The Best Banana Bread

I don't have much to say in this entry except that I just made the best banana bread I have ever tasted! It was super simple & super delicious! I don't think it is very point friendly but in my opinion, it is worth the splurge. Here is the link to the recipe... The only change I made was that I added 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. I hope you all make this & enjoy!

Best Banana Bread

Chocolate Sunflower Seed Rice Crispy Treats

I came up with this recipe by accident. I had an idea of what I wanted, but I pretty much just took out a few ingredients from my pantry and produced this delicious treat! I call it Chocolate Sunflower Seed Rice Crispy Treats. My favorite part of these is the texture. I love the crunch of the rice crispies enveloped by the smooth chocolate and sunflower seed butter mixture. I initially made these for myself as a special snack for the times I crave something chocolaty but my husband took one bite and now they are almost all gone! Here is what you will need:

1 cup of crispy rice cereal
2 oz of dark chocolate
1/2 cup of sunflower seed butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

Melt chocolate over medium/low heat on the stove. Mix in sunflower seed butter, vanilla and powdered sugar until well combined. Remove from heat and add crispy rice cereal. Stir until cereal is completely covered in chocolate/seed butter mixture. Press into an 8 x 5 glass pan and refrigerate or freeze until firm. Cut into 14 squares and enjoy for only 2 Points Plus each! I personally enjoy eating these right out of the freezer :)

Flat Bread Pizza

I love a quick and simple week night dinner! One of my favorite things to make is flat bread pizza. It's low in points, easy to make, and pretty versatile. I have made this using, bacon, pineapple, ham, pepperoni, mushrooms and any other topping that would be delicious on a pizza! Here is what you will need:

1 Flat Out Light Italian Herb Wrap (2 Points Plus)
1/4 cup Tuttorosso Crushed New World Style Tomatoes with Basil (0 Points Plus)
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese (1 Points Plus)
1 Weight Watchers mozzarella string cheese (1 Points Plus)
2 pieces of cooked bacon (chopped) (2 Points Plus)
Diced pineapple (as much as you like)
Red pepper flakes

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put the wrap on a non stick baking sheet and bake for about 7 minutes or until wrap is slightly crispy. Remove from oven. Cover wrap with tomato sauce and sprinkle with red pepper flakes. Then top with parmesan, mozzarella, bacon, and diced pineapple. Put back in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes or until edges are crispy and cheese is melted. Remove and enjoy for only 6 Points Plus!

This time around I made my pizza with bacon and pineapple. Other great combinations are onions and turkey pepperoni, ham and pineapple, mushroom and onion, etc.

Oatmeal Wheat Germ Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love to bake and the weekends are when I finally get the opportunity. This weekend I found a healthy and delicious cookie recipe! These cookies are crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside and full of flavor. I followed the instructions as listed, the only change I made was that I browned the butter because I have decided that browned butter can make almost any cookie taste delicious! Here is a link to the recipe:
Oatmeal Wheat Germ Chocolate Chip Cookies

It made 42 cookies. 1 cookie equals 2 Points Plus Value and 2 cookies equal 3 Points Plus Value.

Mini Oatmeal Banana Muffins

I am currently obsessed with breakfast cookies. I love oatmeal and I love cookies, so mixing up some oats with other great ingredients then shaping them into cookie form is a winner in my book!

I am pretty much a fan of any food that is mini and portable so I decided to get some ideas from a few breakfast cookie recipes that I had on hand and tweak them to make my own mini muffins! They came out great! They are not only cute & delicious, but are really simple to make and pretty versatile because you can use any flavor oatmeal and whatever add-ins you want. Here is what I came up with:

2 large ripe bananas
2 packs of BetterOats, Blueberry Muffin Flavored Oatmeal (Use whatever flavor you like!)
1 egg
Brown sugar (to sprinkle on top of each muffin)

Mash bananas in a bowl. Add the oatmeal and egg and mix until well combined (I did this in a medium bowl with a spoon.. no need to dirty your mixer). Spoon mixture into mini muffin pan then sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Remove from oven, cool slightly and enjoy!

This recipe made 22 mini muffins.
1 muffin = 0 PPV
2 muffins = 1 PPV
3 muffins = 1 PPV
4 muffins = 2 PPV
5 muffins = 2 PPV

*PPV means Points Plus Value

Striped Delight

I had never heard of Striped Delight until I met met husband. It is his favorite dessert and he requests it every birthday. This year was no different, so Steve got his delicious treat :) I made the Striped Delight using all regular, full fat ingredients so I am warning you that it is not very point friendly. However, in the past, I have made it using low-fat ingredients. Both taste delicious! I am not a huge pudding fan but when I tried this dessert my taste-buds sang! The buttery graham cracker crust and the layer of cream cheese with sugar and cool whip is my favorite. All the ingredients really come together in this dish to make it taste great!

Striped Delight
1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs (I used one sleeve *9 graham crackers* put in the food processor)
1/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. melted butter
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. sugar
2 tbsp. milk
1 (8 oz.) container Cool Whip (I always get the big 16oz tub & use half for the cream cheese layer & half for the topping)
2 pkgs. (4 serving size) Jello brand chocolate instant pudding (This time I used Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate pudding & now I can never go back! It was amazing!)
3 1/2 c. cold milk
Sprinkle with nuts, sprinkles, any topping you want (I always shave chocolate on top of mine)

*Combine crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar and melted butter. Press firmly into bottom of 13x9 inch pan. You can let the crust chill for a couple of minutes or if you want a firmer crust, bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes then cool. This was the first time that I actually baked the crust and it made all the difference! I would definitely recommend baking it first! 

Beat cream cheese with sugar and 2 tablespoons milk until smooth. Fold in half the whipped topping. Spread over crust. Prepare pudding as directed on package using 3 1/2 cups milk. Pour over cream cheese layer. Chill overnight. Spread remaining whipped topping over pudding and sprinkle with chocolate shavings.

*One time I actually used crushed up Oreos in place of the graham cracker crumbs for the crust. Steve said it was too sweet for him but that was MY favorite way to eat this! You can also make it using your favorite flavor of pudding, it doesn't have to be chocolate.

Happy Birthday Babe!!

Flourless Peanut Butter Treats

I have a huge sweet tooth and it has definitely rubbed off on my husband. We love sweets but we try to be healthy about it so I am always on the hunt for dessert/snack recipes that have minimal amounts of sugar or are sweetened naturally. I stumbled upon this blog and felt like I hit the jackpot with these two recipes! Not only did I find two delicious recipes, but both are made with peanut butter... and we are big fans are peanut butter in this house!

The first one I made was called Flourless Peanut Butter Banana Muffins. These were delicious! I used chunky peanut butter because I like crunch in my food, but you could use smooth & add other things in like fruit or jam. These make a great snack and are 5 Points Plus each.

The second recipe I made was called Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies. These got rave reviews from my family! My husband loved them and my father-in-law (who can be a picky eater when it comes to sugary treats) could not get enough! The combination of peanut butter, honey, and dark chocolate chips was just right. I would suggest using your favorite peanut butter and your favorite honey (not the cheap stuff) because both tastes are pretty strong on this recipe. These are high in points due to all of the peanut butter but still a great treat! If you cut the blondies into 20 pieces they will be 5 Points Plus a piece.

Detoxinista has some other great recipes that I can not wait to try!