Tag Archives: health

Healthy Banana Chip Bites

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My roommate and I have been obsessed with these little things!

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Fortunately for us they are super healthy snacks.

I’ve had bananas for over a week and wouldn’t you know it, they are extremely, extremely ripe. Extremely.

Bananas

I wanted to make banana muffins, but I need something healthy since I’m still doing this weight loss challenge with a group of friends. And I’m always in DIRE need of dessert after dinner, so these things are seriously perfect.

On Monday nights, you can find my roommate, Jess, and I watching The Following on FOX. We’re always munching on something while watching, perhaps the show is so stressful we’re calming ourselves with snacks! Whew, so glad I found a healthy option for watching this show. Every few minutes, I spy Jess going to the kitchen to grab these cookies. She LOVES them. She takes them to work and tries to hide them at her desk so she can save it for an afternoon snack, but I think that plan always fails.

4 ingredients & 3 steps. No sugar. No flour. Done in 15 minutes. Here we go!

Healthy Banana Chip Bites
makes 20 cookies

Ingredients:

  • 2 ripe bananas
  • 1 cup of old fashioned oats
  • 1/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1.5 tablespoons of chia

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Mash up the ripe bananas in a bowl. Add oats, chocolate chips, and chia. Mix it all together until well blended.
3. Drop in tablespoons of mix on a cookie sheet and bake for 12 minutes.

Can these be any easier? The sweetness comes primarily from the bananas. The chocolate chips are optional but also gives the cookie some sweetness. I love the crunch of the chia too! If you’re really craving something sweet, add some honey to the cookie.

Mix

Done

Bite-sized

What do you think? Is this something you can try?

With age comes eating healthier right? What are some of your favorite healthy, homemade snacks?

Muncha buncha cruncha muncha (this song is always stuck in my head),
Jay
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Adapted from Skinny Taste

Avocado/Spinach Smoothie Recipe

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Remember when I told you MG and I were eating healthier (post here)? We’re still eating healthy! Obviously, there are splurge meals in between, but we are still juicing every day and drinking it with Chia.

One of my favorite parts about juicing is making up recipes as I go. A little bit of kale, a little bit of spinach, maybe some carrots, and an apple. Voilà! Delicious juice! Next one might be beets, oranges, celery, and carrots. Then, another juice could be a handful of cilantro, carrots, apples, chard, and half a lemon. I think you get the point!

I’ve recently discovered a really delicious smoothie, and I want to share it with you. It’s my avocado/spinach smoothie! For this recipe, you’ll need a blender or a Magic Bullet.

Avocado/Spinach Smoothie

Ingredients (makes 2 servings):

  • 1 avocado
  • Handful of spinach
  • 2 apples (freshly juiced or you can add 1 cup of concentrated apple juice)
  • Chia seeds (optional)

Directions:  Blend avocado and spinach together. Add apple juice. Now add enough water until your desired consistency, and lastly, mix in a tablespoon of Chia seeds. Sip away!

Avocado/Spinach Smoothie

It’s such an easy and quick breakfast meal. Go on and give it a try. Let me know how you like it!

Is this something you’re interested in making? Do you have a go-to smoothie recipe you can share with us?

Drink away,
Jay

A Different Kind of Slider & Fries

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MG and I are still going strong on our healthy eating (healthier living post), granted it’s only been a week. We are loving the foods that we consume, and the best part is that we don’t hate ourselves after a meal. Speaking of meals, I have created a variation of your typical slider and fries, Quinoa Sliders and Eggplant Fries with a Side of Garlic Aioli. It sounds a bit crazy, I know. But it’s scrumptious! Here’s the recipe for the quinoa patties:

Quinoa patties
Quinoa from my Trade as One subscription!

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup of quinoa
  • 1/2 cup of chicken broth
  • 1 can of black beans (rinse, drained, and mashed with a fork)
  • 1/2 cup of bread crumbs
  • Half and onion, chopped
  • 1 clove of garlic (minced)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons of cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 1 teaspoon of hot sauce
  • 1 egg (beaten)
  • Olive oil for cooking

Quinoa patties cooking

Directions:
1. Boil the quinoa and chicken broth in a pot. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover the pot, and simmer until the broth has been absorbed and the quinoa is as tender (about 15 minutes). If you want the quinoa to be more tender, add some more broth and continue to cook until broth is absorbed.
2. Mix the cooked quinoa, mashed black beans, egg, bread crumbs, onion, garlic, salt, hot sauce, and cumin together. I like to use my hands!
3. Form patties by scooping up the mixture in a 1/4 measuring cup.
4. Heat up the olive oil in a large skillet, and place the patties onto the pan. Squish the patties with your fingers just a bit to thin them out.
5. Cook the patties thoroughly (about 2.5 minutes on each side).

Quinoa sliders!

With the quinoa patties, I made sliders by using sweet Hawaiian Bread. The sliders are low-carb because I’m using half of the bread roll. Spread mayo, ketchup, and mustard on the bun, add some spinach then the patty, and finally sprinkle some cheese on top. Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm!

Of course with sliders, you have to have fries! I came across a recipe for eggplant fries, and I had an eggplant laying around. How perfect is that? I tweaked the original recipe a bit because I only had dried herbs. These things are so good, I want to make them for snacking!

Eggplant Fries

Ingredients for eggplant fries:

  • Medium-sized eggplant
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley
  • Salt and pepper
  • Oil for frying

Garlic aioli (1/2 cup): Mix all ingredients below and chill for 30 minutes before serving.

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions for eggplant fries:
1. Peel eggplant and slice it into sticks. Salt the eggplant sticks generously and let them sit for about 30 minutes. This osmosis process helps take out the bitterness of eggplants. Afterwards, rinse the eggplant with cold water and dry them with a paper towel.
2. Combine the flour and all the seasonings.
3. Then cover each eggplant stick with the flour mixture.
4. Heat oil over medium heat in a deep pot, and fry the eggplant in small batches until golden (about 2 minutes).
5. Remove the sticks from the oil, and place them onto a paper towel. Sprinkle with some pepper, and serve hot with garlic aioli.

If you make this for a dinner party, I bet you they will be surprised that it’s so healthy! I know my guests were!

Enjoy your meal,
Jay
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Original eggplant fries recipe
Original aioli recipe