Pumpkin Spice Bread

If you haven't noticed yet, I love pumpkin. I could eat pumpkin flavored anything. I also really loved baked goods. Pumpkin Spice Bread is one of my favorite Fall treats. This recipe is great because its lower in calories than a traditional spice loaf but the taste is still amazing. 

I was really craving Pumpkin Spice Bread yesterday afternoon so I started searching for a recipe that would satisfy my craving and not ruin my day with fat and calories. Thanks to Ruth at Living Well Spending Less I used her recipe. I made a few simple tweaks and I will be enjoying pumpkin bread for the rest of the week. 

Ingredients:

6 cups unbleached flour

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

5 tbsp pumpkin pie spice

5 eggs, beaten

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups banana, mashed

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/3 cup melted coconut oil

1 1/3 cups Unsweetened Silk Almond Milk 

2 cans pumpkin puree

1. Take all of the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice) and mix them in a very large bowl.

2. In a separate bowl mix the rest of the ingredients (eggs, sugar, mashed banana, vanilla, melted coconut oil, almond milk, and pumpkin). 

3. Once liquid ingredients are mixed pour liquid ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until fully incorporated. 

4. Pour mixture into loaf pans. I used a pan that makes 4 mini loaves. I also sprinkled a little pinch of pumpkin pie spice over the tops of them before popping them in a 350 degree preheated oven. 

5. Baked for 45-60 minutes or until tooth pick inserted in the middle of a loaf comes out clean.

Enjoy a slice toasted with butter or just by itself. I like to mine with a little honey drizzled on it. 

What kind of breads do you make in the fall? I also like cranberry bread. 

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 slice  **Recipe makes 64 servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories 88 Calories from Fat 15

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 1.7g 3%

Saturated Fat 1.1g 6%

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 13mg 4%

Sodium 143mg 6%

Total Carbohydrates 16.6g 6%

Dietary Fiber 0.6g 2%

Sugars 6.9g

Protein 1.8g

Vitamin A 9% • Vitamin C 1% Calcium 3% • Iron 4%

Nutrition Grade C

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Amazing Flax Pancakes

I finally did it!! I mentioned in a previous post, Saving Money with Homemade Freezer Food, that I'm a pancake addict. I love pancakes and will make them almost every Saturday. I was stuck making basic Heart Smart Bisquick pancakes but I really wanted something made from scratch that would taste delicious as well as being really healthy. Well... I figured out how to make homemade, delicious, low calorie pancakes! I am so freaking excited to share this with you.

I have been playing with different ways to make healthy low cal pancakes for a while now. A lot of them tasted pretty gross of absolutely nothing like actual pancakes. These taste like pancakes, just like they should.

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Ground Flax Seed 

1 egg

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Splenda (or 2 packets)

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Pinch of Salt

Mix all of the ingredients but the egg together in a bowl.

Add the egg and stir until everything is well mixed.

Place heaping spoonfuls of the mixture into a heated skillet sprayed with canola oil. When you start to see bubbles it's time to flip them over.

I don't know anything about Paleo or Gluten Free diets but I think they may pass for both. I'm not really sure. If you know please comment. 

If you want the most amazing pancakes you can cook them up in coconut oil instead of the canola oil. It will add 120 calories but every now and then it's worth it because it's like eating sweet, fluffy clouds straight from heaven.

I can happily say that I can now have yummy pancakes as much as I want. 

These also freeze well.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size - Recipe makes one serving

Amount Per Serving

Calories 139 Calories from Fat 80

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 8.9g 14%

Saturated Fat 1.9g 9%

Cholesterol 164mg 55%

Sodium 648mg 27%

Total Carbohydrates 8.0g 3%

Dietary Fiber 4.1g 16%

Sugars 1.6g

Protein 8.5g

Vitamin A 4% • Vitamin C 0% Calcium 26% • Iron 11%

Nutrition Grade C

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Coconut Oil Body Scrub

Hello beautiful weather!

It's starting to get warm and the sun is shining. Which means sundress season is finally here. I live in sundresses and I wanted to get myself ready. Which means sunless tanner and smooth legs, and that means exfoliating.

 I love really simple homemade beauty products. I mean seriously better than store bought. I wanted to make a scrub that not only exfoliates but makes my skin silky smooth. So naturally I turned to my all time favorite beauty product, coconut oil.

The line up of ingredients is super simple. 

2 tbsp.Coconut oil

1/2 cup White Sugar

Juice of One Lemon

To make, just microwave the coconut oil for about 30 seconds or until its completely melted. Then add in the lemon juice and sugar.

I literally used this everywhere, including my face and it felt wonderful, before putting on sunless tanner. It was really great to use before shaving my legs. I didn't even need to rinse it off before I began shaving and my legs were so smooth after.

I would definitely put this in an air tight jar and only keep it on hand for about a week so it doesn't spoil.  

What are some of your summer beauty tricks?

Leprechaun (Spinach) Cupcakes

Okay, these are awesome! I found this recipe on Weelicious, for spinach muffins. (I love Weelicious. I love the kid's themed recipes. I refuse to grow up.) I figured that muffins are the breakfast cousin of cupcakes so I decided to just tweak it a tad and throw some Hungry Girl Frosting on it. Do not worry they do not taste like spinach or anything healthy. They really taste like a cupcake, a really dense, yummy cupcake. Best of all, they are only 138 calories with frosting!

Cupcake Ingredients:

1/2 cup applesauce (1 applesauce cup)

1 large egg

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 heaping cup fresh spinach - packed

1/4 cup Blue Agave 

2 tablespoons coconut oil - softened

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (or wheat flour)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Frosting Ingredients:

1/4 cup fat-free cream cheese 

2 tbsp Splenda No Calorie Sweetener  

1/2 cup Cool Whip Free 

I just noticed that the Baking Soda is missing from the group photo. Sorry.

Throw the applesauce, egg, vanilla extract, spinach, agave, and coconut oil into the blender or food processor. 

Pulse until they are all combined and liquefied. 

Pour the liquid spinach mixture into a bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Stir all the ingredients together until it is all fully incorporated.

Pour the mix into a cupcake tin lined with baking sheets and bake at 350*F for 12 minutes. 

Take out and cool. 

While the cupcakes are cooling, place the cream cheese and Splenda in a bowl and stir until combined. Then, add the Cool Whip, continuing to stir until you have a creamy frosting. Take out the spoon/whisk and lick it clean. Soooo gooood. 

Frost each cupcake with 2 tsp of the frosting. 

Enjoy.

They're actually pretty easy to make. I really thought it would be more complicated. They are really yummy and really low in calories which is great. I think they would be awesome around Christmas time as Grinch cupcakes too. 

Please let me know what you think of them.

                                                                                          

                                                                                          What are your plans for St. Patrick's Day? 

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 cupcake with 2 tsp frosting

Amount Per Serving

Calories 138 Calories from Fat 48

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 5.3g 8%

Saturated Fat 3.9g 19%

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 21mg 7%

Sodium 173mg 7%

Total Carbohydrates 19.7g 7%

Dietary Fiber 0.6g 2%

Sugars 7.3g

Protein 2.6g

Vitamin A 7% • Vitamin C 1% Calcium 3% • Iron 5%

Nutrition Grade D+

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Green Pina Colada

Alright, so I did it again. I made another green smoothie. Had you told me last week that I would be making these things like crazy and loving them I would have told you to take your predictions somewhere else, you crazy psychic. 

With the weather being so amazing lately I was craving something tropical. I'm not normally a huge fan of Pina Coladas because I don't really like cream with my alcohol, but since there isn't any alcohol in this I loved it. 

When I was little we used to go to the Myrtle Beach every summer for the 4th of July. We had the same beach house every year that was right across the street from this resort that had a Tiki Bar on the beach. My mom would always get us Pina Coladas, mine was of course virgin. Tasting this drink reminded me of that. 

Here is my health-ified version of those amazing fruity beach drinks. 

Ingredients: 

1 Tbsp Coconut Oil -Softened (I like Trader Joe's brand because it has a subtle coconut flavor)

1 Cup Frozen Pineapple

2 Heaping Handfuls of Spinach

1/4 Cup Lite Thai Coconut Milk

About half a cup of ice

A couple splashes of water

This kind of coconut milk.

Throw everybody in the blender. 

I like my smoothies really liquefied so I ended up pressing the "smoothie" button twice. Of course if you like thicker smoothies you could probably only press it once. 

Side note: I don't know about regular blenders but the Blendtec has a specific button for smoothies.

I admit, it is a much more awesome color than a regular Pina Colada.

     

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 319 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 252 Calories from Fat 158

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 17.5g 27%

Saturated Fat 14.9g 74%

Cholesterol 0mg 0%

Sodium 88mg 4%

Total Carbohydrates 25.9g 9%

Dietary Fiber 4.2g 17%

Sugars 15.7g

Protein 4.2g

Vitamin A 171% • Vitamin C 166% Calcium 11% • Iron 18%

Nutrition Grade B

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

What is your favorite tropical drink?

Chocolate Coconut Oil Candies

As you all know from my Whipped Coconut Oil post a few weeks back, I love Coconut Oil. I'm convinced it is the greatest thing to happen to my life. Okay, so maybe I'm overreacting but it is really awesome.

I am aware that I am really late posting this. But it doesn't have to be Valentine's Day to enjoy amazing chocolate, does it? When I say amazing I really mean it. I think it actually tastes like Almond Joy fudge. So good. And quick. So whenever I'm having a killer chocolate craving this will be my new go-to. The only issue I have with it is that it's pretty high in calories. I mean about 100 calories a piece. I'm working on finding a way to make it just as delicious and about half the calories. When that happens I'll let you know.

You will need:

1 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

2 Tbsp Coconut Oil (I've started using Trader Joe's Coconut Oil because it has a subtle coconut flavor)

2 Tbsp PB2 or regular peanut butter

You'll also need a silicon candy or ice cube mold.

throw both the chocolate chips and the coconut oil in a bowl.

microwave for 30 seconds intervals, stirring until smooth.

once it's smooth add the PB2 and stir until well incorporated. 

Spoon the mixture into the silicon mold and place the mold in the freezer for about 15 minutes until they are fully hardened. 

Once they are ready to go you can pop them out and enjoy. 

To keep them from melting I kept them in the fridge. 

Nutrition Facts Per Candy:

Calculated on CalorieCounter.com

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 19 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 100 Calories from Fat 60

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 6.6g 10%

Saturated Fat 5.1g 26%

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 0mg 0%

Sodium 7mg 0%

Total Carbohydrates 10.6g 4%

Sugars 9.3g

Protein 1.5g

Vitamin A 0% • Vitamin C 0% Calcium 0% • Iron 2%

Nutrition Grade D-

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet