Zesty Orange Cornbread

I've been in a bit of vacation withdrawal now that I'm back in Canada. I loved the warm weather, beautiful beach and fresh produce that Florida had to offer.

This morning I decided that if I couldn't go back to the sunshine state right away, than I was going to have to bring it to me in the form of delicious, warm Orange Cornbread.

I forgot how much I enjoy cornbread, especially when it firsts comes out of the oven. I kept going back for more pieces until I finally was smart enough to wrap it up and put it out of sight. I have no self control around delicious warm baked goods!

What you'll need:
1 cup Cornmeal
1/2 cup White Flour
1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/3 cup Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup Milk
1/2 cup Egg Whites (or 2 Whole Eggs)
1/4 cup fresh Orange Juice
1 tbsp Orange Zest
2 tbsp Canola Oil

Preheat oven to 400°. Grease a 9-inch baking pan and set aside.

Zest the orange. I love to use my microplane for this. Its the little things in life that keep me going.

Cut the orange in half and juice it. I unfortunately don't have a juicer, so I just squeezed it with all my might until I got 1/4 cup of juice.

In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal, flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, combine milk, egg whites, orange juice and oil.

Stir dry ingredients into wet mixture until just combined. 

Pour batter into a greased 9-inch square baking pan.

Bake at 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Now cut a piece and spread some butter on it. Or go crazy and sprinkle a little sugar on top of that.

Warm, delicious cornbread. How do I forget these things? I'm going to make this more often!

Makes 9 servings.

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Carrot Cake Oatmeal

Yesterday I found this recipe for Carrot Cake Oatmeal by Angela on Eat, Spin, Run, Repeat and I just had to make it this morning. I love homemade oatmeal for breakfast and carrot cake for any occasion, so why not combine the two!

The recipe called for almond milk and walnuts, but I just substituted those out for skim milk and a little bit of All Bran Buds and brown sugar for some crunchy sweetness! I also cut the spices in half when I made a double batch.

What you'll need to make two servings:
2/3 cup Rolled Oats
2 cups Skim Milk (or Almond Milk)
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 large Carrot, grated
1/2 tsp Lemon Zest, grated
1/8 tsp All Spice
1/8 tsp Ground Cloves
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
2 packets Stevia (or 4 tsp packed Brown Sugar)
Cinnamon for garnish
Favorite Oatmeal toppings! (Nuts, Seeds, Cereal, etc)

In a small saucepan, combine oats, milk and vanilla on medium heat. Cook until bubbles begin to appear.

Stir in carrot, zest, spices and stevia. Cook for 2 minutes until carrots begin to soften. If mixture appears too dry, add a little more water.

Transfer to bowl and top with additional cinnamon and desired toppings.

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Spaghetti Squash Frittata

My dear friend Ash has just moved to Spain for the next 18 months for grad school and as sad as I was to see her go, I am so excited for the great adventure that she has just begun. We often cook together for our group dinners and I'm going to miss all of our fun cooking nights together, so in honour of that I made a simple recipe that we can both make, even if an ocean divides us. She recently sent me a message asking for a healthy and easy meal that she can make while going to school and I instantly thought of this frittata.

I used a cup of leftover Spaghetti Squash that I had roasted for another meal earlier in the week, but you could use a cup of any shredded veggie that you enjoy. I'm looking forward to trying zucchini when they come into season this year. The flavours in this dish are incredible. The fresh herbs, combined with cheese and spices make this incredibly flavorful, but keep it low in calories and carbs and high in protein. One half of this recipe is only 173 calories and keeps you feeling full!

I served it alongside roasted asparagus and a small bowl of fresh fruit for dessert. A healthy meal that is quick and easy to make! Perfect for the on-the-go grad student!

What you'll need:
1 cup cooked Spachetti Squash, seperated into strands
1 cup Egg Whites (or 4 fresh Eggs)
2 tbsp Italian Parsley, chopped
3 tbsp grated Parmesan
2 Shallots, finely chopped
3 cloves Garlic, minced
Handful of Grape or Cherry Tomatoes, quartered
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1/4 tsp Dried Oregano
1/8 tsp Cayenne
1 tbsp Butter or Margarine

Preheat oven to broil.

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Melt butter in a large skillet.

Pour mixture into skillet and cook over low heat for 12-15 minutes.

Place skillet on top rack of oven and broil for 2-3 minutes or until the top is browned.

Nothing like a quick and easy meal that tastes delicious! I even enjoyed the second half cold the next day. Perfect for taking for your lunch break along with a crisp salad.

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Chocolate Oatmeal Protein Pancakes

Start your Valentine's morning off right with these healthy and delicious chocolate oatmeal protein pancakes. I've been trying to find ways to add more protein into my breakfasts, but it isn't always easy so I put together these protein pancakes in the hopes that it will encourage me to stay motivated. They feel like a nice treat, despite being healthy. To keep the sugar levels down, I use low sugar syrup and berries for just the right amount of sweetness!

They may not taste just as light and fluffy as normal pancakes, but they are still delicious and satisfying.

What you'll need for two servings:

1/2 cup Egg Whites
1/2 cup Cottage Cheese
1/2 cup Oats
1 scoop Protein Powder
1/8 tsp Baking Powder
Stevia or Splenda to taste
1/2 cup Berries
Maple Syrup or Sugar-Free Table Syrup
Or any other favorite toppings

Add wet ingredients to blender, then dry ingredients.

Blend until smooth.

Heat griddle or non-stick pan. Pour about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. When pancake starts to bubble, flip and cook other side.

Hot, steaming chocolate pancakes!

Top with fresh or thawed frozen berries and maple syrup. 

You could add whatever you like! Chopped apples! Chocolate Chips!
A dusting of icing sugar!

Dig in and enjoy!

Makes two servings of three pancakes.

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Drag Myself Out Of Bed

This is exactly how I felt getting out of bed this morning:

Don't you ever have those days where its an epic battle to wake up? I swear I hit the snooze button 5 times today. I just couldn't bring myself to getting out of the sublime comfort of my sheets to face the reality of a workday. But then I remembered two things:

1) Its the Friday before a long weekend! Which means that before I know it I'll be heading up to my friend's cottage where you can sleep as much as you want...even if its just in a lawn chair :)

AND...

2) I had put something special in the fridge for breakfast.

After hearing about these so-called Overnight Oats everywhere on blogs, I decided to give them a try.

Before I went to bed last night, I mixed together:
1/3 cup Oats
1/3 cup Skim Milk
1/3 cup Non-Fat Plain Yogurt
1 ripe Banana, sliced.

I threw some cling wrap over the bowl and threw it in the fridge overnight.

When I finally dragged myself out of bed this morning, I found that it was a big bowl of creamy deliciousness just waiting from me in the fridge. Then it was just a matter of washing some fresh raspberries, drizzling on some honey and sprinkling on a bit of Special K Satisfaction (one of my favorite cereals).

It was cold, creamy and delicious, and there are so many great variations that you can do on this. I still love my hot oat cereal for breakfast, but this is a welcome change in these summer months.

I may have gotten a little two excited about it, because I wasn't two scoops in before I dropped some on the shirt I was wearing to work. Thankfully it was a quick clean up and I was on my way. I'm just glad that no one was there to see it, as I'm often teased for being a bit of a blonde klutz. Which I guess doesn't really matter now that I've put the picture up here for all to see. I need to embrace my inner klutz and just accept that I'm doomed to do more laundry.

I hope that all of you have a wonderful "spill free" Friday! :)