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Lemon Blueberry Greek Yogurt Cheesecake

This is revolution. A cheesecake made from greek yogurt. So it's really more like a "cheese"cake.
It all started when I bought an abnormally large amount of my favorite greek yogurt while grocery shopping today. It was on sale, looked good, caught my eye, you know the drill. Then I did a little research online about what you can do with greek yogurt since I had recently come in possession of a lot of it. Then I found this amazing creation of a yogurt cheesecake. Then I was inspired by the harmonious flavor combination of lemon and blueberry.

*FYI I used a combination of a few recipes I found online to come up with the final product!

I made the crust with cereal, banana, almond butter and maple syrup, instead of the traditional graham cracker crust.

A little tip to keep your fruit or chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom of your batter is to coat them in flour! I used coconut flour on my blueberries. 

 This is what the crust looked like after baking it off first. 

My sweetener of choice for this recipe. 

It turned out really, really well overall. I was so happy with the texture, it tasted and felt like the real thing, but wasn't heavy and overly sweet. The tang of the yogurt with the tart citrus paired with the sweet bursts of blueberry was a winning combo!

For the Crust: 
*I used inspiration from Kylie @ Imma Eat That for the cereal crust idea 

• 3 cups cereal (I used Nature's Path Maple Peacan)
• 1 banana, mashed 
• 1/4 cup almond butter
• 1 Tbs maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Blitz the cereal in a food processor until a crumb-like consistency is reached. Then mix together the banana, syrup and almond butter until a sticky dough forms. Spread the dough on the bottom of a greased spring-form pan and bake at 350 for 7-10 minutes, until brown and fragrant.

For the Cheesecake:
*Inspiration for the cake came from A Baking Girl blog with her lemon blueberry cheesecake 

• 16 ounces of nonfat greek yogurt (I used Fage)
• 1/2 cup sugar of choice 
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 Tbs cornstarch
• 4 Tbs fresh squeezed lemon juice 
• zest of one lemon 
• pinch of salt 
• 1 cup blueberries (I used frozen)  

Combine the eggs, sugar, yogurt and vanilla. When smooth, add the cornstarch, lemon juice, zest and salt. Mix again and then fold in the blueberries carefully. Pour the batter into the springform pan over the crust and bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes until just brown at the edges.

Let it cool completely before removing it from the pan.


Enjoy!  

Warm and Cozy // Clean Pumpkin Bread

Happy fall everyone! I have been MIA since summer time, but life got crazy really quickly. But, I wanted to start posting again because I've been cooking and baking away.

Since fall is my favorite season, I wanted to pay homage to the most quintessential autumn ingredient; pumpkin. This bread is SUPER easy to make, extremely delicious and it works perfectly for all my clean eaters!

What You'll Need: 

• 1/3 c coconut oil, melted
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 egg + 1 tbs egg whites
• 1/4 c honey
• 1 tsp vanilla 
• 1 1/4 c spelt flour
• 1 tsp baking soda 
• pumpkin pie spice  
• cane sugar and cinnamon (optional)

What To Do:  

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and grease a bread pan. Combine the first 5 ingredients (wet) in a bowl and mix well. Add the next 3 ingredients (dry) to the wet and mix well to combine until a dough is formed. Place dough into the pan and sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over the top (if using) and bake for 45-50 minutes.
Makes 8 servings or slices.

Nutrition Info: 
185 calories, 9.4g of fat, 23g carbs, 9.7g sugar, 3g protein

I absolutely love this bread and it makes the house smell so good after you bake. It is so simple that I hope you'll give it try! It is a just enough of a treat to curb anyone's sweet tooth :)

Are you a fan of pumpkin? 
What have you been baking lately? 

Life Lately // Summer Eats

Hello! This post here is a little bot of this and little bit of that. Honestly, that's how my life has been for the past few weeks. I have discovered new things, tried out new recipes, ate some wonderful food and enjoyed the sunny weather and I wanted to share!

Food lately has been delicious, but nothing has really been routine or "normal". Here are a few examples.

BREAKFAST

[Egg white oatmeal with banana, raspberries, chia and honey]

[Glowing Green Smoothie]

LUNCH

[Salad with a variety of toppings - green beans, carrots, homemade bruscetta, chicken, cottage cheese]

[Asian inspired kale quinoa salad]

DINNER

 [Spelt flour rosemary salt crust pizza topped with spinach, feta, eggplant and mushrooms]

[Carrots roasted with rosemary and garlic as a lovely side to any grilled meat]

[An amazingly delish bowl of noodles and pickled vegetables in light sauces as "take out" from the farmer's market!]

SNACKS

[Current bread fresh from a local bakery]

[Plain greek yogurt with banana nut muffin quest bar pieces and some frozen blueberries, cinnamon]

 [Half of a giant cookie from local bakery and the juiciest white nectarine you've ever seen]

I hope you are enjoying your summer!

What have you been eating lately? 

Any new foods/recipes that have made you say mmm?!

Not Your Average Treat // Black Bean Protein Brownies

Let me start off by saying that this recipe you are about to read is EXTREMELY easy! (That's always a plus in my mind.) Secondly, these little treats pack a PUNCH! And thirdly, they are DELICIOUS!

Ok, enough with the capslock. On to the important stuff...

These brownies are unlike no others because I ate one as a post workout snack! It has enough protein to keep me satisfied and some carbs to refuel. 

Like I said before; this recipe is a piece of cake brownie. (Yes, the pun was intended.)
It consists of 8 ingredients, all of which need to be pulsed in a food processor and slapped in a pan. So naturally, this post will not be a very long one.

What You'll Need:

• 1 can of black beans
• 1/3 cup oats
• 2 tbls./scoops of your favorite chocolate protein powder
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocao powder
• 1/2 egg beaters
• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 tbls. agave nectar (honey or stevia would work well here as well, just play around with the amount you prefer!) 

To Prepare:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and drain and rinse the black beans. Add to a food processor along with the oats, protein powder, cocao powder, egg beaters, coconut oil, vanilla and agave nectar. Pulse until smooth and completely combined. Remove the mixture and place in a baking dish of your choice. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool, cut and enjoy!

  Are you up for trying a dessert with beans in it? 
  If you try these please let me know! 

 

An Oxymoron // Healhty Fat Rascals

If you have ever been to England, or know anything about the country's culinary culture then you have probably heard of Betty's Tea Room in York. If not, then let me tell you that it is such an experience that eager customers will wait outside in a line out the door. Maybe they come seeking this little fella here. A Fat Rascal.

In esscence, a fat rascal is a scone type good filled with dried fruit and the secret is that its made with little to no liquid, just some sort of cream to bind it together.  So I thought, I can make that healthier, maybe with some added nutritional value while still keeping the taste. And oh yes, it worked.

For My Recipe You'll Need: 

•  6 tbls. coconut oil
• 1 cup rolled oats pulsed to a flour like consistency 
• 5 tbls. dried fruit (I used blueberries and apples)
• 3 tbls. candied citrus peel
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 2-3 tbls. cane sugar (depending on your preference)
• 1/2 non fat plain greek yogurt 
• 1 egg for eggwash
• for an extra protein punch add 2 egg whites to the mix as well

To Prepare: 
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and grease or line a baking sheet. Mix the oil into the oat flour, baking powder and sugar until it just comes together in a crumbling way. Next, add the dried fruit along with the candied peel. Lastly, add the yogurt and mix well to combine all ingredients. Section off the dough into rounds about 3 inches wide and 1 inch thick. Press the dough down slightly and place on the baking sheet. Cover with the egg wash and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown and slightly risen.

Compared to the original recipe which contained 371 calories, 18g of fat and 48g of carbs, my little guys ended up coming in at 216 calories each with 13g of fat and 20g of carbs! Just to name a few comparisons.

I really enjoyed making this otherwise unhealthy treat into something that can be eaten guilt free!

Have you ever tried a fat rascal? 
Whats your favorite breakfast pastry?