#healthyfood

Gluten Free Avocado Waffles

/ momsdiary26 / Leave a comment

I have been lately obsessed with my Dash mini waffle maker. The highly versatile that waffles can be, make me adore this new possession of mine even more.

So did you know that besides being a good dessert, waffles make an equally healthy option for breakfast as well!

I tried these super healthy and superbly yummy waffles a few days back. I used powdered oats instead of all purpose flour, with the goodness of avocados. These waffles just need a pinch of sugar, so you can have a guilt free day even after a luxurious waffle breakfast day. Since we ate these for breakfast, I topped it with fried egg.

My son who is not such an avid lover of avocados could not even make out that these waffles had avocados in it. Further, these were so light and crisp, that you could easily eat a couple of these in one meal.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup oats (powdered)
2 tbsp flax seed (powdered)
1 avocado ripe
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp melted butter

for topping

1/2 tsp oil
1 egg
A pinch of salt and pepper
Carrot, lettuce (for garnish)

Directions:

1. In a bowl take dry ingredients thats is powdered oats, flax seed powder, baking powder, sugar, and salt and mix these.

2. In a blender, blend avocado in water.

3 Add avocado paste to the dry ingredients and mix.

4. Add melted butter and milk and mix nicely but don’t overmix.

5. On a heated waffle maker, add batter and let it cook for 4 to 6 mins.

6. In another pan, add some oil and cook egg.

7. Top your waffle with egg; season with salt and pepper and garnish with carrot, lettuce. Your super healthy breakfast is ready!

Energy Bars

/ momsdiary26 / 1 Comment

If you are looking forward to some make ahead quick breakfast ideas, then these energy bars are something not to be missed upon. These are super easy to make and in only 3 steps.

These energy bars are our family’s favorite. I prefer making it in advance and storing it in an airtight container. They are a savior as quick to-go breakfast on busy mornings or a filling snack in the evenings. They remain nice and crisp for a good amount of time as well.

These bars are not only wholesome, but also highly adaptive and can be varied with a number of ingredients. I find that peanut butter gives a good binding to the ingredients as compared to almond butter. You can also add whipped frosting of any flavors, just to give an additional twist of taste.

Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats
2/3 cups peanut butter (or any other nut butter)
I cup nuts such as almonds, walnuts, pistachios, dry dates etc.
2tbs flax seed
¼ cup honey
Chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Take rolled oats, dried fruits, flax seed powder, peanut butter, almond butter and honey in a dish.


2. In a chopper, coarsely grind all the ingredients.


3. Now add choco chips to the mixture.

4. Next, take a raised baking dish, firmly press the mixture into it. Cover it for 2hrs or until firm.

4. Now using a knife slice it into bars. Store it into an airtight container.

Reindeer Cupcakes recipe

/ momsdiary26 / Leave a comment

If you are still looking for some baking idea for holidays, you’d probably not want to miss on the reindeer faced cupcakes. These are made with a simple cupcake recipe and decorated with most of the items available at hand.

For frosting, I used store brought Betty Crocker whipped frosting. You can also make your own frosting. Similarly, I made eye balls using Betty Crocker white frosting and peices of chocolate chips. You can use eye ball candies for the same.

Getting kids decorate the cupcake adds another level of fun to the making process. There is nothing more enjoyable than to eat your own decorated cupcakes.

Infact, they can be done at any time of the year as these cakes are simple vanilla cupcakes, with a reindeer decoration.

Ingredients:

for cupcakes

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 tsp baking powder

for frosting and decoration

Chocolate frosting (whipped)
Vanilla frosting (whipped), for eyes
Chocolate chips pieces for eyeball
Cracker (cut into piece) for snout
M & M’s for nose
Cashews for horn

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degree Fahrenheit and line cupcake baking tin with cupcake liners.

2. In a bowl take dry ingredients that is all purpose flour, baking powder and salt.

3. In another bowl, with an electric mixer, beat sugar and butter until smooth and creamy then add egg one at a time until well combined. Add milk and vanilla essence into it and mix.

4. Fold in dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.

5. Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake it for 15-18 mins or until a tooth pick inserted into it comes out clean.

6. Remove the cup cakes from the tin and let it cool completely.

7. Now make reindeer faces: First using a knife or a frosting tool spread a layer of chocolate frosting. For eyes, take a small ball of white frosting and a small dot of chocolate piece. For snout, take a piece of cracker (broken into 1/4th) and put M & M’s on it for nose. Use cashews for horns.

Happy baking!

Hot Chocolate Oreo Shake

/ momsdiary26 / Leave a comment

Who doesn’t love shakes?! Here is a super simple recipe of a frozen hot chocolate shake. This one is more of a milk shake version of hot chocolate which is blended with ice-cream and Oreos to give a super rich and chocolatey flavour of Oreos with a malty taste of hot cocoa. It can be made with bare minimal ingredients at home. All you need is milk, ice cream, hot cocoa powder with some Oreos.

This recipe will serve 1 small jar. You can keep it chunky, for keeping it smooth, just blend it a little more. Take chocolate ice-cream if you want it a little more chocolatey. Plus, you can do topping of your choice as well.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup vanilla ice cream
1/3 cup hot cocoa mix
4 Oreo cookies
Heavy whipping cream for topping
Sprinkles, chocolate chips, Oreo cookie (for topping)

Directions:

1. In a blender, blend milk, ice cream, Oreo, cocoa mix and empty it in a glass jar.


2. Top it with whipping cream, sprinkles, choco chips and Oreo pieces.

Enjoy the delightful shake!

My favorite salad recipes

/ momsdiary26 / Leave a comment

I love salads more than burgers. Yes you heard it right! I think, taste always take a backseat when health is on mind. I am always on my on trip to make my own versions of salad every now and then. It gives me immense sense of satisfaction to quickly make my own bowl of salad when I want to go a little light on my dinner. Here I bring you some of my favorite salad recipes.

Chickpea salad

In a bowl, toss cooked chickpeas, cucumber, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, bell pepper, carrots and season it with olive oil, garlic (minced), tahini sauce, lemon, honey, black pepper, salt. Canned chickpeas are a good ready to use option; however if using uncooked version, cook it in a cooker for 5-10 mins.

Spaghetti salad

Cook spaghetti as per instructions. In a plate, add chopped spinach, bell pepper, tomatoes, corns, spaghetti and season it with olive oil, Italian seasoning (oregano, thyme, parsley), parmesan cheese, salad dressing ( I used Kraft Thousand Island) lemon juice, salt, black pepper.

Quinoa salad

Cook quinoa for 10 mins or as per instructions. In a bowl, toss your veggies bell pepper, corns, lettuce, carrots, salt, green chili and into it add cooked quinoa. Quinoa is a superfood, however it’s rich in its carb content. Just need to watch the quantity if you don’t want to consume too much of carb.

Mexican salad bowl

In a bowl take cooked (or canned) beans, greens (lettuce, cucumber, bellpepper, avocados, cabbage), corns, tomato onion salsa and season with myonnaise, ranch seasoning mix, taco seasoning, lemon and salt.

For salsa: Finely chop onions, tomatoes, garlic, pepper, red chilli powder, lemon, cilantro, and salt. You can also coarsely grind all the ingrediends in a grinder.

Cajun spice corn salad

Take corns, cucumber, onion, tomatoes in a bowl. Since it is a corn salad, take half the quantity of corns and rest of the ingredients half of it. In another bowl mix together myonnaise, cajun spice and greek yogurt and season your salad with it. You can also add sour cream instead of greek yogurt.

Note: Since store bought cajun spice has a blend of other spices along with salt, you don’t need to add salt in the seasoning mix.

Classic Garden salad

In a bowl, toss lettuce, spinach, cherry tomatoes, carrots, bell-pepper, cheddar cheese, and season it with olive oil, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, Italian seasoning, salt, black pepper. Add croutons. You can buy croutons from store or make your own batch.