(Healthy) Superbowl Snacks!

It's just about time for arguably, the biggest sporting event of the year. I can admit that I have zero idea which teams are in the Superbowl this year. Last year my "Superbowl Party" consisted of watching a TV marathon with my Dad and ignoring all things football. Honesty -- if it isn't U of M football, it isn't football to me.

I'm sure some people are excited for the game, but everyone is excited for the food. 

Why don't you try these super delicious and healthy twists on Superbowl snacks at your party this weekend!

Or just eat them on a normal Wednesday (or your meatless Monday!), which is what I did... 

Buffalo Nuggets with a side of celery and ranch dressing for dipping!

First off --- I made Buffalo Nuggets! 
With Tofu! Baked, hot, and super easy (sounds like a bad date in college, ooh or a bad joke, sorry, it's been a long day). 

Or if you're bringing the dessert...Black bean brownies! Or as I called them "Triple Bs"

When I was younger, I would never EVER eat beans. Not in mexican, not in my grandma's famous goulash, no beans. But as my dad would say, "My tastes have changed." And since I heard about black bean brownies, I've been intrigued and a little scared. How could you DO THAT to chocolate?! But they were DELICIOUS! 

Buffalo Nuggets

Hands on time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

What you need:

• firm or extra firm tofu, with the water removed by wrapping it in paper towel for an hour or so
• 1 egg or 1/4 cup egg substitute (almond or soy milk works too if you're serving vegans!)
• 1/4 cup Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Sauce
• 1/3 cup bread crumbs
• 1 tbs  garlic powder
• Fresh ground pepper
• Ranch dressing and celery for serving

Heat your oven to 400 and cut your tofu into whatever sized nuggets you prefer. Mix together the egg and hot sauce. Drop your tofu pieces in the egg mixtures and let them marinate for a few minutes while you combine the bread crumbs, garlic and pepper in a shallow dish. Coat the egg covered tofu pieces on all sides with the bread crumb mixture. Place on a greased cookie sheet for 15 minutes. Flip over and bake 15 minutes more until crispy. SO EASY! They have a great crunch and a spicy kick!

Triple Bs

Hands on time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

The main ingredients

I love my new food processor

Before baking

After baking...and taste testing!

What you need:

• 1 can black beans, reduced sodium prefered, drained and rinsed 
• 1/2 cup quick oats
• 2 1/2 tbs cocoa powder
• 1 tbs instant coffee or espresso powder (can be omitted, but I love this flavor)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/3 cup agave or maple syrup
• 2 tbs sugar, or 1 tbs truvia baking blend (my new favorite ingredient)
• 2 tbs vanilla
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips, divided into 1/2 and 1/4

Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare an 8x8 baking dish by greasing it or laying in some parchment paper. Combine all ingredients except the chocolate chips in your food processor. Now that I have one of my own, I don't mess around with a blender, but I bet that would work too. Make sure the batter is smooth. Go ahead and lick the scraper...pretty yummy, right?! Fold in 1/2 c of chocolate chips. Spoon into your baking dish and top with the last 1/4 c of chocolate chips. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. 

What you get:

I rave about oatmeal, chocolate and cinnamon all the time. So let's chat about beans! "Beans, beans the musical fruit, the more you eat, the more you..." feel full from the protein and fiber they provide! They also have antioxidants and vitamin B6. Remember B6? Essential to the functioning of your nervous system! Black beans also have Molybdenum, a trace metal, which helps break down sulfites in food like wine. Molybdenum is also found in the enamel of our teeth and may help slow tooth decay. So pour a glass of heart healthy red wine and enjoy a nutritious black bean brownie!

Set it and Forget it Oatmeal

Do you remember this infomercial?

SET IT AND FORGET IT! The showtime rotisserie oven! Still one of my favorites, and now a pop culture icon. 

If only all meals were as easy as set it and forget it...especially breakfast. A lot of my colleagues think a cup of coffee on the way to work with a little bit of milk for "protein" counts as breakfast. Me? If I don't eat something with fiber and REAL protein, I'm STARVING by 9 am and snacking by 10 am.

I'm a HUGE oatmeal fan and usually wake up early enough to cook some plain oatmeal on the stove, throw a tablespoon of almond butter on it and enjoy it with a cup of coffee BEFORE I go to work. 

How I feel at work when I eat my oatmeal!

Recently, though, getting to work before the sun rises and leaving after it sets, I'm tired. But I still want my oatmeal! CUE Set it and Forget it Overnight Oatmeal! 

Overnight Oatmeal, photo from theyummylife.com I'm not this fancy, let's be real...

You throw it together the night before, or a large batch Sunday night. Take it out of the fridge in the before and take it to work to enjoy at your desk! BOOM. So easy. No more excuses for the most important meal of the day. The topping possibilities are ENDLESS! Right now, since it's so cold, I'm loving a tropical combo! (And I have half a can of leftover crushed pineapple from a carrot cake cookie recipe that will find it's way on the blog soon!) 

Quaker Oats, my breakfast container, and a sneak peak in my pantry.

The night before with my tropical toppings...

The next morning!

Set it and Forget it Oatmeal

Hands on time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes + overnight 

What you need:

The base:

• 1/3 cup quick oats (I like Quaker or McCann's)
• 1/3 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
• 1/3 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or whatever milk you have!)

Tropical Mix ins:

• 1/4 cup crushed pineapple
• 1 tbs shredded coconut
• Half a banana chopped

Other tried and true mix in options

Almond Berry: 1 cup fresh or frozen mixed berries, 1 tbs slivered almonds, 1 tbs Smucker's Simply Fruit Strawberry Jam (or any low sugar jam)

Pumpkin Pie:  1/4 cup canned pumpkin, dash of pumpkin pie spice, 1 tsp brown sugar, 1 tbs walnuts

"Cookie dough": 1 tbs mini chocolate chips, 1 tbs almond butter, 1 tsp vanilla, sweetener as desired

WHATEVER YOU WANT! Be creative!

Now pick your container! I use something with a lid to grab and go in the mornings. Mix it all together. Put it in the fridge. The oatmeal "cooks" overnight. Done and done. 

What you get: 

A SUPER easy and healthy breakfast. Greek yogurt has calcium and protein to get your metabolism going and keep your bones strong. Oatmeal is the king of breakfast foods! It is hearty and keeps you full for hours thanks to all the fiber it provides. Fiber helps lower your bad (LDL) cholesterol and protects your heart. It also slows down digestion and prevents your blood sugar from spiking, so you have long lasting energy and no sugar crash. Oatmeal also has magnesium, vitamin E and, yes, even more protein! Amazing! No excuses, eat breakfast! 

New Year's Resolutions

They're the same every year. Practically the same for everyone. 

Save more money. 

Lose weight. 

Spend more time with friends and family.

It's new year, new you! Every year. 

Photo from dribble.com

It's the time of year when you need to get to group fitness classes 30 minutes early just to get a spot. But hey, if you're hard core that is 30 minutes of weights before spin, or a quick run before Killer B's weight class. So as frustrating as the crowds may be, think of it as extra workout time! And you know what, most of those people will be gone in a few weeks and those that don't give up...props to them! Make them your new workout buddy since they have killer determination! 

Motivation!
Photo from fitsugar

My resolutions for 2013 are few and it's the first year in a long time I've made any, so I'm going to give it my all to keep them. 

1. Be a better long distance friend -- As we've all grown up and moved to different cities it's been really hard to stay in reliable contact with my friends. Even with a bajillion methods of communication, it can sometimes take me two weeks to return a phone call, or two days to return a text. I am, however, a great letter writer! But, I will do better friends, I promise. 

2. Have more patience -- With my patients, my family, and overall with my life. Everything will happen when it's supposed to happen. Faith in God includes faith in his timing.

On a less serious note, for those of you whose resolutions include eating healthier, here is a recipe for my favorite kale salad. Kale has been getting a lot of hype recently as a super food and truth is, it is delicious...if you know what to do with it. Leave the kale chips behind and try this awesome, unexpected salad instead!

Favorite Kale Salad

Adapted from Eat Drink Smile

Hands on time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

What you need:

• 1 bunch of kale, washed and torn from the stems

• 1/2 cup raisins 

• 1/2 cup golden raisins

• Juice from one freshly squeezed lemon

• Zest from the fresh lemon

• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

• 1/4 cup olive oil (start with half and add more if needed)

• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

• Pinch of sea salt

Tear your kale from the stems and wash it. Pat it dry with a paper towel or maybe even use a salad spinner! Throw back to a great infomercial! Pulse the kale in your food processor until it is in small pieces. Put kale into a medium sized bowl and add lemon juice, lemon zest, parmesan and the raisins. Mix together. Start with 1/8 cup of olive oil and toss with the salad. If you can't coat all the kale, add a little more, but not more than 1/4 cup or it will be soggy tomorrow! Toss in the walnuts, salt to taste and devour! 

What you get:

Let's talk about kale! It has gotten so much press lately and is a "nutritional powerhouse". Kale has tons of fiber and is very low in calories. Vitamin A, vitamin C, iron and vitamin K are all abundant in this meaty, leafy green. Calorie for calorie, kale has MORE CALCIUM than milk! Believe it! AND antioxidants. Kale also has omega-3 fatty acids -- 10% of the daily recommended value in one cup. Fatty acids are anti-inflammatory and can be beneficial in diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and may help to lower the risk of heart attack! 

Cookie doughn't you want some?

I don't think I have EVER made cookies and not snuck a little bit of the dough to eat before I baked them...or just ate the dough straight from the bowl and had very little left to bake! Guilty as charged!

I won't lie, coming back to work after vacation and visiting my friends and family was really tough. I've spent a night or two just hanging out in bed, missing everyone. There are a few things just are just GREAT for cheering yourself up -- exercise, of course (I am so happy to be back sweating it out at The Mercury Method), best friends (so happy Brett is finally moving to Chicago!), and JUNK FOOD!

Everything in moderation. And there are times you just need to indulge. Especially when you're feeling a little down. 

I have two delicious edible cookie dough recipes here, one is healthy,  and one is, well, let's call it traditional. The choice is yours! 

Eggless Cookie Dough

Hands on time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

What you need (all of which is conveniently already in your cabinets, for those cookie dough emergencies):

• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, or maragine, whatever you have, softened
• 1/4t vanilla
• 1/4 cup skim milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk because it's what I happened to have)
• 1 cup flour
• 1/8 t salt
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Cream together the butter and the sugar. You can use a mixed or do it by hand depending on how urgently you want to eat the dough! Add in the vanilla and milk. Finally combine with flour and salt. Fold in your chocolate chips...and YOU'RE DONE! The dough tastes best if you put it in the fridge for an hour or so. It can also be frozen and eaten later! OR I have even rolled it into little balls and then covered them in cocoa powder to make cookie dough truffles! 

Flourless Cookie Dough

 adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie

Hands on time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes, food processor or chopper required!

What you need:

• 1 can chickpeas drained and rinsed
• 1/8 t salt
• 1/8 t baking soda
• 2 t vanilla
• 1/4 cup nut butter, almond is probably the best if you want it to taste like traditional cookie dough, but peanut works too for a little extra flavor! 
• Splash of milk, to taste for consistency 
• 1/2 cup brown sugar 
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 3 T quaker oats

This one is super easy. Dump everything besides the chocolate chips into a food processor and blend until desired consistency. Add a little more or else milk depending on how thick you want your dough. Transfer to a bowl and fold in your chocolate chips. TA DA! Cookie dough dip! WITH PROTEIN! 

What you get: 

Try one! Or try them both! Healthier choice or not, you get an edible cookie dough, and let's face it, when it comes to cookie dough, no one really cares about nutrition, so just enjoy!