Candy corn Fruit Halloween parfait

Hurricane Sandy just pasted us by. We are still not over it just yet but the worst part is over....so glad.

I actually made this yesterday and intended to post it the same day but I didn't want to plug my computer on in case we lost power and got my mac messed up. It happened to me once. Likely I had insured my mac because the bill came out to be $700....yikes.

These Halloween parfaits didn't make it through the night. I made 6 and all of them were gone within an hour..... I am glad they were fruit parfaits :-)

I used frozen fruit for these parfaits and where done in about just 10 minutes just because I piped the heavy cream over the top of the fruit instead of spooning right on otherwise they would have been done in under 5 minutes.

Halloween is just upon us so go ahead and make these healthy treats for your kids. They would love them. If you like you can also do Greek yogurt instead of heavy cream.

Enjoy!!

You can see the candy corns candy that I just used for the decorations as I threw them away after taking the pictures :-) You can also use Greek yogurt instead of the heavy cream if you like.

Ingredients:

Yields 6 parfaits

1 lb chopped pineapple, I used frozen
1 lb chopped mango, I used frozen
1 cup heavy cream, whipped, you can also use Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons confectioner sugar

Divide pineapple over each parfait glasses followed by the mango. Top with whipped heavy cream and decorate as desired.

Nutrition facts calculated based on the recipe giving 6 servings

Cranberry coffee cake

Here you have it, another version of my popular apple and caramel coffee cake. 

I really like this version a lot as well. The tart of the cranberries goes really well with the sweetness of the crumble topping.

I got organic cranberries at Trader Joes but if you can't get organic ones just make sure you clean them really well.

I actually have other cranberries recipes that I also like a lot that I have not made in a while so I will post them here in case you want to check them out.

Unconventional cranberry pie
Healthier cranberry crumb bars
Cranberry and oatmeal breakfast muffins
Chocolate chip cranberry flax cookies

Cranberry season is just upon us. I really want to get some new recipes in the blog with cranberies so I will have to research around and see what I can come up with.

Until then,

Enjoy this cake.

Here you have the cranberry mixture after being in the stove for about 10 minutes to soften. The right picture is the streusel topping. I used coconut oil instead of olive oil.

Spread the cranberries over the batter, which will be rather thick, gently followed by the streusel topping.

This cake is sensational. I don't know which version I like best, the cranberry or the apple version.

Let me know if you get to try this cake. It is easy, yummy and not so bad for you!!

Ingredients Miryam's original recipe

Yields 10-12 servings

1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup unrefined sugar
2 eggs, I always use organic
2/3 cups Greek plain yogurt
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Fruit filling:

12 oz fresh cranberries
1/4 cup honey

Streusel topping

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, you can also use pecans
1/3 cup coconut oil, you can also use olive oil. I used coconut oil
1/2 cup unrefined sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 9 inch spring form pan and set aside.

In a heavy bottom sauce pan add cranberries and honey over medium to low heat. Cook for about 5-10 minutes until cranberries have soften like in the picture. Set aside.

In a bowl mix eggs, oil, yogurt, vanilla and sugar. Add the flour and baking powder and combine. Pour thick batter onto the prepared baking pan. Gently spread cranberries over the batter like in the picture.

In another bowl combing strudel topping and place over the cranberries. Bake for about 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. I baked my cake for 55.

Cool cake in pan. Remove cake from the pan and serve. I actually serve my cake on the baking pan, I just remove the ring part.

Nutrition facts calculated based on the recipe giving 10 servings.

Quick and Easy Fish tacos

Today I could not think what to make for lunch. I actually wanted something quick and refreshing so since I had some fish sitting around and some greens I figured I put them together and make some fish tacos.

By the way I think this is one of the first savory dishes I made in a long time as all my previous posts are sweets...oh well!! You know my sweet tooth right?

The best part about this tacos was definitely the sauce. I love garlic, and tons of it, as well as cilantro. The sauce is what made the tacos great given the garlic, cilantro and lime flavors. I even use the sauce to smear it onto bread when making sandwiches it is that good :-)

Anyhow, these tacos where rather simple. I did not have tomatoes or salsa or any other veggies to add to them but you can get really creative with these.

I am for sure going to make these again. I used wild Mahi Mahi because it is one of my favorite fish but you can add any other type of your choice. Just make sure you don't chose one that would come apart while grilling it.

Enjoy!!

I grilled the wild Mahi Mahi a couple of minutes on each side. Just make sure you oil the pan and the fish slightly so that it doesn't stick to the pan.

I didn't get to creative with these but you can also add some chopped onions, tomatoes or even peppers. The sauce is what made these fish tacos the best tacos ever!

Ingredients

Yields 6 large tacos

6 Large whole wheat flour tortillas, warm
1 lb wild Mahi Mahi, or any other fish of your choice
4 oz organic pea shoots, you can also use cabbage or lettuce

Sauce

3 scallions, chopped
Fresh cilantro, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 lime, juice and zest
3 tablespoons mayo
3 tablespoons low fat Greek yogurt
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Sauce recipe adapted from my recipes

Lightly grease a grill and the fish. Turn on the heat to high and warm the grill pan before placing the fish. Once the grill pan is hot add the fish and grill on each side about 2-3 minutes.

While the fish is being grilled, in a bowl add the sauce ingredients and mix through. Set aside.

To assemble the tacos, place each tortilla on a plate follow by the pea shoots, the fish and the sauce. At this stage you may want to add some chopped tomatoes, onions etc.

Warm tortillas taste better to me so if you like you can warm them up in the microwave, two at a time, for 30-45 seconds.

Nutrition facts calculated based on the recipe giving 6 large tacos.

100% whole wheat halloween sugar cookies

Oh wow it has been quite a few days since my last post. Sorry, I am just really busy working on my e-book project developing new recipes and that is taking quite a bit of time!

This sugar cookie recipe actually comes from my old sugar cookie recipe I made a while back. I used for this variation as well ghost sugar cookies in case you also want to take a look.

You can use this recipe for making any sugar cookies you have in mind. This version is a little bit healthier for you, and trust me, the flavor and texture it is still there. These sugar cookies would be perfect for Christmas.

This time around, for the dough, I actually decreased the sugar content by 1/4 cup and the cookie came out fine. Maybe next time I will reduce the sugar even further!!

For decorating the cookies you can really do what ever you like. I actually used some decorated eye pieces I bought at the baking store and  some powdered sugar mixed in with water.

I know, I know, using powdered sugar is not exactly healthy but like I said before, once in a while is OK. My kids eat one cookie a day, which I think is plenty, and because their diet is pretty healthy indulging on Halloween season... well, that is just part of childhood.

I hope my next post is in the next few days but if you notice a delay, now you know why. Until then,

Enjoy!

This is how the dough looks like before flatting it out with a rolling pin in between plastic wrap and placing it in the fridge for a couple of hours to chill.

I used different colors to decorate the cookies but you can stick with just one color if you like. My daughter was the happiest kid on earth when she was able to dig in! 

To decorate the cookies I used a mixture of powder sugar and water with a little drop of food coloring. Then I bough I few edible sugar eyes at the baking store. You can decorate them however you like though! I thought this method was rather easy.

You can shape and decorate these sugar cookies how ever you want. The sky is the limit!

Ingredients Miryam's original recipe

Yields 25 cookies depending on cookie cutter size. I think mine was a 2 inch size.

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour, next time I will try to add some shredded coconut to the mix
1 stick of butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup coconut oil, you can also use olive oil
3/4 cup unrefined sugar
1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Frosting

1/2 cup powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons water
1 drop of food coloring
Sugar eyes

Beat butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in egg, oil and vanilla. Add flours, and baking powder and combine until you have a homogeneous dough formed.

Divide dough into two and flatten out with a rolling pin like in the pictures. Chill dough for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350F and line two baking cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick and stamp out rounds using a cookie cutter (I roll out the dough in between plastic wrap which I find very easy to do. You can use any other cookie cutter shape you like as well).

Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes. Cool on cookie sheets for 2-3 minutes and transfer them to a wire rack and cool. Decorate as desired or eat as is.

For decorating the cookies I mixed the powdered sugar with the water and food coloring and used a decorator bottle set to drizzle it. You may need an extra tablespoon of water or so, just make sure that the consistency of the sugar is thick. Place the sugar eyes over each cookie.

Tip: Dough can be chilled for up to 5 days or frozen wrapped in a double layer of plastic wrap for up to 1 month. If frozen, thaw dough in the fridge before using.

Nutrition facts calculated based on the recipe giving 25 cookies. The nutrition facts are calculated with no added frosting

Apple pie fudge

I intended to make pumpkin fudge this week but instead I made an apple pie version. I am sure at some point I will make the pumpkin pie fudge because I have the best pumpkin cream liqueur ever :-)

This apple pie fudge is very very sweet...go figure, almost three bags of white chocolate chips in it!!

This fudge is much easier to put together than some of the other fudges out there since there is no candy thermometer needed and it only has 4 ingredients.

On another note, the holidays are just around the corner. Have you started you Christmas shopping yet? I actually started today :-) We are not going crazy or anything but I really want to get everything done before the madness every where begins.

Anyhow, if you are looking for a new fudge flavor to try I suggest you make this one. I though for sure you could tell this tasted like apple pie.

Here are other fudge recipes you may like as well:

Irish cream and pistachio fudge
Peanut butter fudge
Kahlua dark chocolate fudge

Enjoy!

I actually used a loaf pan to pour in my fudge. Just grease the foil paper prior to placing it in the pan.

This fudge is sweet, but which fudge isn't? You do not need a candy thermometer and regular white chocolate chips will do for this recipe. Also you may want to use a little bit more cinnamon!

Ingredients

27 oz white chocolate chips, about 2 1/2 bags, I used Ghirardelli brand
1/2 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup apple liquor
1 teaspoon cinnamon, more if you like

Cover a loaf pan with greased foil paper, like in the picture. Set aside.

On a double boiler, at medium heat, melt the chocolate together with the apple sauce, apple liquor and cinnamon. Stir once in a while. Just don't walk away as it will melt rather quickly.

Pour mixture in the prepared pan and place it in the fridge to set. It will take a few hours.

When the chocolate has solidified, remove chocolate from pan and foil paper and cut into squares.

Store in an air tight container at room temperature. You can store it in the fridge if you prefer but I don't think this is needed.

Dark chocolate and banana no bake granola

I have just made this dark chocolate and banana no bake granola, and oh boy...

Talk about the perfect snack :-)

Granted it has some sugar in it, but a little goes a long way. I like the fact that you don't have to bake this granola and that it can be done rather quickly.

The only thing with this granola, is that I actually prefer keeping it in the fridge, even though I have done both. If the room temperature gets too high the coconut oil will melt and the granola will get kind of soggy in a way.

I do actually have this by itself, with ice cream, plain yogurt or just mix it in with some other cereal. My kids love it, I even pack it sometime for my kids as a treat to school.

Granola is very versatile so go ahead and omit or substitute any of the ingredients listed. Next time around I will try it with different nuts.

On another note, I have mentioned that I am working on a tofu frosting recipe right? Well, I will keep you posted on that. I just hope it turns out OK because I am a little bit skeptical about using tofu for frosting :-)

Enjoy!!

You can half the quantities for this granola but because we love granola making big batches is what best works for us :-)

Once you have mixed all of the ingredients in a big bowl place them on a big cookie sheet and let it cool. I actually place my cookie sheet in the fridge to speed up the process and then transfer the granola to an air tight container to store.

Ingredients Miryam's original recipe

Yields 52 servings, 13 cups, 1 serving = 1/4 cup

4 cups quick steel oats, I got mine from Trader Joe's
2 cups brown rice cereal
1 1/2 cup roasted unsalted peanuts
1 1/2 cup chopped dried banana chips
1 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/3 cup flax seed meal
1/4 cup chia seeds
1 cup coconut chips, optional
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup honey
3/4 cup organic peanut butter

In a medium sauce pan add peanut butter, oil and honey. Heat through and stir until mix through and a homogeneous mixture.

In a large bowl place the remainder of the ingredients and mix. Pour heated peanut butter mixture and combine throughly. Place mixture on a baking cookie sheet and let it rest until set.

I actually place my mixture in the fridge to speed up the process. When set place mixture in an air tight container and keep in the fridge.

Serve with yogurt, ice cream, milk or by itself. Lately, I have actually given this granola to my son's as a school snack.

Nutrition facts calculated based on the recipe giving 52 servings. 1 serving = 1/4 cup