Low-Fat Whole Wheat Vegan Microwave Brownies

It's been so long since I updated this blog, I guess I just haven't gotten very motivated to keep it up. Since my last post, however, I've made several changes to my basic diet. I continue to eat whole grains, but I stick to rice about 50% of the time, to keep most of my meals gluten-free. I also now stick to a 90% vegetarian, 80% vegan diet. I don't think I could ever give up meat entirely, but eating vegetarian/vegan keeps me healthier. Now, whenever I look up recipes, I try to go as vegan as possible.

I found this recipe this morning, while craving a chocolate fix. They take about 5 minutes in the microwave, and 10 minutes total including prep time. On the plus side, they satiate instant cravings, on the minus (?) side, they're so easy to make, you'll probably find you've already made them before your conscience kicks in and tells you "no". Also, the fact that they're made in the microwave means that in college, there will me no stopping me making these. Uh oh....

I found the original vegan recipe on recipezaar, but I changed it up quite a bit. I subbed in an extra banana for the oil because I had no applesauce. I'm sure either would work. I also added some baking soda just to make up for it, but I'm not quite sure if it did anything. I used light brown sugar instead of white, but they both work, I'm sure. I used whole wheat flour, instead of white, as always, and I added mint-chocolate chips. The recipe does call for chocolate chips, and though they're not necessary, I do recommend using them because they definitely make the recipe.

Oh, and one last thing... these are extremely "low-fat" in the sense that they don't have any butter, oil, eggs, or what have you in them, but they do have plenty of sugar and chocolate in them, so these shouldn't be eaten blindly, as if they have no effect on one's waistline.

So, without further ado, here's my Low-FatWhole Wheat Vegan Microwave Brownie Recipe

Recipe is for 8 good-sized brownies. Nutritional info is calculated w/ 2 bananas. Calories will be lower if using apple sauce.

Ingredients

• 2 bananas, mashed (OR 1 banana, 1/4c unsweetened apple sauce)


• 3/4 c sugar (light brown, unpacked OR white)


• 1 t vanilla


• 1 c whole wheat flour


• 4 T cocoa powder


• pinch of salt (optional)


• pinch of baking soda


• chocolate chips (normal, mint, whatever)

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl. I like to leave the chips for last, and then just sprinkle them on top.


2. Microwave on high for 4 to 5 minutes, depending on how chewy you want them.


3. Let them cool a little bit (or don't! ;-) ) and dig in.

Nutrition Facts
8 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 159.0
Total Fat 2.5 g
Saturated Fat 1.4 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.0 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.2 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 8.0 mg
Potassium 188.9 mg
Total Carbohydrate 35.1 g
Dietary Fiber 3.7 g
Sugars 2.7 g
Protein 2.8 g

Even Healthier Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

We all know that frozen yogurt is the healthier alternative to ice cream, but even compared to normal frozen this recipe is crazy healthy, and craaazy good.
It's amazing that something so simple could be so good. I made this today, and I didn't even follow the recipe measurements, it's that flexible. I snagged the original recipe from an MSNBC list of healthy, sweet snacks that won't spike your blood sugar and cause unwanted cravings which, in my case, usually lead to some form of what as commonly known as stuffing-of-the-face.
It's basically blending frozen strawberries, plain yogurt, and honey. Somehow the blending/food processing combined with the cold from the strawberries actually gives it an ice-creamy texture. It looks a bit runny in my picture, but that's probably due to my amazing lack of blender-wielding skills. I'm not much better with the food processor, but I'll probably try that next time. Or have my sister do it for me.
The official recipe says to serve it immediately and, to be frank, I really was not excited about freezing leftovers- didn't think the texture would work. In the end, though, sis had her half a mere 20 minutes later, so we couldn't really see how it would do after being frozen for extended periods of time. That's for you to find out. The original recipe only serves one, anyway, so ending up with massive amounts of home-made strawberry frozen yogurt should not be a major fear. Don't lose sleep over it.
Aaanyway. Without further ado, this is the magnificent recipe. Like I said, I didn't follow it, just froze as many strawberries that I could fit in a random tupperware container, then blended with 2 plain yogurts and a generous helping of honey. I then added honey as a topping, as you can see in the picture. My sister didn't.

This recipe serves one.

Ingredients

• 3/4 c frozen strawberries
• 1/3 c low-fat plain yogurt
• 2 tsp honey

Directions

1. Take the frozen strawberries out of the freezer and, using a serrated knife, carefully cut into chunks.
2. In a blender or food processor (must have metal blade), pulse about 10 times to finely chop the strawberries.
3. Add the yogurt and honey to the strawberries in the blender/processor.
4. Process until smooth, or until you have reached wanted consistency. (Fruit chunks work for texture if you like.)
5. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Facts (According to MSNBC)

Calories: 151
Carbohydrates (grams): 32
Calcium (milliggrams): 161
Fiber(g): 4
Omega-3 (g): 0.04
Vitamin D (IU): 0

Extremely Delicious Low-Fat Whole Wheat Carrot Cake

As a part of my Diet-Pimping, I've spent a countless number of hours searching for healthy, low-fat recipes, mostly online. The biggest issue I see people worrying about on their similar quests for the low-fat alternatives is the possible negative effect on taste that the "low-fat" bit of the title entails. In short, most people seem to assume that low-fat= bland, tasteless, gross, not-worth-it. Let's get one thing straight. I'm all for going healthy, I'm fully committed to the Pimp-my-Diet cause... but not if the price is good-tasting food.
That being said, this recipe is extremely healthy and definitely delicious. I found a reasonably healthy recipe for carrot cake online, but I immediately made changes to the recipe in the hopes that I would get an even better version. I've only ever made it following these ingredients and directions, so I can't really compare it to the end product of the original recipe. The original recipe called for 3/4 cup oil instead of 1 cup applesauce, white whole wheat flour instead of plain whole wheat, honey instead of brown sugar (I'm sure honey works in this recipe just as well), pineapple, 4 eggs instead of 3 egg whites, and quite a bit more salt.
Carrot cake is awesome with cream-cheese icing. When I find the golden, healthy version of the stuff, it'll definitely be put up here. This time, I made one mixing light cream cheese with almond cream... (almond butter?). The outcome was OK.
The nutritional value for this recipe was calculate for 16 servings, but I usually cut it into more (about 24).

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 3/4 cup brown sugar (or honey)
• 3 egg whites
• 2 cups grated or finely chopped carrots

Directions

1. Combine dry ingredients.
   
2. Add applesauce, sugar/honey, and eggs; mix well.
   
3. Stir in remaining 3 ingredients.
   
4. Bake in greased cake pan for 35 to 45 minutes at 350 degrees F (180 C).
   
5. Cool in pan several minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely on wire rack.

Nutrition Facts (per serving, 16 servings)

Calories 94.1
Total Fat 0.3 g
Saturated Fat 0.1 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.0 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 244.0 mg
Potassium 80.5 mg
Total Carbohydrate 21.1 g
Dietary Fiber 2.5 g
Sugars 2.2 g Protein 3.1 g