Red Velvet Brownies

Before I moved to Milwaukee, I had no idea of what to expect from the city. Is it a city, you ask? It most certainly is and I for one have fallen head over heals for this little gem.
Just check out the sunrise from the balcony of our apartment:

Who wouldn't want to live here?

And it isn't just the beauty of Milwaukee bay that I love, the city is quirky and there's a fantastic art museum that is a walkable distance from where I live. What more could a girl ask for?

There are plenty of fun things to do here and there's no shortage of variety when it comes to food (and beer, if you're into that). Oh by the way, beer and alcohol in general, are totally a big thing here. The first time my husband and I came apartment hunting we were baffled by the pitcher of beer that was served in the middle of the day- a weekday mind you. But then we slowly realized that beer is like water in our lovely little city! Ha, imagine that!

Now todays recipe happened when I had no idea what to do with a beet (other than use it in a savory dish) and I wanted to bake something special for Valentine's day. With the lovely bright red color of the vegetable in mind, I decided to incorporate them in red velvet brownies! These were so irresistible that they were gone before I could take a photo!

Ingredients:

Oat Flour: 3/4 cup
Baking Powder: 3/4 tsp
Salt: 1/2 tsp
Brown Sugar: 1/4 cup
Dark Chocolate chips: 1/2 cup
Unsweetened Cocoa powder: 1/4 cup
1 large beet: blanched and pureed
Vegetable oil: 1 tbsp
Non fat plain greek yogurt: 2 tsp
Unsweetened applesauce: 1/2 cup
Vanilla extract: 2 tsp

Optional add-ins: chopped walnuts, mini dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and lightly coat an 8x8in square baking dish with nonstick olive oil spray

2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the oat flour, baking powder, and salt.

3. In a microwave safe bowl, slowly melt the chocolate chips in 20-30 second intervals until smooth.

4. Whisk in the remaining ingredients and then slowly add the flour mixture until incorporated.

5. You can top with some chopped walnuts or the chocolate chips then bake for 35-40 minutes or until firm

6. Cool completely before cutting into squares

Note: To make the beet puree: scrub the beets and place in a pot a boiling water that just covers the beet. Keep at a rolling boil over medium heat for about 30 minutes or until you can easily pierce the beet with a fork. Then place the beet in a dish and refrigerate it until completely cool so that you can easily peel the skin off. Once peeled, roughly chop the beet and put the chopped pieces in a food processor with a few teaspoons of the water used to boil the beets and puree to desired consistency.

Tart Apple Pie Muffins

I am a sucker for a really good muffin for breakfast. It's simple, delicious and you can take it on the go.
Today I whipped up some muffins with finely chopped pink lady apples folded into them and a bit of cinnamon. If you close your eyes and take a bite it can definitely take care of any apple pie cravings that may have taken control of you!

Here's the recipe:
Ingredients:

Oat flour: 1 cup (You can easily make this by pulsing oats in a food processor or a spice grinder into a fine powder)
Quick oats: 1 cup
Cinnamon: 1 tsp
Baking powder: 1 tsp
Baking Soda: 1/2 tsp
Salt: 1/2 tsp
Brown Sugar: 1/2 cup
Apple sauce: 1 cup
Vegetable oil: 2 tbsp
Egg: 1 (or substitute 2 egg whites)
Unsweetened Almond milk: 1/2 cup (can use regular, fat free milk)
Vanilla extract: 1 tsp
Apple: 1 large finely chopped(something tart like a honeycrisp or pink lady apple)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400F. Line a muffin tray with paper liners.

2.Combine the flour, oats, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, applesauce, vegetable oil, almond milk, vanilla extract and brown sugar. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently mix the two. Finally, fold in the finely chopped apple.

3. With a tablespoon carefully scoop the mixture into 12 muffin cups

4. Bake muffins for 18-20 minutes or until top is firm and a toothpick inserted to the center of the muffin comes out clean.

Enjoy!

How it all started..

Hi guys! My name is Lily and I'm here to share my day-to-day recipes with a healthy twist!

My journey to a healthy lifestyle started a little over 3 years ago. After several years of burying my nose in textbooks with the end result of an "MD" tagged to the end of my name, I realized that I'd completely neglected my own health. I was extremely overweight and was in dire need of a change. I've always loved to bake and I thought that I would start by making small changes to the ingredients I used to make an equally yummy alternative. Then I started to incorporate similar changes to my meals. Along with dietary modifications, I started going to the gym regularly. By no means was this a smooth transition. I had many ups and downs and thought of quitting multiple times, but there's simply something satisfying about creating a recipe that you can indulge in guilt free!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you guys enjoy these recipes as much as my family and I do!