Skinny Dark Chocolate Strawberry Muffins

November 21, 2014 by Christine Skari

Let’s play a game.

The game involves stuffing as many of these skinny dark chocolate strawberry muffins into your mouth in one day as possible.

I challenge myself.

I win 😯 .

Don’t you like games like this? I sure doooo. But really, I think I have a new favorite healthier muffin! I’ve tried a good number of “healthy” muffins in my time, and I’ve found a lot of them to be disappointing. Dry, lack of flavor, general “meh”-ness. These are anything but that! Prepare yourself because these pretty little gems are fluffy, but dense at the same time and perfectly sweet with bites of dark chocolate and strawberries.

My heart is pounding in my chest and I’m pretty sure it’s the sugar rush, but I’m going to play it off as infatuation with all the flavor and those bites that are perfectly studded with chocolate chips (as in a ratio of 5 chips per inch of muffin, please). I mean, COME ON PEOPLE. AHH.

I think I tortured my housemates with this recipe. Oftentimes I’ll make a recipe at night and photograph it the next day since my class schedule is all over the place and I need certain natural lighting for my photos. My friends know this and won’t touch what I make without the ready… set… EAT from me. I left these out and was gone for most of the day, and came back to a living room full of girls saying “CAN WE EAT THEM”. I gave the green light and they were promptly demolished with plenty of yums and happy filled stomach noises. Woo! Success!

These muffins are made without any butter (coconut oil and greek yogurt replace it), and have a combination of whole wheat flour and white flour to balance health and flavor. Each one comes out to just under 230 calories and are just plain delicious <3. These will be your morning coffee’s best friend and will satisfy any sweet tooth craving that hits!

Healthy Warm Cinnamon Apple Mess

November 6, 2014 by Christine Skari

Warm (pseudo) baked apples that are cooked in brown sugar until perfectly tender and bursting with cinnamon flavor? Gimme. Even better? Add in a secret ingredient that makes all the difference and takes this healthy breakfast/snack/dessert over the top!

I have been a huge lover of this secret ingredient ever since I was little. I grew up eating it with yogurt and granola (something I got from my mom) and in the BEST lasagna ever, which is a recipe from my tiny asian Obachan. Funny how a little Japanese woman can make lasagna better than any Italian restaurant, right?

What is this magical and perhaps underrated ingredient? Cottage cheese!

Lucky for me, it turns out that cottage cheese just happens to be a great healthy addition to my diet! With 13g of protein for only 90 calories (for 2% fat cottage cheese) Daisy Brand Cottage Cheese contains none of the additives and preservatives found in other leading brands, and is a smart snack on its own or as a healthy substitution in a recipe! Daisy Brand is a 4th generation, family owned dairy business, focused on making high quality, limited ingredient dairy products. The company is one of the leading brands for cotage cheese, and trust me, it makes a difference. I’ve gone through times where I’ve tried to get by with other brands, but they just don’t compare to the creamy and fresh texture that Daisy provides.

To help show how versatile cottage cheese is, I created this super quick and easy recipe that will not only satisfy your sweet tooth (sweet and salty flavors=HEAVEN), but will be a great addition to your healthy recipe collection! Oftentimes I’m in a big rush in the morning as I run around the house trying to get ready for my classes, but this breakfast, snack, or dessert comes together by simply microwaving cinnamon, brown sugar, and some freshly cut apples to spiced and tender perfection, then adding some cottage cheese to the mix to give it a great salty kick and protein boost.

Since I don’t always have time to snack during my busy day, I depend on a breakfast that will keep me full and energized! Daisy Brand Cottage Cheese does the trick perfectly!

Want more healthy, delicious, and easy recipe? Here’s a goldmine of great options!

Disclosure: While this recipe is sponsored by Daisy Brand, all opinions are, of course, my own and this recipe is an Apple of My Eye original created to show the versatility of Daisy cottage cheese.

Fluffy Greek Yogurt Biscuits

November 6, 2014 by Christine Skari

Is there anything better than a steamy-hot biscuit that’s straight out of the oven? Dab on a pat of butter and a drizzle (or river, #realtalk) of honey and you’re in comfort food H-E-A-V-E-N.

WAIT. I’ll tell you what’s better than that. A biscuit that’s been healthified with greek yogurt and less butter, but still has all the fluffy goodness of those fattening refrigerated biscuits. And yes, I’m looking at you, Pillsbury.

To be honest, I never was much of a biscuit girl until I started dating Kyle. Since I’m half Norwegian and half Japanese, the dinner table usually revolved more around potatoes and sushi. Kyle is, well, the most all-Americain boy you’ll ever meet and his great grandmother would make the family the most unreal biscuits and gravy. I’m talkin’ about a deeeelicious homemade gravy that’s seasoned to perfection with chunks of flavorful sausage in every bite. Then you top a warm and flakey biscuit with a huge ladelful and ERRHHHMAGAAA.

Kyle and I have the recipe (a closely gaurded family secret, so it won’t be making an appearance on the blog), but it never turns out exactly as good. It’s close, but not quiiiite there. I’m pretty sure the secret ingredient is a great-grandma’s love. I guess I’ll just have to wait till I’m 90 and then give it another go 😉 .

So anyways, I’ve been having biscuits on my mind lately and decided to whip up a batch since I had all the ingredients on hand. Supah simple, friends. A mixture of whole wheat and white flour, an egg, a leeeetle buttah, and some nonfat plain greek yogurt. You mix err’thing together, pop em’ in the oven, and shaaazammmm! Biscuits! Who would have thought?

Not only are these easy, but they are lightened-up with only 110 calories each and with loads less fat than normal biscuits, making them more of an everyday treat for me! Let’s pretend I don’t smother my biscuits with honey for the “healthy” sake of this recipe 😉 .

Fluffy yumminess at it’s best!

Baked Chocolate Chip Cookie Oatmeal

October 17, 2014 by Christine Skari

There aren’t many breakfasts that can make me swoon. Not many healthy ones in any case. Oatmeal? Good, but where is the cake. Eggs? Decent, but plz bring me some pie. Greek yogurt? Meh. The only thing going through my head… is my pie here yet?

But this. This is something special. This is the sort of healthy breakfast that makes you feel like you’re biting into a giant chocolate chip oat cookie. I busted out this recipe on a whim as an adaptation to my Baked Honey Berry Oat recipe (which has rave reviews) early Monday morning, and it was gone within an hour. I didn’t even get a chance to photograph it the firs time around since the girls and I stood around the just-out-of-the-oven pan fighting over bites. The combination of the warm and comforting spiced oats coupled with melty-chocolate chips covering the top is absolutely divine and doesn’t leave my sweet-tooth wanting. Add in a freshly brewed cup of coffee to sip on and you are in h-e-a-v-e-n!

One thing I love about this recipe is how customizable it is. You are in total control and can’t really go wrong with the base recipe. Feel free to add in special touches like nuts (walnuts in here would be fantastic), coconut flakes, dried fruit, etc. The world is your oyster!

This recipe clocks in at just under 250 calorie per 1/6th of the pan (aka a huge slice).

New favorite breakfast? I think yeeeesss.

Skinny Vanilla Glazed Raspberry Swirl Scones

October 1, 2014 by Christine Skari

Stare deeply into your computer screen into the swirly depths of these scones. Vibrant red whirls of raspberry goodness. Are you hypnotized yet? 😯

You take one bite of these and you’re sold. Tender golden scone bites that are punctuated with sweet and tart bits of sugar-coated raspberries. I repeat, SUGAR-COATED RASPBERRIES. OH! And that drippy vanilla glaze. Mhm. It delivers the perfect extra touch of sweetness and just makes them look oh so cute, doncha think? So pretty in pink!

Kyle and I are heading back up to Santa Barbara tomorrow night, so I thought it would be good to get in one last baking session at my parent’s house before getting back to a crowded kitchen. I don’t think I’m ready to jump back into class and studying… what a rude awakening from the last few vacation weeks I’ve had of binge watching Netflix, spending all day in pjs, camping, and scone-making. While the house I’m living in up at SB is gorgeous and has a big kitchen, the temperature knobs on the oven have had their measurements rubbed off from years of use, so we aren’t to sure how hot things are really getting in there. I’ve had more than my share fair of burnt cookies and rock-hard brownies and was not about to risk the lives of my little rosy love bites.

NOT THESE SCONES OVEN. You can’t win this one.

These raspberry scones are deceiving, and not in a bad way. Full of sweet flavor and flaky dough, they seem like they should be packed with tons of calories, but they’re actually much lighter than most baked goods and come in at less than 250 calories each! I love when you can lighten up normally indulgent comfort food so that you feel better about treating yourself everyday! Whole wheat flour and light on the sugar, but still full of flavor! Yummers.