Running In Circles 365

Amazing Granola Bars! The best ever, and all clean! The recipe made 8, and now there’s only one bar left. I personally ate two because they were that good. Tomorrow I’m making a double batch so that I can share with friends and bring some to the Tuesday track meet (which I will be running in, just ‘cuz!!) Here’s the recipe. Chocolate Covered Katie is my new favorite person!

They’re almost like homemade Lara bars, except there are oats in them. I will take pictures and post the recipe later!

Last night for dinner I turned my plain, non-fat chobani into the best tasting Greek yogurt I’ve ever had! I dumped it all into a bowl, added one package of stevia, a spoonful of 100% maple syrup, cinnamon, and about 1/2 cup of frozen cranberries. I wish I had taken a picture because it was so yummy! I will definitely be making this again!

The Great Pumpkin Pie Experiment!

Here’s the healthy, no-bake pie recipe I tried out this Thanksgiving:

ingredients: 

• butter flavored cooking spray
• 6 sheets (14 by 9 inches) thawed phyllo dough
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1 envelope unflavored gelatin powder
• 2 3/4 cups canned pumpkin (1.5 15 ounce cans)
• 1 cup fat-free plain Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup agave syrup
• 4 packets stevia sweetener powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

instructions:

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9-inch pie dish with the cooking spray.
2. Unroll the phyllo dough, then cover with plastic wrap while you work [I didn’t do this and nothing bad happened]. Lay one sheet of the phyllo on the counter. Lightly mist with cooking spray. Set a second sheet of phyllo over the first, rotating it slightly. Mist the second sheet of phyllo, then repeat this process with remaining phyllo sheets, rotating each time a sheet is added. Mist the final sheet of phyllo.
3. Use a knife to carefully trim the stack of phyllo into a 12-inch circle [I used scissors]. Discard the scraps. Carefully lift the stack and set into the prepared pie dish, gently pressing the phyllo against the bottom and sides of the dish.
4. Bake the phyllo crust for 10-12 minutes, or until it is lightly browned and crisp. Set aside to cool while preparing the filling.
5. In a small saucepan, combine cold water and envelope of gelatin. Set aside for 5 minutes.
6. Set the saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the gelatin is dissolved. Set aside to cool slightly.
7. In a large bowl, stir together the pumpkin, yogurt, agave, four packets of stevia, the pumpkin pie spice, vanilla extract, and salt. Stir in gelatin mixture, mixing well. Pour the pie filling into the cooled phyllo crust. Chill in the refrigerator for 4 to 6 hours before serving.

I served mine with light whipped cream and pumpkin pie spice on top! The pie is really easy to make, has only 100 calories per slice (and less than 1 gram of fat!), and serves 10. Overall, I really liked the pie, except that you could taste the tanginess of the Greek yogurt. Next time, I might use vanilla or honey flavored Greek yogurt to try to offset the tartness, and I’m thinking about adding maple syrup. 

Bon apetit!

source: Rocco DiSpirito, author of the “Now Eat This!” and “Now Eat This! Diet” cookbooks.

So my diet the past week has been less than stellar, to say the least. I don’t even want to think about today! Let’s just say I had WAY too much sugar and hardly any good nutrients. But tomorrow, I will be a better person, thanks to this brilliant book that I got from the library today: 

It’s an excellent cookbook full of healthy meals and facts. Love it already! I might have to buy a copy :)

Visit my “Smoothilicious” page! I’ll be adding more recipes as I concoct them!