Sweet Tooth Fix

Hopefully this rainy weather isn't putting you in a bad mood... tomorrow is Friday! That should help cheer you up a bit :) I have been dying to make my own frozen yogurt. I live with a guy who has an extremely large sweet tooth who loves to come home with donuts and ice cream on occasion. Yup, I just totally called my boyfriend out! You bet I went there.

As many of you know my mom had an ice cream maker in the basement that had my name all over it once I spotted that bad boy! Too bad I am completely clueless when it comes to making ice cream/frozen yogurt and didn't know you had to have an army of ice cubes in your freezer to complete the task! What's a girl to do? Make some stuffed oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies! I stuffed reese's peanut cups inside of my cookie dough and let me tell you they lasted approx. .342243 seconds at work this morning!

warning: these cookies are not low in fat but they are high in deliciousness!!!

Reese's Peanut Butter Stuffed Oatmeal Cookies

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup of steel cut oats
Couple dashes of cinnamin
Reese's miniature peanut butter cups

Directions:

Prepare your cookie dough as follows... Cream together your butter and sugars. Add the egg and vanilla extract. Combine the rest of your dry ingredients. Next take a spoonful of your cookie dough and flatten it out in your hand. Place the peanut butter cup in the center of the flattened dough, cover the entire candy with the surrounding dough and form into a ball. Repeat until your cookie sheet is full of deliciousness! Cook in a 375 degree oven and bake for 8-10 minutes. I like my cookies soft in the center so I take out as soon as they are brown around the edges. Cool on a cooling rack and enjoy!

If that isn't eye candy I don't know what is. Even a chocolate hater like me couldn't resist these bad boys!

Fat Free Strawberry Banana Cheesecake Frozen Yogurt:

8 ounces of chopped strawberries
1 medium sized ripe banana
2 cups fat free yogurt or fat free greek yogurt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar or sugar substitute
8 ounces fat free cream cheese

Directions:

Chop your strawberries and bananas. Combine all ingredients into a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth. Follow your ice cream machine's directions. Add in chopped walnuts if you'd like :-) For 4 portions this recipe is about 150 calories.

I can't decide what to do with all these cookies and leftover frozen yogurt. Oh, wait. Fro yo cookie sandwiches. My cube is going to be the most popular cube on the block tomorrow at work!

Wrapping these babies in some plastic wrap and freezing over night! I'm off to the gym so my pants still fit tomorrow!

Chic Meets Healthy is now on Facebook!! Check out the latest happenings and find updates on my blog here. <3

What's your favorite frozen yogurt flavor and toppings?

xoxo,
Cara

Roasted

 "You can do anything, but not everything."

After a crazy weekend out on the town drinking too many vodka waters, dancing with my lovely friends and neglecting my healthy eating habits at the wee hours of the morning I am happy to return to my daily routine. How the heck did I go out every weekend in college and survive? My weekend eats included some of the following:

Don't worry I did throw in some strawberries and a homemade taco salad to the mix on Sunday. I didn't have a huge appetite this weekend, but probably should have stayed away from the late night McDonald's run on Saturday after the bar. One day I am going to start a fast food chain that is healthy and open til 3 am on the weekend so this can be avoided.  Now I just need to find out where they sell pill versions of the stomach flu - just kiddddinnn'.

On another note! I won Oats and Spice's Nutridel Cookie giveaway! I am looking forward to getting these bad boys in the mail! I think the best part about winning this giveaway was the fact that none of these varieties are chocolate... that means more for me and less to give away to Chris ;-)

And the cherry on top of my Monday Sundae was walking out my door this morning to find a package sent to me from Erica at LÄRABAR to review. 4 delicious bars I am so excited to try and tell you guys about! Stay tuned for that post later this week!

After hitting up the grocery store and only picking up the essentials {yes, I made a list and stuck to it} I decided to make another version of homemade hummus. If I could eat garlic on everything and not scare away others by my breath I would. In fact, I do... and this is why I always have gum handy.

Roasted Garlic Hummus:

3-4 large garlic cloves
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 can chickpeas, drained
1 lemon or 1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons sesame tahini
3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper {I used roasted red pepper oil}
1/4 cup fresh chives, minced
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts {optional}

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place garlic cloves on a small piece of foil, lightly drizzle with 1 teaspoon olive oil and cracked black pepper. Seal foil to form a pouch, and roast garlic in oven until soft for about 20-25 minutes. Add the chickpeas, roasted garlic and process until finely chopped. Add lemon juice, sesame tahini, water, salt, cayenne pepper/red pepper oil, and 1 tablespoon olive oil, and process until smooth. Stir in chives. You could top with roasted red pepper slices or toasted pine nuts.

garlic pre oven

i used my blender to whip up this delicousness

ta-da! the chives are hiding in there somewhere

For breakfast I made a protein smoothie. Can't wait to make some Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats {OOIAJ for all you foodies} tonight for the morning. I finally bought my first can of organic pumpkin puree. A little ironic if you knew my love for all things pumpkin. Hopefully this will save me from eating another slice of the pumpkin cheesecake we have in our fridge from Cheesecake Factory. If you come visit me, I'll give you the rest of the box!

Strawberry Banana Protein Smoothie:

3 strawberries sliced
1/2 banana sliced
1 scoop vanilla protein
1/4 cup Chobani greek yogurt
3/4 cup nonfat milk

pre-blended

I'm off to the gym to work off the weekend! Here are just a few of the amazing people I spent my weekend with!

xoxo,
Cara

Tofu Banana Bread

I was once afraid of people saying, "Who does she think she is?" Now I have the courage to stand and say, "This is who I am."

This morning I reunited with my long lost friend - oatmeal. I had an extra couple minutes so I decided to get fancy and make them on the stove instead of the microwave. Chris says he likes the taste better that way, I think I like the taste better in the microwave... but it did save me from having to clean up any explosions that would have indefinitely happened. I topped each with half a banana, sliced strawberries and galaxy granola. I found this at the grocery store about a month ago and it has 70% less fat than other granolas because they use fruit instead of oils. How perfect.

If you haven't heard, Woman's Health Magazine is holding a blog contest. I have nominated a few of my favorites, go ahead and enter me for a chance to be nominated! I'll love you forever and you can enter as many times as you like! I also added a few of my favorite blog reads as a tab, check them out! All those girls are amazing!

After waking up from a dreamless night, I decided to throw some baby powder on my roots, dress down and relax. It felt good and I love getting to work earlier than normal. It makes me feel productive. However, I do miss my Ojon Dry Shampoo. I am a firm believer every girl should carry this in her beach and/or gym bag. It works so well! Do you ever use dry shampoo? I know so many who are clueless to this! Hello to days without showers and not looking homeless!

Chobani announced today via twitter that it was national Banana Bread Day. What a perfect way to introduce you guys to tofu banana bread! It is vegan and oh so delicious. I first was introduced to this by Chris' mom. If you are afraid to try tofu, this is the way to do it!!

Tofu Banana Bread:

2 ripe bananas
1/2 pound tofu
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flower
1 cup unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup walnuts optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray. Line pan with foil, letting edges overhang, and spray foil with cooking spray. Blend or beat the tofu and bananas together in a food processor or mixer until smooth. Scrape down the sides. Add sugar and vanilla. Process until fully blended. In a medium bowl, mix together flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add flour mixture to the banana mixture and beat or pulse in a food processor just until smooth. By hand, fold in walnuts, if using. Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes until lightly browned, springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Remove from pan. Peel off the foil and let the cake fully cool on the wire rack. Enjoy! I got this recipe from food.com and it tastes amazing. Serves 10 and is 160 calories per serving.

dry and wet ingredients

blended tofu and banana

all ingredients combined, this is one thick batter!

finished product, if you look closely you can see the piece i tore off the top!

So good! I can't wait for breakfast!

It's Wednesday, so I am sure you all can only assume what I was doing. Kickboxing class! I never get sick of it, and I hope you don't get sick of reading about it. I am obsessed with my instructor. I don't know who invented turbo time, but they are a genius! Pre-workout. Your Welcome, now take your butt to the gym! I hadn't worked out since Saturday and was feeling extra guilty about all the pasta and pumpkin cheesecake I ate last night!

Chance wanted his 15 minutes of fame!

I made some asian style lettuce wraps for dinner. It was my first time and I have to say I'm pretty impressed with the recipe I came up with!

Cara's Asian Lettuce Wraps and Rice:

2 chicken breasts
cooking spray
6 green onions (finely sliced)
10-15 baby carrots (finely sliced)
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1/2 jalapeno (finely diced)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon garlic
juice of one lime
1 cup uncooked rice
lettuce or butter lettuce would have been good
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Cook chicken breasts with cooking spray, salt and pepper. Slice and set aside. In the same pan (on low) add garlic, lime juice, sesame oil, fish sauce, soy sauce, 1/2 sliced green onions and jalapeno. Stir until warm. Add your chicken to the sauce and let it hang out until you are finished cooking your rice. Top lettuce wraps with rice, chicken, sauce and the sliced green onions and carrots. Done!

I think that was a successful night of cooking!

Do you have a favorite class at the gym? Would you rather cook your oatmeal in the microwave or on the stove? Have you ever tried tofu before? If so, what was the recipe?

xoxo,
Cara

I HEART MUFFINS

 TGIF! If you must have motivation, think of your paycheck on Friday.

It's sad that I wish some of the week days away so quickly. I'm going to be 24 this year and I can't help to think "where has the time gone?!". Most people have a hard time with 25, being a quarter of a century old... and don't get me wrong I probably definitely will! 24 is the age my parents got married and the age my cousin and his wife had their first kid. It definitely makes me sit down and think where I am in my life. No where near these things! But it is a new year and I can happily say I am happy not to rush life. I am happy that my relationship is healthy and strong and I still have a lot of growing to do myself! So take that 2011! Maybe I'll only have a mini-breakdown come September!

I know I said I was going to make banana walnut oatmeal this morning, but I completely forgot we had a work breakfast scheduled! Being the thinker that I am I found a peanut butter banana recipe that I made a few tweeks to and it turned out DELICIOUS!

Cara's Oatmeal, Peanut Butter and Banana Muffins:
1 cup of skim milk
2 tablespoons of honey
2 mashed up bananas
1/2 cup of organic peanut butter
2 cups of flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3-4 tablespoons oatmeal


Preheat the oven to 375. Mix your dry ingredients in one bowl and the oil, milk, bananas, honey, peanut butter and eggs in a separate bowl. If you are like me, your bananas might not be as mushy on their own... to help them out I put them (skins on) in the microwave for 40 seconds. It did the trick! Combine the dry with wet ingredients and mix well. Add to lined and sprayed (PAM) muffin tins. Sprinkle the tops with oatmeal. Cook for 20-25 minutes, or until a tooth pick comes out clean. This will make 15-18 muffins. I made 6 heart shaped muffins for Chris and I and threw the rest in a bread tin to take to work!

My dry ingredients. I sifted these just to make sure there weren't any clumps!

Mix well! The last thing you want is some flour spots in your muffins!

The finished products! look good huh?! And NO butter! I have better photos of the heart muffins Ill add later.

My little chef, Chance! He always is helping me in the kitchen. Look how big he is getting!!

Who needs oatmeal when you can have it in a muffin! I got the idea for "Fill in the Blank" Friday from another blog and who doesn't love reading above other people's lives and their perspectives! I mean that is why you visit my blog right?! I finally showed my boyfriend my blog last night and he LOVED it. He has always been my rock and so supportive of everything I do. 

BTW, does anyone have any good suggestions for a sentimental anniversary gift? I already have something in mind but wanted to give him a gift he doesn't already know about! If you do send me an email....

1.   My favorite quote is -  There are sooo many!! I have always loved "knowing is better than wondering, waking is better than sleeping, and even the biggest failure, even the worst, beats the hell out of never trying."

2.  A bad habit I have is  -  Leaving for work on time! No matter if I wake up an hour and a half before I have to leave I am always in a rush!

3.  The first time I felt like a "grown up" was - when Chris and I moved into our first solo apartment together, no roomies. It was my senior year of college. Also, the day I started paying for my own health insurance. I've always paid my own bills, but this was a hard adjustment planning for a 401k at 23.

4.  Weekends are - oh so wonderful! I get to catch up on sleep, always make it to the gym, hang out with friends and lay on the couch doing absolutely NOTHING. Although they would be better if Chris didn't work all weekend.

5.  When I was a child I wished my name was -  this is a hard one. I have always loved the name Avery though! My full name is Carolyn, but I have gone by Cara for about 10 years now. I am always wondering when I will go back. I'm not ready to grow up yet!

6.  I wish - I could make enough money in my career to not worry about money. Be able to travel, buy a house and go out on the weekends without counting my pennies. One day!

7.  A secret I have is - I used to wake up my dog Princeton every morning with the same song. "Good morning, good morning, good morning to you. Good morning to you Mister Princey-Poo!" I still get upset and miss him everyday.

Remember to always follow your heart <3

Much love and I hope your Friday at work goes by quickly!
xoxo,
Cara