Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Muffins

Today is a special day, not only because I’m sharing whole wheat chocolate banana muffins on the blog, but also because I realized that I missed Living Lou’s first birthday last week! It was on the 9th, but I’m interrupting the regular Meatless Monday program for this very special occasion.

I can’t believe the site is a year old - it’s so exciting! It’s been a crazy, hectic year but I can’t imagine it without Living Lou and the amazing food blogging community.

When I started this blog I was a 17 year old, guitar playing, film loving, high school junior, trying to find an outlet as exam stress built up. Today, I’m still that same soccer playing, muffin loving girl but, I’m now 18, and a high school senior. This past year has been absolutely wild, you’ve seen me host a Royal Wedding Brunch, celebrate many Meatless Mondays, and embrace baking with prune puree and soon enough you’ll see me take on my fear of baking with yeast.

Most people like to celebrate their blog’s anniversary with cupcakes or cake, but you know me and muffins are my absolute favourite, so I’m celebrating our anniversary with these Healthy Banana Chocolate Muffins. You’re probably thinking, “Who celebrates with something healthy?!” well, truth be told, you would never know that these are healthy.

Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Muffins (makes 12 muffins)
Recipe adapted from: Handle the Heat

Ingredients

3 mashed bananas
1/3 cup prune puree
1 egg
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp whole wheat flour
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 tbsp flaxseed meal
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 scant tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 and line a muffin tin with baking cups. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine mashed bananas, prune puree, egg and sugars. Add flours, cocoa powder, flaxseed meal, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix lightly with a rubber spatula and fold in chocolate chips.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups (I like to use an ice cream scoop) and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Store muffins in an airtight container at room temp for up to 4 days. Although, they probably won’t last that long.

Well, Happy 1st Birthday Living Lou and enjoy these healthy, whole wheat chocolate banana muffins.

- Lou

Spicy Sweet Potato Fries

We’re less than one month away from Living Lou’s first birthday...did you know the first recipe I ever posted was for sweet potato fries? It seems pretty fitting that today I’m talking about my new, favourite recipe for sweet potato fries.

Sweet potato fries remind me of my mom because she loves them as much as I do. Often when we’re watching one of our favourite shows, I’ll make a batch of sweet potato fries for us to snack on. Not only are they fun to eat (who doesn’t love fries?) but they are really good for you as well. This year we’re watching season 2 of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution... and all I’m saying is that I’m so glad that I pack my own lunch.

These sweet potato fries are a little spicy, but full of exotic flavors which pair nicely with the sweetness of the potatoes. Not only do these make a great snack but they are a pretty nice side dish with dinner - kids will love them...who doesn’t love fries?


Spicy Sweet Potato Fries (4 servings)

Ingredients
2 medium sized sweet potatoes (each sweet potato should yield 2 servings), cut into matchsticks
2 egg whites
1/2 tsp each of paprika, cumin, chili powder and black pepper
1/4 tsp each of garlic powder, onion powder and salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper and cinnamon*

* omit the cayenne pepper if you don’t like spicy foods or are making for children.

Directions

Preheat oven to 425F.

Peel and cut sweet potatoes into desired size. I like to cut mine into thick matchsticks, or the classic french fry shape. Place fries in a large bowl.

Combine all the spices, salt and pepper in a bowl.

Whisk the two egg whites together and pour over the sweet potatoes. Using your hands to mix around making sure all the potatoes are evenly coated.

Pour the spice mixture over top of the sweet potatoes and toss to evenly distribute flavors.

On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, bake sweet potatoes for 20-25 minutes or until fully cooked.

What shows are you enjoying?

- Lou

Whole Wheat Bran Muffins

Muffins have to be one of my favourite things to eat for breakfast because you can have sweet muffins or hearty muffins, or both. Muffins are truly one of those baked goods you can never get tired of because they are just so versatile! Take my favourite carrot muffins and apple muffins, you'll never go wrong with muffins!

You can eat muffins in a multitude of ways, warm from the oven with a dollop of butter and a big glass of milk, or, as you run out the door in a flurry after you spent that extra five minutes in bed or as you sit at your desk working.

Anyways, these are the perfect breakfast muffins, especially when eaten warm straight from the oven (that's when they taste best!) Plus they are pretty good for you, as far as baked goods go, whole wheat bran muffins, with a hint of cinnamon and apple ... gimme!

Whole Wheat Bran Muffins

Ingredients (yields 6-8 medium sized muffins)

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oats
1/3 cup + 2 tbsp of wheat bran
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 pinch salt
1 egg
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup cinnamon apple sauce
1/4 cup maple syrup

Directions

Begin by preheating the oven to 375. Line a muffin tin with paper cups or grease with butter.

Whisk the flour, oats, 1/3 cup bran, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a bowl.

In a separate bowl combine the egg, milk, apple sauce and maple syrup.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir together until just mixed. Do not over mix, this will lead to a dense muffin!

Using an ice cream scoop, scoop batter into muffin tin. Sprinkle the tops with bran and a few oats.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.

These muffins are a little bit dry, so I highly recommend eating these straight out of the oven with a big glass of milk and a little butter!

Enjoy the muffins,

Lou

Chili Lime Popcorn

Award show season and popcorn go hand in hand. Now that award show season has officially begun, it's time to get snacking! With the Critics Choice happening last week and now with the Golden Globes today, it marks the time to to root for my favourite movies of the past year. I'm not sure if you, like me, are completely obsessed with award shows ... but it certainly is one of my favourite things about this awful January/February stretch we have here.

Popcorn is probably one of my most beloved snacks; I just can't watch a movie without munching on some of the salty and buttery goodness... but this is the sad part, it's not very good for you - imagine that! Well, the ever genius Martha Stewart has resolved that issue with her to-die-for, healthy, chili lime popcorn, with - gasp - no butter!

So, as we sit down tonight with some chili lime popcorn, rooting for our favourite movies (I'm cheering on Black Swan and The Kings Speech!) and wondering what on earth everyone is wearing and why their stylists would think it would be a good idea to dress them in that, we won't feel guilty for snacking on far too much of this delicious popcorn!

Chili Lime Popcorn
source: Martha Stewart

Ingredients
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup popcorn kernels
1 1/4 tsp chili powder
1 1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp lime zest
1 large lime wedge

Directions

Begin by heating up 1 tbsp of oil in a pot over medium heat, place 2 or 3 kernels in the pot. Once they pop pour in the remaining kernels and shake the pan to coat all the kernels in oil and cover the pot. Cooking for about 6 or 7 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally until all the kernels have popped.

While the popcorn is popping, get your lime zest ready (I used about 1 whole lime, depending on the size, you may need 2.) Add the spices, salt and lime zest to a bowl.

Pour popped popcorn into a large bowl and cover with the remaining 1 tbsp of oil, next evenly distribute your spice and lime zest mixture over the popcorn, tossing the popcorn to completely cover. Finally, sprinkle with lime juice and enjoy!

Have you ever noticed, as the night goes on, the Globes begin to get increasingly sloppy? It's pretty entertaining!

And with that, here's to a happy awards show season! Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

- Lou

Cheese Garlic Bread

You know it's the holidays when in the middle of baking cookies, your doorbell unexpectedly rings and you're left standing there with a big (fake) smile on your face, but really you're thinking "Oh no. I have nothing for them to eat!"

Well don't worry, I've come to your rescue! This is something which can be whipped up in 15 minutes: 7 minutes (yes, very precise) to prep your ingredients, and another 7 minutes in the oven and then a minute to slice and serve! And this is sure to be a crowd pleaser, I can't even begin to tell you how many times people ask me to make this garlic bread.

Cheese Garlic Bread
Recipe adapted from: One Lovely Life

Ingredients

1 loaf of bread, can be a french loaf, but I find that ciabatta has the best results
2 green onions, sliced
1/2 cup mayonnaise
5 tbsp softened butter
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 cups grated cheese (I use the store bought, pre-grated mixture of cheddar, Colby and Monterrey Jack)
1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Half your load lengthwise. Roughly slice your green onions. Soften butter in the microwave for 10-20 seconds.

Now that all the ingredients are prepared, combine the green onions, butter, mayonnaise, crushed garlic, pepper and cheese in a bowl. Make sure it's fully combined.

Spread evenly over both halves of bread, and pop in the oven for about 5-7 minutes. Or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Allow to cool for a minute or so, and slice bread into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Serve immediately!

This is seriously the best garlic bread, and whoever you serve it to will be completely smitten!

Hope this holiday season is treating you all well,

- Lou

Whole Wheat Carrot Muffins

I think I'm obsessed with muffins, and these whole wheat carrot muffins have fueled that obsession, not only are they really, and I mean really good, but they are also nice and healthy too! For me, muffins are something which allow my creativity as a cook to blossom because you can do really whatever you want with them, the possibilities are endless! Once you have a nice basic recipe, you're good to go with any ingredients you have on hand. Muffins make the most scrumptious breakfast, you can heat them up in the microwave and eat them warm or if you're running late (as I usually am) you can grab them as you rush out the door.

With the holidays coming up, I'm sure there are a ton people out there who are having house guests, and have a slight breakfast dilemma going on. I'll tell you something, if I was staying at your house, and you served muffins for breakfast I would definitely come back for a visit.

There are so many varieties of muffins that I love, these whole wheat apple muffins are one of my favourites. I like to keep lists of recipes I want to make, and let me tell you those lists are literally endless. Maybe one day I'll share them so you can see just how crazy long they really are. And guess what one of those lists is? An ever growing list of muffins to try, chocolate chip, lemon poppy seed, pineapple, jam surprise, sweet potato, coconut... shall I go on? For starters, let's make this one, and then soon enough I'll be back with another muffin recipe!

Whole Wheat Carrot Muffins (makes 12)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup oats
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 carrot, grated
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

First of all, start off by preheating your oven to 375 degrees. Also, using butter grease a muffin tin, or line the tin with paper liners.

Next, prepare the carrot by chopping it into 1 - 2 inch pieces and pulsing in the food processor. It's so much easier than sitting there grating the carrot.

Next, combine dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and lightly mix. Once just combined mix in the carrots and walnuts. (Note: I like to additionally pulse my walnuts in the food processor to make them nice and small.)

Once everything is combined, using a regular sized ice cream scoop, scoop the batter into your buttered muffin tin.

Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until when tested with a toothpick the toothpick comes out clean.

Remove from the tin and cool for about 5 minutes before diving in!

- Lou

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

Confession, I had chocolate chips for breakfast. Why? Good question... well, it was because we were all out of these muffins! (And also, I was making mint chocolate chip cookies, so they were tempting me,) but really, it was because we had no more muffins. It was still a good breakfast, but not nearly as satisfying as these bad boys.

These are hearty, and scrumptious, and they are the perfect breakfast, especially when you are rushing out the door at 7:50 when you're supposed to be somewhere at 8... no that didn't happen to me this week, it's just a hypothetical situation.

These have it all, protein (walnuts!) as well as some sweetness (apples!) and hearty (oatmeal!). Don't these just make you want to dance a little jig? Or lick your lips in anticipation, whatever floats your boat.

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins
recipe adapted from: Gourmetish

Ingredients
(makes 12 muffins)

1 1/2 cups chopped apple
1 cup oats
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup apple cider
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Butter a muffin tin.

Start by peeling and chopping the apples, place them aside in a bowl.

In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients, (flours, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg,) create a well in the middle.

In another bowl, combine the wet ingredients (yogurt, apple cider, vegetable oil, vanilla, and egg).

Pour the wet ingredients into the well in the dry ingredients. Mix just until combine. Add the apples and walnuts, mixing until evenly distributed. Be careful not to over-mix as that will create a very dense muffing.

Using an ice cream scoop, scoop batter into the muffin tin until about 2/3 of the way full.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until when pricked with a toothpick it comes out clean.

Make a batch of these and enjoy them for breakfast this week! Yum!

- Lou

Homemade Granola

Mmmm, I love granola! I think everyone loves granola, don't you think? You can eat it as cereal, you can add it to your yogurt, you can make granola bars... seriously, it's such a delicious and healthy snack, you can even just grab a handful as you're running out the door. It's packed full of protein (in all of the nuts!) which will give you a protein kick as you begin (or carry on) your day! And it makes a seriously awesome gift. Since this recipe makes a ton, you don't have to worry about not having enough delicious granola left over for yourself and your own family after gifting some for friends and family. I ended up giving a lot of it away to friends and I received a ton of positive feedback!

Ingredients
3 cups toasted oats (toast for 15 minutes at 375 degrees)
½ cup milk Powder
1 cup chopped almonds
1 cup coconut
½ cup sunflower seeds
1 cup chopped pecans
½ cup cashews
1 tbs cinnamon
1 tbs Vanilla
½ cup canola oil
¾ cup maple syrup or honey
1/8 cup peanut butter

Directions
First of all, toast the oats for 15 minutes at 375 degrees.

While the oats are toasting combine the milk powder, chopped almonds, coconut, sunflower seeds, pecans, and cashews in a large bowl.

In a saucepan boil the canola oil, honey/syrup (I didn’t have enough of either honey or syrup for ¾ cup so I mixed about half honey and half maple syrup to have the right amount), peanut butter, vanilla and cinnamon for two minutes.
Add your wet ingredients to the dry ingredients you mixed together before, and then add your toasted oats once they’re done. Mix thoroughly.

Pour the contents of the bowl on a cookie sheet and cook in the oven at 250 for ½ an hour and then turn the heat down to 200 and cook for 2 hours.

Once done, let cool and store in any airtight container or mason jars.

So, try your hand at homemade granola! Your friends with love you forever - trust me!

- Lou

recipe adapted from: La Belle Bride

Berry Good Banana & Blueberry Smoothie!

On a hot summer day, there is nothing better than a fresh smoothie, especially when you have all types of berries on hand! I opened the fridge today to find 3 packages of blueberries, so it was definitely a blueberry smoothie type of day. Not only is it refreshing, but it's packed with all the goodness of fruit! Wether you're making this for breakfast (a personal favourite of mine) or for a snack during the day, it'll hit the spot.

Ingredients (makes enough for 1 smoothie)
3/4 cup blueberries
1 banana (chopped)
2/3 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup milk
4-6 ice cubes

Directions

Throw all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until desired thickness.

Yum, go and enjoy your smoothie! I'm having mine right now...

- Lou

Cheesy Garlic Bread!

Garlic bread... everyone loves garlic bread. It's the best snack ever. (Other than the icky effects on your breath...) It's so easy and quick to throw together, and everyone always has all the ingredients lying around... it's just the perfect dish! I like to put a little cheese on mine, how do you like yours?

Ingredients
your favourite type of bread (preferably whole wheat as it's better for you!)
2 tbs butter (softened)
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
cracked ground pepper to taste
cheddar cheese (optional)
a pinch of thyme

Directions

Preheat oven to 250 F.

Slice your bread to your desired thickness. Soften the butter in a microwave, crush your cloves of garlic into the butter and mix it around to create a paste. Brush the paste onto your slices of bread. Layer the cheese on top of the butter mixture and top with a sprinkle of thyme. Drizzle a little olive oil over the pieces of bread and put it in the oven for 5 minutes. (Note: You can also grill the garlic bread and it's wonderful.)

This is just a nice and simple garlic bread recipe, you can always add spices and other herbs to spice it up! Also, using whole wheat bread makes this a little less indulgent... at least that's what I tell myself!

- Lou

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

It's tough to believe that one of the sweetest and most delicious vegetables is also one of the best for you. Most people associate sweet potatoes with thanksgiving, but I think that they should be eaten all year 'round. And I have to say, when you're in the mood for a nice tasty snack there is nothing easier and tastier than some savory, sweet potato fries! (well not really fries, since I bake 'em!)

Let's discuss the nutritious nature of sweet potatoes. They are one of the "super vegetables" and many people say that sweet potatoes may in fact be one of the healthiest vegetables for you. They are full of vitamin A and vitamin C, vitamin B6 as well as proteins which are unique to root vegetables. Sweet potatoes also contain antioxidants which help to eliminate chemicals which damage cells. Want to know more nutritious info about sweet potatoes? Check out this analysis.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients
1 sweet potato
2 egg whites
olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Line a baking sheet with wax paper and a little olive oil to ensure your potatoes do not stick.

Chop the sweet potato into your desired shape. (I like matchstick.)

Whip two egg whites together in a boil and drench your sweet potatoes in the egg white mixture. Lay them out on the wax paper and garnish with salt and pepper to taste. Pop them in the oven for 20-30 minutes, and voila!

- Lou