No, not that kind of getting baked, silly!  I’m talking about apples! Remember how I said that I was slacking in the apple recipe making/baking department in comparison to some of my fellow food bloggers?  Well, slow and steady wins the race and I’m making a go at the apple recipe cooking finish line (if there is such a thing?).  Because I used only one apple in my previous recipe and still have a million (not a lie) left in my crisper, I wanted to find a dish that would call for the usage of multiple apples.  Hence, I scoured the internet and did hours of research (total lie) until I found this gem…

Getting Baked Apples
Adapted from SimplyRecipes.com
Serves 4

• 4 large good baking apples (I bucked the trend and used McIntosh apples, which is not recommended for baking)
• 1/4 cup of rolled oats
• 1 TBSP of evaporated cane juice (I used Florida Crystals, feel free to use dry sweetener of your choice)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• sprinkle of nutmeg
• 14 raw almonds, chopped (you could use pecans, walnuts or no nuts)
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries, chopped (dried apricots, raisins, dried figs would be good here, too)
• 1 TBSP of peanut butter (I used Trader Joe’s Valencia Peanut Butter with Roasted Flaxseeds)
• 3/4 cup boiling water

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Wash and dry your apples.  Using an apple corer or paring knife, remove the cores to 1/2 inch of the bottom of the apples.  Be careful not to cut all the way through to the bottom (I confess, I did this once)!  Then, use a paring knife to widen the cavity and a spoon to scoop out the seeds.  It’s a tad tricky at first, but you’ll get the hang of it.  Make the cavity about 3/4 inch to an inch wide.

2) In a small bowl, combine the oats, evaporated cane juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, almonds and dried cranberries.

3) Place the apples in an 8 x 8 baking dish.  Fill each apple with the mixture and then dot the top of each apple with 1/4 of the TBSP of peanut butter.

4) Pour the boiling water into the baking dish.  Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the apples can be easily pierced with a knife, but not mushy.  While the apples are baking, be sure to baste the apples with the dish juices (I repeated this three different times).

5) Serve hot!

These baked apples were like whoa! I couldn’t believe how good they tasted for something that was so simple to make.  I really liked the fact that even though the apples were stuffed with goodies like cinnamon, nutmeg and dried cranberries, the natural sweetness of my personally picked produce still shined through.  And, the McIntosh apples stood up quite well in the oven.  They came out tender and did not fall apart.  So take that, you online apple experts (whoever the heck you are)!  This is one of the best DPAABs (dessert-parading-around-as-breakfast) I’ve had in a long time.  While it’s quite similar in taste to the healthified fruit crisp I made a few weeks ago, the sheer fact that I was eating a whole piece of baked fruit made this dish stand out from anything else I have ever made.  Plus, having to eat this dessert/breakfast with a fork and knife made me feel as if I was having an entire meal, versus just a snack.

And because this is a healthy food blog and I like to give recipes my own little twist, I decided to substitute the brown sugar for evaporated cane juice and reduce the amount.  And to make the dish even heartier, I decided to add one of my favorite foods, oatmeal! Instead of dabbing the tops of the apples with butter, I used a natural peanut butter.  It’s less greasy and adds more flavor to the recipe.  The original recipe called for serving this dish with vanilla ice cream, which is a tremendous call.  However, I didn’t have any on hand (just cookies and cream ) and figured a dollop of thick greek yogurt would be the next best thing.  You could also drizzle some honey or agave nectar over the entire apple for some additional sweetness, but my apples didn’t require it.  Plus, I had some of the oatmeal mixture leftover, so I sprinkled some over the greek yogurt.  I’m not gonna lie, it was a stroke of genius on my behalf…just sayin’.

Who says eating food can’t get you high?

Random question: Is there a recipe or dish that you are intimidated to make?  Or, what is the one recipe you’ve been dying to make but just haven’t had the chance to do so?

Namasté,
Nicole

In my not-so-lengthy tenure of being a healthy lifestyle/food blogger, I’ve made many observations and I’ve learned quite a few things.  But the one major thing I’ve noticed is that everyone seems to have the best looking darn breakfasts EVER!  See here, here and here for examples.  That said, I’ve decided to step up my efforts in making my breakfasts a bit more interesting to my stomach and to my eyes.  A girl (sorry, woman) can’t live on a plain bowl of oatmeal forever, can she?

I’ve been seeing various recipes for oatmeal, grits, pancakes and waffles and while I want to try all of them, the one thing I had a hankering for the other day was french toast (or ‘fr-INCH’ toast, as my husband from Western Massachusetts would call it).  Perhaps it has something to do with the sudden change in temperature around here?  Maybe it’s because I recently had all that French food?  Or, maybe it has something to do with this post I happened to stumble upon the other day.  Whichever the case may be, I decided to forego my ‘yoush’ of having a bowl of hot, plain oats and made Banana Stuffed Peanut Butter French Toast.

The Usual Suspects...

To make this little breakfast diddy, you will need the following:

• 2 slices of Trader Joe’s Sprouted Flourless Whole Wheat Berry bread
• 1 1/2 TBSP of Better n’ Peanut Butter – low sodium (of course you can substitute with any other kind of nut or soy butter)
• half of a small banana, sliced into 1/4 inch segments
• 1/3 cup of egg whites
• 1/4 cup of unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze
• few dashes of cinnamon
• few dashes of nutmeg (BTW, did you know that consuming large quantities of nutmeg can possibly make you ‘loopy‘? )
• pinch of brown sugar (or evaporated cane juice or any other dry sweetener of your choice)
• drizzle of agave nectar, Trader Joe’s brand (honey or maple syrup would also be good here)

1) Spread your peanut butter on both sides of your bread.  I went a bit on the lite side with the peanut butter but feel free to glob it on, if that’s how you like to roll…

2) Take your banana slices and layer them onto your bread.  Unfortunately, I only had frozen bananas in my house.  I just can’t seem to use the fresh ones fast enough before they start turning into a brown mess and my house becomes a fruit fly farm.  I would suggest using fresh banana slices.  My frozen ones started to get mushy once they defrosted.

For all those green monster smoothies...

Like baby food...

3) Sandwich the two slices of peanut buttered, banana laden bread together.  Set aside.

4) Add your egg whites, almond milk, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar together in a shallow bowl.  Whisk lightly with a fork.

Can't you just smell the cinnamon-y goodness?

5) Drop your sandwich into the milk mixture carefully.  You don’t want any bananas to fall out (hehe, Healthy Chow has a twisted mind).  Let the sandwich absorb some of the milk mixture.

Like taking a bath in milk

6) While your sandwich is soaking it all in, coat a small skillet with cooking spray and set your stove to medium.

7) Once your skillet has heated up, gingerly pick up your sandwich and place it onto your skillet.  Let it sit for about 3 or so minutes untouched.  You want the eggs to cook up a bit and give your sandwich a light crust.  You may also want to turn up the heat a bit here to medium-high.  Resist the urge to peek or flip

Check out the oozing banana, it's trying to say 'hi' to you

8 ) Then, with a spatula, flip your sandwich over.  Let the second side cook for another 2-3 minutes.  If your sandwich appears to be browning too much, turn down your heat back to medium.

Flip that french toast!

9) It’s done when both sides of the bread are lightly crunchy/toasted and have that beautiful french toast color.  Place it on your plate and then drizzle it with agave nectar.  Dig in!

Breakfast bliss...

I don't know how I waited that long before taking a bite...

YUM-MAY!

This french toast was absolutely scrumptious! It’s so basic, yet so out-of-this-world.  Why did I not make this sooner?  It literally took me ten minutes to prepare this from start to finish.  I always think that making a delicious breakfast is going to involve a lot of time and a lot of clean-up.  This proved me wrong.  There are no excuses now for not making a breakfast that is healthy, hearty and heavenly.  It’s stated that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  This could not be more true.  If one can start the day with a nutritious and tasty meal, it sets the tone for the rest of the day.  You start off feeling full of energy, feeling as if you did something to take care of your body and feeling like you can take on the world because you gave your body (and mind) the nourishment it needs and deserves.

Not only did I enjoy eating my finished product, but I also had quite a bit of fun concocting this combination.  And just think of all the other possibilities…you could use nutella as the spread, stuff the french toast with thinly sliced and softened apples, peaches, pineapple or pears and even add chopped nuts, unsweetened dried coconut, dried fruit, dark chocolate shavings, ground flax seeds or fruit preserves as a topping.  Or, you could use different kinds breads such as a cinnamon raisin, oatmeal or even brioche (maybe not as healthy, but definitely divine).  The combinations are endless!

So the next time you’re rushing around in the morning looking for something to eat for breakfast, and you consider reaching for a pop tart, I hope you’ll remember this recipe.  You can decide whether you want to stuff your face with something overly processed and filled with sugar or just simply stuff your french toast.

What’s your favorite way to start your day (a breakfast food, a hot beverage, exercise, a stretch, meditation, prayer, etc.)?

Namasté,
Nicole