Red Velvet Crepes with Chocolate Cream Filling

I've been seeing red velvet flavored everything literally everywhere, (including coffee at my favorite local coffee shop! and it was delicious) so naturally I had to make my own healthy recipe of some sort. When I made these red velvet crepes, it was like eating dessert for breakfast. Especially with Peanut Butter & Co.'s Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter on top. Everyone knows Valentine's Day is pretty much just an excuse to eat more sweets...so why not have it for breakfast too?

Ingredients (serves one):
1/2 cup liquid egg whites
1 tbsp ground flaxseed
1/2 tbsp coconut flour
1 tsp psyllium husks (optional, but gives a better texture and adds fiber)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp LorAnn Oils Red Velvet Emulsion
1-2 stevia packets

Chocolate Cream filling:
3-4 tbsp plain greek yogurt
1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 stevia packet
splash of almond milk

Directions: Blend all ingredients. Spray a pan with non-stick spray and put on medium heat. When it's hot, pour 1/3 of the batter onto the pan. Cook for about 2-3 minutes, flip, and cook for 1-2 more minutes. Repeat for the rest of the batter, so you end up making 3 crepes. Mix ingredients for chocolate cream filling in a bowl, and spread on all 3 crepes. I also usually add banana slices to the middle of each crepe. Roll them up and top with dark chocolate peanut butter or your topping of choice!

Peanut Butter Apple Cinnamon Cake Bars

Another delicious, guilt-free dessert recipe! These cake bars are moist with the perfect amount of sweetness. They are also dairy-free, egg-free, and vegan, with no added sugar.

Ingredients for Apple Cinnamon Cake layer:
-1 cup almond flour
-1/2 cup oat flour
-1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
-1/3 cup baking stevia
-1/2 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
-1/2 tsp baking powder
-1/4 tsp sea salt
-1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
-3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
-1 cup unsweetened almond milk
-1 cup apples, peeled and diced

Ingredients for Peanut butter layer:
-1/4 cup natural peanut butter
-1 tbs coconut oil, soft but not melted
-2 tbsp almond meal
-2 tbsp sugar-free maple syrup
-pinch of sea salt

Directions: Preheat oven to 325F. First make the apple cinnamon cake layer. Mix dry ingredients and apples in one bowl, and wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Then pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix well. Pour batter into a baking dish coated with non-stick spray. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let cool for about 30 minutes. Then, mix ingredients for peanut butter layer. Spread evenly on top of the apple cinnamon cake. Refrigerate until peanut butter layer becomes more firm. Cut into squares, and keep stored in an airtight container in the fridge.

Healthy Double Chocolate Chip Brownies

"Healthy" and "brownie" in the same sentence...need I say more? These brownies were so delicious and moist, you'd never know that they are egg-free, dairy-free, grain-free, and gluten-free. It's no secret I have a major sweet tooth, and these more than satisfied my craving for something chocolately and sweet.

Ingredients:

-1 cup nut butter -- I used Peanut Butter & Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams

-3/4 cup pumpkin puree

-1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

-1/3 cup baking stevia (or agave, honey, or pure maple syrup)

-3 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder

-1/4 cup chocolate chips of choice -- I used Enjoy Life Chocolate Mini Chips

-1 tsp baking soda

-1/2 tsp baking powder

Directions: Preheat oven to 350F. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Spread the batter evenly into a baking pan coated well with non-stick spray (the batter should be pretty thick). Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool before cutting, and store in the fridge.

High Intensity Cardio Workout

I don't do cardio all that much right now, but when I do I prefer doing high intensity because running on a treadmill or elliptical can get really boring. High intensity cardio keeps your heart rate up and you burn more calories in a shorter amount of time. It keeps things interesting because there are so many different options. You can vary the exercises you do, as well as the time intervals or number of repetitions you do, so no two workouts ever have to be the same.

Here's the workout I made for my sister and I today. Do each superset twice, for all 4 supersets. Then do it again! We did it with no rest except for a 30 second break in between the 2 rounds. This workout kicked our butts! Be prepared to sweat!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread Bars

Hope everyone had a great new year! Naturally here in New England we had a snowstorm to start off 2014, so I was stuck inside all day. As much as I hate being cooped up inside, it was a good opportunity for my sister and I to bake these chocolate peanut butter banana bread bars because they take a little bit longer to make with all of the different layers. It was so worth it though-- I can’t think of a better combination than banana bread, peanut butter and chocolate!

Banana Bread Layer
Ingredients:

-1 cup oat flour (rolled oats ground into a flour)

-1 tsp baking powder

-1 tsp baking soda

-1/2 tsp sea salt

-1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

-1/4 cup sugar-free maple syrup (can use regular)

-1/3 cup almond milk

-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

-2 ripe bananas, mashed

-1 tsp cinnamon

Directions: Preheat oven to 325. Mix dry ingredients in one bowl, wet ingredients in another, and then mix wet into dry. Pour into a baking pan sprayed well with non-stick spray (we used a 9” round cake pan..a square pan would probably be better). Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for at least 20 minutes.

Peanut Butter Layer

Ingredients:

-1/4 cup natural peanut butter

-1 tbs coconut oil, soft but not melted

-2 tbs almond meal

-2 tbs sugar-free maple syrup

-pinch of sea salt

Directions: Mix ingredients and spread evenly on top of banana bread layer. Put pan in the freezer for 45 minutes to an hour.

Chocolate layer:

-1/3 bag of dairy-free chocolate chips

-1/2 tbs coconut oil

Directions: Heat oil on medium-low until melted. Then add the chocolate chips and stir until completely melted. Pour on top of peanut butter layer and freeze for an hour. 

Cut into squares and enjoy! :)

*These are vegan-friendly and have no added sugar. They can be gluten-free if you use gluten-free oats for the flour, or a different gluten-free flour. They're also dairy-free if you use dairy-free chocolate chips, such as Enjoy Life brand. 

Pumpkin Protein Donuts

I whipped up some pumpkin donuts for dessert tonight and to have for a quick breakfast tomorrow because I have to be into work at 6:30AM! Not exactly the most ideal way to start off Christmas Eve, but I only have 2 more days of working at GNC so I'm trying to make the best of it. These are a perfect way to start off the morning. Unlike regular donuts, they're high in protein, gluten-free, grain-free, and no refined sugar. I had 3 for dessert tonight and I'll probably have the other 3 in the morning. I'll take these donuts over one 300-calorie donut from Dunkin any day!

Ingredients:

-3/4 cup pumpkin puree

-1 scoop vanilla protein powder (cinnamon flavored would be good too)

-2 tbsp almond flour

-1/4 cup egg whites

-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

-1/2 tsp maple extract

-1/2 tsp baking powder

-1/4 tsp baking soda

-1/2 tsp cinnamon

-1 tsp pumpkin spice

-stevia to taste (I used 3 tbsp baking stevia--I prefer sweeter baked goods)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Mix dry ingredients in one bowl, and wet ingredients in another. Then combine wet into dry. Spray a donut pan with non-stick spray and pour the batter into each donut well, making 6 donuts. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before transferring them out of the pan. 

These could also be made into muffins, but they would just need to bake longer. I topped a few of mine with maple glaze (mixture of sugar-free maple syrup and coconut flour), and they also taste delicious with peanut butter, greek yogurt, or as is!

Nutrition Information (for 1 out of 6 donuts): 54 calories, 1.5g fat, 3g carbs, 1 g fiber, 7g protein

Healthy Gingerbread Cookies

Whenever I'm really stressed out from school, I always find myself in the kitchen. Besides working out, baking is the one thing that always makes me feel better. It makes no sense because I'm putting off all the work I have to do, which will just make me even more stressed out, but taking a break never hurts! So tonight is one of those nights--I'm just a few days away from being done with my first semester of grad school, so naturally instead of working on the paper worth 30% of my grade, I baked some cookies. At midnight...on a Saturday night. Totally normal. They're similar to my healthy snickerdoodle cookies recipe, but in the spirit of Christmas being 2 weeks away, I came up with a gingerbread version. I seriously can't get enough of gingerbread lately! Just like my other cookies, these are paleo, vegan, and gluten-free.

Ingredients:
1 cup almond flour
2 tbsp melted coconut oil
1/4 cup baking stevia (or honey or agave)
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp blackstrap molasses
1 tbsp unsweetened vanilla almond milk, or milk of choice
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp each of nutmeg and ground cloves (I didn't measure any of the spices, this is just a guess)

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine almond flour, stevia, baking soda, spices and sea salt in one mixing bowl. Mix the coconut oil, milk, and molasses in a separate bowl. Then pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix well. Form the dough into balls about 1 tbsp big. Then place on the baking sheet. Flatten each dough ball slightly. Bake for 8-10 minutes. They will be very soft when they come out of the oven, so let them cool for a while before transferring them from the baking sheet. Enjoy!