Carrot Zucchini Bars with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

I saw a recipe for Carrot Zucchini Bars on The Domestic Wannabe and immediately decided that these wouldn't be too bad made vegan! She altered the original recipe from Real Mom Kitchen and I have since combined bits and pieces and made my own concoction. I've made them twice and I think I've found a concrete recipe I will keep making. Using a 9x13 pan these are roughly 152 calories (sweetened with honey - less with Splenda, obviously) with 16 servings. This has been my go to breakfast before heading to the gym and my snack as soon as I return home. The good news? I tried freezing these and they thaw out decently!

Carrot Zucchini Bars
1/2 cup Unsweetened Apple Sauce + 1 tsp. Baking Powder (egg substitute)

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 cup milled flax seed + 1/2 cup orange juice (oil substitute) (you may use water -- I did the first time but the taste of the orange juice is divine)

1/4 cup honey (or 1/4 cup Splenda) (I used honey the first time and was out the second time making these- I had Splenda + Fiber on hand and I like the extra sweetness it adds)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cup shredded carrots

1 cup shredded zucchini

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional but recommended as there is no protein in these with the egg removed)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. all spice

Frosting:

3 oz. cream cheese, softened

4 Tbsp. powdered sugar

1 tsp. orange zest (I usually just zest into the bowl until it takes on an orange taste)

1. Pre-heat oven to 350. In a large bowl whisk together apple sauce + baking powder, brown sugar, milled flax seed + orange juice, honey (or splenda), and vanilla. Next fold in carrots, zucchini and walnuts.

2. In another bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon and all spice. Whisk to combine.

3. Add flour mixture to the wet mixture until just combined. Spread batter into an ungreased 13x9" pan.

4. Bake about 25 minutes or until a toothpick entered in center comes out clean. Immediately spread cream cheese frosting. Allow to cool completely before cutting.

5. While the bars are baking prepare the frosting. In a small bowl combine the ingredients and fold together until fluffy.

6. When the bars come out of the oven immediately frost with the frosting (you want to frost while hot so the frosting melts and spreads evenly over the bars).

This recipe has been made vegan to avoid unnecessary calories. Subbing out the oil for milled flax seed makes for a sticky, gooey bread. It may not be everyone's style but I'd take it over the additional calories. The first time I made these they needed some more spice to them. If I had ground nutmeg I would have added 1/4 tsp. as well.

At a stand still

My scale has been stuck at the 173 mark for the last month. I can't complain so much since my motivation has gone stagnant. Maintaining is more than half the battle but if I ever want to lose these remaining 33 pounds I need to figure something out and quick.  I have started to become that mom that takes my kids to the park and I walk circles around the play area. I probably look like a crazy lady but I think that I am rather smart! It's better than me just sitting there watching my children play (I do watch my children, we purposefully frequent a park that doesn't have many, if any, children at it).

I had a bunch of gala apples in my fridge that needed to be eaten before they went bad so last night I made myself some apple pie filling and ate that warm with a scoop of fat free Cool Whip and yum! It was so easy to make and very tasty!

Apple Pie Filling

4 c. sliced apples (skins removed would be best, I left mine on)

Juice of choice (enough to cover apples--I used Acai Pomegranate since it was all I had on hand)

1/4 c. maple syrup (I used sugar free)

Cinnamon/all spice to taste

1/2 t. vanilla

1/4 c. sugar

1/8 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. Corn starch (I used flour since it was all I had)

In a small crock pot I combined everything except the corn starch and cooked on high until apples were soft. I then added the corn starch to thicken the juice and let it cook for about 20 minutes.

It was super easy to make and was a nice change to my normal desserts. Plus it was a little chilly out last night and it made my house smell like fall!

I'm "COOKED"

I just spent the last 5 hours in the kitchen! Phew! Spaghetti sauce and waffles from scratch! Such a random combination of separate goodness! :)

A good friend of my husbands had given us a huge box of very large tomatoes that had some bad spots in them. On top of the tomatoes I had bought, and the ones Great Grandpa sent home with us. Here I am knee deep in tomatoes and you can only make so much salsa. I always remember my grandma making spaghetti sauce once a year with all her over ripe tomatoes.

So my niece and I piled into the kitchen and started the task of peeling/seeding tomatoes. This was a tedious process, after the hour of doing so we finally had the +/- 12 cups of tomatoes ready to go! By this point we were up to our elbows in tomato juice and my poor counter top was dripping with overflow juices. We need not mention my sink. I was PRAYING it would not clog my drain or garbage disposal. I tried to get it all in that trash but sometimes it's not possible.

Fresh Tomato Spaghetti Sauce

2 T. olive oil

2 Large onions chopped (I used 4 baseball sized onions)

1 bell pepper, chopped 

2-3 cloves of garlic (I used 3T. of the diced garlic from the deli section)

12 cups fresh tomatoes, peeled and seeded

3 - 6oz cans tomato paste (I used the Italian variety)

3 T. sugar

1 T. salt (to taste)

1 t. pepper

3 T oregano

3 Bay leaves

Heat olive oil at the bottom of a large pot, add onions, bell pepper and garlic. Cook until tender and onions are clear. Reduce heat to simmer and add all other ingredients one at a time stirring well after each ingredient. Cook for 1 hour - 1.5 hour.

I'm hoping this sauce freezes well since we just had spaghetti on Friday. However, I couldn't make it the first time and not eat some of it! So the niece and I had bowls of left over spaghetti with fresh sauce on top! It was a little chunkier than I prefer so I will probably blend it a bit after thawing it.

Then the waffle obsession of my children! Since last Monday I have made 6 batches of waffles. 3 of which were eaten last week and 3 made today. I do believe with my kids turning into waffles I should invest in a larger, more efficient waffle iron, because really making waffles for the last 3.5 hours makes me want to go buy Eggos from the store. & let's face it, my kids wouldn't care. But what mom can do that when your 3 1/2 year old tells you "mom, you make the best waffles EVER!" So here is my infamous waffle recipe.

Mom's Best Waffles EVER

2 eggs

2 c. flour (i use 1 c. all-purpose and 1 c. whole wheat)

1 3/4 c. skim milk

1/2 c. vegetable oil

1 T. sugar

4 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1/2 t. vanilla extract

Cinnamon to taste (I just dump, no measuring here!)

Preheat waffle iron. Wisk eggs well in large mixing bowl until fluffy. Beat in remaining ingredients just until smooth. (I use my wisk on the hand mixer for this step or it could take me all day when making more than 1 batch) Spray waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray (I use Pam and just a light dusting will do). Start by filling the center and use a rubber spatula to spread to the sides (fill in with extra batter if needed). Cook until a golden brown.

Make extra and cool completely and freeze! Or throw them in the fridge. Either way throw them in the toaster to reheat! My kids love these with peanut butter and sugar free syrup!

Don't forget to enjoy your Spaghetti Waffles! :)

Walden Farms

I've recently became obsessed with the Walden Farms line. 0 calorie indulgences! What more can a dieter ask for? My favorite has been a variation of strawberry short cake.

Strawberry ShortFake

1/8 Sugar Free Angel Food Cake

2-3 Sliced Strawberries

2 T. Fat Free Cool-Whip (I use the Kroger brand)

2 T. Walden Farms Chocolate Syrup

Pile the ingredients to your liking and enjoy! A yummy dessert for right around 100 calories!

Another one of my newly found favorites is a Banana Split.

Make-Shift Banana Split

1 Banana (sliced, whole, halfed, your choice)

2-6 T. Fat Free Cool-Whip

Walden Farms Chocolate Syrup

Walden Farms Caramel Syrup

1 T. Strawberries sliced, mashed and sprinkled with Splenda

Pile on top of your banana in the banana split fashion and throw into the freezer until the banana is frozen. OR  you can eat it without the banana being frozen but being that it's so hot this summer I love the frozen aspect of it!

Again, less than 100 calories!