Healthy Breakfast Cookies

My relationship with oatmeal has been a rocky one. I was a cream of wheat kid. Just like a kid can either prefer N*SYNC or Backstreet Boys. You either liked cream of wheat or oatmeal. I loooooved cinnamon cream of wheat and Backstreet Boys. (Particularly A.J. and Kevin. I know, I’m so punk.) For reasons unbeknownst to me, people basically tried to force feed me oatmeal all of my life. Okay, they didn’t like hold me down and force me. But our house in the morning, EVERY morning, was a lot like the scene at the beginning of Home Alone, but we weren’t going on a fun family trip. We were going to school. Ick. So, because of the craziness, mom either brought a pack of pop-tarts in the car, or brushed her teeth while not even remotely cautiously mixing instant oatmeal and water. Ick. Literally, every day I’d take a bite, make a funny face, do a weird lip movement tossing it around in my mouth like a 90 year old person does, and would then throw it away. Every. Day. And every day I’d say “I HAAAAAATE oatmeal mom.” And she’d say “Well, eat it. It’s good for you.”

I promise my childhood was a happy one. Lively and never a dull moment, yes. Unhappy? No. I was just fed slop in the morning, NBD.

Slop. That’s how I referred to instant oatmeal until about a year ago. Nothing crazy about the oatmeal changed. No one added magic fairy “Morgan Likey” dust to their oatmeal packs a year ago. I think my taste buds just had a talk and were like “it’s time to grow the eff up.” 26 years late.

I constantly saw variations of this witchcraft where you combine fruits and oatmeal and bake them in cookie form and it was supposed to be good. Nothing will ever taste as good as Subway’s oatmeal cookie. So, I’m being very honest here, because that is what you come here for. I think? Eh. But it does NOT taste like a Subway oatmeal cookie. But is it yummy? Yes. It is very yummy. Imagine a granola bar that is warm, HOT AND FRESH OUT THE KITCHEN. That’s what these cookies mean to me.

 

You will need:

2 cups of whole grain oats
2 very ripe bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
A literal pinch of baking powder
2 packets of Truvia (or a few drops of liquid stevia)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Now here is the fun part. Keep in mind I am kind of weird. You mash all of this stuff together with your hands. Or you can be civil and use a fancy Kitchenaid mixer of sorts. But, I think it’s fun to use your hands and it’s almost somewhat of an arm workout. (If you’re out of shape like me. Hah) Mix until VERY well blended. You can get intense and COMPLETELY mix it down to a dough in a mixer, I’m sure.

Spoon one little bit at a time, roll it around in your hand to create some shape, and flatten it out like a cookie. Place one by one on a greased baking sheet. Bake on 350 for 16-20 minutes.

My batch made 14 small cookies. They last about a week in an airtight container, so Mike and I ate two small cookies each morning.

These will definitely become a regular in our house. And I am SO glad oatmeal and I put our differences behind us so I can eat it ALL OF THE WAYS.

 

*Cool Hint: You can add WHATEVER you want to these. I think next time I would add some nuts of some kind. Or berries. Or both. MMMMM. Endless. Cookie. Possibilities.

Enjoy guys!

Xo

Chicken Taco Chili

Baby, it’s cold outside. Like, friggin cold. Like, I don’t want to leave my house cold. Like, I’m just going to stay in the hot shower today, please inform my boss cold.

It’s love/hate with cold. I love cute coats and leggings with boots as much as the next, well, every girl ever. But it just came so fast. No transition at all! Did anyone else feel that way?! IT SLEETED ON HALLOWEEN. That’s just rude.

And with the cold came… THE colds. The “is this the flu? Am I dying?” colds. I had it for a solid two weeks. Mike has had it for a few days now. Our nightstands are covered in cold medicine and decongestants. We pop zinc like we pop gum. Oh, good times.

But you know what makes it all okay? Chicken taco chili.

I got this wonderful idea from Gina from Skinnytaste. I have actually been making it for a while now, but it has saved us this week so I figured it was time to share with you all! So because I make it all of the time, I winged it. I may be missing a few things she uses, but it always tastes amazing. This time it was amazing. I think you’d have to add in something really weird and gross for this to NOT taste amazing.

It kept us warm. It kept us spicy. It kept the nasal passages clear while eating it. I’ll take that tasty 15 minutes of breathing. Oh, yes I’ll take it.

You will need:

– 3 cooked and shredded chicken breasts (or a few cups of shredded rotisserie chicken)
– 1 cup of water
– 1 can diced tomatoes
– 1 small can tomato paste
– 1 can tomato sauce
– 1 small can of diced green chilis
– 1 can of black beans (drained)
– 1 bag frozen corn
– 1 chopped yellow onion
– 1 packet of taco seasoning
– 1 tablespoon of cumin
– 1 lime
– shredded cheese, sour cream/greek yogurt and cilantro for toppings

Combine all ingredients (minus lime and toppings) in your slow cooker on high for four hours.

Stir every hour or so.

Scoop about a cup out into a bowl. Squeeze a wedge of lime juice into the bowl. Add a dollop of sour cream and a little sprinkle of your favorite shredded cheese. Top it off with some cilantro and voila!

We eat on this all day every day. Mainly for lunch, but we’re both known to sneak a small bowl in the middle of the night.

It’s a tad spicy. Use less cumin if you’re not a fan of spice. But keep the spice if you’re cold and/or have a clogged nose. I don’t know about you all, but that’s about exactly what we need right now.

This chili is amazing fresh but even more amazing left over. It’s perfect for a packed lunch and it lasted us a full work week!

My goal is to make chili 3,000 ways this season. Chili is perfect. Chili is my spirit animal. Next up, buffalo chicken chili. Awwwww yeaaahhhh.

Two last things: 1) This chili is super good for you. It’s low in calories and fat. So don’t feel guilty. Ever. 2) Don’t accidentally drop some cumin on the floor and let your dog sniff it. Or do, because it’s the funniest thing ever.

Xo

Prosciutto Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers

Jeeeeeeeez.

This is the kind of snackatizer that makes me love watching my carbs. And yes, I make up words now. Call me Webster.

This more than makes up for the atrocious things people called low carb muffins I attempted to make twice last night. Can’t win em all.

The theme this week in my life is clearly HEAT. We finally had to turn our heat on, the election here is HEATED and everything on the menu this week is spicy as hell. This was all accidental. But I like it hot. Don’t we all? It’s a week into cold weather here and I’m already like, can we not? Can we just pause on the 60-70 degree weather for forever?

This will keep you warm. I assure you. I got this brilliant idea from the lovely and so hilarious Bev from Bev Cooks. I have made them with just plain old cream cheese and bacon but she put a twist on them that no one should ignore.

I’m as happy as a pig in a peach orchard that I made these babies. Sweet heat is all the yums.

You will need:
-8 jalapeños
-1 small block of cream cheese
-2 tablespoons of your favorite barbecue sauce
-8 slices of prosciutto

Pre-heat (there’s that heat again) the oven to 400 degrees.

Slice the jalapeños in half long ways. Gut them. Gut them good. Show no mercy. They’re already going to be spicy so trust me you do not want the guts and seeds.

Mix one block of softened cream cheese with 2 tablespoons of any barbecue sauce. Whip it. Into shape. Someone stop me, please.

Take a butter knife and scoop the mixture into the middle of each jalapeño piece. Or do it Bev’s really cool way that I used and put the mix in a baggy. Cut a little corner of the baggy off and squeeze for less mess. And more pretty.

Slice the prosciutto long ways into one inch slices. Use one long piece to wrap each jalapeño piece. It should be about the length of bacon. Maybe a little shorter.

The prosciutto sticks well to the surface of the jalapeño so I promise it’s easy!

Place your little heat babies on a non stick baking sheet. Put them in the oven for 10 minutes. Then turn the pan around in the oven to ensure they’re cooked evenly. Put them back in for another 10 minutes.

BAM. Snackatizers for everyone.

We’ll be eating on these all week when we want something to munch on instead of reaching for carb loaded snacks.

“Come on! Make it. Make it now. What are you waiting for!?” -Arnold Schwarzenegger

Xo