A Dash of Sass » Whole Wheat & Whole Grains

Carrot Raisin Bran Muffins

kate — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:39:26 +0000

My apartment is overrun with black bananas. For most folks, this would be a cause for concern, but for me it’s a gift that keeps on giving. Black bananas lead to batches of naturally sweetened homemade granola bars, cookies and breads. Looking for yet another way to use up these mounds of black bananas, I came up with a super moist muffin that is cross between carrot cake and a bran muffin. Introducing Carrot Raisin Bran Muffins! Ta-da!

These whole wheat muffins are made with whole rolled oats and wheat bran so they are loaded with fiber. Packed with bananas and shredded carrots, you are secretly working on your daily fruit and veggie serving requirements while enjoying a delicious muffin. Unlike most bran muffins, these are naturally sweetened with raisins and honey and packed with bananas and carrots, so they are moist, nutritious and perfectly suited for a breakfast or quick snack.

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Whole Wheat Apple Scones

kate — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 20:18:07 +0000

I love the flavors of apple pie, but rarely have the patience (or energy) to make a whole pie from scratch. Besides, of all the pies out there, apple pie falls into the Labor Intensive with Great Risk for Failure category. Plus, establishing portion control rules for an entire apple pie in a house of two people is just asking for trouble. Bleh. No thanks. Instead, I decided to find a way to incorporate all my favorite apple pie flavors in a simple-to-make, easy-to-hold, and light enough to enjoy with a cup of tea scone.

Made with whole wheat flour and rolled oats, these whole grain cream scones are specked with fresh apples tossed in honey and cinnamon. Only lightly sweet, they are perfect topped with a slather of apple butter or just eaten plain alongside a warm cup of tea or cider. All the spiced apple flavors you love from apple pie in a light, simple scone.

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Whole Wheat Spinach Ricotta Calzones

kate — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 20:07:46 +0000

I am in love with a man who loves Pizza Rolls. Several of our first dates involved heated debates about the pros and cons of Pizza Rolls. My list of cons always ended up being more substantial than his “They just taste good” list of pros. Once I even let him prepare a taste testing session for me in an effort to convert me to the Pizza Roll Fan Club. Fail. While I have yet to try the imitation recipes floating around out there, I have come up with a semi-decent substitute.

These whole wheat calzones may not pack the same mouth-melting explosion of Pizza Roll volcanic lava filling, they are healthier and tastier! They are endlessly adaptable, can be filled with whatever you can dream up and if you stick with the creamy spinach riccotta filling you can actually slip some veggies into your football-friendly munchies without anyone even noticing! Simple to whip up, these calzones can be frozen ahead of time so you are ready to go for a fast weeknight dinner or easy game day snacks.

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Pumpkin Honey Spice Bread

kate — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 00:25:15 +0000

Is there anything more quintessentially Fall than pumpkins? You know that the seasons have officially changed when you start to see pumpkin-flavored-everything popping up everywhere you look. I’ve already let you in on my favorite pumpkin scones and pumpkin pie bites, so it’s about time that I hook you up with a go-to pumpkin bread recipe.

Unlike most mass produced pumpkin breads, this one isn’t overly sweet. Instead of tasting like orange-colored-sugar-bread, this one actually tastes like pumpkin. Only lightly sweetened with honey, this allows the pumpkin and spice flavors to really shine through. Made with whole wheat flour this quick bread is lightly flecked with chopped pecans. Moist and tender, this pumpkin spice bread is the perfect recipe to welcome back the Fall.

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Oatmeal Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

kate — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 20:12:34 +0000

A few weeks ago, when Hurricane Irene was barreling toward the Eastern seaboard (aka. My Home), New York City was in a panic. Store shelves were stripped bare, batteries had never been worth more and people were walking around with more cash in their wallets than they had since the early 90s. Like most other urbanites, I went to stock up. Load our pantry with necessities. Non-perishable items to live off of if the worst happened and we were stranded for days on end. I came home with a whole chicken and a bunch of fresh basil. Oops.

Of course, that chicken turned into an amazing one-pot meal because I was certain that if the world was going to end we weren’t going to go out hungry. Then, in a fit of panic upon realizing that I didn’t have the proper necessities to survive Storm-aggedon, I decided it was time for Emergency Cookies. Cookies to get you through a hurricane tropical storm. Cookies to soothe the nerve-wracked soul but healthy enough to keep you in your skinny jeans if the world doesn’t end.

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Apricot Almond Galette

kate — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 19:40:28 +0000

Summer is fruit season. It seems hard to remember a time when we didn’t have peaches, plums and berries aplenty! This leads to an overwhelming desire to make pies. Lots and lots of pies. The problem is that making pies is a pain in the you-know-what. You’ve got to make the crust, bake the crust (which means locating your pie weights and praying the crust doesn’t shrink), make the filling, bake it again (this time, praying that it doesn’t overflow and ruin itself). This rustic galette (aka. A Country Pie) is endlessly adaptable and cuts out at least two of those annoying pie-making steps.

Ripe apricots partner up with homemade almond paste to make this light, crumbly galette. Tangy, sweet apricots laying over a bed of homemade almond paste wrapped up in a light whole wheat crust. Served warm, the oozey fruit and nutty crust are just begging to be topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream. A perfect way to put all that summer fruit to use without all the fuss of a pie!

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Double Chocolate Zucchini Brownies

kate — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 21:41:10 +0000

I’m not going to tell you about how easy these brownies are to make. I won’t bore you with the fact that they are sweetened naturally, use an olive oil base and are made with whole wheat flour. Going on about the healthfulness of these brownies, the ease of assembly and the practical bonus of using up excessive amounts of zucchini distracts from the main selling point about these brownies: They are insanely delicious!

A multi-tasking brownie that cranks the chocolate meter up to a level 10, these Double Chocolate Zucchini Brownies pack a serious punch. These two-faced little devils are intensely fudgy when served chilled from the fridge yet cakey, moist and gooey when served warmed. A chocoholic’s dream, these brownies satisfy even the pickiest sweet tooth while secretly throwing in a healthy dose of veggies!

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Homemade Granola Bars

kate — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 00:56:23 +0000

I’m embarrassed to admit this, but there was a time in my life when the majority of my meals came in the form for a bar. Prepackaged, processed food-like substances pressed into tight bars (usually dipped in some type of synthetic chocolate) were easy to eat on the go, cheap enough to buy in bulk and washed down just fine with a Diet Coke. Now, much older and only slightly wiser, I’ve abandoned those chemical-laden, artificial-everything bars in favor of real foods, but I find myself longing for the convenience and simplicity of a good bar. Only this time around, I’m a bit more picky. I want a bar with ingredients I can pronounce.

Oats, almond butter, raisins, apricots, walnuts, almonds. Yup, I can pronounce all of those! Saying that these granola bars are ridiculously easy to make it an understatement. They are simple enough that you could mass produce them in your own kitchen. No joke. They are free of any processed sugar, endlessly adaptable and perfect little snacks to take on the go. Say hello to the new generation of bars!

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Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

kate — Sun, 01 May 2011 18:57:11 +0000

Friday nights are pizza night around here. A simple way to relax after a long week, Friday Night Pizza Night has become something of a religion in our household. I’ve always insisted on making our own healthier versions of this take-out favorite. For awhile, I was using whole wheat or low-carb tortillas for the base instead of standard pizza dough. Once it became apparent that these tortillas were just as jam packed full of non-food items and chemicals as the take-out pizza I was attempting to avoid, I set out to begin making my own pizza dough.

This simple recipe takes almost no active time to prepare and you can easily pronounce all of the ingredients (I can’t say the same for those low-carb tortillas). The dough is sturdy enough to support any variety of toppings and freezes well so you can stock up for future Friday nights! The light wheat flavor is paired with a combo of Italian seasonings to give it an extra flavor punch. You will be surprised at how quickly you get the hang of it. Before you know it, your friends will be calling you for their Friday night take-out pizza!

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Green Soup with Bulgur Wheat

kate — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 22:27:23 +0000

Raise your hand if you think you are getting enough veggies and whole grains in your diet? Anybody? Seeing no hands, I’m going to assume that we could all use more veggies and whole grains in our diet. Doesn’t that seem to be the mantra of the health food movement lately? Eat more vegetables. Eat more whole grains. This super simple, delicious soup is the perfect answer to that seemingly hefty requirement.

Advertising this soup as the Healthiest Thing You Will Eat This Week does it a disservice. It also happens to be creamy, chewy, filling and perfectly delicious. It’s the kind of soup you would order at a restaurant, fall in love with immediately, tell all your friends about and then drive twenty-minutes out of your way to pick up on the way home for dinner one night. It’s that good.

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