warm mornings

I've said it before, I like to start the day off eating right, even if I'm ending it with a molten lava cake. This is my way of creating balance. This is my way of justifying a cookie. This is my way of getting some much needed nutrients. This is my way of a warm, healthy breakfast on a cold morning. It's pretty tasty having it my way.

Normally I'm not crazy about baked apple pies/desserts/oatmeal, but I thought if I shredded the apple it would just meld into the oatmeal. The additional crunch of the almonds also took away from the baked apple texture that I dislike, making this delicious and more like a treat. It doesn't feel healthy it just tastes amazing, especially with the cinnamon yogurt sauce.

I love baking this on the weekend and then reheating any leftovers throughout the week. I can't tell you how gratifying it is to have a warm, filling breakfast on a winter day... and then repeat it all over again the next day! Who needs cereal?

no double trouble here

I realize my blogging has been sporadic lately and when I re-vamped this blog (almost a year ago!) I was determined to keep the content at a 50/50 ratio between beauty and baking. Lately, I've been feeling a little tapped out in the beauty department. I genuinely don't want to recycle information that you can find from every other magazine or blogger, so I'm only going to post on beauty when I'm really passionate about a product or topic (or if anyone has a particular beauty question that needs answering). 

So I guess I'm saying that the blog will be a little more baking heavy and not so evenly balanced with beauty, as it used to be. With that said...

I have a toddler who is obsessed with muffins. She wants them everyday, all day. And I cannot go to the grocery store without her demanding a muffin to occupy her time in the shopping cart (the tough life of a toddler).

Healthy Swaps

I've been using some healthier substitutions in my baking and here are some infograph's that make it easy to figure out when and where a sub is possible: 

~This infograph focuses mainly on flour substitutions- great for low-carb and gluten-free needs.

via

~Looking for low-fat options? How about an infograph for oil and butter replacements? I love that this also give descriptions as to what kind of texture and taste you can expect from each ingredient- I use this one the most.

via

~Even though this infographic is specifically Chobani, any brand Greek yogurt should work as long as it's plain and unflavored (regular yogurt may work but is runnier than Greek yogurt, so keep that in mind and maybe add more flour if the mixture is too runny). 

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** I've had some successes and failures with substituting ingredients- It's just a trial and error. Just last week I subbed so many ingredients in a brownie recipe that it turned into a "cakenie" (yes, another weirdo word I made up) which became a hybrid of a cake/brownie... it's not that the texture was bad, it was the taste.... it was not good. Going forward, when I'm experimenting with subbing ingredients, I'm only going to try and change just one or two of the ingredients in a recipe- who knows, you may not be able to tell a difference and it'll probably be healthier for you. Have you had any luck with subbing an ingredient? If so, I'd love to hear the good, the bad and the ugly.

Healthy Blueberry muffins

If you're trying to healthify (yes I think I made up that word) your food repertoire then this is a great recipe to try. There's a mixture of whole-wheat and all-purpose flour so it's a nice blend of healthy lightness. I also incorporated the chia egg substitute and was happy with the result.

And since they were healthy I didn't feel an ounce of guilt for eating 3 fresh from the oven. I've been keeping the leftovers in the fridge and zapping one if the microwave for 8 seconds (cooking times are an exact science for microwaves and once you know how hot things get in yours, you'll understand why 8 seconds is perfect for mine).

Cranberries would make a fantastic substitution for blueberries, if that was your preference. These are a moist, delicate muffin with berries bursting in every bite and they're sweet without being mistaken for a dessert.

(recipe to follow)