Blog Archives
Fresh 4th of July Dessert!
4th of July means a Friday off of work to celebrate. If you’re making a festive and patriotic menu (nothing like a theme party, right!?) then you’ve probably taken to Pinterest to plan. Red, White, & Blue Overload!
I contemplated dipped & decorated pretzel rods, a berry cobbler, and a parfait before deciding on cute fruit skewers. Who doesn’t love shish kabobs! (I actually just like the word “shish kabob.” SHISH KABOB. Okay I’m done.)
This dessert is easy breezy because it takes 4 ingredients, minimal time & effort, and the skewers keep the portion control in check. Light, fresh, and beauuuuutiful if I say so myself.
Strawberry slices and whole blueberries are interupted with fat chunks of Angel Food cake. Angel Food cake mixes require only water. Can’t get much simpler than that. I set out a dish of light whip cream for dipping.
I like the simplicity and summery quality to this dessert.
Last year I brought you Light Cherry Berry “Pies” which I can’t wait to recreate now that cherries are back in the produce section. Loooooove me some summer fruits! I used to say without a doubt that peaches were my favorite summer fruit. Then it became a close tie with strawberries. Now I’m hooked on cherries…grapes…apricots…pineapple. I CAN’T CHOOSE. Luckily, I don’t have too. :)
Clean Peanut Butter Banana Cups
What’s a girl to do when her clean cooking partner-in-crime is 200 miles away?
Skype, of course.
Chelsea & I love new healthy recipes. (**By the way, she launched her own blog! —–> seasunseasmiles.wordpress.com**) Being in different cities calls for creativity. We “baked” together via Skype and the result was these unbelievably-delicious-not-to-mention-super-clean cups.
With our laptops in the kitchen, we threw together coconut oil, cacao powder, peanut/almond butter, bananas, honey and a little bit of salt. The recipe was inspired by The Whole Pantry app. If you use cupcake wrappers or mini candy wrappers, they come out looking like a perfect peanut butter cup with rippled edges and everything :)
Chelsea’s batch came out significantly better than mine because I decided to add Greek Yogurt, which seriously disturbed the texture. I threw the batch out and made another. 50x better.
Peanut butter and coconut oil are clean, yes, but also very calorie-dense.I decided to add a fat slice of banana to the middle to make each cup more substantial without adding another 100+ more calories.
The Recipe:
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder or cacao powder
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 Tbs honey or pure maple syrup
- 1 Tbs Stevia
- 2 Tbs peanut butter, almond butter, or any nut butter of your choice
- banana, sliced
- cupcake or candy wrappers
1.) Mix the coconut oil, cocoa, salt, honey and stevia together.
2.) Spoon 1/2 tablespoon of chocolate into each wrapper (makes 4) and freeze for 5 minutes.
3.) Spoon 1 tsp peanut butter onto the chocolate. Top with a slice of banana and add another spoonful of chocolate mixture.
4.) Allow to completely freeze, about 30 minutes.
There’s your clean dessert! A perfect serving-size indulgence free of any chemicals, preservatives, additives and processed sugars.
I’m eating one for dessert right now while I catch up on Grey’s Anatomy :) Sound like a low-key Friday night? Well that’s because I’M RACING A 5k TOMORROW MORNING!
My first “race” since the marathon. It’s just a local road race put on by my school’s ROTC but I’m excited do something competitive again and see what kind of shape I’m in. Plus I really want to see how many army boys I can outrun ;)
Strong Like My Coffee Turns One!
There is a little call for celebration…. Strong Like My Coffee had a Blog Birthday. Blog Anniversary? Regardless….Strong Like My Coffee turns 1!
One year ago I launched stronglikemycoffee.com. It all began a few years prior, when I became addicted to reading blogs. Now I’m on the other end of the computer page…This occasion calls for coffee, and some (Low-Fat) berry chocolate chip coffee cake :)
Reading other blogs has always provided me with so much inspiration. I enjoy reading all about other people’s lives….their food, their travel, their exercise, their ideas. Looking at their pictures and making their recipes and trying their workouts. After a while, it starts to feel like we’re friends…..when I don’t actually know them at all. (This is starting to sound stalker-y….it’s not like that, I promise!)
So 365 days ago I joined the club. I figured I had some similarities with bloggers I find so entertaining, I could join their little community and share my thoughts too. At first I began humbly….sharing my page with my friends and family. But then came some strangers. Thanks to (the genius) invention of Pinterest, strangers began stumbling upon and reading my blog. Most popularly, the simple post PACKING FOR DORM LIFE. That’s when I realized that there are plenty of college girls like myself from all over, who enjoy maintaining a healthy lifestyle just as much as I do. (BTW there will be a sequel to that post in the next few days…the new school year is right around the corner!)
I was hesistant at first…I didn’t want to publish too much about me, didn’t want people to see this site as a way to brag or beg for attention. I just want to share what I am truly passionate about with people who feel the same way! Reading other bloggers fitness stories, race recaps, goals or even recipes inspires me :) It reminds me to be thankful for the blessings in my life and appreciate the simple joys that we often overlook. I mainly blog for myself, a way to capture my journey.
But this coffee cake I made to SHARE. And I highly encourage you to make it too, because you probably have all the ingredients in your kitchen already and any “indulgence” in moderation is perfectly compatible with a healthy lifestyle :)
The Recipe:
- 1 Cup Non-fat milk
- 6 oz. non-fat vanilla (or any flavor really…) Chobani Greek Yogurt
- 2 heaping Tbs. ground flax seeds
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3 Tbs. vegetable oil
- 1 cup white flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour (or 1 additional cup of white flour if you don’t prefer the wheat taste)
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 Tbs. cinnamon
- 4 Tsp. Baking Powder
- 1 Tsp. Salt
- 1 1/2 cups raspberries (frozen berries work just fine, just thaw them out/drain beforehand!)
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips
- Topping: dusting of powdered sugar & additional raspberries.
1. Whisk together milk, yogurt, flax seeds, vanilla and oil.
2. In a separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.
3. Add the dry mixture to the milk mixture; stir in raspberries & chocolate chips.
4. Pour evenly into a greased spring form pam; bake for 55 minutes at 350 degrees or until top is golden brown and the middle passes the toothpick test!
5. Let cool for 20 minutes before slicing and sharing with a freshly brewed pot of coffee. Cheers!
365 days. 166 blog posts. Even more planned for the future! I’m excited to see what the next year brings, for myself and for stronglikemycoffee.com. There’s my first collegiate cross country season, my first apartment, my first marathon, my 21st birthday/Vegas trip, my next set of surgeries, and at least 365 more cups of coffee. Everything else…we shall just wait & see!
Thanks for reading! :)
