Adventures of a healthy-ish pseudo-foodie

  Decorated by Miles I might stick with this recipe in the future even on occasions when we don't need it to be gluten-free. It's delicious. Perfectly fluffy, with just the right level of moisture, and not too sweet until you add the frosting. In fact, I may use this as a "carrot muffin" recipe without the frosting. I used  this recipe from Gluten Free on a Shoestring . I made no changes except that I used store-bought frosting. I'll bet the frosting in the recipe is better, but who's got time (or an electric whisk) for that? The Recipe (from Gluten Free on a Shoestring): 2 1/4 c gluten-free flour (I used Bob's Red Mill 1:1) 1 tsp baking soda 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 2 tsp cinnamon 3/4 c sugar 1/2 c brown sugar 1/2 c neutral oil 4 eggs, beaten 1 tsp apple cider vinegar 1/2 c milk (I used oat milk) 1/2 c chopped pecans 3 large carrots, grated Combine dry ingredients Mix in wet ingredients Fold in pecans and carrots Place in prepared pans - make ...

The batch after this one was less flat. Both tasted good. For the low-FODMAP toddler's impending birthday, we needed some cookies that were safe for him to eat. He reacts badly even to gluten-free flour mixes, so I looked for a recipe with just oat flour. I picked  this one from Pinch and Swirl , and it's good! I'm keeping it for the future. The original recipe said to refrigerate the dough before baking for at least an hour, and up to 3 days. I did just an hour for the first batch (pictured above). The second batch was in the fridge for more like 90 minutes, and those cookies didn't flatten out nearly as much, so I've changed my refrigerating instructions to "at least 90 minutes." My only other change is that I actually decreased the amount of chocolate chips a bit. It was still plenty! These cookies have a lot of butter and sugar, but for low-FODMAP purposes, I won't muck with substituting applesauce. We'll stick with the real stuff. The Recipe: ...

"The older you are, the more sprinkles you get." For this year's husband-birthday, we made his favorite kind of cake. I used  this recipe  from Skinny Taste, because it's the right level of healthy-ish for me. It's bulked up and sweetened with crushed pineapple and plenty of carrots, with just enough sugar and oil to taste like cake.  Maybe one day I'll own a hand mixer and I'll start making my own frosting, but I just buy store-bought ones for now. The Recipe: 3/4 c all-purpose flour 3/4 c whole wheat flour 1 c sugar 1/4 c flaked sweetened coconut 2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 2 tsp cinnamon 2 tb canola oil 2 eggs 1 1/2 tsp vanilla 2 c grated carrots 20 oz crushed pineapple, drained 8 oz cream cheese frosting Mix flour, sugar, coconut, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add canola oil, eggs, vanilla, carrots, and pineapple. Fold to combine. Pour into an oiled 8" cake pan. Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely, t...

  Almondy magic. I took rainbow cookies for granted until I moved out of New York and learned that I couldn't buy them anymore. Now, I make them about once every 4 years because they're kind of a lot of work. But so good. This recipe is courtesy of my sister, the rainbow cookie queen. The batch in the above photo was made with marzipan instead of almond paste because the grocery pickup made that substitution and thanks to Covid, I wasn't willing to go store-hopping to find the real thing. It worked and it's delicious, but the marzipan made the whole dough thicker than it should have been. I unscientifically reduced the amount of the sugar in the recipe since it's sweeter than almond paste, but the original recipe is below for a brighter future when I can go out and buy almond paste. The Recipe: 8 oz almond paste 1 c butter, softened 1 c sugar 4 eggs, separated 2 c flour 6 drops red food coloring 6 drops green food coloring 1/4 seedless raspberry jam 1/4 c apricot ja...

  Not too shabby for my first pie ever that didn't start with buying crust already in a pie tin. Next time I'll tuck in the edges better, and also maybe use an actual pie tin. View of the inside. For my first ever apple pie, I knew I wanted something simple, something with a lattice top, and something that started with just layering raw apples inside the crust, rather than cooking the apples into a saucy filling. I decided to use  this recipe from Allrecipes , thinking that maybe I'd step things up to make a fancier pie in the future. But it is SO GOOD that I think this will be my forever pie recipe. I watched YouTube videos to learn how to do the lattice top, and then the 5-year-old actually carried out the work of doing it. It's a fun project to do with kids.  So good. The Recipe: 6 cups peeled, thinly sliced granny smith apples (I used 7 medium-small apples) 1/2 c white sugar 3/4 tsp cinnamon 1 tb butter, plus more for greasing the pie dish dough for 2 9-inch pie cru...

  One day when the children aren't pulling me in 5 directions, maybe I'll take a cleaner photo. The schools are doing free lunches (plus breakfast for the next day) to go while closed for Covid. Miles loves the novelty and I love having new fresh fruit and vegetables every day. But it's leaving us with a LOT of milk cartons in the fridge. It's all skim and 1%, which isn't the best for making yogurt or cheese. So I had no choice but to try chocolate pudding. This recipe uses pantry ingredients and doesn't require me to melt chocolate, and it's delicious. I may experiment with making it more gourmet, but there's nothing wrong with a basic chocolate pudding with cornstarch. I followed  this recipe  and didn't change anything except to decrease the amount of butter. The Recipe: (makes 6 half-pint servings) 1 1/3 c sugar 2/3 c cocoa powder 1/3 c cornstarch pinch of salt 4 1/2 c milk 1-2 tb butter 1 tsp vanilla In a saucepan, whisk together the sugar, coco...

I'm excited about the whole oats. One food that I've been missing in quarantine is Laughing Planet's oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I tried one previous recipe for vegan oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and it wasn't quite right, but it led me to believe that I was on the right track with flaxseed and coconut oil. So I tried  this one from Love to Be in the Kitchen , and I'm a fan. It's not vegan - it has egg - and I think the egg is maybe the thing that does set it aside from the Laughing Planet cookies. I might try to experiment with eliminating the egg in favor of more flaxseed. I also think that maybe they could have even more oats in them. But aside from a slight obsession with figuring out EXACTLY how Laughing Planet makes theirs, I really like these and they fulfill my craving. I made no changes to the original recipe except that I cooked them 11 minutes, despite the recipe's warnings not to exceed 10. But I'm glad the recipe emphasize...

The lower left is chocolate, not burned stuff. My criteria for a good banana bread recipe are: 1) Lots of bananas. I don't understand these "banana bread" recipes that use 2 bananas. 2) Butter and sugar. Not canola oil or coconut oil. Not maple syrup or honey. If I'm going to make banana bread once in a while, I just want butter and sugar. In responsible quantities. 3) Chocolate chips. 4) Oats. I was pressed for time when searching for a recipe this time, but  this one from Crafty Cooking Mama  looked like a good starting point. Five bananas! The changes I made: 1) Deleted the nuts and added the chocolate chips, obviously. 2) Added 1/2 c instant oats, and some yogurt to offset the extra dry ingredient. 3) Deleted the nutmeg. I just don't like it. The result was delicious! I could definitely push it further in the healthy direction (less butter and sugar, more oats and yogurt and maybe applesauce), but it's not terribly un...

I forgot to photograph it until it had been sitting in the fridge with foil, hence the flatness. This year, I volunteered to make the pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving and I made it with tofu! No one complained except the toddler. I used  this recipe from Nutritious Eats  because it used pumpkin pie spice instead of cloves/allspice/nutmeg/etc. I don't use enough of those spices to buy them all individually.  The biggest problem was the crust. I tried to get a Trader Joe's frozen crust, but they only had their gluten-free version, and I mistakenly thought that it would be almost as good. It wasn't good. Next year, I'll make sure to get a better crust. The texture was great, and the taste was good, and it's actually pretty healthy. The only modification I'll make to the filling next time is that I'd prefer it with a bit more spice. I'll read some other recipes and figure out whether than means adding ginger, or just increasing the amount of...

This photo makes me sad that it's all gone now. This recipe comes from Grandma Judy, because I've only had her version of clafoutis and it is so delicious that I don't care to compare other recipes.  It's a great sweet breakfast or substantial dessert. It reminds me of french toast meets frittata, but more sweet and fruity. And we've definitely had it for dinner when we're low on dinner ingredients. The Recipe: 5oz fruit (cherries, berries, peaches, pears, etc), cut into pieces if larger than bite-sized zest from 1 small lemon 2 tb sugar, plus about 2 tb additional to sweeten fruit 1/2 c flour 1/4 tsp salt 2 eggs 1 c milk 1 tb butter powdered sugar for serving Mix lemon zest with sugar in small dish Sift together flour and salt. In separate bowl, beat eggs and whisk in milk.  Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and whisk together.  Stir in the lemon sugar. Preheat the oven to 425. In a 10-inch skillet, melt butte...

Looks like a brownie, tastes like a brownie, feels better than eating a brownie. As with this  farro salad , this recipe was inspired by a trip to the fabulous  Camas Country Mill .  We went for sandwiches, bought bread and a scone for a treat, and then I was lured by a cute little jar of lentil brownie bites, so we got one of those too. It was delicious, and so I came home to do some googling. The result was  this recipe from Vegan Richa , which doesn't taste exactly like the one I had at the mill, but it's nearly as delicious and perfectly easy to make. If I didn't have an Instant Pot, I don't think I would have bothered. I've never been successful cooking lentils on the stove top without it bubbling over and making a mess at some point in the cooking process, and also I wasn't excited about having to dirty two pots and a food processor. But lentils are so easy in the instant pot, and after 2 minutes of cooking, they were easy enough to mash that I d...

Makes this many, minus the ones I ate while rolling them. This recipe (which is not healthy-ish by any stretch of the imagination) comes from my friend's friend's mom. We all did Christmas Eve together throughout my childhood, and as soon as I was old enough to try the rum balls, I was hooked. It's easy with the help of a food processor. The hardest part is not snacking on too many nilla wafers before it's time to make them, and then not having enough to complete the recipe. They keep well in the fridge or freezer. The Recipe: 2 1/2 c vanilla wafers, crumbled (this takes just less than one box's worth) 1 c chopped pecans, food-processed into a crumble 2 tb cocoa powder 1 c powdered sugar 1 stick butter, softened or melted 1/4 c rum 3 tb honey About 1 c granulated sugar, for dusting Mix crumbs, cocoa, sugar, nuts, and butter Add rum and honey Refrigerate one hour Roll into 1-inch balls Roll in granulated sugar The Verdict: Overall ...

Now I want to eat more of them. This recipe is not even remotely healthy. But it's really delicious, and there is a time and place for brownies, and I want to make sure I never lose this recipe. I've actually been making this recipe since college. I think my junior year roommate found it, and we were on board because it's easy and it was labeled  Best Brownies , which seemed like it couldn't be bad. They are super rich and chocolatey and decadent. They keep well, and taste best on the 2nd or 3rd day, if you can possibly wait that long to finish them.  On a whim for a holiday party, I added some peppermint extract to the fudge topping, and it was a success. I bet other flavors (orange? almond? HAZELNUT?) would work too. The Recipe: (taken from  AllRecipes.com ) 1/2c butter 1c sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/3c unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2c flour 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp baking powder For the frosting: 3 tb butter 3 tb unsweetened coco...

These disappeared quickly. Every time I want to make pumpkin cookies, I look back to this blog to find a recipe I've enjoyed before. And then I remember that I always partially improvise my cookies, so there's no bloggable recipe, and also the cookies don't come out so well. Time to change that. I did a quick search for "healthy pumpkin oat cookies" and the first hit was from  Amy's Healthy Baking , which kind of seemed like fate. I read the recipe and it sounded great, so onward I went. I did follow the recipe without improvising (a step up for me), but I still couldn't be bothered with actually measuring the ingredients, so I bet these would be even better if someone wanted to go to ALL THAT EFFORT. But even with eyeballing the quantity of flour, these came out great and I will be excited to use this recipe again in the future. They are quite healthy - lots of oats, lots of pumpkin, and not too much butter/flour/sugar. The "sugar...

Must. Not. Eat. Toasted. Marshmallow. Until. After. Photo. Is. Taken. In the next display of Winter Baking Season, I really wanted to make brownies but I didn't want something so decadent in the house because I'd eat them all right away. I settled on these black bean brownies and they're perfect - more nutritious if I do binge-eat several in a night, but also so rich that I really am satisfied with just one. Well, one really big one. The toasted marshmallow topping is not in the  original recipe , and the brownies would be perfectly good without it. But I don't pass up an opportunity for toasted marshmallows. The Recipe: 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed 1/2 c dark chocolate chips 3 tb canola oil 3 eggs 2/3 c brown sugar 1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/8 tsp salt 1/2 bag marshmallows Pulse beans, 1/4 c of the chocolate chips, and oil in a food processor until well blended. Add the eggs...

I want to eat you. This is exactly the kind of baked good I crave - sweet and rich without being too sweet or rich, airy yet substantial-feeling because of the oats, and it has chocolate. And it's not terribly unhealthy, either. I mean, it's not a nutritious breakfast item, but it's not bad for a snack or dessert, which is when I want to eat them. I found this recipe  here  by searching Pinterest for ways to use up some sour cream. I followed it exactly except I decreased the cocoa powder to a tablespoon because I didn't really want them to be solid chocolate, this time at least. I also used all white flour instead of a white/wheat blend to make sure they were light and fluffy. I'm sure it's the sour cream that makes these so delicious, but I will definitely be trying them again with yogurt since I always have yogurt on hand and I foresee myself craving these someday and feeling the need to make them RIGHT NOW. The Recipe: 1/2 c sugar 1/2 c honey ...

And now I want more. As much as I love my  banana frozen yogurt , I've been cutting back on dairy and I wanted to see if I could create a dairy-free version. Having been underwhelmed with substituting various non-dairy yogurts, I scoured the internet and consolidated my newfound knowledge into this experiment. And it was perfect. Well, actually, it melts too fast. But other than that, it's perfect. The Recipe (serves 4): 4 bananas, peeled and frozen (optionally in halves or chunks to make blending easier) 2 tb almond butter 1 tb almond milk, plus more if needed 1 tsp vanilla extract pinch sea salt 1 tsp honey, optional depending on how ripe the bananas are chocolate chips, cherries, or other mix-ins, optional Blend all ingredients in food processor. Add more almond milk if necessary to get things moving, but it's best to keep it as thick as possible. The Verdict: Overall grade: A+ Overall reason: So so good, and legitimately healt...

My impatient chocolate glazing does not do justice to the deliciousness of these things. Ok, I got seriously excited when I tasted these. They are way better than I expected them to be. I'd had  the recipe  saved for a while and almost decided not to try them, but I was curious. I now cannot imagine moving forward without these in my life. I will be making them again. They're mostly chickpeas. They're as low-guilt as I think you can get with a dessert recipe that tastes this good. They're super easy. And they actually, I kid you not, taste like cookie dough. Check out  the original recipe  to see how pretty they would be if you took the time to freeze them, coat them completely in chocolate, and freeze them again. I whipped these up in 10 minutes total by drizzling some chocolate on top of the dough balls that I'd just formed, and then I just stuck them into the freezer for a few minutes to solidify the chocolate. But if you have that thing they call ...

Chocolate and cherries will get me through the rest of this cold, rainy February. In the midst of the low-carb/gluten-free/paleo craze, I've been thinking that all of these cookie recipes with almond meal look really good. I decided to go all out and try some cookies that have 100% almond meal, no flour. I wasn't sure what the texture would be, but my standards for texture in my baked goods have been significantly lowered since that three-year stretch around middle school when I enjoyed inventing fat-free cake recipes (with green food coloring, usually), so I decided to give it a go. It turns out they have great texture! I actually like the texture better than ordinary cookies. They're really hearty and rich. I love for my cookies to have a little bit of a bite to them, rather than dissolving in my mouth and making me instantly want another one. I felt really satisfied after two of these.  I pretty much followed  this recipe  and just added dried cherries, ...

They kind of look like chocolate chip cookies that are getting moldy. In the second and final installment of  Project Use Up The Leftover Pistachios , we make cookies. Cookies with pistachios, chocolate, and sea salt. They are delicious. This is clearly going to be something good. I used  this recipe  without changing it. The base is a pretty straightforward cookie recipe. Then you fold in the pistachios and chocolate. And finally, after placing the balls of cookie dough on the cookie sheet, you sprinkle each one with a little bit of sea salt. I'm a fan. The Recipe: 1 1/2 c flour 1/2 tsp sea salt, plus more for sprinkling on top 3/4 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 c unsalted butter, softened 1/4 c sugar 3/4 c brown sugar 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla extract 3/4 c pistachios, shelled and chopped 1 c dark chocolate chunks Combine flour, sea salt, baking powder, and baking soda Cream together butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla...