Category: healthy

New Healthy Cookie Recipe

On By LarissaNapolitanIn Chocolate Chips, Cookies, healthy, oatmealLeave a comment

My friends are getting used to me trying new types of recipes that are low in fat, low in sugar, and low in calories!  I love it when they ask things like “Is this one of those HEALTHY recipes?”

It makes me smile, laugh, and think of ways I can trick them into eating broccoli cookies?  

I have sort of given into the fact that I love baking, and in order to maintain my current healthy lifestyle, I must find new recipes!

Thus I have to tread into enemy territory…. Pinterest. 

(Anyone else get caught in the web of desserts and crafty projects!)

It is a fickle friend, if I am not careful, I quickly am walking down the road of danger desserts. (Like S’more cookies, 7 layer rainbow cakes.)

I found 2 different recipes that seemed pretty simple.  There were a lot that you have to buy lots of different kinds of milk or oils or almond flour meal.  I didn’t want to have to spend an arm and a leg just for some cookies.


Skinny Chunky Monkey– I figured I would just direct you to the link!

Oatmeal Banana Chocolate Chip

These I adjusted a little, but I loved the finished product.

3 Ripe Bananas
2 1/2 cups of Oats
1/3 cup of Applesauce
1/3 cup of honey
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup Dark Chocolate Chips

Mash up the bananas and then mix in everything else.  I used a hand mixer to mash up the bananas and then I folded in the chocolate chips at the end.

Scoop tablespoon sized drops onto a cookie sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.    
Store the extra in the freezer, the banana will go bad if you leave out at room temperature.

Nutrition: 45 Calories, 1g Fat, 30.6mg Sodium, 58mg Potassium, 9.2g Carb, .8g Fiber, 5.7g Sugar, .6g Protein

These are great because the have basically no fat and no added sugar.  I am keeping mine in the freezer so I can have a couple after lunch or with my afternoon snack!  They definitely have a banana bread type taste, but I don’t feel guilty after eating them!

Hopefully before the summer is over I can try out some more healthy Pinterest recipes!

Enjoy!

Any recipes that you have found that are healthy versions of guilty indulgences?

Proactive vs. Reactive

On By LarissaNapolitanIn challenge, decisions, healthy, journey, losing weight, working out2 Comments

Maybe you were or are like me, you spent a lot of time reacting to what was being thrown at you, being drug along the train of life trying to catch up or even watching the train fly by longing for a hand to reach out and pull you up.  Its a rough metaphor, but you get the picture.  I made a choice 2 years ago to join a gym, and made a choice to do something different then I was doing before.

Recently, I had an pretty important anniversary.  I forgot to post about it, but I still wanted to share what sort of difference 2 years can make.

Here are a few pictures to show the difference:

Before and After

My first day of teaching! (3 years ago!)
A year ago in Mexico!
My sister and I after my 2nd Half Marathon                                

Recently.                    

Last year I wrote a long post about some of the differences.  Even since last year, I feel like a different person.  

Recognizing 2 years ago, that I needed to make change and I had a problem has forced me to be more proactive with my life rather than reactive. 

Losing weight was like opening a door to realizing the other issues that I need to deal with.  If people ever claim that losing weight is just a physical thing, they probably have never had to.  It is much more emotional and spiritual than anything else. 

I don’t claim to everything under control nor am I perfect at living a healthy lifestyle.  I am continually making mistakes and learning new things.  More than anything, I am learning a lot about myself and being okay with being me, others’ approval or not. (‘Tis a post for another time.)

What I do want to share for anyone that was like me, stuck in a life that I didn’t want and thought impossible to break out of, it is possible.  For me it has been a slow journey, I have taken steps back, I have made bad choices, and given into temptation.  However, what doesn’t change is that I get up the next day and start over or start over the next meal.  It is all about making a choice to be proactive then reactive.


Change isn’t easy, but I don’t think it would be worth it if it was.  I wouldn’t want it any other way.  The difficulty of it makes the pay off so much more valuable.

Oatmeal Banana Pancakes!

On By LarissaNapolitanIn food processor, healthy, losing weight, low fat, oatmeal, pancakesLeave a comment

I neither claim ownership over this recipe or want credit for it’s awesomeness, because I got it from a friend over a month ago and I was really excited to try it eventually.

My roommate received a  food processor for her birthday. (I felt wrong using first, but I don’t think she would mind.) 

(It was also the present that prompted this comment from her teenage sister: “You know you have been single too long when you are receiving gifts that should be on a wedding registry.”) (Teenagers! I know!)


However, I want to share it because I loved it and at least one of the four people that were at my house last night liked it.   

(One said, “It doesn’t taste like a pancake but it’s good.”) 
(It’s okay she owes me for comments that I made about her cutting her hair into a pixy cut. “That’s risky” might have been one.)

 
Oatmeal Banana Pancakes
(I had to remember to take a picture because I knew I wanted to share the recipe!)
Ingredients:
4 Egg Whites
1/2 cup of quick oats
1 Banana
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp flaxseed
1/2 tsp baking soda
Dash of milk (You might want to add a little more if you think the mixer is too thick.)
Directions: Mix all the ingredients together in a blender or a food processor.  Then I put about a 1/3 of a cup scoop into the pan.  It made about 5 servings.  
Here is the caloric breakdown for those that are interested.  If you make bigger ones, the calories might be different.
1/3 cup scoop- 80 Calories, Fat: 1.4 g Sodium: 254.6 mg  Potassium: 149.8 mg Carbs: 12g Fiber: 2.2g Sugars: 3.3g Protein: 5.4g