Protein Cupcakes with Chobani Frosting

Remember how I said I hadn't really baked anything in a while? That was kind of a lie and these protein cupcakes are the reason why. Because I am eating healthier and trying to get the family to eat healthier, I have been on the search for healthy or semi-healthy desserts. I came across this recipe for protein cupcakes and really liked the simplicity of ingredients. The picture on Clean Food Creative Fitness looked so good that I didn't change a thing about the recipe and even tripled the ingredients to make more cupcakes. Tripling the recipe wasn't the greatest idea because it created a batter that was very eggy. Don't get me wrong, the baked cupcake was good (the girls really like them), but it reminded me more of a vanilla souffle. Next time I know to tweak the recipe a bit by reducing the eggs and increasing the amount of ground flaxseed.

In an attempt to get the whole family on board with these cupcakes (I'm talking about Alex here) I made a protein Chobani frosting. The frosting had the tartness of the Greek yogurt and none of the aftertaste you sometimes get with protein powder. I actually liked the cupcakes better with the frosting than the girls did. Again, more tweaking in the future so I can come up with a healthy cupcake that will fool even the pickiest of eaters in my house.

Protein Cupcakes
Source: Clean Food Creative Fitness
Yields: 18 mini cupcakes

6 Tbsp protein
3 Tbsp ground flaxseed
3 egg
6 Tbsp unsweetened almond milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Fill the cavities of the baking pan with cupcake liners.

In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients. Fill each cupcake liner about 2/3 full.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until puffed up and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature.

Frost, serve, and enjoy!

Chobani Frosting

1/2 cup vanilla Chobani Greek yogurt
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1-2 Tbsp milk

In a small bowl, using a hand blender, combine the yogurt and protein powder.

Slowly add milk until the frosting is creamy and smooth.

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Easy Peasy Fudge

I have been so dedicated to exercising and eating healthy that it feels as if it has been a very long time since I used granulated sugar and white flour in my kitchen. I remember the days when it felt weird not to have butter, eggs, sugar, or flour always in stock. When they say that "being healthy is a lifestyle" they aren't lying. I guess I was able to get away with that in the summer because I was just taking classes and staying home with the girls and going on our daily adventures. But once school started again two weeks ago, along with also starting my internship and getting ready for both girls to start school, I have been feeling that need to get back into the kitchen to bake. It's not even about eating what I bake; it's about getting in touch with that relaxed and happy feeling I get when I do bake.

So this weekend we stocked up on all the baking essential and I asked Cati what she wanted me to bake her and she, surprisingly, said "brownies." We have a song for cookies and cupcakes so I was expecting one of those two, but I was more than happy to make her some brownies. I made my go-to brownies and really kicked it up a notch by also make a fudge sauce. This sauce is truly amazing and could you really doubt a recipe that came from Smitten Kitchen? It was so easy to make and everyone in the house was eating it like it was their job. Because this was a dessert Cati requested, no dessert is complete without sprinkles.

Hot Fudge Sauce
Source: Smitten Kitchen
Yields 2 1/2 cups

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
3 tablespoons butter, unsalted
2/3 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
6 tablespoons corn syrup
Pinch of salt

Melt the chocolate and butter very slowly in a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring frequently until combined.

Meanwhile, heat the water to boiling in the small, heavy saucepan.

When the butter and chocolate have melted, stir the mixture into the boiling water. Add the sugar, corn syrup and salt and mix until smooth.

Turn the heat up and stir until mixture starts to boil; adjust heat so that sauce is just maintained at the boiling point, stirring occasionally. Allow sauce to boil for nine minutes (mine was good to go after about 5-6 minutes).

Remove from heat and cool for 15 minutes.

PS although the blog is quiet, there's lots of pictures on Instagram (@confessionscityeater)! 

Dessert Quesadillas

Little by little I have been making changes to the way we eat in our house. You're more likely to find whole wheat products in our house now and my pantry is full of foods like chia seeds, quinoa, and flaxseed. If we are all going to be working out and staying active, then our diets should change to reflect a healthier lifestyle. My Achilles heal, however, is and will always be desserts.  I have this need for desserts after dinner and I have yet to figure out what to eat as a dessert that won't tempt me into eating 10 of it. Luckily, it seems like I may have found a dessert that can do the trick every now and then. These Dessert Quesadillas are easy and quick to make and completely kid-friendly. They were just the right amount of sweet that I needed and one slice was good enough to satisfy my sweet craving.

By the way, I'm on Instagram now if you want to follow me there!

Dessert Quesadillas 
Source: How Sweet It Is

2 whole wheat tortillas
1 tablespoon butter
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons natural peanut butter
2 tablespoons chocolate chips

Spread butter on one side of each tortillas and sprinkle with cinnamon. Heat a skillet on medium heat, spray with cooking spray and crisp until golden brown. While still warm, spread one tortilla (cinnamon side up) with peanut butter and top with chocolate chips. Place other tortilla on top.

Serve and enjoy!

Fun & Fit: June

In June I participated in one event: the Twilight 5K. This was a night run through the South Miami neighborhood and I got the entire family to go so they could see Cati participate in her second official run. The difference between running with kids and running alone is huge for me and I finished the race in 30:25. So close to an under-30 finish!

The real highlight was Cati though. Alex was standing with her at the starting line and I was waiting for her at the finish line because we didn't think she would do the run by herself, but she did! She was so proud of herself too. Once she got going, she didn't even look back to see if Alex was running alongside her. My normally reserved child, turns into such a free little bird when she runs. Her excitement about these events really helps to motivate me to keep on running and keep on taking her to different races. And it doesn't hurt that I love the way she looks running and in her running outfit!

Not a race, but a running event nonetheless was meeting Jeff Galloway at a meet & greet. He's so cool and inspiring and, if it weren't for his run-walk-run method I would not be the runner I am today. If you ever get a chance to hear him talk, I highly encourage you to go. He's really funny and so, so, so nice.

PS Please don't forget I'm raising money for Give Kids The World and participating in Disney's Glass Slipper Challenge on GKTW's team. All donations are greatly appreciated! For more information visit My Fundraising Page. 

Fun & Fit: May

IT band is all healed so May was a fun month fitness-wise. The best part about May was getting Alex to do a mud run with me. We signed up to do the Merrell Down & Dirty along with his brother and his brother's girlfriend at the beginning of the month. Convincing Alex to do an event like this wasn't as hard as I thought it would be but I knew he had his reservations about the amount of running (he hates cardio) and mud (he hates getting dirty). Running is a lot easier when you have a great running partner so we breezed through the running and there wasn't a ton of mud so he wasn't as dirty as he thought he was going to be. What this race taught me is that, when it comes to obstacle races, I prefer there to be a lot of obstacles. We did the 5K and there were about 15 obstacles but the first mile or so was tough because the obstacles were spread out. Maybe it's just me, and I know that running itself is an obstacle, but I don't like having to run half a mile to get to the first obstacle and then having that first obstacle be something really easy to do. I had heard so much about this series and I had high hopes for it so I was sad that I didn't love it. Alex liked it but he didn't see why I think obstacles races are so much fun. Add to that is the fact that we stopped to take a picture at the finish line and that picture was nowhere to be found in the gallery, so I was a little disappointed overall with this event.

The next event that made up for Merrell Down & Dirty was Armageddon Ambush. This obstacle race was a week after Merrell, cheaper, and the race I wish Alex would have done. You had to run a bit to get to the first obstacle, but that first obstacle was a doozy (rope climb through the water) and it just got more and more challenging after that. The near-last obstacle was an inclined wall climb, rope climb, and giant slide all in one. There was more upper body strength obstacles in Armageddon Ambush, which had me spent near the end, but I still had the strength to almost make it up the wall all by myself! I was so proud of myself. I needed to be pulled up the inclined wall at my first obstacle course race and, at this one, I was six inches away from making it all the way to the top. A huge thank you to the guy who helped me cover those last few inches! After this race I was sore for days and high on the satisfaction of having completed what I felt was a difficult race.

The last event I participated in May was Baptist Tour of the Gables 5K. A friend was doing it and she suggested I do it too since the race was in my neighborhood. I woke the girls up early (Cati sprints out of bed when she knows we have a race) and we walked to the race site. Both girls behaved really well during the run, except for the last .6 miles when Elina started crying because she wanted out. Throughout the whole run Cati kept asking where the finish line was because she wanted to come out of the stroller and run too. Once we made it to the three-mile mark, Cati was beyond thrilled when I told her it was her turn to run. The best part (and part of why I love these events) was having all these strangers yelling out encouraging words to Cati as we neared the finish line. The second best part was seeing Cati act like a veteran and walk over to the snack and drink table and get herself some water. My time was 37:53 and I'm so proud of that time. That time is close to my first 5K time and this time I did it with little running conditioning and pushing 25 lbs more of kids and snacks.

PS Please don't forget I'm raising money for Give Kids The World and participating in Disney's Glass Slipper Challenge on GKTW's team. All donations are greatly appreciated! For more information visit My Fundraising Page. 

Fun & Fit: April

Because I couldn't run most of the month due to my IT Band, I turned to pilates as my way of exercising. Pilates worked because it was free and I could do it from home every night! Have you heard of Cassey Ho of Blogilates? She has these videos on youtube and comes out with a workout schedule each month. I followed her workout schedule for the month of April and it really helped with flexibility and strengthening my legs. Now I am officially hooked!

I did, however, participate in one running event, the FICPA Money Run. I signed up for this run on a whim because I wanted to participate in an official race following the bombings in Boston. This 5K was the longest distance I had run since my half marathon at the beginning of March so it was a tough race to run. It didn't help that it was a scorcher that morning. What got me to the finish line was knowing that Cati and Elina would be waiting for me. Plus, I needed to finish in order to see Cati run her first 100-meter dash!

Cati was so excited about her run. She absolutely loves going to running events because there's always some kind of kid-friendly entertainment and Cati is not one to turn down free food. She did this run with her grandmother and it was so cute watching two of my favorite ladies running to the finish line.

As soon as the run was over Cati asked about the next race. I love that my love and passion for running has spread to her. Soon it will truly be a whole family affair!

PS Please don't forget I'm raising money for Give Kids The World and participating in Disney's Glass Slipper Challenge on GKTW's team. All donations are greatly appreciated! For more information visit My Fundraising Page. 

Buttermilk Pie

I can't believe we are halfway through July and it's been almost a month since my last post. I feel as if time has swallowed me up. Between going to school three nights a week and having both girls at home, it's been pretty nonstop here. I try to get out of the house as often as possible because if we stay home, cabin fever and high emotions start to set in pretty quickly. Before things got busy, however, we had a BBQ to celebrate Alex's first weekend off in nearly two months. Baking has been put on the back burner so it was nice to get back in the kitchen and bake. I decided to make this Buttermilk Pie because I had always heard about "buttermilk pie" and been curious about its taste. I read somewhere that this pie tasted like a sugar cookie in pie form and that's really the best way to describe this pie so don't let buttermilk as an ingredient turn you off from this sugary indulgence. 

Also, sorry for the crummy pictures lately. The lens on my camera is broken and I have yet to get a new lens. That's another thing on my to-do list that I hope to get around to doing soon!

Buttermilk Pie
Source: Sing for Your Supper
Yields 1 9-inch pie

1 9-inch pie crust, unbaked (homemade or store bought)
1 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange pie crust in a 9-inch pie plate.

Mix together the sugar, flour, and salt. Beat in the eggs, butter, buttermilk, and vanilla until well combined. Pour into the pie crust. 

Bake for 1 hour or until no longer jiggly – check after about 45 minutes. If the top is getting too brown, cover loosely with foil. 

Remove from oven and let cool one hour before serving.

Six Years.

Yesterday was our dating anniversary and today is our wedding anniversary. Our dating anniversary is particularly special because it marks ten years of being together. All I have been able to think about over the past few days is that while our story isn't a fairytale, it is a love story nonetheless. I've also thought about how perfect our first dance song has been for us (John Legend's "Stay With You"). The past year has been full of ups and downs, heartaches and pains, and friends who have come and gone, but through it all, we have stuck together.

In six years of marriage, we've lived in Boston and Miami and we've had two kids. In ten years together we've gone from singlehood, couplehood, marriagehood, and parenthood. Here's to many more years together and a happy, quiet, and uneventful year seven!

Running for Charity & Cookies!

It's summer break! I am simultaneously excited about and overwhelmed by spending all summer long with both girls at home. In the last week alone, we have  gone to the zoo once, the beach once, and the seaquarium twice. The playground has become an almost daily occurrence. I'm exhausted by the end of the day and, needless to say, so are the girls. But, oh are they having fun. My brain can't keep up in its efforts to record into memory all the funny, sweet, and cute things the girls are doing.

To help combat the long days and give us a healthier sweet snack, I came up with this Whole Wheat Protein Chocolate Chip Cookie. I've made these cookies twice in as many weeks and everyone in the house loves them. Well, almost everyone because Alex says "they taste healthy." These cookies fall on the thick-and-chewy spectrum of chocolate chip cookies. I don't taste healthy like Alex does, but I do taste deliciousness, especially when they are eaten straight out of the oven.

In other news, I decided to run for charity for next year's Disney Princess Half Marathon. I'll be doing the Glass Slipper Challenge, which is a 10k (6.2 miles) on Saturday and the half-marathon (13.1 miles) on Sunday and I am really excited. I've never ran that much in back-to-back runs so the training is going to be fun. My goal is to raise $3,000 for Give Kids The World so if you can make a donation, please do so! And please feel free to share. This is my Fundraising Page. I'm nervous about running for a cause this time around and really hope I am able to meet my fundraising goals. Talk about giving myself an extra challenge! Now all my training runs will have much more meaning. 

Protein Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Source: Me! 
Yields: 12 Cookies
1/2 cup white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat
1/4 cup protein powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
6 tbs unsalted butter, softened 
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract

1- to 3/4-cup  semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Combine with the flours, protein powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. 

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for a minute.

Mix in the dry ingredients until combined and then stir in the chocolate chips. (The dough may appear sandy but it comes together once packed into the cookie scoop.)

Scoop out tablespoon-sized balls of cookie dough and place on the cookie sheets, about 3 inches apart. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool some before eating. 

Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

We're in a bit of a transition period in my household. I'm slowly trying to get us all to eat healthier and am transitioning us to more whole grain-based products. The girls have been great about eating things made from whole grain, but Alex has been the difficult one. Things with whole grain taste "healthy" to him and, thus, don't excite him as much. Take this Whole Wheat Banana Bread, for example. I said I was going to make banana bread and his response was "Ooohhhh!!" But when I followed-up with, "it's going to be a whole wheat banana bread," his response turned to "oohhh...?" The excitement was gone. It also doesn't help that he seems to have this superhero power of detecting when something is made with "healthy" ingredients so he can taste when I've secretly switched out ingredients to make something healthier. Regardless, I went ahead and made this bread and it turned out to be a huge success. The girls loved it and Alex ate it without any "but it tastes healthy" comments.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread
Source: Breadtopia

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
½ cup packed light or dark brown sugar
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups mashed ripe banana (3-4 medium to large bananas)
¼ cup honey 
2 large eggs
2 cups whole wheat flour, traditional or white whole wheat 
Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.

Beat together the butter, sugar, baking soda, salt, and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth. Add the banana, honey and eggs, beating until smooth. Add the flour, stirring until smooth.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and bake the bread for 50 minutes. Lay a piece of foil gently across the top and bake until a cake tester (like a toothpick) inserted into the center comes out clean, 10 to 15 minutes more.

Remove the bread from the oven and allow it to cool for 10 minutes before turning it out of the pan onto a rack to cool completely.

Enjoy with a glass of milk. Yum!