healthy » Living Lou

Blueberry Breakfast Bars

I love blueberries, so when I was assigned Betcha Can’t Eat Just One for this month’s Secret Recipe Club I was ecstatic to find this recipe for Blueberry Breakfast Bars. I mean come on, how good do they sound? The best part about the recipe is how healthy and tasty they are. I loved the fact that they weren’t too sweet, because I don’t know about you, but I can’t stomach sweet treats in the morning.

Other than finding the delicious recipe, I was even more excited when I found out that Katie is a fellow Canadian food blogger! Blogging from the West Coast of Vancouver Island, which I’m sure is one of the most beautiful places in Canada. Many of her recipes, including this one for Blueberry Breakfast Bars are dairy and egg free, which meant that the fact that I had run out of eggs did not impact the making of the recipe. Yay!

I made a few changes to the recipe based on what ingredients I had on hand. The original recipe called for rolled oats and crushed bran cereal, but I just used quick oats and a little more whole wheat flour instead. I also only used baking powder and added in a touch more vanilla because I am a vanilla addict.

Blueberry Breakfast Bars (makes 8 bars)
Recipe adapted from: Betcha Can’t Eat Just One

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup quick oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp flaxseed meal
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup almond milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp canola oil
1 ripe banana, mashed
1 cup fresh blueberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line an 8″ pan with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients.

In another bowl combine wet ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and lightly mix.

Fold in the berries.

Press into the pan and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the bars comes out clean.

Allow to cool and cut into bars.

Katie put a nice icing on her blueberry breakfast bars, but I found they were just as good with a dollop of cream cheese.

- Lou

Tomato Garlic Swiss Chard

So here’s the thing, Tomato Garlic Swiss Chard is my new favourite. I make it at least weekly, but preferably daily. Kind of like that time when I would eat those little white sugared doughnuts daily. That was fun. But we’re trying to stay healthy here, so no more powdered sugared doughnuts, or Old Fashioned doughnuts, but if you are so inclined, these Muffin Doughnuts are pretty good. I think I’ll be making them today.

Last week I was deep into exam stress. Which for some people means stress eating chocolate, but for me it meant stress eating Swiss Chard. Like the way my puppy stress eats carrots during wind storms. We’re two peas in a pod me and my pup.

So, being done exams means that for me, it’s officially summer! I’ve got a lot of summery fresh and yummy Spring recipes that will be coming your way over the next few months, and this is the first. Swiss Chard is at its peak during the Spring, so give this recipe a go.

Tomato Garlic Swiss Chard (serves 2-4)

Ingredients

5 cups chopped swiss chard leaves
1 tbsp oil + 1 1/2 tbsp water
5 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1/3 cup crushed tomatoes

Directions

Heat oil and water over medium heat, add garlic and saute for a minute.

Next, add the swiss chard leaves and cook for 2-3 minutes, the leaves will wilt but have a slight crunch.

Finally, add the crushed tomatoes, stirring to evenly coat swiss chard.

Serve as a side dish or on its own.

If your life is a little packed and busy right now, I think this Tomato Garlic Swiss Chard will be a healthy snack and time saver.

- Lou

Oven Fries

Aren’t oven fries the best? They are homier and more comforting than regular fries, right? Plus they’re healthier because they’re baked not fried.

I don’t know about you, but I’m sold on oven fries. Have I sold you on them yet? Aside from oven fries, I have another recent obsession. I like to call it “puppy in an Ugg boot”. Meet Sophie!!! She’s a Morkie – half Maltese, half Yorkie.

Sophie is such a little rascal, here she is playing with my sweet Mother. I’ve talked about my good ‘ol Dad on here before, but have somehow not really talked about my Mom. I think these photos say it all – isn’t she the best. She’s also obsessed with soup, so many of the soup recipes on here have been inspired by her.

Have I mentioned that I’m obsessed with my pup? She’s insane but so cute.

So, that explains my slight absence, plus we’re deep in finals, my friends. Deep. As in I will be spending the entire weekend preparing for my THREE exams happening on Monday and Tuesday. Hold me.

Oven Fries (serves 2-4)

Ingredients

2 lbs potatoes, cut into wedges
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp paprika
3/4 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp onion powder

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Toss potato wedges in olive oil. Add spices, toss to coat.

Arrange, in one layer, on a baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes.

A super easy, and tasty side dish or snack. I love to dip them in a lot of ketchup. Mmm!

- Lou

Eggplant Salad

Today, I’m sharing a recipe for a somewhat, purple dish: Eggplant Salad. It is an easy meatless, and vegan dish that is perfect to bring to a potluck. Fresh tasting, it goes well on its own or served on a piece of toast as a little crostini type dish. It’s got a little bit of a Mediterranean flare, and makes a super healthy and easy appetizer or side dish.

A little side note from the yummy recipe, March 26th is Purple Day - The Global Day of Epilepsy Awareness. Epilepsy is something close to my heart because my sister is one of the 1% of people that have epilepsy. Epilepsy is a disease that has been mistreated and condemned for centuries, but it’s something that is very real for many people. I wanted to write a little something about Epilepsy in hopes that my little spot here on the internet can help raise awareness. If you want to learn more about Purple Day and what you can do to raise awareness, take a look at the official website, Purpleday.org

Eggplant Salad
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients

1 large eggplant
1 large tomato, diced
1 tbsp diced onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vinegar
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

On a baking dish, bake eggplant for an hour. Allow to cool and cut into bite sized pieces.

Add tomato, onion and garlic to bowl. Add in the eggplant.

Toss with olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar and parsley.

I hope you enjoy this Eggplant Salad.

- Lou

Coconut Crusted Chicken Strips

So I’m going through a bit of coconut phase right now. And a chipotle phase. And a Beatles phase. And a cakey-sugar-coated-doughnut phase. Which is definitely the worst of all my phases. I can confirm that sugar induced headaches do exist. Need I say more?

I had coconut crusted chicken breasts a few months ago at an event I attended and ever since then, I’ve wanted to recreate them. After a couple of attempts I realized that they were too sweet and missing a little tang. So I added a little chipotle. Seriously, chipotle and coconut are a match made in heaven. It’s not too heavy on the chipotle, it is used more to create a balance between the savory and sweet side of this dish.

Now that I’ve done my obligatory this-is-a-food-blog-must-discuss-food intro, I can talk about what I really want to talk about. I mentioned it on Twitter the other day: the fact that Here There and Everywhere is most definitely, without a fact, the most underrated Beatles song ever. I mean, how can you not wish that Paul had written this song about you? This is definitely one of, if not the best, Paul McCartney love song. And that’s saying a lot considering he has made a career out of writing, literally hundreds of “silly love songs”. He also said that along with Blackbird, this is his favourite song he’s ever written. I’ll stop with the facts now.

Seriously. How can you not love that song?

Coconut Crusted Chicken Strips (serves 2-4)
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients
1 lbs chicken breasts cut into strips
1/2 cup flour
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste
2 eggs
1 tsp Chipotle hot sauce
1 1/2 cup unsweetened flaked coconut

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 and grease a baking sheet with a little oil.

Using three bowls prepare the ingredients. In the first bowl whisk together the flour, spices, salt and pepper. In the next bowl whisk the egg with the Chipotle hot sauce. In the last bowl, place the flaked coconut.

To prepare the chicken strips, coat in flour mixture. Next, dip in the egg mixture, allowing any excess to drip back into the bowl. Next, coat in the coconut.

Place on a baking sheet and bake for 18-20 minutes or until cooked through.

I like to serve these Coconut Crusted Chicken Strips with a little more Chipotle sauce on the side.

- Lou

Blueberry Breakfast Bars

Tomato Garlic Swiss Chard

Oven Fries

Eggplant Salad

Coconut Crusted Chicken Strips

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