Tag Archives: Breakfast

Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes

Posted on January 30, 2011 by Veronica

Saturday is the one day of the week when I have all the time I want to prepare breakfast, so I tend to make them a little more special. I created these pancakes to use up one of the quickly blackening bananas in my fruit basket, and they were just wonderful, especially with the addition of fresh banana slices on top. The bonus is that they’re so light that you can have a stack of two or three without busting your calorie budget, if you care about such things.

Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

¾ cup quick-cooking oats
¾ cup whole wheat flour
¼ cup buttermilk powder*
1 tablespoon Truvia, or sweetener of choice
1 tablespoon flax seeds
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup water*
1 medium banana
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Measure oats, flour, buttermilk powder, Truvia, flax seeds, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt into a medium mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Mash banana with a fork into a separate bowl and whisk in the egg. Add to dry mixture along with water and vanilla. Let rest for at least five minutes while you heat a skillet/griddle. Measure out batter using ¼ cup for each pancake and cook until dry around edges on first side before turning to finish cooking.

*You can use 1 cup regular buttermilk in place of the buttermilk powder and water.

Makes 12 pancakes. Per pancake: 71 calories; 1.3 g fat; 12.5 g carb; 2 g fiber; 3 g protein

Recipe by Veronica Miller

Don’t forget to check out Steph’s online bake sale today (January 31)! It’s running from 7AM-9PM EST and this is your big chance to get your paws on a batch of my Mocha Toffee Brownies. Good luck!

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Posted in Breakfast, Lighter Fare and tagged Breakfast, diet, flax, healthy, light, low calorie, low-fat, nutritious, oatmeal, oats, whole wheat banana pancakes recipe. Bookmark the permalink.

Banana Oatmeal Bake

Posted on January 17, 2011 by Veronica

It has been months since I made this and I can still remember how creamy and delicious it was! I just bought some more agave nectar after using the last bottle up on Double Chocolate Banana Muffins, so I’m ready for another round of this hearty and warming breakfast. I think you will like this one. It’s both nutritious and delicious!

Banana Oatmeal Bake

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill 10 Grain Hot Cereal (or Bob’s Red Mill 7 Grain Hot Cereal, another 1/4 cup oats, flax meal, wheat germ or bran)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup agave nectar (or brown sugar, sugar or honey)
1-1/2 cups fat free milk (or any milk)
2 small bananas, mashed
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Combine oats, 10 Grain cereal, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, combine agave nectar, milk, egg, vanilla extract and bananas. Combine the wet with the dry ingredients. Lightly spray an 8 x 8 inch pan with cooking spray and pour in banana-oats mixture. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Add walnuts to the top and bake for another 5 minutes to toast them. Serve warm.

Recipe source: The Noble Pig

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Posted in Breakfast, Lighter Fare and tagged bake, baked oatmeal, baking, banana, Breakfast, cooking, hearty, nutritious, oatmeal. Bookmark the permalink.

Skinny Pumpkin Spiced Latte

Posted on November 24, 2010 by Veronica

Happy Thanksgiving! OK, so I’m early, but I’m headed out of town for the holiday and won’t have internet access on the big day. Before we head north, I’m going to share a little gem I’ve been enjoying often but have been selfishly keeping to myself.

I’m sure your jaw dropped when you read the “Skinny” part of the title since I have posted very few healthy or low-calorie recipes in the past several months. Well, believe it or not, despite all the fattening stuff I post on here I’ve been working on losing weight since May and this delicious latte is one of the things that has helped me shed twenty-five pounds along the way.

I’m not a big coffee drinker but I absolutely adore this Pumpkin Spiced Latte and have been making it at least once a week since the beginning of October. It is sweet, spiced with a hint of pumpkin flavor, and it’s soooo wonderful topped with whipped cream or, my recent favorite, gingerbread mallows. For the above photo, I plopped them on top so you could tell what they were, but I prefer to put them in the empty cup, then pour the hot latte on top so that they begin to puff and melt (as in the photo below) and create a gingerbread flavored foam on top that I get a little bit of with each sip.

OK, I’m off to whip one up right now! Today I’m grateful for so many things, including you. Thanks for reading and have a safe and happy Thanksgiving! I’ll see you back here on Saturday when I announce the spices giveaway winner!

Skinny Pumpkin Spiced Latte

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

3/4 cup fat-free milk
1 tablespoon pumpkin butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon sugar or sugar substitute (to taste)
1/4 cup strong brewed coffee
fat-free whipped topping or gingerbread mallows
pumpkin pie spice for topping

In a small pan whisk together milk, pumpkin butter and sugar until pumpkin butter is completely dissolved in the milk. Continue whisking and cook on medium until boiling. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and coffee. Pour into a mug, add desired topping and a dash of pumpkin pie spice. Serve hot.

Nutrition information (calculated without topping, using my own pumpkin butter (26.3 calories per tablespoon), and Splenda): Servings: 1 • Weight Watcher Points: 2 pts • Calories: 102.7 • Fat: 0.4 g • Sodium: 101.5 • Potassium: 418.1 • Carb: 17.8 g • Fiber: 0.5 g • Protein: 6.6 g

1/4 cup Cool Whip Free adds 30 calories, 4 gingerbread mallows adds 45 calories

Recipe source: Gina’s Skinny Recipes

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Posted in Breakfast, Condiments & ETC., Lighter Fare, My Favorites and tagged beverage, Breakfast, coffee, low-fat, pumpkin spiced latte, recipe, skinny. Bookmark the permalink.

Carrot Cake Breakfast Muffins

Posted on January 22, 2010 by Veronica

These are the best tasting wholesome muffins I’ve ever made. Made with whole wheat flour, honey, apples, carrots & walnuts, they are not only good for you but have a very moist and tender crumb (this surprised me) and are really delicious (this surprised me too). They are so good, in fact, that I replaced my dinner with them tonight!

[OK, fine. Here’s the full disclosure. I meant to only have one as a snack (I baked them in the afternoon) and it was so yummy, I nabbed another. And another. Then I had to break one apart to take a picture of the inside so I figured I may as well eat that one too. By then I no longer wanted dinner!]

I plan to store them in the freezer and pop one or two into the microwave on busy mornings. I think they’d be wonderful with a cup of black coffee.

Carrot Cake Breakfast Muffins
Recipe adapted from An Edible Mosaic
Makes 12 large muffins

Muffins
2 eggs
1/3 c canola oil
1/4 c 2% milk
1/2 c honey
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
2 large finely shredded carrots
1 large or 2 small sweet apples, peeled, cored, and finely chopped (I used Fuji)
1/2 c chopped walnuts

Glaze
1 oz Neuchâtel cheese (low-fat cream cheese)
1 1/2 tsp honey

Preheat the oven to 350F and put paper liners in your muffin pan.

Beat together the eggs, oil, milk, honey, and vanilla. In a separate bowl mix together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Lightly stir the wet ingredients into the dry, then fold in the carrot, apple, and nuts. Fill the muffin tray (the batter will come up to the top and mound in the center) and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

To make the glaze, warm the Neuchâtel in the microwave, then stir in the honey. Drizzle the glaze over the top of the cooled muffins with a fork, or put it into a Ziploc bag, cut the corner, and squeeze it over the muffins while sweeping the bag back and forth.

Nutritional Information (per muffin): 224 Calories, 11g fat, 37mg cholesterol, 225mg sodium, 29g carb, 3g fiber, 4g protein

I very finely shredded the carrots so they're hard to see, but I promise they're there!

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Posted in Breakfast, Lighter Fare and tagged apple, Breakfast, carrot cake, muffins. Bookmark the permalink.

Black Rice Pudding

Posted on August 12, 2009 by Veronica

This stuff is just amazing. I adore it! The coconut milk and sugar makes it a little heavy on the calories, but I justify the splurge by reminding myself that the black rice is chock full of antioxidants, even more than blueberries!

Commonly served for breakfast in parts of Southeast Asia, this dish also makes a great dessert. Chinese black rice, sometimes called forbidden rice, works well, but if you live near a Southeast Asian market you can use this same method with the more traditional Thai black sticky rice.

If you can’t find any kind of black rice, substitute brown rice (not quick-cooking) — it will result in a thicker, light-colored pudding but will still be delicious.

Black Rice Pudding

Printable recipe

1 cup black rice
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 cup sugar
1 (13 1/2- to 15-oz) can unsweetened coconut milk, stirred well

Bring rice, 3 cups water, and 1/4 teaspoon salt to a boil in a 3 to 4-quart heavy saucepan, then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered with a tight-fitting lid, 45 minutes (rice will be cooked but still wet). Stir in sugar, a scant 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1 1/2 cups coconut milk and bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until mixture is thick and rice is tender but still slightly chewy, about 30 minutes.

Remove from heat and cool to warm or room temperature, stirring occasionally, at least 30 minutes. Just before serving, stir pudding and divide among 8 bowls. Stir remaining coconut milk and drizzle over pudding.

Recipe source: Gourmet, December 2005

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Posted in Asian, Breakfast, Sweets, Vegetarian & Vegan and tagged black rice, Breakfast, dessert, pudding, recipe, vegan. Bookmark the permalink.

Impossibly Easy Vegetable Pie

Posted on April 22, 2009 by Veronica

Maybe I’m not the best judge of the quality of meals since I’m on an endless diet and I tend to think anything edible is good, but I really do favor this quiche-type dish and I end up making it a lot b/c it’s satisfying and low in calories (about 200 calories per 1/6th of the whole recipe). Den likes it too and as far as I can remember, he enjoyed it when he wasn’t on a diet (he ate it w/o complaining, anyway), so it’s probably safe for dieters and non-dieters alike.

This is my original version (based on a Betty Crocker recipe off their website), but I came up with this one for our dinner tonight b/c I found some sad looking leeks in the fridge that needed to be used in a jiffy and we didn’t have any milk. Using chicken broth made the meal even more low-cal and worked great!

Broccoli-Leek Vegetable Pie

3 leeks, sliced (white part only)
2 cups brocolli florets
1 cup cauliflower florets
1/4 of a red pepper, chopped (I’d use more for color but this is all I had left)
1-2 cups 2% shredded cheddar cheese
4 whole eggs
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup self-rising flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray. Mix the vegetables with the cheese and spread in baking dish in an even layer. Whisk the remaining ingredients together in a bowl until smooth and pour over the vegetables. Bake 45-55 minutes, or until egg mixture is set in the middle and a knife comes out clean when inserted near the center.