I have always enjoyed coffee flavored things – ice cream, cookies…mocha if you will.

When I turned to page 184 of the January/February 2012 Cooking Light magazine, I knew I needed to make them as soon as possible.  My intuition was correct.

It was love at first bite.  Even Matt loved them even though he doesn’t normally like coffee flavored food.

How does that not look good?

Even though I used the 1% milk, the muffins were still rich and moist.  The coffee flavor was the perfect level – not too weak but yet not too strong.

Matt gave them a “delicious” rating.

Last weekend, while having our normal debate of “what to have to breakfast,” I stared at the bananas on my counter and then went to my guilty pleasure, Pinterest, to seek out some options. 

I sought out a recipe that was Peanut Butter Soynut Butter and Banana but then after some deeper consideration, realized it was easier to add soynut butter than chocolate to a muffin.  Deep thoughts for a Sunday morning.  No?

Matt claims to “not be a fan of muffins” but yet ate two of them straight out of the oven.  In all fairness, I would probably eat something straight out of the oven if it was made while I was relaxing on the couch. 

However, these muffins, he has continued to eat.

I wonder why?

For me, it was love at first bite.

How could you ignore the chocolate with pieces of banana?  If that doesn’t convince you, take a closer look.

This is a great recipe that used all my just about brown bananas and has served as both a breakfast and dessert treat.  That’s money in my book. 

I have recently fallen into a breakfast slump.  I have started to drink coffee (and join the adult world) and part of my morning routine has been to enjoy my not quite coffee yet mocha.  My morning mocha has cut into my crap is it really 8:30 am already morning routine, so I have made sacrifices in my breakfast.  I have been living on soy nut butter and jelly toast. 

For a change I thought I would try some dessert hummus again – but instead of enjoying it for dessert, I would try it on top of my morning toast. 

This was such a nice change to my normal toast.  I decided not to add the chocolate chips to the hummus so it could be more of a breakfast food however, for a special treat, chocolate chips for breakfast is not the worst idea in the world.

I enjoy this hummus and even though it is tedious to pull the skins off the chickpeas, it does make the hummus smoother.

Dessert hummus is excellent with graham crackers, sliced apples, or eaten with a spoon (especially with the chocolate chips). 

I bet it would also taste great on some pancakes or waffles as well…something for this weekend perhaps!

I have not. 

I love grapefruit – my mother-in-law sent us back from New Jersey at Christmas time with a few grapefruits sent to her from a friend in Florida.  They were amazing.  So sweet and juicy.  I looked into buying more from that grove but they were uber pricy – and cost money for shipping. 

Alas, I am left to purchase the ones I find at the grocery store.  Sadly, it seems I have quite the nack for picking the uber tart grapefruits.  Like make a face it almost hurts your mouth to eat them grapefruits.

On Pinterest the other day, I discovered a recipe for broiled grapefruit that looked amazing.  Although I am not the biggest fan of covering a fruit with a pound of sugar, sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures. 

Not having a kitchen torch, I opted for the broiler method. 

If using the broiler method, make sure to set your oven rack as close to the heating element as possible – that sped up the process considerably. 

Obviously my broiled grapefruit does not look quite as “bruleed” as the one in the picture on the recipe.   

Matt and I also had an argument as to when you should cut the grapefruit – we opted for after the draining on paper towel but before the sugar application.

 
Verdict?  I really enjoyed the broiled grapefruit.  It was warmed throughout and with the crispy sugar, added a great flavor. 

A great use for those VERY tart grapefruits – I highly recommend this!

Through some peer pressure (ahem Cindy and Maribeth), I succumbed to joining Pinterest.  After spending a little while few hours on it this past weekend, I realized I needed to make this recipe for Baked Oatmeal with Strawberries, Bananas and Chocolate.  How could you go wrong?

I omitted the orange zest because I am not the biggest fan of chocolate and orange; the Chinese Five Spice because I didn’t have any (and chose not to sub with cinnamon which I am also not a fan of – weird I know) and the walnuts in order to avoid an allergic reaction.

This recipe is a major keeper in my book. 

I added the chocolate chips on the top only after I removed the dish from the oven – I wanted them to melt just ever so slightly. 

An amazing recipe – a little sweet.  Next time I would cut the brown sugar just a smidge and maybe even take the chocolate chips off the top.

This dish reheats beautifully – I may make another batch and put it in the freezer for some quick breakfasts once the semester starts. 

Are you on Pinterest? 

I have pounds and pounds of medjool dates in my apartment – my mother-in-law even gave us more for Christmas because she knows how much I love them.

Now that I’m searching for ways to use some of them, I found a great recipe for a Date Shake

Matt and I didn’t clearly read the directions and added everything to our blender at once – including the ice.  This left our shake a little chunky – but good nonetheless.

I absolutely loved the flavor of this shake – sweet but yet not too sweet (this could have been because we used some of our older dates). 

This shake also kept me going for HOURS – very filling!

Do you like medjool dates? 

Next up, my grandmother’s date bread recipe.

While doing my Real Food Challenge a few weeks ago, I noticed a recipe on Green Lite Bites that I thought would would be easy to fit into the challenge. 

The Banana Oatmeal Cups appealed to me for the real ingredients (minus the chocolate chips) and the simplicity of the recipe. 

Of course I made the recipe with the chocolate chips – and swapping out skim milk for the Almond Milk.  I added a little less than 1/4 cup of sugar to make up for the sweetness of the Almond Milk.

These are definitely not muffins and taste very much like baked oatmeal.  Very banana-y, these are a great recipe to make when you have brown bananas sitting on your counter. 

I only made 12 cups – even though the recipe called for 15. 

Although a great use for bananas, I don’t think I would make this recipe again. 

When I want a muffin – I want a muffin!

Two weeks ago I treated myself to Bolthouse Farms Mocha Cappuccino. 

It was love at first sip.

Oddly enough I hate coffee – but add chocolate or give me coffee ice cream and I’m in heaven. 

This drink has been my “treat” every day – a small glassful after breakfast.  It is expensive and pretty high in calories. 

I decided to take matters into my own hand and make my own mocha cappuccino.

Using the chocolate milk that is always in my fridge plus some chocolate protein powder and vanilla I got started.

First I brewed some decaf coffee (I’m pretty much caffeine free) using my Keurig.  To my coffee, I added a heavy splash of vanilla and 1 tablespoon of sugar.  Set that in the fridge to cool. 

When I make my mocha cappuccino, I add 2 oz of cold coffee to a glass and then add 6 oz of chocolate milk and half a scoop of protein powder.  Shake and voila…mocha cappuccino.

Not QUITE as good as the Bolthouse Farm but cheaper and pretty much always at my disposal.  Plus I can make it with decaf coffee which means I can drink it at all times of the day. 

Still a treat – but one within my reach!

While reading my November 2011 issue of Runners World magazine (thanks Mom for the subscription), I noticed a recipe for Sweet Potato muffins.  One variation of this recipe recommended substituting pumpkin for the sweet potato and knowing that I have 7 cans of Libby’s pumpkin in my cabinet because of a pumpkin buying frenzy I found myself in, I decided to give this recipe a try.

It is a Mark Bittman recipe – one of my favorite cookbook authors!

I’m allergic to coconut so I omitted it – but I did add some chocolate chips because pumpkin chocolate chip is one of my favorite combos.

Sadly, I was disappointed in this recipe.  The muffins had very little flavor – I bet the sweet potato would be better as it is sweeter than the pumpkin. 

I would like to try this recipe again with the pumpkin – or banana variety.  It is a simple recipe that doesn’t require too many ingredients. 

This recipe deserves another try – let me know if you try it with sweet potatoes!

Two weekends ago I made the mistake of purchasing pumpkin donuts from Dunkin Donuts.  If you haven’t tried them, don’t.  They are addicting.  Very addicting. 

I have a donut pan but haven’t made a donut that satisfies a donut craving.  Mama Pea’s Apple Cider Donut recipe is my closest attempt.  Check out Mama Pea’s blog for the recipe – the only sub I made was to use real butter instead of Earth Balance. 

I made these donuts while Matt was debating what to have for breakfast on Sunday; instead of waiting, I took matters into my own hand.

I’m glad I did.

These donuts are VERY dense and cake like – extremely filling (especially if you have two). 

Sadly, the apple cider flavor wasn’t as strong as it was in the batter – however, they did taste like good cake donuts. 

I have another apple cider donut recipe I’m hoping to try next weekend…keeping my fingers crossed!