Skinny Zucchini Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

It's my first summer cooking bucket list recipe and I actually cheated and made it a little over a week ago and have been enjoying it almost daily ever since! In fact, I just ate one as a morning snack and it was just as delicious as the first day. 

These definitely don't look healthy, but I promise you they are! 

Every year my mom says she isn't planting a garden. And every year, without fail, there's a garden. And there's nothing better than being able to walk out the door and pick fresh veggies. Tomatoes, asparagus, peppers, beans, broccoli, cabbage, squash and zucchini are the usual residents in my parent's garden and once everything starts to produce, there seems to be an overabundance! I love zucchini, but you can only eat so much before it gets boring. That's what makes this recipe so great. It gives me another way to use up some of the zucchini before it goes bad! It's also gives me something quick and healthy to grab for breakfast as I'm running out the door.  

Skinny Zucchini Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
From Ambitious Kitchen 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 small to medium ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 teaspoon melted coconut oil
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 egg whites
• 1 cup shredded zucchini (about 1 medium zucchini)
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3 cup nonfat plain greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup mini or regular chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a muffin tin (or two) with cupcake    liners and generously spray inside of liners with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Squeeze shredded zucchini of excess water with a paper towel.
3. In medium bowl combine dry ingredients; set aside.
4. In bowl of an electric mixer, add mashed bananas, oil, honey, vanilla and eggs; mix until smooth. Add in zucchini, applesauce, and yogurt and beat again until well combined. Slowly mix in dry ingredients until just combined, being careful not to over-mix the batter. Gently fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Evenly divide batter into muffin cups (I got 15 muffins out of my batter).
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. 

This best part about these muffins is that they only have 150 calories, 3 grams of fiber and over 4 grams of protein! I can eat one first thing in the morning if I'm feeling super hungry or later in the morning for a snack and not feel guilty about it! 

But how am I still enjoying these over a week later? The freezer is your best friend! These make a pretty large batch, so unless you're planning on feeding a whole family, you'll have a ton of these leftover. Once the muffins have completely cooled, place them on a cookie sheet and put it in the freezer for about 2 hours. Then place the muffins in a freezer bag, making sure you let out as much air as possible, place the bag back in the freezer and wah-lah! Grab a muffin out of the freezer for breakfast, pop it in the microwave for 15-20 seconds and you're good to go!   

These are definitely something I will be making again and again! If you have any great zucchini recipes, I'd love to hear them! 

Summer 2016 Cooking Bucket List

Happy 1st day of summer, y'all! 

This is a very exciting week for us as we're getting ready to close on our house Friday and I can't think of a better way to kick off summer!! We've been so anxious the last few weeks as they've been putting the finishing touches on everything. Since we've been with my parents since January, the only thing we have to pack up is our clothes. Everything else has been in boxes and storage so there will be a lot of twiddling our thumbs this week. Of course, with it being the first week of summer in Georgia, it will be a scorching hot weekend to be moving. I guess we'll just be putting that brand new air conditioning unit to the ultimate test, huh? Anyway, to kill some time this week, I have a fun post that I'm so excited about.

I was recently browsing the web when I came across this summer dessert bucket list and thought it was such a fun idea!! And just like that, I decided to make my own. But, as much as I would love to, my pants would hate me if I devoted my summer to sweet treats so I've decided to make an all around cooking bucket list! Summer has so much to offer when it comes to food, the produce is the best and you your husband can grill as much as your heart stomach desires, and I can't wait to test all of these delicious recipes. I mean, what better way to break in my shiny new kitchen?!

So here it is, my Summer 2016 Cooking Bucket List!

Breakfast

1.  Tupelo Honey Ginormous Biscuits

2.  Baked Doughnut Muffins with Blueberry Jam

3.  Skinny Zucchini Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

4.  Egg-Mushroom Kielbasa Breakfast Bake

5.  Biscuits and Gravy Casserole (someone might have to come over and help us eat this one!)

Dinners

1.  Grandma Virginia's Oven-Fried Chicken and Creamy Cauliflower Mash with Kale

2.  Seafood Spaghetti Baked in Paper (Spaghetti al Cartoccio) and  Mushroom Arancini 

3.  Brown Butter Scallops with Parmesan Risotto and Balsamic Garlic Roasted Green Beans and Mushrooms

4.  Sriracha Almond Crusted Pork Chops with Spicy Honey Mustard Sauce

5.  The Best Damn French Dip on Earth and Salt and Vinegar Sweet Potato Chips

6.  Caramelized Pork Tacos with Pineapple Salsa and Grilled Mexican Street Corn

7.  BBQ Glazed Pork Tenderloin Over Pimento Cheese Grits

8.  Shish Tawook Grilled Chicken and Slow Cooker Greek Potatoes

9.  Homemade Brat Burgers with Beer-Braised Caramelized Onions and Baked Garlic Parmesan Potato Wedges

10.  Sriracha Lime Chicken Chopped Salads

11.  Honey Glazed Baby Back Ribs with Whiskey Marinade and Easy Corn Fritters

12.  Lobster Cobb Salad

Desserts

1.  Crockpot S'mores Brownies

2.  Funfetti Cheesecake 

3.  Crack Pie

4.  Blueberry Peach Pie

5.  Old-Fashioned Strawberry Pie

6.  Peanut Butter Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies with Marshmallow Creme Filling 

7.  Glazed Lemon Zucchini Bread

8.  Mini Choco Tacos

9.  Watermelon Granita

10.  Key Lime Pie No-Churn Ice Cream

Drinks/Dranks

1.  Coconut Margarita

2.  Blue Hawaiian

3.  Sparkling Spiked Peach Lemonade

4. Beyonce's Lemonade

5.  Fresh Mint Iced Coffee

I could've gone on and on with things I'm dying to cook! In fact, the more I browsed Pinterest and read articles about summer cooking, the more this list grew. Most of the meals are too involved for a weeknight since I don't get home until 6:15 every night so they'll all have to be weekend treats while I leave the weekly cooking to my husband. Don't worry, I lucked out in that department since he loves to cook, too!

I'm so excited about this list and can't wait to share each recipe with you. I especially can't wait to do all of this cooking in the new house. If you have any summer favorites that I should add to my list, leave a comment below! And if you're hungry, just invite yourself over because by the looks of this list, we'll have plenty to eat!! 

xoxo

Dreams Really Do Come True

When I was a little girl, I would tell anyone who would listen that, when I grew up, I was going to live in a yellow house and drive a yellow car. Well, fast forward to 30-year-old me and I'm still not driving that yellow car. And while I may not be living in a yellow house, I think what my husband and I have built together is even better than little me could've ever dreamed.

It took a little convincing, but I was able to hold onto a small portion of that childhood dream...

Because dreams really DO come true and you can have a yellow door if you want to!!

Happy Friday!

xoxo