iCook: (5) Flourless oatmeal cookies.

Original recipe is from foodnetwork.com. I improvised a lighter version; this makes around 70 cookies, 60 calories per each.

Copyrights: The accidental Blog. 2014.

Ingredients:

– 450 grams oat flakes.
– 2 large eggs.
– 175 grams unsalted butter.
– Around 1/4 cup flaxseed oil. (I think you may omit this one to save calories).
– 1/2 cup sugar (better be brown).
– 2 scoops whey protein.
– Skim milk to soften the dough (because I used half the butter in the original recipe).
– 1 tsp baking powder.
– 2 tsp vanilla extract.
– 1 tsp ground cinnamon.
– 1/8 tsp salt.

Directions:

1. Spread the oats in a baking tray and roast in the oven until golden.

2. Grind about 3/4 the oats together with the baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

3. In a bowl, mix the butter and oil with sugar and whey until smooth in consistency.

4. In another bowl whip the eggs and vanilla.

5. Add the eggs to the butter mixture and mix until smooth.

6. Gradually add the ground oats and mix until smooth.

7. Add the 1/4 of oats you didn’t grind and mix.

8. You will see the dough is getting tough, add few drops of skim milk until you get the right consistency.

9. Shape the dough into medium-sized cookies, and align them on an oven tray or whatever and bake in 200°C for about 12 minutes or until they become golden.

10. Enjoy the yumminess! 😉

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iCook: (4) Improvising protein bars..

I was bored and hungry, and too lazy to dig the internet for a good protein bar recipe that I have all its ingredients, so I set my cooking instinct free. And it didn’t let me down! 😉

They don’t look beautiful, but they taste yummy! 😀

Chocolate granola protein bar*:

 Ingredients:

– 2 medium cups sugar-free musli.

– 3 egg whites.

– 3 tbsp. home-made almond butter (pure almond).

– 2 servings of your protein powder.

– 1 tsp. baking powder.

– 1 ordinary low fat yogurt (Greek would be better, but I had none).

– 16 pieces of galaxy milk chocolate (like 3 ordinary bars or one big bar)… You can use dark chocolate of course, but I can’t resist galaxy’s taste).

Mix all ingredients except chocolate. Spread on a tray. Cook in 180ْ C for 20-30 minutes. Then melt the chocolate and spread it over. Cool down, then enjoy!

*Makes around 12 bars. I think it has like 8 grams protein or maybe more. You can use my fitness pal to accurately calculate.

iCook: (3) Abracadabra! Now your pastry is lighter!

You  crave cupcakes? Waffles? Pancakes? Cookies?! What about the calories?? A bummer, right?!

I personally had hard time when I first started dieting. I love all sorts of pastries and have always cheated, and the calories have always hunted me down. So I started digging for alternatives. You might have already read dozens of articles about using lighter substitutes for baking, but this is a personal experience that worked pretty well!

• Wheat bran!

Source: Google images.

I couldn’t find whole wheat flour in the nearby supermarket, so wheat bran was such a great alternative. Cutting down half the flour serving and replacing it by bran will do the trick. There are other flours, like coconut flour, but honestly, I haven’t used any.

• Skimmed milk!

Source: Google images.

Well, less fat = less calories. You can use almond or soy milk of course, but I guess skimmed cow milk is less expensive and the most available.

• Replacing the sugar!

Source: Google images.

I use my whey protein as the only source of sugar in the pastry, it gives me high protein plus a light sugary taste. If you don’t want to use protein powders, you may go for Stevia or any sugar replacement (I personally don’t prefer that option). If you’re making a salty recipe, then even better; you won’t need sugar at all! 😛

• Tasteless, but healthy!

Source: Google images.

If you want to make your pastry healthier, you may add other protein sources, my favourite pick is flaxseed. It’s tasteless, but totally useful. You may use oats as well.

There you go, now go indulge yourself with a guiltless cookie! 😀

iCook: (2) Whole wheat tuna pancakes.

Well, along with sleeping, cooking sounds like a good coping mechanism. Yesterday I had tuna for lunch, and given the fact that my taste buds don’t quite get along with tuna, I had to come up with a modification for that banana pancake recipe from Body beast workout’s nutritional guide; “The Book Of Beast”.. Somehow it turned out to be a superb meal!

Copyrights to my blog.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour. I don’t have it, so I use 1/2 cup white flour + 1/2 cup bran.
• 1 tsp. baking powder.
• 1 can water-preserved tuna, drained.
• 2 whole eggs.
• Around 100 ml skimmed milk (or more until you get the right consistency).
• Salt, pepper & seasoning as you wish (I love dried mint leaves and soy sauce).
• Sunflower oil (around 1 tsp. per pancake).

Preparation:

• Mix dry ingredients first.
• Mix the eggs, tuna, salt and milk.
• Heat your pan, add 1 tsp. oil per pancake.
• Simply Cook and serve with steamed veggies.

Bon appetit!

iCook: (1) No cheese cheesecake!

It’s been a while since I last showed up! Things are pretty messed up; there’re classes as usual,  a swelling photography mania, plus the recent obsession with getting in shape! So I’ve been working out, watching my calories and digging the internet for healthy recipes.

Now who said a cheesecake can’t be healthy?? All you need is to eliminate butter, cream, biscuits, cheese and… o’ oh! Don’t worry I figured it out! I combined two recipes I found on the internet and here’s the result!

Yogurt and oats cheesecake (Serves 6-8 people)!

• Ingredients:

– 1 cup ground oats.

– 2-3 egg whites.

– 1 tbsp. honey.

– 2 packs plain yogurt (the lower in fat the better).

– 2 cups milk powder.

– 1 cup sugar or any sweetener.

– Strawberry jam for the topping (or whatever you want).

• Preparation:

– For the base: Roast the oats in a pan until golden, then mix with egg whites and honey, and spread in the bottom of whatever you’ll bake in.

– The filling: Mix the milk, yogurt and sugar then blend together until smooth. Pour over the base.

– Bake in 160-180ْْ C until it starts to thicken or gets a golden-ish tinge.

– Cool down in the fridge.

– The topping: Add 1 tsp. strawberry jam to each serving and bon appétit!