Looking for a quick and healthy snack that doesn’t taste quick or healthy? With just a few simple ingredients, you can whip up a restaurant-quality appetizer that you can eat without any guilt. Black beans, one of the world’s healthiest foods, are packed with heart-healthy fiber and cancer-fighting antioxidants. And the best part is that when combined with a whole grain, such as these whole wheat pita chips, beans provide a high quality protein. That’s right, filled with complex carbohydrates and protein, this is a snack that won’t let you down after an hour or two!

This is one of those recipes that I just threw together from ingredients I had on hand. This means, you can do the same. If you don’t have black beans, use whatever canned beans you have in your pantry! Same goes for the spices. Experiment with flavors you like, and if you come up with something great, don’t forget to leave a comment so the rest of us can try it too! Whole wheat pita bread should be pretty easy to find at most grocery stores these days. I like to buy a couple packages and keep it in the freezer. If you can’t find it at your local store, don’t worry! I’ll be posting a recipe for the homemade stuff soon!

On to the recipes! Continue reading →

Double Dark Chocolate Beet Muffins. Yes, you read that right. Beet. Sound good? Probably not. But you can’t say they don’t look good! And so far, nobody has been disappointed with the taste either. What prompted me to create such a bizarre flavor combination in this muffin? Well it’s kind of a long story…

To tell you the truth, I’ve never liked beets. I was forced to eat them as a kid, I thought they tasted like dirt, end of story. Fast forward 25 years and I decided it was time to give the strange-looking red root another chance. My aunt and uncle recently took me to the local farmer’s market and one of the many things we bought were beets.

My aunt boiled the beets, cut them in chunks, doused them with a healthy amount of vinegar, salt, and pepper and one of my least favorite vegetables was transformed into my favorite new Continue reading →

There are so many yummy pumpkin bread recipes and photos floating around right now that I couldn’t help buying some canned pumpkin at the store yesterday. I had been planning on trying out one of the recipes I’ve seen lately but instead I decided to experiment. The recipe I came up with is similar to the other whole grain muffin recipes on this site with the exception that I used maple syrup to replace some of the sugar this time. The maple and pumpkin flavors are great together and these muffins are really nice and moist.

I ate one (ok, maybe two) of these with cream cheese this morning while they were still warm and I highly suggest trying them that way! Continue reading →

I wrote about blueberry pancakes a while back but didn’t post my recipe because I thought it needed a little work. Well this morning I felt like working on it (actually, I felt like eating blueberry pancakes), so I now have a delicious whole grain sour cream blueberry pancake recipe for you, complete with nutrition info! I really think these are the best whole grain pancakes I’ve ever eaten!

These pancakes are good for you in the sense that they offer a good amount of fiber and protein compared to a traditional pancake. But like many of my recipes they are not low in fat. Perhaps you noticed the word “sour cream” in the recipe title? I used full fat sour cream because that’s what I like. But feel free to experiment with lowfat sour cream if you prefer. Just please don’t use any of those strange fat free concoctions that they try to pass off as sour cream…they scare me Continue reading →

In my attempt to speed up the approach of fall, I baked some Applesauce Spice Muffins today. To me, nothing ushers in feelings of fall like the smell of nutmeg and cinnamon in the kitchen. October is when I normally break out the spice-scented candles and potpourri but I couldn’t resist spicing up the house a little early this year. I am just REALLY ready for this summer to be over!

I am continuing my quest to create healthy but tasty muffin recipes and I think this one is another winner. These whole grain muffins are substantial and filling, perfect for a quick breakfast on the run. The addition of oat bran and wheat germ adds not only complexity in flavor and texture but boosts the protein and fiber content. A bit of ground flaxseed contributes healthy Omega 3 fatty acids. But most importantly, these taste really good! Continue reading →

[digg=http://www.digg.com/health/Baking_with_Whole_Grains_Best_Banana_Muffins]If you are new to baking and cooking with whole grains, I think one of the best places to start is with quick breads and muffins. I have already posted a recipe for whole-wheat banana bread and well, I guess I’m not very creative because here I go again with another whole-wheat banana recipe!

I have been working this last week on creating a muffin recipe that tastes great but has fewer calories and more fiber than the muffins I’ve made in the past. Since I love banana bread and I always have some extra-ripe bananas stored in the freezer, I have mostly been working on a banana muffin recipe.

My first couple of attempts were banana-coconut muffins. I was frustrated because I was having problems creating a recipe I liked and then I realized that the reason I wasn’t happy with them had nothing to do with the recipe. I simply didn’t like the texture of coconut in the muffin. I also kept trying to add cinnamon or nutmeg and was disappointed with the flavor. Then I remembered that I prefer my banana bread without any extra spices. So finally, I went back to basics and came up with a banana muffin that tastes like bananas. Continue reading →

I made some whole wheat sour cream blueberry pancakes today. I added some oatmeal to the batter this time around which made for an interesting texture. They tasted good but I want to do a little more tinkering with the recipe before I post it.

After eating the pancakes, I was looking at 101 Cookbooks (a great food blog!) and found this recipe for whole grain buttermilk pancakes with blueberry maple syrup. It sounds like an interesting twist so I decided to share my photo with you and then point you to the other place for a recipe! Let me know if you have any other good whole grain pancake recipes, blueberries or not!

Update: My recipe for these pancakes has now been posted can be found here.

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This recipe come from The King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Cookbook and it’s definitely my favorite banana bread recipe. I never used to use whole wheat wheat flour in quick breads but I think it really adds to the flavor (and nutrition) in this bread. The only changes I make to the original recipe are to occasionally add equal parts wheat germ and applesauce (about 1/4 cup each). Here is the recipe:

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

1/2 C. (1 stick) butter
1 C. sugar
2 eggs
1 C. mashed ripe banana (2 or 3 bananas)
1 t. vanilla
2 C. King Arthur Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 C chopped walnuts (optional, pecans are also good)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar.
3. Add the eggs, bananas and vanilla (plus applesauce if using) and beat well.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt (plus wheat germ if using).
5. Stir the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients. At this point, add the chopped nuts if using.
6. Pour this mixture into a greased, 9×5-inch loaf pan and bake for 60 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes then take it out and let cool on wire rack.
7. Enjoy!