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Julia's Favorite Recipes

       Julia's recipe section is created with a goal of

  providing healthy recipes but also good tasting food.

 

I am not a professional chef or baker & I did not go to culinary school, but I love to cook, bake, eat, and taste (in addition to being a Dietitian). I hope you enjoy this section as much as I enjoyed creating it.

 

I am a fan of using REAL food for cooking and baking. I like to use single ingredients of basic foods (not foods that have LONG ingredient lists) to create something delicious.

 

My favorite part of cooking & baking is NOT following the recipes. Many of these recipes are taken from friends, family, the internet, cooking classes, and then adjusted. I love to make alterations to recipes to make them more healthy & yummy. However, I do believe that some recipes for some occasions should NOT be touched- for example pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving (and the two sticks of butter I use for the crust!).

 

Here is a collection of my favorite everyday (meaning that they are healthy to consume on a daily basis in moderate portions) recipes that I often use as staples for meals and snacks. Feel free to follow exactly or make your own adjustments!

Baking

A word on my baking recipes. In my opinion, most baking recipes are overloaded in sugar. I believe this NOT because I think sugar is horrible, but  too much sugar can take away from other flavors that should be prominent in the recipes i.e. apple, pumpkin, berry etc. In addition, too much sugar can prevent a food from being a food that could be consumed every day to being a special occasion food. A lot of the following recipes are very low in added sugar as they are meant to produce food that is good for you to eat daily basis.  The flavors are not outrageously sweet but encourage your taste buds to experience different flavors using spices, nuts, dried/ cooked fruit, or coconut. As I adjusted these recipes, I reduced the added sugar slowly to avoid compromising the end product (after all, sugar was initially in is in the recipe for a reason & food IS meant to be delicious). If you need to start with a slightly higher volume of sugar for you/your family, that is alright. Slowly reducing sugar in regular recipes is a great way to reduce sugar in the overall diet. Tastes/expectations will adjust to a lower sugar content if not abrupt. Afterall, recipes are meant to be broken. :)

Julia's Autumn Pumpkin Bread

Cozy & delicious. I usually started making this after the first frost. With that said, I have also craved it in July! Enjoy!

 

Dry Ingredients:

 

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2  teaspoon of baking soda

pinch of salt

1 large heaping spoon of ground flax seed

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 cup ground nuts (I use walnuts)

1/3 cup dried cranberries

 

Wet Ingredients:

 

1-2 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/4 cups pumpkin (canned)

1/2 cup canola or coconut oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

***1 tablespoon ground flax seed + 3 Tablespoons warm water combined (let sit for 2 minutes to thicken prior to adding to mixture)**

 

 

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Mix wet ingredients together until blended. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients.  Oil or butter 8"x8" brownie pan. Add dry ingredients to wet and blend just until mixed. The batter will be thick.  Bake for 45-60 minutes minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

 

*** 1 T ground flax seed + 3 T warm water is a replacement for 1 egg in recipes. I don't think that eggs should be completely replaced in recipes, I just like the nutrients that are added in the exchange. Eggs are a very good food that provides protein, lutein, choline, B12 etc. Ground flax seed is high in omega 3, lignans, and fiber. For more information, contact Julia to set up an appointment. ***

 

 

Jacked up Banana Bread

Julia's version of:"Elise’s Friend Heidi’s Friend Mrs. Hockmeyer’s Banana Bread, As Jacked Up by Deb"  (Everyone has their version!)
Adapted from Simply Recipes

 

4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup (75 grams) melted salted butter OR 3 tablespoons oil (olive, canola, or coconut) + 2 tablespoons melted butter
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla
1 tablespoon (15 ml) bourbon (optional) or cognac
1 teaspoon (5 grams) baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon (3 grams) cinnamon
Up to 1/2 teaspoon (1) nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
1 1/2 cups (190 grams) whole wheat flour

1/2 cup ground walnuts

 

Preheat the oven to 350°F. With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, vanilla and bourbon. Mix baking soda, salt, whole wheat flour, and spices in a separate bowl.  Add flour mixture to wet mixture and stir just until batter comes together. Pour mixture into a buttered or oiled 4×8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes to one hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Scones!

This is an easy recipe that is a variation on a scone. They come out more like muffin tops - they are crispy on the outside and bursting with flavor on the inside. They are good for a quick breakfast on the go or a snack post workout.  This is a recipe that you can use ANYTHING in. I mess around a lot with it- there are five options below but I typically use whatever I have.

Dry Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 heaping tablespoons ground flax seed

 

Wet Ingredients:

1/3 cup milk (any kind: cows, soy, almond )

1/3 cup plain yogurt (I use greek, if you are milk free, it is okay to use an additional 1/3 cup of dairy free milk instead of yogurt)

1/4 cup canola, safflower, or coconut oil

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 T brown sugar or honey

 

+

Choose one of the options below.

 

Option 1: Orange Cranberry

1/2 cup dried cranberries (add to dry ingredients)

1 Tablespoon orange zest (add to wet ingredients)

1/3 cup ground walnuts

 

Option 2: Apple Walnut

1 large finely chopped apple

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 c ground walnuts

 

Option 3: Coconut Banana Pecan

1/3 c chopped pecans

1 large chopped banana (cut in half slices)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup unsweetened dried coconut (also good without)

 

Option 4:  Ginger Peach

2 finely chopped peaches

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

 

Option 5: Pumpkin Nut Spice

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/3 cup ground nuts (walnuts, pistachios, pecans etc)

 

Preheat oven for 400 degrees. Mix  wet ingredients together. In a separate bowl, whisk the dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until they are combined. The batter should be spongy. Butter, oil, or spray cookie sheet. Spoon out large spoonfuls of batter into circles. They should look like big cookies. Batter typically makes 5-6 scones, but feel free to make smaller scones for snack size portions. Bake for 14 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. If scones are smaller, check at 10 minutes.

 

Serve with goat cheese, nut butter, or cream cheese, as a side to eggs- for a little extra protein, or eat hot from the oven on it's own! Always good out of the oven, but also good the next day toasted.   Yum.

 

 

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