Soo Happy Birthday America (july 4th), My Dad (July 5th) and Kris (june 23th). Today was an extremely busy day for me. I got up and headed straight to the gym. I’ve been kinda of lazy this week about going, even today when I got there I wasn’t really feeling it. My intention was to do cardio but after getting on a machine for about 5 minutes I wasn’t having it. I ended up doing full body workout and jump rope.
When I got home I decided to do some baking for the birthday dinner bash at Grandpas. First thing I made was Healthy Oatmeal Cookies. I found this recipe online but I swapped out a few ingredients to make this healthier. Here’s what I used:
- I cup Whole Wheat Flour
- 1 1/2 cups of Quaker Oatmeal
- 1/2 tsp of baking soda AND baking powder
- 1 /2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp of cinnamon
- little sprinkle of nutmeg
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup applesauce
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 cup cranberries
- 1/4 cup walnuts
First mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and then add the wet ingredients in another bowl (when you use honey, try spraying some PAM so that the honey will come out easier instead of sticking to the cup). Put the wet and dry ingredients together and mix well.
Next mix in the nuts and cranberries. I decided to use the Organic Cranberries that Newman’s Own had sent me
Let the mixture set in the fridge for about 20 minutes.
After it’s set turn the oven on to 340 degrees. Using a spoon scoop out medium sized dollops onto a cookie sheet. I used a fork to press them down and shape them into a cookie shape. Cook them about 15-18 minutes. I cooked mine at about 20 and they turned out well but a teeny bit dry.
Although a tiny bit dry they ended up pretty tastey. Depending on how big you make the cookies, you actually get a lot.
I ALSO decided to make Whole Wheat Banana Bread. This one isn’t soooo terrible for you, but I decided to use butter instead of applesauce because this was my first time making this recipe and I wanted to make sure it was edible for the family!
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup packed natural brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup mashed over-ripe bananas
1 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
In one bowl mix the flour, cinnamon, and salt. Lightly toss the ingredients so they are all combined. In another bowl, mix the honey, butter and brown sugar and beat the mixture for about two minutes. Add the eggs and lightly whisk to combine. Mix in the banana and vanilla.
Next begin to add the flour mixture to the wet bowl. Add the flour in gradually, pouring a little bit in at a time and mixing, then repeat. After you’ve mixed the wet and dry ingredients add dilute baking soda (1/4 cup of hot water with baking soda mixed in). Pour the batter into 9×5 dish
Set the oven to about 320 and put the pan in for about 45 minutes. I baked the bread for close to ten minutes then added the walnuts on top.
After all my baking and packing the pups and I were off to Raleigh! I decided to make stuffed peppers like I had the other night. this time I decided to cut the peppers in half (these babies were HUGE).
Dad and I went to Grandpas, I played with the new pup Parker! He’s so cute! Bartleby is jealous that he’s not the cute one anymore
I snacked on some Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies
And of course some Banana Bread! I think everyone enjoyed this, it was eatin up pretty fast!
Grandpa was kind enough to pour me a glass of red
The spread we had was delicious. Filet, Stuffed Green Pepper, Corn on the Cob, Baked Beans, Canteloupe and some healthy Potato Salad that grandpa made!
My Plate:
Of course we had some fabulous desserts!! Grandpa had a blueberry extravaganza, he made blueberry pie and mini blueberry cheesecakes (from scratch). The was more for dad—
Little Cheesecakes and Maxi B cupcakes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It wasn’t excatly dark out but we decided to shoot fireworks anyways.
The fireworks master:
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY YA’LL!!!!
