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

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

Starting this Blog (and the day) with Whole Wheat Pancakes

Well, for my first entry I think it's appropriate to start off with a recipe for Whole Wheat Pancakes. I usually make Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes, but you can add any kind of fruit, or none at all, to this recipe. I encourage adding fruit because it naturally sweetens them a bit more, and you don't have to load up on tons of syrup. You can also, of course, add anything else you want, like chocolate chips... but let's keep this on the uber-healthy side for now.
I find this recipe serves about four (and very well). Be sure to check the notes at the bottom before you start.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
  
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
  
• 1 egg
  
• 1 cup milk, plus more if necessary*
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• 1 tablespoon artificial sweetener
  
• 1/2-1 cup mashed bananas**(about 2 medium bananas)/blueberries/etc.

Directions

• Sift together your dry ingredients (flour, baking powder) and set aside. Beat together your wet ingredients (egg, milk, salt and artificial sweetener) in a bowl. Add and stir in dry ingredients. Mix in fruit of choice.
  
• Preheat a skillet over medium heat, and spray with cooking spray. Pour batter in according to the desired pancake size. Cook until bubbly, about 1 1/2 minutes. Turn, and continue cooking until golden brown.***

Notes

* I usually add a little bit more milk to this batter, to make it more liquidy. Depending on how you want your pancakes you can add varying amounts of milk to get it to the desired consistency. My sister likes "Juicy Pancakes", which are slightly raw on the inside. To get this, the batter should be thicker.

** Tip for mashing the bananas: Put the bananas in a bowl. Using a fork, slice them up a bit, then stick them in the microwave for up to a minute. When you take them out, they'll be a lot softer. Use the fork to mash them up in the bowl until mostly liquidy.

*** Tip for fluffy pancakes: When you flip the pancake, don't press down on it with your spatula. This won't make them cook faster, nor make sure they're fully cooked. It'll just squeeze out the air that makes your pancakes light and fluffy. Also, if you can, try to only cook each side once.

And now... for a little rumination on the benefits of whole wheat. Growing up in a house where white bread was pretty much forbidden, I grew up hating whole wheat. I was the only kid at school with whole wheat bread slices for my sandwiches. As I grew older, my mother (the whole wheat lover of the family) relaxed more on her eating rules. As she began to eat more unhealthily, so did the rest of the family. Of course, I'm sure this had something to do with me and my sister growing up and entering teenage-hood... we got old enough to pressure our mother into getting the junk-food alternatives, and we would buy white-bread sandwiches at the cafeteria in a kind of rebellious act. But on this healthy-eating mission of mine, I've made several changes in my eating ways, the first one being the switch to whole wheat.

I now only eat whole wheat. All my bread, cake, and cookie recipes are 100% whole wheat. In fact, I think it was this first rule that I made for myself that first got me into cooking. Before a couple of months ago, I could hardly even make pasta. Now, I'm the main cook of my family, and I make sure everything is the healthy alternative.

Whole wheat is the healthier alternative to normal, white wheat for several reasons. It has more healthy fiber, and isn't refined the way white flour is. Because of this, it doesn't cause Blood Sugar levels to spike as much, which can lead to a lot of binge eating. Whole wheat is also an extremely good source of antioxidants, Vitamin B, Vitamin E, magnesium, and iron... even more so than vegetables. Whole grains have been shown to lower the risks of heart disease by lowering cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and blood coagulation. Other studies have shown benefits including a lowered risk of cancer, and several have found that people who consume whole grains consistently weigh less than those who consumed less, or none.

It's easier than you think to get more whole grains into your diet. If you cook, you can start by finding versions of your favorite recipes that use whole wheat. You can also substitute in whole wheat flour for recipes that call for white flour, but it's recommended that you only substitute in about half the amount of flour with whole wheat flour, and leave the other half as white. It is possible to do a full substitution with some recipes, but baking time and texture may change considerably. You can also start by buying products with whole grains in them, but be wary of the actual ingredients in them. It's important to check the food labels on products that claim to be "whole grain", because, more often than not, they include SOME whole grains, but also great amounts of refined grains as well. The easiest way to ensure that you're eating 100% whole grains is cooking your own foods. With a lot of recipes, people can't even tell that what they're eating is whole wheat... and if they don't know it, they don't seem to care. It seems people just have a predisposition to dislike the taste of anything they know is whole grain. Don't tell them, and in a lot of cases, they'll never know.

So. To conclude, my first step for Pimping my Diet, was to commit to eating only whole grains (or hardly any refined grains, when impossible to avoid completely).