c chopped almonds
6 chopped dates
1/4 c chopped craisins
2 T cinnamon
3 egg whites

Directions:
I started by toasting all the nuts together on a baking pan at 400 for about 10 min. Keep a close eye on them. You just want them lightly toasted or you can do this in the microwave (put all nuts in a single layer and microwave for about 3 min). Lower oven temp to 350 degrees. Mix all chopped nuts, date and craisins in a large bowl. In small bowl mix egg whites and cinnamon until well mixed. Add liquid mixture to nut mixture and mix well. Use your hands to form into cookie balls and place on greased baking sheet. Makes about 14-16 cookies. Bake 350 for 12-14 min. Enjoy Bikini Style!

Baked Oatmeal Bikini Style

Ahhhhh, my sweet, beautiful, Austrian friend, Laura is here with my children and me. It is wonderful to talk to her and learn about her life and travels during the years I have missed in her life. And I love, love, love cooking for her. When she likes my food I get a jolt of energy with her approving smile after that first bite! So while she slept on her first morning back in her "American Home" I quickly made a morning treat for us all. I know she loves granola and oats mixed in with her yogurt each morning so I thought having a warm oatmeal base would be nice since it was such a chilly morning. So I whipped up a healthy version of baked oatmeal. Some baked oatmeal recipes contain over a stick of butter, mine has none. Some baked oatmeals have a cup of sugar or more but not mine. Enjoy this warm morning treat bikini style!

Baked Oatmeal Bikini Style

3 C quick oats
1/3 Cup ground flax seed
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 C plain Greek non fat yogurt
1 dropper full of cinnamon stevia (or 2 tiny packets of powdered stevia or 1 tsp if its not in packets)
1 Cup milk (I used skim because I knew I'd be sharing with my nut free friend but its more awesome with almond milk!)
2 eggs
1 C unsweetened applesauce
2 tsp vanilla extract

Optional add ins: (mine is pictured without these) 1/2 cup chopped, toasted nuts, 1/2 Cup raisins, craisins, or chopped apples.

Directions: heat oven to 350 and grease a 9" square pan. In large bowl mix 1st 6 ingredients (the dry stuff). In a different bowl whisk together the last 6 ingredients (the wet stuff). Add wet stuff to dry stuff and mix. (If you love nuts and dried fruit now is the time you could add 1/2 cup toasted walnuts or pecans, and/or 1/2 Cup dried cranberries, raisins, or chopped apples). Pour into greased pan. Bake 350 for 35-40 min or until set in the center. I like it right out of the oven nice and hot! But some like it cool and others prefer cold with milk or yogurt on top. Either way enjoy and let me know how like it... Bikini style!

Bikini Baking Lady's Black Bean Hummus!

Oh boy, now I really enjoy teaching again! I have missed my days as a culinary arts teacher. My daily cooking demonstrations were the favorite part of my day but now I feel like I am teaching again to anyone out there watching in Internet land. I love telling the world about products that I enjoy and recipes I make up. Yesterday I posted a cooking demonstration video on You Tube of my black bean hummus recipe. I used my new Ninja blender/food processor. That thing is super powerful! I got it for free for testing their Shark mop! I like the mop but I LOVE the food processor. But I have made this exact same recipe with my 1950s avocado green blender and it came out the same way. It just took longer and was tougher to get all of the product out of the bottom once it was all blended. A friend reminded me that I should make the recipe more visible so you don't have to watch the whole video each time you want to make black bean hummus so I have jotted it down below. If you cant find avocado oil in your local store or health food store or you can use Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO). EVOO and Avocado oil have similar properties. For cooking avocado oil may be superior due to its higher smoking point. But you can use either oil for this recipe or omit the oil all together if you prefer. The texture is altered only minimally.

Here is the link to my You Tube video:
Bikini Baking Lady's Black Bean Hummus

Black Bean Hummus Recipe:
2 Cans Black Beans (drain and reserve liquid)
1/2 Cup fat free plain Greek yogurt (or same quantity of cottage cheese or sour cream)
2 Tablespoons Tahini
2 Tablespoons minced garlic
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 Tablespoons real lemon juice (squeeze it...use your muscles! ;-)
1 Tablespoon avocado oil
Fresh sea salt to taste
Fresh cracked pepper to taste
1/4 to 1/2 cup reserved black bean liquid from the can

Mix all ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth and creamy. Use it as a dip for fresh veggies or as a condiment with sandwiches or wraps. Enjoy Bikini Style!

Chocolate Cupcakes Bikini Style!

Check out my You Tube video of my kids' favorite treat, chocolate mini cupcakes. The cupcakes are tasty and I have added some surprise healthy ingredients that your kids won't even taste! Here is the link to the video and the recipe:

Chocolate Cupcakes Bikini Style!

Of Course It's Too Good To Be True!

By now you know all about my love of all nuts and nut butters. So then of course it should come as no surprise that when I saw this product "Peanut Spread" I was so excited to try it out. I mean look at that label..... It has all the Bikini Baking Lady's (BBL) favorite things. "Natural, Fresh Roasted Peanut Flavor, Sugar Free, Fat Free, Calorie Free"! I mean come on! It's like a bikini dream! So I bought this product along with my favorite "Dark Chocolate Dreams" and regular, natural kid friendly peanut butters.

After quickly putting my groceries away I was so excited to pop this puppy open and take a big lick of it. Boy was I immediately disappointed. It tasted like poorly flavored miracle whip. Gross, nasty, get off my tongue, sick! It's such a bummer to me because I thought I had a BBL way to eat my peanut butter in larger quantities without it showing in my bikini. Alas, peanut butter.... I guess I will still be buying the good, natural kind for my kids and my baked goods and the single serving kind for my snacks (because I have major issues with just eating 1 or 2 tablespoons of my favorite food unless of course I am IN my bikini!).

Tomorrow I will be bringing some baked goods to my local YMCA in celebration of my new business cards coming in the mail today! So if you are local come early to taste my dark chocolate shortbread and chocolate peanut butter white chocolate chip cookies. And I will also have cranberry coconut high protein bars in even smaller quantities. Come and get them tomorrow morning and my new business card too!

Super Protein Smoothie

 

Super Protein Smoothie

 

Wow! I have had a very busy few weeks! It has all been good, actually very, very good but busy and I have not been able to write as many recipes as I had hoped. BUT....I talked to a friend this morning who brought up protein powders and it prompted me to jot down this quick, high protein, high fiber super smoothie recipe that I created. I drink this any time I need a tasty, filling, high protein meal replacement. I have also included the nutrition facts that I calculated for your added convenience. I have so much more to write about so look for more posts later this week as well as an updated website!

 

BBL's Super Protein Smoothie Recipe:

1 C almond milk

1/4 C oats

1 T ground flax seeds

1 T chia seeds

1 scoop (1 oz. ) chocolate whey protein powder

1 T almond butter

1/2 C frozen blue berries

 

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in blender! That's it!!! YUMMY, filling and SO delicious!

This makes 1 serving but it is so dense that I usually drink half and save the other half for later.

390 calories

24 G carbs

35 G protein

14 G fiber

 

DELICIOUS and NUTRITIOUS!

 

Roasted Sweeties

It's snowing here in the beautiful land of Massachusetts. My kids are always hungry. And by that I mean ALWAYS! So I must feed them every few hours but every calorie counts with their quickly growing bodies that fill up and empty out quickly. So today we are roasting chick peas the sweet way. Here is the recipe:

2 can chick peas drained and dried very well
Shakes of cinnamon and nutmeg
Drizzle of agave nectar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425! Drain and dry chick peas. Put in plastic bag and shake in some cinnamon and nutmeg. Drizzle some agave.... Not much (like a tablespoon tops). Shake bag or better yet get your little monkeys to shake it! Place chickpeas in single layer on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake 15 min stirring often. Keep checking and stirring gently until they are crispy and yummy. Eat and enjoy your power snack! Great in salads and wraps too! My kids love them!

And a huge thank you to Matt for reminding me that chick peas are good roasted the sweet way (and for a fabulous dinner!). My favorite way to roast them is with chili powder, and cumin but its way too spicy for my kids. They love them the sweet way!