Microwave Cookie + PB2 Cocoa Sauce Heaven

HELLO, I hope everyone's New Year is off to a wonderful start! I don't know if I do resolutions. I really don't think I ever did, but here are a few of them for you...  
1. Appreciate the wonderful life God has given to me! 2. Call my friends more often (Miss you, Come visit me!) 3. RELAX,  no stress.

On to more important things. I love, love, love Pinterest. Like "I want to make every single recipe I lay eyes on", but do I make them? No. I try and make them but it usually turns out into my own recipe because I don't have what's needed. First world problems. I know. 

So don't judge me, I have a problem with desserts and since it's the time of "New Year's Resolutions" I guess I have to be healthy in some ways with sweet treats. Therefore, I present to you my version of a microwave cookie.

Microwavable Cookie + PB2 Cocoa Sauce
(Serves 1)

Microwave Cookie:

2 Tb. egg whites

1 1/2 Tb. nut butter of your choice

1 tsp. honey

1/2 Tb. coconut flour

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1 Tb. coconut flakes

dash of cinnamon


PB2 Cocoa Sauce:

2 Tb. PB2 powder

2 Tb. unsweetened cocoa powder

2-3 Tb. almond milk


Combine all the cookie ingredients into a oil sprayed microwavable safe bowl. Place in the microwave on High for 60 seconds. Combine the PB2 and cocoa powder into a small bowl. Add in the almond milk until desired consistency. Spoon onto the cookie and sprinkle with coconut if you want! Enjoy!

Let me know what you think of this! I hope you have a wonderful week :)

Soft Serve Ice Cream

Today, I have a few variations of a recipe I have been making for the past 2-3 years. BANANA SOFT SERVE ICE CREAM. Yes, that is correct. It is exactly like the soft serve ice cream consistency but it's made with bananas! Some of you have possibly made or heard of it before, but I will remind you of how awesome this invention is...

Soft Serve Ice Cream Base

2 frozen bananas (chopped into chunks)

2 Tb. almond milk

Place banana into food processor and add the 2 tablespoons of milk. Blend until you have a soft serve ice cream consistency.

Okay, so this standard recipe is a bit boring, at least I think it is. So I have some variations...

Pumpkin Soft Serve Ice Cream 

2 frozen bananas (chopped into chunks)

2 Tb. almond milk

1/3 c. pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie mix)

dash of pumpkin pie spice

dash of cinnamon

Blend into the food processor until the correct consistency. How appropriate for Fall, right?!

Almond Butter Soft Serve Ice Cream

2 frozen bananas

2 Tb. almond milk

2 Tb. almond butter**

1/2 tsp. almond extract

dash of cinnamon

Blend into the food processor until the correct consistency.
**You can use peanut butter instead to make peanut butter and banana which would be fabulous! However, I would switch the extract to vanilla.

As you can tell  I added some Reese's on top of mine. Mmm.

Apple Pie Soft Serve Ice Cream

2 frozen bananas

2 Tb. almond milk

1-2 Tbsp. apple butter** (my granddad makes the BEST  homemade apple butter)

1/2 tsp. vanilla (optional)

Blend into food processor until correct consistency.
**For this recipe you can actually use any kind of preserve you would like. Try it out and let me know how it is! 


There you have it! A few variations you can try out next time you have the craving for a small sweet treat. You can add just about whatever add ins you would like. For example, candy, nuts, fruit, nut butters, syrups, etc.

Spaghetti Time!

Hello my lovely friends! This weekend was pretty low key, besides Friday night when DB and I went to the Zac Brown Band concert!!!! I was just a bit excited for this concert! They are by far one of my favorite bands ever, and they sounded better live!

I have a slight crush on the violinist...he is awesome!

 

 

Okay, so enough about that. Since I had a low key weekend I made some delish pasta sauce for dinner Sunday night. My mom makes THE best pasta sauce and of course I asked for her recipe a few years ago when I began cooking.

However, I somehow never have the appropriate ingredients when it comes to recipes, so of course I did a spin on the recipe.

Remixed Mom's Spaghetti Sauce

1 lb. very lean ground turkey (I used Trader Joe's)

1 can organic tomato sauce

1/2 c. water

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp. italian seasoning

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1/4 tsp. garlic powder (omit if you are not into garlic, crazy)

1/2 tsp. red peper flakes (depending on your spice level)

Dash of salt and pepper

10 fresh basil leaves


1. Brown ground turkey with the garlic until fully cooked. You shouldn't have to drain the turkey since it is very low in fat. However, if you use regular ground turkey you will need to drain at this point.

2. Add the tomato sauce, water, and all spices besides the basil. Cover, and let cook for 1 hour. Stir occasionally while the sauce is cooking. **This sauce is very heavy on the meat so if you want a thinner sauce add an extra half to a whole can of tomato sauce.

 
Once the sauce is done, add in the fresh basil leaves. It is now ready to be served over pasta of your choice or spaghetti squash! Enjoy!

 

                                           

Faux Lara Balls and Swim Workout!

Today I had the day off thanks to Columbus. Therefore, it was kitchen time. I also got to workout on my own time which meant swimming with all the old people at the pool. We had a good time chatting...old people are so awesome. I didn't talk the whole time unfortunately. Here is the workout I did:

600 warm-up choice
6x75 (25 kick, 50 swim)
6x50 (Breathe 3-5-7 x 50)
3 x( 25 FAST/ 50 easy
        50 FAST/ 75 easy
        75 FAST/ 100 easy)
2x200 Kick choice build
200 cool-down
Total: 3075

Short and sweet! Besides the lovely swim I also made a version of a recipe I saw online the other day...I call them...

Faux 'Lara' Balls 

24 Dates, chopped

1/2 c. unsweetened dried coconut

1/4 c. whole almonds

2 Tb. cocoa powder

2 Tb. almond butter

1 tsp. vanilla

dash of sea salt 

Place all ingredients into a food processor and let it go for about 2 minutes. Stir and let it go for another minute. The mixture will be crumbly.

 Make into uniform balls. 

Store in the fridge, this makes about 14 balls. These are great for a quick pick-me-up snack or treat!

Pumpkin Muffins for All!

Okay, I know. Where the heck have I been? Well summer has come and gone. Therefore, I will be in the kitchen more since it will be too cold to be outside. The weather change from south to the north is tough. I do not think I am ready for this "bad" winter or whatever people are saying it is. However, it is not a bad thing to be back into the kitchen making some new recipes.

PUMPKIN!

You know it's Fall when every other day you think about what to make next with the multiple cans of pumpkin in the cupboard. Of course I have to begin with muffins because really who doesn't like some baked goods??!! Muffins actually remind me of the "Muffins" YouTube video HA! This is a really random video. Here it is if you have not seen it...Muffins

I made a variation of these muffins but made a few adjustments because my lack of ingredients.

Pumpkin (Prune) Muffins

1 cup almond meal

1 cup pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie mix)

2 eggs

2 Tbsp. almond butter

1/8 c. honey

1/8 c. maple syrup

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2-3/4 c. chopped dried prunes**

**Or any other mix-in (raisins, chocolate chips, nuts, etc)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix all ingredients except dried prunes/mix-in together in a large mixing bowl.
3. Gradually fold in the prunes/mix-in until combined.
4. Spay muffin tin or use liners and scoop in batter evenly.
5. Bake for 34(ish) minutes until toothpick comes out clean.
6. ENJOY! (Store in an airtight container) Makes 6 muffins.

I know you are thinking what the heck Kayla why prunes??!! UGH! Well, I honestly had no other mix-in and I always like a little something else in my muffins so I thought, why not?! These are delicious and turned out really well. The prunes taste much like raisins, don't knock it til you try it! 


I'm leaving you with a cute picture of my pup, Toby because he really wanted to say HI to some of my friends! Have a delightful evening!

Quinoa Fried Rice

It's almost Friday y'all! I know it has been a while but I do have a good recipe for you! I have a love for fried rice, and the other night I was in the mood to make some. There was only one problem...no rice. However, I did have quinoa. What is quinoa you say?? First of all it's pronounced "KEEN-wah" and it is known as a complete protein. It contains antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds as well. Quinoa is prepared like other grains such as rice or barley. This is the reason I used it in place of rice for this dish! 

I began by preparing the quinoa. This is a 2:1 ratio of water/broth to quinoa. In a saucepan, I mixed the vegetable broth, quinoa, and a few spices (salt, pepper, and a 1/2 teaspoon of sesame seed oil). Bring this to a boil, and once it boils turn to low, cover, and let it cook covered for about 10-15 minutes until all liquid is absorbed. Set this aside for later.

Next, I cooked up the vegetables. Now I went the easy way because it was a late night after work, so I used some frozen veggies that were in the freezer. I defrosted them for about 2 minutes then popped them into a pan with a light coating of sesame seed oil. I cooked them until tender and added some spices (pepper, red chili flakes, and toasted sesame seeds).

 

 

After the vegetables are done, add the quinoa to the vegetables. Also, add some soy sauce to coat.

Once the soy sauce is mixed in it is now time to add and cook the eggs. Therefore, I moved the mixture to the sides of the pan and added two eggs to the middle of the pan and cooked them until set.

After the eggs are set, mix the eggs in with the rest of the mixture until all combined.

Now you may enjoy! :)

Ingredients

1 c. quinoa

2 c. vegetable broth

2-3 c. frozen mixed vegetables of your choice

dash of salt and pepper

1/2 tsp. red chili flakes

1 tsp. toasted sesame seeds

1 tsp. sesame seed oil (or EVOO)

2 Tbsp. soy sauce (or more depending on your liking)

2 eggs


I hope y'all have a wonderful weekend!

The Olympic Pancake

The Olympics are in full effect right now and would you happen to know my cable is not working since moving into the new place. I have to rely on the internet and Facebook for updates...so pancakes were on the menu to distract me from all the Olympic craziness. I can't mention the words I have been saying to my cable box so I will give you a recipe instead.


The Olympic Pancake


2 egg whites


1 1/2 Tbsp. nut butter of your choice


1 Tbsp. oats


1 Tbsp. coconut (optional, add an extra Tablespoon of oats if omit)


3 Tbsp. almond milk or skim milk


1/4 tsp. cinnamon (optional)



Directions: Mix all together and place into a sprayed pan. When pancake begins to bubble flip and cook the other side until browned.


Optional toppings: More nut butter, bananas, strawberries, jelly, chia seeds, maple syrup, yogurt, etc. 


YUM!