Skinny Chocolate Muffins

I am all for rationalizing my indulgences and turning guilty pleasures into just pleasures. Especially when it comes to chocolate. I recently made these muffins and loved them. I want to work on making them stay a bit moister for longer - let me know if you have any tips!

Ingredients

• 1/2 c brown sugar + 1 tbsp. brown sugar, firmly packed
• 3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 c water
• 1/4 c unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 margarine, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. In one bowl, stir together flour, brown sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt
3. In a second bowl, stir together the remaining ingredients
4. Pour the mixture from the second bowl into the first bowl
5. Stir until you have a smooth batter
6. Pour into a nonstick muffin tin coated with cooking spray
7. Fill until half full
8. Bake 20 minutes, or until the toothpick test comes out clean
9. Enjoy!

Marshmallow Dreidels for Chanukah

Tonight is the first night of Chanukah! Here is one quick and super easy dessert I will be bringing to my family's Chanukah party this evening.

What you need:

• Wax or parchment paper
• Cookie Sheet
• Microwave safe bowl

Ingredients:

•  1 1/4 cups chocolate chips or candy melts (I used chocolate chips)
• 12 large marshmallows
• 12 thin long pretzel sticks, salted or unsalted
• 12 chocolate kisses
• 1 tube white icing for the Hebrew letters

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet with the wax or parchment paper
2. Insert a pretzel stick into each of the marshmallows, you will want the pretzel to go in almost to the bottom of the marshmallow. I then cut off the top of the pretzel stick so the "dreidel top" wasn't too long
3. In a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips or candy melts. Do not over heat or they will begin to burn.
4. Stir the chocolate chips or candy melts, then dip the bottom of a chocolate chip into the melted chocolate and stick it onto the bottom of the marshmallow, on the opposite side of where you have inserted the pretzel stick
5. Place the marshmallow on its side on the wax or parchment paper to allow the chocolate kiss to set. Repeat with the remaining marshmallows
6. Place the cookie sheet into the fridge for 30 minutes to ensure the kisses stay attached to the marshmallow
7. Reheat the chocolate chips or candy melts so that it is soft again. Using the pretzel stick as a handle, dip each of the treats into the chocolate so that it is coated up to the top of the marshmallow
8. Place the dipped desserts back onto your lined baking sheet and repeat with the remaining marshmallows
9. Put the cookie sheet back into the fridge for 30 minutes so that the outer shell of chocolate can set
10. Taking your white icing tube and add Hebrew letters onto one side of the dreidels
11. Let the dreidels set for 30 minutes
12. Serve and enjoy!
    
    
     

Spaghetti Squash Zucchini Casserole

I used to really love cooking. Living alone now, I tend to cook more for my dog than I do for myself, however. Though I hate to admit it, I'm pretty lazy when it comes to making my own meals. I will spend four hours making chicken, sweet potato and carrots for my dog, but will settle for a microwave dinner or something easy to grab for my own dinner.

Last week, someone was at my house and said, "You have such a pretty kitchen." So I decided to start using it! I'm back to running daily and it makes less and less sense to not eat well when I'm treating my body better.

So! Healthier eating starts today.

Spaghetti Squash Zucchini Casserole

Ingredients

1 spaghetti squash
1 tbsp. garlic
1 bottle spaghetti sauce
1 large tomato                                                                      
3 medium zucchini
1 package light shredded mozzarella
1/2 package shredded parmesan

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Poke spaghetti squash all over with a knife and cook in the microwave for 9 minutes, or until soft.
3. While squash is cooking, add garlic and zucchini to a non-stick pan and sauté over medium heat.
4. Once squash is soft, cut it in half, scoop out the seeds and with a fork, scrape the flesh. It will come out easily in long strings, like noodle spaghetti.

5. Place the spaghetti squash "noodles" into a casserole dish.
6. Add the cooked veggies, diced tomato, sauce and most of the cheese. Mix well.
7. Sprinkle leftover cheese on top and bake for 30 minutes, or until the cheese on top is bubbly.

8. Let cool slightly, serve and ENJOY!

 

 

20 Things Chicagoans Never Say

 

1.      It’s 2am. There won’t be a line at Garrett’s.

2.      I’ve never had deep dish pizza.

3.      There’s 2 feet of snow and a lawn chair at the curb. I wonder why?

4.      Freeway.

5.      Let’s take the 90. Unlike our friends in the West, we’re on a last name basis with our expressways.

6.      Yes, I’d love to spend the day on Michigan Avenue!

7.      Want to get Superdawg? I can just run in and pick it up. Why sit in the car?

8.      I don’t own a North Face.

9.      Who’s Billy Dec?

10.   Let’s grab lunch at Taste of Chicago. It’ll be fun.

11.   What windchill?

12.   I never put on weight in the winter.

13.   Wait til next year? Nah. We’re goin’ all the way THIS year!

14.   I sure wish I could find a Starbucks.

15.   Jay Cutler totally deserved that contract.

16.   Michael who?

17.   I’ve never dated a guy with a beard.

18.   What do you mean “The Mob?”

19.   The Dan Ryan? Easiest way to get around the city.

20.   Earthquake!

Green Juice + Protein

I recently moved into my first home, and was given a juicer as a housewarming gift. Each morning since, I look forward to waking up and putting together a delicious green juice.

Today's green juice + protein recipe:

• 1 full pear
• 3 large handfuls spinach (make sure to wash it first to get the dirt particles off!)
• 1 small handful mint
• 1 organic cucumber
• 1 small handful parsley
• 2 rounded scoops Tera's Whey Hunger Control Organic Protein With Fiber & Oat Bran

Why these ingredients you ask?

• Pear: Pears contain Vitamin C and Vitamin K - both vitamins that I have been low in, for most of my life. Rather than take supplements, I choose to get my vitamins through real food. Vitamin K helps maintain your bone health as you get older. It has also shown to help decrease the risk of developing osteoporosis. I also use the pear rather than use any artificial sweetener, as pear juice sweetens vegetable juices.
• Spinach: I have long heard that spinach is great for cleansing your digestive tract and colon. Nutrient dense, it contains vitamins A, B complex, C, E, K, carotenes, folate, manganese, calcium, iron, iodine, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, some trace elements and many valuable amino acids. One of the biggest benefits to me, is the amount of protein it contains - almost equally as much as a rich piece of meat!
• Mint: Mint has one of the highest antioxidant properties of any food. It helps aid digestion and keeps my stomach feeling great. It tastes great, even with a small amount added to juice, and the added benefit of keeping my breath fresh doesn't hurt!
• Cucumber: While cucumber is well known for it's ability to cool down the body, I don't need to worry about that much now, with winter in full blast here in Chicago! I like cucumber for the amount of water it contains, which helps keeps me hydrated, as well as the amount of Vitamin C cucumbers contain.
• Parsley: To me, parsley is a super-food. It contains vitamin A, B, C, and K, folate and iron. It also has high beneficial mineral contents like calcium, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, vanadium, and zinc. The best part? It is known to help with arthritis, which I sadly suffer from, and this recent weather has only exacerbated it.
• Tera's Whey: I'm obsessed with protein. It's the basis of my diet, so anytime I find one that helps keep me full and tastes great, I add it to everything.

I use the low setting on my juice extractor to preserve all the enzymes that I can.

Do you juice? What are your favorite ingredients?