September 2011 – OwlCat Designs

September 28, 2011December 16, 2017

Pumpkin Muffin Bites

Alright, i admit it: I am suffering from a pumpkin addiction at the moment, and while were at it, I have an obsession with bananas. It all started with trying to use up all those severely ripe bananas in the summer. I would buy bananas, thinking:’ good snack, conveniently packaged’ and then have an apple instead.
So I have come up with countless ways of using up those ‘end of the week, less than pretty, by themselves inedible’ (I prefer them just a bit green) bananas without having to whip up banana bread every time. Now it’s gotten to the point where I purposely buy extra bananas to let ripen fully. They are cheap, readily available and much better for you than sugar. And get quite sweet when they get to ‘really ripe’ status. So I started using bananas as natural sweetener. (Using alternates to sugar has become more and more important to me since my boyfriend was diagnoses with diabetes last year.

And telling everyone about my quest for the perfect pumpkin latte (recipe to come soon) and my woes in finding canned pumpkin, I had several friends donate cans they found at stores. Soooo… Now I have lots of seasonal pumpkin and once a can is open, well you better use it up 🙂
That’s where these come in:

Pumpkin Muffin Bites!

Ingredients

1 Mashed very ripe banana
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 tblsp cashew butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 -1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/8-1/4 tsp Pumpkin pie spice
1-3 tblsp Sucanat*, Rapadura or date sugar
1 tsp Baking powder
1/2 cup Ground almonds/ almond flour
1/2 cup Chickpea flour
Pecan halves for garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F and line mini muffin pan with muffin cup liners.
Mash up the ripe banana, add the pumpkin and the nut butter and stir until no lumps remain. Add Sucanat, stir.
Stir in vanilla and spices, then add the chickpea and almond flours along with the baking powder and mix until combined
drop into mini muffin pan lined with paper muffin cups by the teaspoon full and garnish each one with a pecan half.
Bake in middle of preheated oven at 350F for 10-15 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
Cool on rack.

* Sucanat and Rapadura are dried sugar cane juice, not bleached, not refined

Super yummy, but the color before they are baked is rather questionable…just saying

September 27, 2011December 16, 2017

Bootcamp SPINACH Omelette-Frittata aka Green Eggs…

At my early morning Bootcamp I always emphasize how important nutrition is, and how especially important it is to fuel your body properly after a hard workout.

No matter if you are looking to drop body fat percentage or trying to increase endurance or strength. And as a post workout (and weight loss) option, I love spinach frittata, no let me correct that, SPINACH frittata. More like: Spinach with Omelette, speak: lot’s of spinach

This one’s called ‘Green Eggs’ for a reason. Plenty of protein for breakfast will keep you full longer and the healthy carbs from the spinach, let alone all the other super green nutrients in there are going to fuel you right! It’s simple, just three ingredients and you can omelet or frittata it. Depending on your mood, there are a couple of different ways to make it:

First off the ingredients though

Serves 2

2-3 packed hands full of baby spinach,
5 eggs ( or 8 egg whites)
1 piece (about 1/2″ x 4″ x 1″ ) Feta cheese, cut into chunks
1 tblsp Coconut oil (or oil of choice) for cooking

Here served with fresh pineapple (the enzymes found in fresh pineapple help break protein down quickly, making it more readily available for your body to use)

Directions

Heat coconut oil in skillet on medium, and swirl to coat
Add the spinach and let crackle and cook until some of it starts to wilt.
In the meantime, scramble the eggs/egg whites in a bowl, beating with a fork or whisk until mixed and bubbly
Pour eggs into pan, ‘wiggle’ the spinach a bit with a fork so the eggs can get underneath the spinach lumps.
Distribute the feta cheese over top and cook until eggs are set:
Once the eggs are in you can:

A) stick the skillet in the oven, preheated to 350 F or under the broiler ( make sure you are using a heat proof skillet, and DON’T touch the handle, no matter what, it’s very tempting, best to put a potholder over it, trust me I tried…)
B) flip the Omelet over or fold in half, cooking until set or crispy brown, depending on how you like it.

Just remember, only HALF of this is YOUR serving.

I make “frittata-omelets”: browned and crisp!

Did I mention, lots of spinach?

After this, you’re ready for some good eats!

September 27, 2011December 16, 2017

Sweet Potato Apricot No-Bake Macaroons

I was searching for Pumpkin Puree (the one that conveniently comes in cans) ALL OVER town, after seeing this lovely Pumpkin Spice Smoothie — Healthful Pursuit recipe from Leanne and the Pumpkin Spice Latte over on Averie’s blog…

After three (3!!!) grocery stores without pumpkin, a store manager telling me they were out since last December, still due to ~~a shortage last year~~ every one making those delicious looking lattes and smoothies, I suspect 😉

Craving the sweet, orange fall flavors, I started with the sweet potato I had on hand and went from there. At first I thought, maybe I will just adapt the smoothie or latte and use the sweet potato instead (I argued it might work, it’s sweet, orange and creamy when cooked, add the right spices, they make sweet potato pie filling…) At 9 pm after being up since 4 that morning, that seems like a great idea, trust me. And maybe it would have been…

I have to admit though, courage left me after cooking the sweet potato and here’s what I have come up with instead:
Sweet Potato Apricot No Bake Macaroons. I really wanted to call them: Sweet Potato Coconut Apricot Banana Almond Balls, but that would have been a bit ridiculoso!

No, sorry no drink recipe (yet)

They are kind of like those Energy Chunks at the Health Food store, but more tender, fresher, sugar free and softer in texture, enjoy!

No cooking/baking involved, except for the sweet potato:

Ingredients

1/2 cup sweet potato, cooked, mashed
1 really ripe banana, mashed
1/2 cup almond flour/meal
1/2 cup coconut shredded fine
1-2 tblsp chopped dried apricot
(optional) 1 tblsp maple syrup or other sweetener
1 tblsp chia seed
more coconut and almond flour for coating

Directions

cook, let cool a bit and peel sweet potato, chop roughly
add very ripe banana, chia seed, sweet potato (and sweetener if using) to food processor (can be done by hand as well) pulse to combine
combine chopped apricots, almonds and coconut with the food processor contends, mix until incorporated
form 1 1/2″ dia balls, using a spoon to measure it out, roll between your palms, then roll in a mixture of more coconut and ground almonds
Refrigerate and enjoy!

September 25, 2011December 16, 2017

Rainy Day Banana Pancakes (Egg Free)

So last weekend it was gray and rainy outside and I was cleaning the house, (not my favorite chore, it’s so unsatisfying, don’t you think? As soon as you’re done, you gotta start all over) listening to music is a good option to make it more fun, right? Well, my Ipod played “Banana Pancakes” by Jack Johnson.

Take a listen: Amazon.com: Banana Pancakes: Jack Johnson: MP3 Downloads.

It made me hungry, it made we want to have some, right then and there. I could smell them… So on the list for Saturday Breakfast they go 🙂 As I happily, pj’s and all, was ready to start the project: NO EGGS. What to do now? Option A: get changed and go to the store, option B: figure out how to make it without. It’s Saturday and I really don’t want to face the world, the rain is pouring down here in PA (probably some other leftover part of another tropical storm?) so I went about my quest for egg-less pancakes. There’s a German saying: Not macht erfinderisch (transl: Need makes one inventive 😉

I could have used Bananas as a topping, but there were these peaches on my counter, waiting to be eaten.

A dollop of greek yogurt…

… and a drizzle of maple syrup
Success!

Turns out it’s not the eggs at all that make the pancakes fluffy and light, but the baking powder/soda. Good to know

Ingredients:

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup oat flour
1 cup (non dairy) milk ( I used almond milk, unsweetened)*
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tblsp (coconut) oil
1 tblsp suconat, or sugar, honey (optional)
1/2 ripe banana, mashed

Mix the dry ingredients, then stir in the milk, oil and banana. Moisten a paper towel with some oil, wipe the skillet, heat, and add the pancake batter by the 1/4 cup full. Flip over when bubbles appear on the surface.

Serve with:

-Sliced ripe peaches, greek yogurt, and maple syrup

-Banana and caramelized pecans

Serves 2, (Makes 6-7 pancakes)

* you can also use buttermilk, or coconut milk, make sure you stir/shake the can well and since it’s thicker, you may need to spread out the pancakes a bit while they start cooking. I use oat flour, I like the bit nutty flavor it gives the pancakes. Enjoy!

What kind of substitutes in needy time have you had success with?

You can also make waffles …

And the best part? Make the whole recipe, or double and keep the extras individually wrapped in the freezer, pop in the toaster oven until yummy! for those morning when you have no time…

September 25, 2011December 16, 2017

If you can’t make it yourself…

Lately I have found myself sucked into the computer and browsing food and recipe blogs for hours on end (…in my defense, it was rainy all week end). Sorting my thoughts on how to go about writing this cookbook I have been thinking about for some time now was my excuse for the countless hour leaking into the internet. Until it dawned on me, that maybe starting a blog about cooking (I love food), making healthy food choices and meals (I am a personal trainer and sports nutritionist) might be a good place to start sorting and organizing all the recipes (or new ones, no need to look back, right?) that in the past have lived in a 0.99 cent compositions book . And I have lots of them, notebooks with recipes that is.

I remember creating this recipe for a layered chocolate heart when I was a little girl back in Switzerland, and how exited I was when I showed my Mom (Looking back she seemed a bit more concerned with the sticky mess I may have left behind in the kitchen, than exited about my ‘creation’, lol)

I love to make everything from scratch, because, it just plain tastes better and is better for you. If you can’t make it yourself, don’t eat it. I am not saying that I always make everything myself, but I will stay away from things I could not make, even if I had the right tools and would put all the effort into it. I have tried to make everything from sushi rolls to goat cheese to gluten free baked goods, just to see if I can do it (…and I am a very curious person and how stuff is made intrigues me), but more on that another time.

I believe healthy food should be flavorful, super yummy and not leave your wallet empty!

Welcome to Simple. Healthy. Homemade!

🙂 Simone