Derby Bars

Since being home, I've been having the itch to make something delicious. But first let me tell you about my trip to Churchill Downs!

View of the Winner's Circle

It was so good to be back home for Derby Week! It is literally impossible to go anywhere without seeing some kind of Derby paraphernalia. I love it! This morning we went to the Turf Club for a early morning breakfast and to watch the horse's morning workouts.

It was great to see all of the Derby contenders gallop around the track. It gave me a good idea of who to bet on for Saturday's Race!

Hansen

Optimizer

Churchill Downs is all prepped for Derby! They already have the red carpet out and constructed the press boxes!

Pres Boxes by the Track

It was a beautiful morning!

But back to my delicious treat! I was browsing pinterest (per usual) and I came across some Zucchini and Carrot Bars. I have been wanting to make these for WEEKS, however without a grater in my Dallas apartment, I had to wait until I got home!

So that is just what I did!

These bars taste even better than they look! Do you want to know a secret?!?! These are virtually fat-free!!! But no one will ever guess that. If you really want to make these, extra-delicious, a nice dollop of cream cheese icing would be an excellent addition!

And do to the addition of freshly grated zucchini and carrots, I'd like to think that eating one of these is a serving of vegetables! They are perfect for breakfast, dessert, or for a snack!

Carrot and Zucchini Bars

Print this recipe!

Ingredients

• 2 whole eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1.5 cups all purpose flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup grated carrots (2 small carrots)
• 1/2 cup grated zucchini (1 small zucchini)

Directions
Begin by freshly grating your zucchini and carrots.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, combine the sifted flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Mix to combine and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the eggs and egg yolk together on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Add in the sugars, oil, apple sauce, and vanilla extract until throughly combined and smooth.


Add about 1/2 of the vegetables to the wet ingredients, followed by 1/2 of the flour mixture. Turn your mixer on just to incorporate the flour (literally about 2 seconds). Add in the rest of the grated vegetables and rest of the flour mixture. Again, turn the machine on just to combine everything together. Be careful not to over-mix!

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 15 - 17 minutes. Cake should be slightly brown on top.

Allow to cool in the pan placed on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes before removing cake from the pan. Allow to cool completely before cutting into rectangles. 

Top with cream cheese icing, or just a side of ice cream!

Easiest Way to Eat a Serving of Vegetables

Vegetables

[source]

They are an essential component of the diet. Vegetables not only give you vital nutrients your body needs to function properly, but they also give you a nice dose of fiber to keep you full.

Although they are necessary in the diet, they are often not all that easy to eat. The typical excuses:

1. They are bland
2. They do not taste good
3. Take too long to prepare

Well, I have a solution to help you tackle ALL of your vegetable excuses.

Enter: Roasted Vegetables

Roasted Vegetables are the easiest thing to prepare in the kitchen and there is virtually no clean up involved with this method of preparation. Not to mention, roasting imparts TONS of flavor so they are certainly not bland!

Try it next dinner meal and your body will thank you!

Print this recipe!

Easy Roasted Vegetables

Ingredients

• 1 small squash, cubed
• 1 small zucchini, cubed
• 1/2 red onion, roughly chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 orange bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1.5 Tablespoons olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 Tablespoon rosemary

Directions

Cut all of the vegetables, making sure they are in bite sized pieces, about 1/2 - 1 inch pieces.

Put all of the chopped vegetables into a large plastic bag. Put remaining ingredients into bag as well. Throw/ massage the bag so that everything is evenly coated.Let marinade for at least one hour (this can be done up to 24 hours ahead of time).

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Take a cookie sheet, line it with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Dump vegetables onto pan and spread out in a single layer.

Roast in oven for 15 - 20 minutes or until tender and crisp on the outside. Stir vegetables 2 - 3 times throughout the cooking process.

sorry, it's not pretty.... but they taste delicious!

Serve immediately!

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Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients

• 3 medium yukon gold potatoes 
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon rosemary

Directions

Chop the potatoes into bite sized cubes, about 1/2 inch in length.

Take a large plastic bag, and put the potatoes and the rest of the ingredients in the bag. Throw/ massage the bag around to make sure all potatoes are evenly coated. Let marinade for at least one hour (This can be done up to 24 hours ahead of time).

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Take a cookie sheet, line it with foil, and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Dump potatoes onto pan and spread out in a single layer.

Roast in oven for 20 - 30 minutes or until golden brown on the outside. Stir potatoes 2 - 3 times throughout the cooking process.

Serve warm!

Healthy Dinner

The weeks after a nice break are always the hardest, don't you think? You've just had a relaxing break from work, but you are now thrown directly back into the normal, daily routine very abruptly and its hard to find your daily pattern.

Well that exactly describe last week for me. Trying to find my normal routine again posed a bit of a challenge, but I'm back and ready as ever to give you all yummy recipes! I'll start with this one:

Stir Fry Tempeh

This meal is super delicious and nutritious! Colorful vegetables provide the nutrients while tempeh provides a lean source of protein.

Not too familiar with tempeh? Well it is made from soybeans that have been fermented via a special process. It is a great meat alternative and has A LOT more texture than tofu (personally, I've never been a fan of the stuff). It is super simple to marinade (Example) and easy to incorporate into any recipe!

So if you're in the mood for an asian inspired dish but don't want to shell out the bucks for chinese takeout (or wasted calories on white rice and deep fried everything), take this recipe for a spin! From start to finish, this took only about 20 minutes to make....WAY faster than delivery! 

Print this recipe!

Stir Fry Tempeh

Ingredients

• 1 - 8 oz block tempeh
• 1/2 pound asparagus spears (or other green veggie of your choice)
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
• 3 tablespoons stir fry sauce, divided
• 2 teaspoons agave nectar 
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 avocado
• brown rice for serving

Directions

Take your block of tempeh and cut it into 1/4 inch thick strips. Each strip will be thick so cut in half lengthwise.

In a shallow dish, combine 1 tablespoon stir fry sauce, agave nectar, garlic, red pepper flakes, ginger, and pepper. Toss the tempeh in sauce until evenly coated and allow to marinade for about 10 - 15 minutes (For extra flavor, double the amount of marinade and allow tempeh to marinate for 30 minutes, flipping halfway through).

In the mean time, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium to medium high heat. Sauté your vegetables and bell pepper, until they are tender, about 10 minutes.

Once the tempeh has had some time to marinade, push the vegetables to the sides, and add the tempeh to the middle of the pan. 

Try to get all of the tempeh directly touching the pan and not on top of the vegetables

Allow to cook for about 2 - 3 minutes per side or until it looks golden brown and heated through. Once browned, remove the pan from the heat and add 2 tablespoons of the stir fry sauce and stir to evenly coat.

sufficiently browned! add the sauce!

Serve with a side of brown rice and garnish with a few slices of avocado. Douse on the hot sauce (optional) and enjoy your healthy, flavorful meal!

Hummus

One of my favorite things... Hummus!

It is so rich and creamy and loaded with protein and healthy fats. Perfect as a appetizer or snack served with vegetables and whole wheat pita bread! So, today I wanted to share with you my homemade version of this delicious dip! Super simple to make, you will never buy the grocery store version again!

Print this recipe!

Hummus Dip


Ingredients

• 2 - 15 oz cans of chickpeas
• 4 tablespoons tahini
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 2 teaspoons red peper flakes
• 1 teaspoon coriander 
• 1 teaspoon pepper

Directions
Rinse chickpeas under cold water in a colander, discarding liquid in can. Place chickpeas into food processor.

Add remaining ingredients to food processor and blend until smooth. If mixture looks too thick, add a bit more water and/or olive oil, one tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.

don't forget the garlic!!

Note: consistency will be thicker than the typical store bought version.

One combined, taste and alter seasonings to your taste preference.

Serve with warm whole wheat pita bread and a side of vegetables!

This recipe can be adapted in many different ways! Add a roasted red pepper, or roasted garlic to make new flavors!