What I Ate Wednesday #25 – Healthy Holiday Recipes

Have you entered my Hail Merry Macaroon giveaway? Only 2 more days!

I can’t lie, my meals have been pretty less-than-interesting over the last week. I’m a creature of habit and when I do a lot of food prep on Sundays, I tend to eat a lot of the same meals during the week. But I’ve been having fun in the kitchen and am happy to be sharing a couple healthy Hannuka recipes just in time for the holiday!

Barr & Table Peas and Crayons What I Ate Wednesday WIAW Carrots N Cake Sweet Breakfast Scramble Peanut Butter Co Tone It Up Carrot Ginger Soup TIU Jamie Eason Turkey Meatloaf Muffin Sushi

[Breakfast]
Like I said, creature of habit. I’m still going strong in my Sweet Breakfast Scramble obsession!

[Lunch]
Tone It Up‘s Carrot & Pumpkin Soup and a Jamie Eason turkey meatloaf muffin. This was seriously the easiest lunch and so delicious. I didn’t mind having it almost everyday.. in fact, I enjoyed it!

[Dinner]
Sushi! It was a nice night for a date so we hit up a happy hour for a glass of wine (or beer) and some delicious sushi.  I didn’t snap pictures of the edamame and pork shumai but they were delicious, as always. Salmon and avocado wrapped in cucumber is also always a great choice, but my treat roll was the crab stick, cucumber, and avocado topped with more avocado, salmon, tuna, and a little eel sauce. SO yum! Nathan got pork yakisoba and it was equally as wonderful. If you’re in Baltimore and looking for good sushi, I highly recommend Naname Cafe!

[Snacks] not pictured
Apple, Madagascar Vanilla KIND Bar, and 1/2 of a blueberry ricotta muffin. I love having 1/2 muffin in the afternoon to help hold me over.. so tasty!

Onto the fun stuff!

I’m so glad we’re sharing healthy holiday recipes because I just tested a few for Hannuka!

Sweet Potato & Zucchini Latkes

Barr & Table Sweet Potato Zucchini Latkes Cinnamon Nutmeg Hannuka Chanukah

Makes 18 latkes

Ingredients
1/2 cup zucchini, shredded and drained
2 cups sweet potato, shredded
2 large egg whites
2 tbsp coconut flour* [I use Bob’s Red Mill, but you can sub other flour if you don’t have coconut!]
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp xylitol* + extra for sprinkling [You can sub regular sugar or other sugar substitutes]
1/2 tsp salt

Directions
Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, shape into 18 equal balls, and flatten into pancakes. Bake about 1 hour, flipping half way through.

Remove from the oven and let cool on a cooling rack. Sprinkle with a little extra xylitol and cinnamon and enjoy!

Nutritional Stats
Per pancake without toppings

21 Calories  /  0g Fat  /  4g Carbs  /  1g Fiber  /  0g Sugar  /  1g Protein

Baked Sufganiyot

Baked Sufganiyot Hannuka Chanukah Jelly Donuts

Makes 12 minis

If you’re not familiar with sufganiyot, they are jelly-filled donuts that are a staple during Hannuka. But of course jelly-filled donuts are not exactly on the healthy treats list, so I wanted to create a more figure-friendly way to enjoy these tasty treats.

Ingredients
1/4 cup unbleached white flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 large egg white
1/4 cup xylitol* + extra for sprinkling [You can sub regular sugar or other sugar substitutes]
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk [I use Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk]
4 tbsp your favorite jam [I used blackberry preserves]
~1/2 – 1 tbsp agave nectar*
~1 tbsp ground cinnamon

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F and grease mini muffin pan. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients from flour through milk until just incorporated.

Fill each muffin tin with about 1/2 tbsp of mix to just cover the bottom. Place about 1 tsp of jam in the middle of each “donut” and then top with the rest of the mix. Bake for about 12 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean (minus the jam!), turning half way through.

Remove from the oven and let cool about 5-10 minutes. Drizzle with agave nectar and sprinkle with cinnamon and xylitol. Enjoy guilt-free!

Nutritional Stats
Per mini “donut”

52 Calories  /  0g Fat  /  14g Carbs  /  1g Fiber  /  5g Sugar  /  1g Protein

*These ingredients can be found on iHerb.com. Use code ZAF482 to receive $5 off of your first order.

Food for Thought

What are some of your favorite holiday recipes? Do you go towards the healthy options or the unhealthy treats?

Sundays in the Kitchen

Somehow, even after a 4-day weekend, Monday still seems to come too soon. So to drown my pre-work week sorrows, I decided to spend the day in the kitchen cooking and baking up a storm!

I had a special request (weeks ago.. oops!) for chocolate chip cookies, so I started there. Last month, Brown Eyed Baker had a chocolate chip cookie throwdown featuring 4 recipes, one of which was our favorite from Alton Brown. Showing Nathan was a mistake.. he immediately wanted to have a throwdown of our own. Rather than having our throwdown, we decided to try the winning recipe; The New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies.

The New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

How can you resist chocolate chip cookies like that?! We certainly couldn’t and the verdict is in; we may just have a new favorite chocolate chip cookie!

To combat the indulgent cookies, I got my healthy cook on and prepped some delicious meals for the week. A new recipe from the Tone It Up girls, Carrot & Pumpkin Soup, will be making many appearances this week during lunch along with Jamie Eason’s Turkey Meatloaf Muffins via Sarah Fit. We also have some honey wheat rolls, bulgogi beef prepped for tonight’s dinner, and my latest creation;  Blueberry Ricotta Muffins. I was so happy with the way they came out. They’re super moist and are perfect to have with a little jam.. or in my case, peanut butter. Because everything is better with peanut butter!

Blueberry Ricotta Muffins

Serves 12
Adapted from The Lean Green Bean

Barr & Table Blueberry Ricotta Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins Lean Green Bean

Ingredients
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk [I use Almond Breeze]
1/2 cup low fat ricotta cheese
1/2 cup pumpkin puree [Not pumpkin pie mix! I use Libby’s]
1 egg
1/4 cup demerara or brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Optional Toppings
Jelly or jam
Any nut butter
Earth Balance Coconut Butter

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients from coconut oil through vanilla extract. Slowly mix in your flour and baking powder until that is just mixed through. Don’t over mix! Gently fold in the blueberries so they are equally distributed.

Grease a muffin tin and scoop into tins in 12 equal parts. Bake for 30 minutes, turning halfway through. Let cool, top with your favorite topping *cough peanut butter cough* and enjoy!

Barr & Table Blueberry Ricotta Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins

Nutritional Stats
Per muffin

124 Calories  /  4g Fat  /  20g Carbs  /  3g Fiber  /  10g Sugar  /  4g Protein

Food for Thought

Do you prep your meals for the week on Sunday?