Chocolate Banana Muffins

I absolutely LOVE this recipe because I am a sweets girl and a chocolate girl especially so this muffin recipe basically came about to help satiate both those desires. I found the starter for this recipe in the Fixate cookbook by Autumn Calabrese, and then modified it to fit not only my taste, but my lifestyle. The original recipe is delicious and I've made it several times for myself and for clients, but I find this helps me really work through the sweet cravings more than the original recipe. 

Chocolate Banana Muffins

Ingredients:

2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 medium bananas, ripe and mashed
1 tbsp. extra-virgin coconut oil, melted
1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 dash sea salt
1/2 cup or 1 container apple sauce, unsweetened

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Prepare 9 muffin tins by lining with muffin tin liners or coating with non-stick spray. (I've tried liners and personally have found that any healthy muffin always sticks to the liner so I always forgo them, use spray and put them directly in the cups).

2. Combine eggs, banana, apple sauce, and coconut oil in a medium bowl and mix well. Set aside. 

3. Combine almond flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; mix well. 

4. Add almond meal mixture to egg mixture; mix until blended. 

5. Divide batter evenly between prepared muffin cups. 

6. Bake 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a rack and cool.

Notes: I use a Kitchen Aid when I make these which really speeds up the process. I also just slice the bananas quickly, and if they're ripe enough they should just mash when you mix them with the eggs and apple sauce. I do sometimes add a little cinnamon if I feel like it, and like to leave the bananas with some texture within the muffin as you can see in the close up picture. As long as you use gluten-free ingredients this is an AWESOME recipe for those with a celiac allergy. 

Honestly, I had to keep myself from eating more than one a day because they are so tasty, but I would HIGHLY recommend placing these in the fridge because the ingredients are perishable, and if you're not going to eat them over the week, freeze half of them and take them out of the freezer when you want to phase them back into your meal plan. I've tragically had some go bad before and had to throw them away (the only downside to using good, fresh ingredients). 

I hope you enjoy these as much as we do in my house. They're so tasty that even my not-so-healthy boyfriend packs them in his lunchbox!

I NEED CHOCOLATE!!! Clean Chocolate Brownies with Chocolate Almond Frosting

We all know that you can still over eat when you're eating clean.  Although I acknowledge this entirely, I also realize that when we have a sweet craving, it's going to need to be satiated, with either something good, or something bad.  So let's discuss here, the something good.  I was inspired by an Instagram post by @drcharo that was a zucchini brownie with frosting, and man did it look delicious.  My versions didn't come out quite as thick as hers, as I chose to use maple syrup as a sweetener rather than a stevia or coconut sugar blend, but they were super delicious all the same.  I will admit here that I certainly licked the spoon more times than I should have, and this probably led to some extra calories I didn't need.  Hey!  At least it was all natural sugars!!!

INGREDIENTS:
Brownies:
- 1/2 cup Almond or Peanut Butter
- 1 whole Egg and 3 Egg Whites
- 1 tbsp. Baking Powder
- 1/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 2 cups Shredded Zucchini
- 1/2 cup Maple Syrup

Frosting:
- 1/4 cup Coconut Oil
- 1/4 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
- 1/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1/4 cup Honey
- 1/4 cup Chopped Almonds




DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine peanut butter (or almond if that's what you chose), eggs, cocoa powder, baking powder, zucchini and maple syrup in bowl, and beat on medium speed until well combined.  If you choose to use a powdered sweetener the batter will be on the thick side. If you used maple syrup, it will definitely be thinner in consistency.
3. Place batter into 13 x 9 greased (or parchment lined) pan. Spread the mixture around to make it even throughout the pan.
4. Place in over at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until center is cooked through.  Remove from the oven and let cool.
5. While the brownies are cooling, put coconut oil, almond milk, and cocoa powder in a microwave safe bowl.  Place in microwave and cook for 1-2 minutes, or until coconut oil is melted.  Remove from microwave and add the honey to the bowl.  Whisk well, until all ingredients are combined.  Add chopped almonds and mix well.
6. When brownies have completely cooled, pour frosting over the top and allow to set.
7.  Enjoy!

All of these ingredients are all whole, there is no refined flour and every sweetener is natural.  This is not to say that they do not contain a decent amount of sugar, but as long as you don't overindulge, you're getting your sweets fix and getting awesome super foods like coconut oil, zucchini, peanut butter and cocoa.  Dr. Charo's recipe has a little less sugar than mine, but she claims that her version has 89 calories, 8g of fat, 3g of carbs and 6 g of protein per brownie with 15 total brownies.  I cut mine into 18, and didn't factor in the additional sugar here, but it's certainly not a lot higher than what she posts (as long as you don't eat the whole pan).

Chocolate Shakeology Peanut Butter and Jelly Fudge

For those of you who aren't in our Shakeology cult (which you should be because it will change your life forever), you must realize that we drink this shake daily, and using any nutritional supplement daily can get a tad bit boring.  That's not to say that the recipes that we get sent every month aren't unbelievable, and there are a multitude of recipes on the web for people to switch it up and make it new and exciting, and that's part of the reason that I'm here.  I used to use protein powder in a lot of different recipes, however as my clean eating evolved, so did my understanding about what was in most protein powders, and so I eliminated it from my diet.  However, when I started on Shakeology a few months back, I realized that there was a whole new world of opportunities for those recipes out there that do include protein powder, so I have taken it as my personal mission to find as many ways possible to incorporate this super dense, super-food meal supplement in my life in a variety of forms.

Not all of these recipes with be the 'healthiest' of snacks or meals.  There is, indeed, a difference between this recipe, and a recipe for a shake or protein pancake.  Nonetheless, I think it's important that we have a variety of avenues for any food to remain a constant in our diet, and so that is what I will achieve.  Today's recipe admittedly has a large amount of sugar, albeit natural sugars, they are still sugars. Therefore, you shouldn't make a pan of this fudge, sit in front of your TV, and stuff your face with the entire pan.  But, on those days when you're rummaging through your pantry or fridge looking for something to satiate that sweet chocolate desire, this will do just that. And rather than it being a Milky Way or Snickers, it will be something that has tons of antioxidants, nutrients, and proteins, especially when you add in all the nuts and berries that are combined into the fudge.  This recipe was modified from Averie Cooks, and looked so simple and delicious that I just couldn't help trying it out with Shakeology.  So here we go!

Ingredients:
- 3/4 c. honey (or brown rice syrup, agave nectar, maple syrup)
- 3/4 c. peanut butter (I used Teddy's All Natural Smooth)
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 c. Chocolate Shakeology
- 1/3 c. diced dried cranberries (or diced raisin, dried blueberries, or dried fruit of your liking)
- 1/3 c. chopped almonds (or other nuts, or omit)
- 8x8 disposable aluminum baking pan sprayed with Pam



Note:  This is a fast moving recipe so have everything ready to go before you begin and work quickly through the steps.

Directions:
1.  Pour the honey into a medium-sized sauce pan and heat over medium-high heat until it almost begins to boil; turn of heat.
2.  Add the peanut better and stir until smooth.  Add the vanilla extract and stir, using caution as it could bubble up a bit.
3.  Add the protein powder and stir, taking care to work quickly because batter will get increasingly stiff as time elapses.  Quickly fold in the diced fruit and peanuts.
4.  Spread over the bottom of the 8x8 pan and place in freezer for a minimum of 90 minutes.  Remove from the freezer and slice fudge into desired size.

I would suggest keeping the fudge either in the freezer, and taking it out 5-10 minutes before you want to eat it, or in the fridge.  Otherwise, at room temperature, it may get a little bit soft.  This one's a keeper for sure, so ENJOY!!!

Keep Moving.  Keep Strong.  PUSH PLAY EVERYDAY!

Shakeology Chocolate Almond Butter Cups

Oh Chocolate Shakeology...how you have changed my life.  For those of you who don't know what Shakeology is, there is a link provided so that you may further educate yourself. It's my sure fire way to guarantee that I get almost all my vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and nutrients into my daily diet.  If I had to choose one food item, that if I could wave a magic wand, everyone would take part in, this is what I would choose.  This is also what I would choose if I was deserted on an island and had to choose one food item to live off of (that is if we presume that I am choosing the item that I know will benefit my health and well-being, if not, then I'm choosing a Kimball's Double Day).

Shakeology is designed to be a meal replacement, but much like protein powders, you can pretty much use the powder in a number of ways, to make a number of different meals.  Where most people probably won't do much more than throw it in a blender with some fruits and milk, I'm always looking for an alternative way to spruce it up, and sneak it into my daily diet.  Sometimes it's a Shakeology Chocolate Pancake, but in this case it was a frozen dessert!

I came across this recipe on Facebook through an Eat Clean Diet post.  I'm always a bit confused by some of their recipes that have protein powder, mostly because when you read an ingredient list on the majority of protein powders, it's nothing but mystery words that cannot be deciphered.  But, it does not mean that I'm required to use protein powder, because to me that seems to take any food item from "clean" to scientifically altered (which just doesn't seem quite so clean).  But, when I come across something that tells me I can make Frozen Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups, damn straight I'm gonna find a way to make it cleaner, and healthier so I can enjoy this tasty little treat!

Ingredients:

1 Scoop Chocolate Shakeology
5 tbsp. Unsweetened Chocolate Soy Milk
5 tsp. Almond Butter
Olive Oil Spray





Directions:

1. Combine Chocolate Shakeology and Unsweetened Chocolate Soy Milk in a small bowl, and whisk until smooth.  (I'm not going to lie, I just kept adding soy milk until it was a thick shiny consistency that could be scooped, but wasn't really liquidy).
2. Spray 5 silicon mini-muffin holders with Olive Oil spray. (If you use regular muffin tins with wrappers, make sure that they are aluminum, not paper, or else they will not come out.  Honestly, I've tried this same idea with aluminum and it's still difficult, so I would highly recommend only using silicon muffin holders.)
3. Divide half of the Shakeology mixture between the five silicone mini-muffin holders.  Place in the freezer for 15 minutes.
4. Take the holders out, and in each container place 1 tsp. of Almond Butter in the center, and then cover each of the 5 holders with the remaining Shakeology.
5.  Place back in the freezer for 30-45 minutes.
6.  Enjoy these tasty frozen Shakeology Chocolate Almond Butter Cups as they slowly melt on your fingertips and you decide that maybe you could live without a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup ever again!

Peanut Butter Stuffed Chocolate Muffins

This is, by far THE BEST CLEAN DESSERT I HAVE EVER MADE!  I came across a recipe at Dashing Dish that was a Triple Chocolate Chunk Muffin, I was completely taken by the idea.  However, as much as I wanted to try the recipe, I started researching all the different chocolate chips, and no matter how clean the chocolate was, there was no denying that sugar is sugar is sugar, and I just didn't want to add more sugar to the recipe.  So, I went over the recipe and thought to myself, "She suggests adding peanut butter chips to the recipe, what if I just put peanut butter directly into the batter?"  GENIUS!!!

,

So, I followed the Triple Chocolate Chunk Muffin recipe for the batter itself.  Instead of mixing chocolate chips into the batter, I filled the cupcake pan with the foil liners (DO NOT USE PAPER LINERS!!!  Because there is no flour in the recipe, the batter will stick when cooked, and you'll end up with only half of a muffin to eat), and poured the batter until the muffin tins were half full.  I then put a tablespoon of peanut butter directly into the center of each muffin.  When I finished, I poured the remaining batter and covered the peanut butter in each muffin tin.  I then baked them at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.  

Honestly, you could stop here, and the muffins would unbelievable.  However, I just couldn't stop, and clearly, I needed some peanut butter frosting for my muffin, which now had taken on the form of a cupcake. So, in a small bowl I put two heaping tablespoons of peanut butter, two tablespoons of Stevia, and about an 1/8 c. of unsweetened soy milk.  I whisked away, adding more milk or peanut butter if I needed it, until I got just the right consistency for the "frosting".  As you can see, the results for pretty good looking.

Now, at this point when I came up with this whole idea, I had no idea what the texture or taste was going to be because I had never made the original recipe, so how could I know whether they would be delicious or not?  Well, folks, imagine how in love with the cupcake I was when I bit in and tasted this, 

  

Yes, it does taste as good as it looks!  If you find yourself seriously craving some chocolate, and you're considering stopping for some Hostess cupcakes, rethink your options, because I promise that this muffin/cupcake will hold up to any chocolate fantasy you have.  

Oh the Black Bean Brownies

Yeah, it can be done, and still taste delicious.  Sometimes people say, "I'll diet, but if I'm going to eat a 'brownie', I'm going all in and eating a real brownie.  One that's chewy and gooey and worth the calories."  And this people, is how we break.  It's not that every once in a while we shouldn't allow ourselves to have that chewy gooey brownie, but every once and a while doesn't need to be every couple of weeks because we end up at social events that throw them at us.  

My food quest so far has been a constant battle in how to satiate the cravings for the things I'm used to, and replace them with alternatives that are healthier, and make me feel good.  Like I said before, I am admittedly a sugar-whore.  What I did not say, is that I am also a chocolate-whore.  That being said, I searched out this recipe because other people had tried them, said "Eh" things about them, and I wanted to judge them for myself.   So, I went to Oxygen Magazine, and searched them out.

How does the Black Bean Brownie hold up?

And the verdict is...DELICIOUSNESS!  I think that part of the reason people don't like these, is because they look like brownies, and they smell like brownies, but they don't exactly taste like brownies.  Every once in a while I think it's important for us to step back from our food and remind ourselves that we are SO conditioned when it comes to the way our food looks, and the way it tastes.  Don't think about it as, "Ew.  This doesn't taste like a 'brownie', I am never eating these again", and more of a, "Does this brownie fulfill it's purpose?  I ate because I was craving chocolate: check.  I also wanted sweetness: check.  I also don't want to feel like I gave up everything that falls into these two categories because I chose to live a healthy lifestyle: check."  

I followed the recipe, for the most part, to a tea.  I did exchange Stevia in place of the Sucanat which mildly changed the texture of the brownie (Sucanat cooks much like a brown sugar keeping in the moisture with a molasses), and in the future, I think I'll use a tad bit more applesauce, but other than that the recipe was a success.  My husband actually loved these, and everyday was so excited to pack his little brownie for a snack at work.  The whole time they were on the kitchen counter, it was like you felt guilty, but had nothing to feel guilty about, and that was fantastic!

AND...beans are a Superfood, so it's the best of both worlds!