Healthy Baking: Ginger Snaps and Blueberry Pancakes

Afternoon,

The other day I had the brilliant idea to attempt to cook two recipes that I've wanted to cook for a while now.

I tried my luck at two healthy recipes - Blueberry Pancakes and Ginger Snaps.  Both recipes are off my two favourite blogs Ittybitsofbalance.com and nourish-and-flourish.net.

My "Lightened Up Wheat-free Ginger Snaps"

Ginger Snaps close up

Brittany's Ginger Snaps ( http://ittybitsofbalance.com/2011/12/20/lightened-up-wheat-free-gingersnaps/ )

To my disappointment both recipes were a complete fail.  The ginger snaps were wheat-free and tasted slightly odd, they tasted pretty much like brown rice flour and water.  I'm sad that these didn't work for me as they looked so cute on Brittany's blog.

Sara's Blueberry Pancakes ( http://nourish-and-flourish.net/2012/06/wiaw-blueberry-cheesecake-pancakes/ )

As for the blueberry pancakes this was an awesome recipe!  The recipe is so healthy and the pancake batter is super tasty the problem is that because they contain almost zero fat you need to cook them in an awesome non-stick frying pan.

I attempted the recipe twice - the first time the whole mixture stuck to my horrible pan and I ended up just throwing the whole thing out.  The second time instead of frying the batter I baked it in a ramekin.  It came out awesome and so pretty.  Because I'm still getting use to taking pictures of everything I cook/bake I don't have a picture for my baked pancakes (sorry) but take it from me it looked sooo tasty and colourful.

Turbo Jamming / A Sign

While I was back home for the madres operation I found a Turbo Jam DVD amonugst a bunch of books on my mums cabinet.

I was excited because I wanted to buy it when I first saw the informational way back in 2006.

Back in my younger days 2006/07 I use to spend anywhere from 2-4 hrs in the gym most days as I was a student studying and had nothing better to do with my time.

I'd finish course at 1pm then spend the rest of the day in the gym until my mum finished work at 5pm where we would then go home together.  I use to do a lot of boxing back then and it's fair to say I was in SOOO MUCH better shape.

When I first saw Turbo Jam advertised it appealed to me as it incorporated boxing and kick-boxing moves the only thing I was always to screw-gee to pay the ridiculous price of 200.00 for the box set.

Fast-forward 6years and too many delicious burgers and desserts later I was ecstatic to find the disk on the cabinet,  it was like a sign!

I tried out the "Learn and Burn" workout and it definitely makes you sweat! I feel like I'm getting in a good amount of cardio and personally find it more entertaining then Zumba.  Zumba I find boring and end up quitting half way through so this is good though I must admit the first time I tried this I ended it only 4mins in as I was exhausted but it was 1am in the morning :)

I'm going to try do Turbo Jam at least 3 times a week and see how we go.  I want to get back into boxing and start UFC (Ultimate Fighter) and MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) so this is a good place to start to get my fitness up.  I get through all the punches and kicks imagining that I'm an awesome UFC fighter haha

Along with my "Learn and Burn" workout today I have also dusted off the cobwebs of my "Ab Circle Pro" as I never really did complete the "Lose 10pounds in 10 days Challenge",  a killer Body Rock workout and a Blogilates "Glad You Came Calve Challenge" - http://blogilates.com/challenges

What I'm Currently Doing

Baking the above Banana Bread from Sara'a blog - http://nourish-and-flourish.net/my-favorite-banana-bread/.

It's close to midnight and I have to wake up at 4am for the journey back home to see my madre before her operation.  I still have to wash the clothes that I plan on taking with me and then pack those same clothes.

Instead of packing and making sure I have everything I need I'm baking yummy Banana Bread and G/F Pumpkin Muffins....typical of who I am really.  I take such a relaxed not fazed approach while everyone stresses out panicking that I wont be ready on time I make it with minutes to spare,  much to their amazement.

Fingers crossed my bread tastes good as my kitchen currently smells amazing!  The beautiful aromas of cinnamon,  vanilla and sweet bananas are filling every nook and cranny of my house.

I changed Sara's recipe slightly by replacing the butter with olive oil and using splenda instead of real sugar.  I also added cinnamon by mistake as I was baking my g/f pumpkin muffins at the same time and cinnamon went in the banana bread instead of the muffins (oops).


Banana Bread

2 cups oat flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar (Splenda granular and Truvia work well too)

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)

1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt (2% or 0%)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.

3. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed
until well blended (about 1 minute). Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating
after each addition. Add banana, yogurt, and vanilla; beat until
blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Spoon
batter into a bread loaf pan (or muffin pan) coated with cooking spray.

4. Bake at 350° for 1 hour (for bread), or 20 minutes (for muffins), or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes
out clean.

Serves 14.

Nutrition per serving: Calories: 187; Fat: 4.3 grams; Protein: 3.9 grams;

Nutrition with Splenda: Calories: 136; Fat: 4.3 grams; Protein: 3.9 grams

Deliciousness In A Basket

My yummy and uber cool gift from Mat my amazing boyfriend.

My delicious treat was filled to the brim with a variety of apples,  pears,  plums,  peaches,  berries,  nectarines and delicious chocolate and special cookies which I ate by the bucket load when we lived in Sydney.

Needless to say I was one happy girl when Mat presented the above to me :)