Moreo Blondie Bars Loaded with Yum + Cookie Recipes

Posted on December 3, 2014 by Jennifer FIsher

If MORE means “a greater or additional amount,” then my Moreo Blondie Bars have more MORE! This delicious treat is overflowing with a greater amount of good things than I typically eat at once – like Oreo cookies, M&Ms, chocolate chips, lots of butter and sugar. Even though I preach clean eating most of the time, the holiday season is not the time to say “NO” to festive, frivolous and nourishment of dubious (yet delicious) quality – Halleluiah! You HAVE to read on after the recipe to see my brother’s awesome idea of MORE – it’s a Cherblumpkin!

So, if you’re making Christmas cookies at home, these Moreo Blondie Bars are very easy to make – just mix up the ingredients and plop in the pan. I highly recommend lining the baking dish in foil before adding the batter. When baked and cooled, simply lift out the by the foil edges and then neatly slice into bars. If you don’t want to go whole hog, check out my recipe for The Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookie – it’s a classic.

Moreo Blondie Bar Recipe

1 cup butter, melted
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
15 double stuffed chocolate sandwich cookies, coarsely broken
1 cup broken pretzel pieces
½ cup M & M candies
½ cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
Melt butter in microwave safe bowl. Add sugars and stir until combined and then mix in eggs.
Stir in baking soda, salt and flour until combined, but don’t over mix.
Mix in crushed cookies, pretzels, candies and chocolate chips until evenly incorporated.
Line 9” x 13” baking pan with foil; spray foil with cooking spray.
Add dough to pan, patting down with fingers or spatula.
Bake on center rack for 25 minutes or until edges and top turning light golden brown and center looks set.
Let cool completely in pan. Remove contents from pan by lifting foil. Peel sides of foil back and cut into 12 bars.

Moreo Blondie Bars, Cherblumpkin Cake & #Fitfluential Cookie Recipes

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Here it is . . . .the Cherblumpkin! It’s a cherry pie stacked on a blueberry pie stacked on a pumpkin pie – frosted to look like a layer cake. The contest was for Cherpumpple (cherry-pumkin-apple),but my little brother shook up the system with his heart stopper of a pie-cake hybrid, so proud of him.

If you need more holiday goodie ideas, the Fitfluential ambassadors having a Virtual Cookie & Treat Link Up. Lots of goodness here, recipes to suit both sensible and sinful cookie bakers!

What’s your favorite holiday baked item — please share?

Wine, Olive Oil, Endive . . . Tastes Like a #HolidayMeal + #Giveaway

Posted on November 25, 2014 by Jennifer FIsher

All the good things are happening at my house this week! Good (make that great) food and drink to share with family, all with a home-warming, heart-healthy spin. I love spending time with family when there is no “this and that” to be done, the only thing on the agenda this Thanksgiving week is enjoying each other and digging into fine food – some of the intriguing edible details for the week include endive, olive oil and wine! Oh, and I’m giving away gourmet olive oil, so read on!

California Endive Farms sent me a huge box of red and white endives, oh how this makes me swoon with salad dreams. But, time to think outside the box, so I decided to GRILL my first endive recipe even though it’s a pretty complicated and coddled veggie. Apparently, endive (a member of the chicory family) is one of the most difficult vegetables to grow – it undergoes a two-step process. The first step, takes about 150 days to grow green leaves from a deep tap root. The plant is then harvested and the tops are cut off and the roots are salvaged. Secondly, the roots are put into cold storage to go dormant and then are forced into a second growth – whew, there’s so much effort that goes into endive farming ; it makes me love it even more! And, if you haven’t noticed, it’s beautiful enough to be used as a centerpiece.

My recipes for Grilled Endive with Blue Cheese, Walnuts and Balsamic Drizzle would make a sophisticated addition to your Thanksgiving or holiday table. It’s super easy to grill either indoors or outdoors and can be finished in less than 10 minutes from produce bin to plate. I have some other recipes that I will be sharing soon (think healthy alternative to chips), but in the meantime please check out this mouth-watering collection of endive recipes.

Grilled Endive with Blue Cheese, Walnuts and Balsamic Drizzle Recipe

4 red or white endives, cut in half lengthwise
2 tablespoons olive oil (I used Nudo Italia Garlic!)
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 blue cheese crumbles
1/4 cup walnut pieces
2 tablespoons balsamic syrup

Brush cut sides of endive liberally with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Place endive, cut sides down, on indoor grill pan or grates of outdoor pan. Cook over approximate 375 F degree heat for 4 – 5 minutes, or until grill marks are made and endive is beginning to soften (without getting overcooked – should be crisp tender).
Remove endive from grill and place cut side up on serving platter. Sprinkle with blue cheese and walnuts; drizzle with balsamic syrup.
Serves 4.

Rios de Chile wine makes a delightful pairing for my grilled endive recipe. I’ve heard that there are some great wines from Chile, and this one is definitely a winner – it’s light and lively and the perfect choice for seafood, poultry or a grilled salad! The tasting notes on this one are “intense aroma of tropical fruits, fine mineral notes and citrus accents.” You’ll be the first guest on everyone’s party list if you show up with a bottle of this vino from an award-wining winery in the Cachapoal Valley.

Now, onto more goodness Nudo Italia Olive Oil – wow, is it wonderful. Imagine kicking back with a glass of that Rios de Chile wine and dipping some crusty bread into a saucer of artisanal olive oil. Now that’s what the holidays are all about, especially if you have your loved ones dipping and drinking by your side! I am a new fan of Nudo Olive Oil, although it’s been around since 2005. Made by a pair who left careers as television producers to move to the Italian countryside, this line of olive oils makes a point of keeping traditional farming methods alive to produce some of the best olive oil in the world. Nudo even has an olive tree adoption program which allows anyone to adopt a tree in Italy and receive its olive oil – now that’s the gift for the foodie or fine living aficionado who has everything!

Not only have I been enjoying the olive oil with my bread and drizzled on my salad, it also makes a statement in recipes – they have amazing infused flavors, too many to name (but check out their online shop). But, I’m giving away three 8.4 oz. tins of the infused flavors- the Olive Oil Stone Ground with Real Lemons, the Olive Oil Stone Ground with Garlic and the Olive Oil Stone Ground with Basil. Enter below via the Rafflecopter App!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Apple Protein Pancakes with Sugar-Free Cider Syrup

Posted on November 23, 2014 by Jennifer FIsher

The kids have the whole week off school for Thanksgiving and they want pancakes for breakfast . . . every day! My recipe for Apple Protein Pancakes with Sugar-Free Cider Syrup wins for convenience and taste. It relies on boxed pancake mix (you can use whole wheat) and jarred applesauce. I originally developed this recipe for Litehouse Foods (they have the best apple cider), but later tweaked it for my own use by using a couple scoops of vanilla protein powder. I just find that after eating pancakes, I get the “hangries” unless I’ve balanced it with a little more protein. Oh, and the syrup doesn’t have any added sugar, a huge bonus considering the way my kids pour it on without discretion. If you’d rather do the no protein powder version, get the recipe here.

Apple Protein Pancakes with Sugar-Free Cider Syrup

For Pancakes:

2 cups “complete” pancake mix (the “just add water” type)
2 scoops (about 2/3 cup) vanilla or unflavored protein powder
1cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup apple cider

For Syrup:

2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 ¼ teaspoon liquid Stevia (or any sugar substitute to achieve a ½ cup sugar equivalency) I used NuNaturals
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups apple cider
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons butter

1. Heat electric griddle to 375 F degrees or skillet over medium high.

2. In bowl, combine pancake mix and protein powder with a whisk until blended. Stir in applesauce and apple cider until slightly smooth. If batter is too thick, stir in a scant amount of water or more apple cider to thin.

3. Pour batter onto hot griddle using 1/3 cup measure. Cook for approximately 1 to 1 ½ minutes before flipping. Pancake is ready to flip when edges are pulling away and bubbles on top have slowed down.

4. Flip pancakes with spatula and cook for approximately 45 seconds to 1 minute longer. Repeat for remaining pancake batter.

5. Meanwhile, prepare syrup by mixing cornstarch, sugar substitute and cinnamon together in a saucepan with heat off.

6. Gradually whisk in the cider and lemon juice and cook over medium heat stirring frequently, for 4 to 5 minutes, or until thickened

7. Remove syrup from heat and stir in butter. Serve warm over pancakes and store leftovers in the refrigerator.

Serves 6 (2 pancakes each)

Apple Protein Pancakes with #SugarFree Apple Cider Syrup #recipe

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More pancake recipes for hungry people:

Pancakes made with Core Power – TheFitfork.com

My little secret trick — just swap out Core Power for the milk or water in your pancake recipe.

Pumpkin Oat Pancake – Yum, these pancakes are pure fall goodness from the griddle — I like to use Love Grown Foods Super Oats to add a little extra nutrition with quinoa flakes, amaranth flakes and chia.

Pre-Race Paleo Pancakes – This is my go-to super healthy pancake recipe from a CrossFit superstar friend, Stephanie from Missouri.

If you need to stock up:

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Sweet Potato & Cauliflower Mash + More Healthy Recipes

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Jennifer FIsher

Call me a clairvoyant, but I know you’re making sweet potatoes sometime in the next week. Everyone eats sweet potatoes on Thanksgiving Day, it’s the law. Even though my Kale & Caramelized Onion Sweet Potato recipe was a huge hit at home, I really don’t like to make the same recipe for dinner twice in the same month! So, tonight, I decided to cauliflower-ify my favorite tuber – and yum, yum, yum! Gosh, now what am I going to come up with for Thanksgiving dinner?

Sweet Potato & Cauliflower Mash Recipe

2 pounds sweet potatoes
1 pound cauliflower florets
3 tablespoons milk of choice
¼ cup plain Greek yogurt
½ teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh chopped parsley for garnish (or Instantly Fresh Parsley)

Peel and cut sweet potato into 1 ½ -inch chunks.
In large pot with steam basked, steam sweet potato and cauliflower with 1 inch of water in bottom of pot. Vegetables will be ready in about 10 – 12 minutes, or when fork tender.
Place in large bowl and mash the potato and cauliflower with the milk. Stir in the Greek yogurt, garlic powder, salt and pepper. If too thick, add milk 1 tablespoons at a time, until desired consistency is achieved. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley.
Serves 4 – 6

Here’s the Kale & Caramalized Onion Sweet Potatoes I was mentioning.

Last year, I made this recipe for Sweet Potato Skillet Stack with Srirracha Orange Glaze – delish!

Of course, you know Cooking Light knows how to do up a sweet potato right, check out this gallery for additional inspiration.

Best Side Dish Ever Sweet Potato & Cauliflower Mash #Thanksgiving #CLblogger

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So, how do you like to eat sweet potatoes best?

Cranberry Recipes for Thanksgiving Feasts + Health Benefits

Posted on November 19, 2014 by Jennifer FIsher

This post is sponsored by Foodie.com.

Thanksgiving wouldn’t be the same without cranberries on the table and I’m happy to be sharing a collection of cranberry recipes I put together for Foodie.com – you’ll find healthy cranberry recipes for Thanksgiving and the remainder of the holiday season.

If you’ve wondered why we mainly eat cranberries in the fall, it’s because they are in season October, November and December – the primary holiday meal making months! However, this sweet-tart berry has so many health benefits that I like to eat them year round. Many of these health benefits are attributed to the phytochemicals known as proanthocyandidins found in cranberries – this compound in cranberries inhibit bacteria from adhering and multiplying in the body – that’s why drinking cranberry juice is a natural remedy for urinary tract infections. Cranberries may lower incidence of cancer; studies show polyphenolic extracts from cranberries diminish the growth of prostate, lung and esophageal tumor cells – cranberries have the highest level of this powerful antioxidant than 20 fruits and vegetables tested. As an athlete, cranberries are also a great source of natural carbohydrates to fuel workouts.

So, how can you enjoy cranberries year round when the store shelves are cleared out at the New Year? You can freeze fresh cranberries to use later in sauce, relish and other recipes. If you’re in a hurry, simply place original packing inside a heavy duty freezer bag and freeze for up to one year. If you have more time, I’d suggest rinsing and drying the cranberries and then freezing in a single layer on a baking sheet before placing in an airtight container. This allows you to grab a handful at a time without the berries being clumped together.

Best Ever Healthy Cranberry #Recipes for Thanksgiving @Foodie #sponsored

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Do you have a favorite cranberry recipe? Please share!

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Category Archives: Recipes

Moreo Blondie Bars Loaded with Yum + Cookie Recipes

Wine, Olive Oil, Endive . . . Tastes Like a #HolidayMeal + #Giveaway

Apple Protein Pancakes with Sugar-Free Cider Syrup

Sweet Potato & Cauliflower Mash + More Healthy Recipes

Cranberry Recipes for Thanksgiving Feasts + Health Benefits