Skinny Girl Recipe: Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe is from the book Naturally Thin by Bethenny Frankel. They are extremely healthy and have very little oil, no eggs and they use oat flour instead of regular or wheat flour. They also use raw sugar because Bethenny says this is better for you because it hasn't been processed. And they are pretty darn tasty!

I couldn't find oat flour in my store, so I ended up making my own by taking 1.5 cups of old fashioned oats and putting them in my mini-food processor and grinding them up until they are a flour consistency. There will still be some chunks, but because I add even more oats, you don't have to worry about getting it completely fine. Just try and get it ground up the best you can.

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

-- 1 1/2 cups oat flour
-- 3/4 cups rolled oats
-- 1/2 tsp baking powder
-- 1/2 tsp baking soda
-- 1/2 tsp salt
-- 1/2 cup raw sugar
-- 1/3 cup chocolate chips (I used special dark chips!)
-- 1 tsp canola oil
-- 1/3 cup soymilk (I used skim milk b/c I don't like soy milk)
-- 1/2 cup banana puree (1 med sized banana)
-- 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine all of the dry ingredients into a bowl. Combine all of the wet ingredients into a separate bowl. Mix dry and wet ingredients together until well combined.

Using a med-sized ice cream scoop, drop the batter onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake for 6 mins, then turn the pan and bake for an additional 4 – 6 mins until golden brown.

The recipe says you get 10 large sized cookies, but I made mine a little smaller and got about 18 cookies. Enjoy!

Breakfast for Dinner: Paula Deen Style

Growing up, we always had breakfast for dinner on Sunday nights. Typically we would have scrambled eggs, cinnamon rolls and sometimes french toast. Every once in a while I like to try and bring back that tradition.

While at the gym on Sat, I was reading the Sept/Oct 2010 issue of Cooking with Paula Deen (yes I like to read about food while I work out!) and there was an article titled Breakfast for Dinner. The recipes looked so yummy, and I had most of the ingredients on hand so I thought why not bring back the tradition this Sun night.

Frittata
(makes 2 servings)

Ingredients:
-- 1 tbs olive oil
-- 3 oz chopped chorizo sausage (I used ham b/c that's what I had)
-- 1/2 cup chopped tomato
-- 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
-- 1/4 cup milk (I used skim, but Paula recommends Whole)
-- 1/4 tsp salt
-- 2 tbs chopped fresh cilantro (I used basil)
-- 1/2 cup Mexican cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small oven proof skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add sausage/ham and sauté until browned (about 2 - 3 mins). Stir in tomato. In a small bowl, combine eggs, milk and salt. Pour over meat and tomatoes. Stir in cilantro/basil and cook until eggs set in the middle (about 3 - 4 mins).

Sprinkle eggs with cheese and place skillet in oven (make sure it’s oven proof!). Bake until cheese is melted about 4 - 5 mins. Remove from oven and sprinkle with more cilantro/basil if preferred. Cut into wedges and serve immediately.


Roasted Sweet Potatoes
(makes 2 servings)

Ingredients:
-- 2 sweet potatoes, unpeeled and diced
-- 1 tbs olive oil
-- 1/4 tsp salt
-- 1/4 tsp ground cumin (I used chili powder)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Lightly spray baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray (unless you have a non-stick pan like I do).

In medium bowl, combine sweet potato cubes, oil, salt and cumin. Place on prepared pan in a single layer. Bake until tender (about 15 - 20 mins). Remove from oven and enjoy!

Oh by the way, I enjoyed a Bloody Mary also, but just followed the directions on the back of the bottle. Nothing too fancy -- ha!!

Low Fat Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I love the chocolate chip banana coffee cake at Starbucks, and have been wanting to try and recreate it. I came across this recipe the other day which is very similar. I used Hershey's Special Dark chocolate chips, which make anything good. It was pretty close, I just should have added some chocolate chips to the top before baking. I didn't think about it until it was half way done.

Low Fat Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Ingredients:
-- 3 ripe bananas mashed
-- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
-- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
-- 1/2 cup sugar
-- 4 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
-- 1 egg
-- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-- 1 teaspoon baking soda
-- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
-- 1/2- 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Mix wet ingredients together: bananas, sugar, applesauce, egg, vanilla. Mix dry ingredients together: both types of flour, baking soda, baking powder. Slowly mix dry ingredients with wet ingredients. Once mixed well, scraping bowl to make sure everything is incorporated, mix in the chocolate chips (I used 3/4 cups).

Pour mixture into greased loaf pan, and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 - 50 mins. I put a piece of foil over the bread for the first 35 mins and then removed for the remaining 15 mins to make sure the bread didn't get too brown.

Pineapple Salsa and Homemade Tortilla Chips

I love making salsa, and I seem to be making some sort of salsa or dip every weekend. I am kind of addicted to perfecting the perfect salsa. This pineapple salsa is becoming one of my favorites, and I love making baked homemade tortilla chips. When made with whole wheat tortillas, they are lower in fat and calories than regular chips.

Pineapple Salsa

Ingredients:

-- 1 large can of pineapple tidbits
-- 1/4 of a red onion
-- 2 jalapeño peppers
-- 2 tablespoons of cilantro
-- 1 tablespoon lime juice
-- pinch of coarse salt to taste

Directions:

I like to put the red onion, jalapeño peppers and cilantro in a small food processor to dice. You can also put the pineapple in for a couple of pulses if you want it crushed a little more (that is what I did in the picture above). Then mix in the lime juice and salt and enjoy!

Homemade tortilla chips

Ingredients:

-- Whole wheat tortillas cut into triangles (1 makes about 8 chips)
-- Spray butter or olive oil
-- Coarse salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Cut tortillas into triangles and spread out on baking sheet. Spray with spray butter or brush with olive oil on both sides. Sprinkle salt on one side. Bake for 5 mins, then turn them over and bake for an additional 2 mins until golden brown.