Chocolate Chip Avocado Cookies

So you're going to have to trust me on this one. These are healthy cookies that are delicious for being so healthy. Once you are past the fact there is avocado inside, you can enjoy the delicious cake-like cookies that taste similar to pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I found this recipe while stumbling and made some of my own modifications to make them more moist, sweet, and natural. 

Ingredients:

One ripe avocado

1/2 cup stevia (or other low/no calorie sweetener)

1/4 cup agave sweetener (I got mine at Trader Joes)

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons applesauce

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

cinnamon

1 - 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Remove the avocado from the skin and mix in a bowl (using a mixer) until smooth.

Add the stevia and agave sweeteners, eggs, vanilla, and applesauce while continuing to blend in the ingredients.

In a separate bowl, stir the flour, baking soda and salt together.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients while mixing. 

Add cinnamon to taste. I am a big fan of cinnamon so I tend to add a lot, but it just depends on your preference.

Fold in the chocolate chips.

Scoop tablespoon sized drops of dough onto a cookie sheet lined with foil or parchment paper. The cookies don't change much in shape when they bake so I flatten them a little bit with the back of a spoon. Bake at 290 degrees for about 15-18 minutes. Enjoy! 

Spicy Chicken Fried Rice

Ingredients

• 1 chicken breast (cubed)
• brown rice (I used Trader Joe's instant which is 10.5oz)
• edamame (or any other veggies you want)
• sauce: 1/8 cup soy sauce; 1 1/2 tbsp oil (I used olive); 1 level tbsp brown sugar; 1/8 cup water; 1 tsp Sriracha hot sauce

Directions

• cook the chicken in large skillet w/ cooking spray 
• when the chicken is cooked through add in the cooked rice, sauce, and edamame
• fry on medium heat until the excess liquid has cooked off and the rice has turned a dark brown and sticks together

Homemade Chex Mix

If you're still in school and/or you like to munch on a snack while you work this is the perfect recipe! My mom used to make this for me and my brothers a lot when we were younger. Once I started college I would need this at least once a semester to help me get through midterms/finals. The best part is it's so much easier and cheaper than buying chex mix (I personally think it tastes better too!)

Ingredients

6 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt

3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

3 cups Corn Chex cereal

3 cups Rice Chex cereal

3 cups Wheat Chex cereal

2 cups mixed nuts (or 1 cup mixed nuts 1/2 cup pretzels, 1/2 cups bagel chips or any combination of the 3)

In a large bowl melt the butter. Then add the Worcestershire sauce, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder. 

Next, add the 3 types of chex cereal. Stir until cereal is coated with liquid mixture. Add the nuts and mix some more.

Microwave on high for a total of 6 minutes, stopping it every 2 minutes to stir it around. Finally, spread it out on a cookie sheet to cool/dry. 

Upside Down Open Faced Tuna Melt

I had heard of the idea of using laughing cow cheese for a tuna melt and Michael has used Greek yogurt instead of mayo to make a tuna salad so I thought the combination might be interesting. It was so easy and really good; the perfect snack or light meal. Next time I may experiment using cottage cheese either combined with the Greek yogurt or instead of the Greek yogurt because I've been very curious about that combination as well.

Ingredients

Greek Yogurt (I kept adding the yogurt until it created a consistency and taste with the tuna that I liked)

Tuna

Edamame

Light Laughing Cow Cheese

Slice of whole wheat bread

All I did was combine the tuna, yogurt & edamame, spread some laughing cow cheese on the bread and spread the tuna mixture on top.  I also microwaved the sandwich before eating, but if you like your sandwiches toasted you probably want to toast the bread before spreading the cheese on top.

Enjoy!