Whole Wheat Carrot Cake Muffins

I found this recipe on allrecipes and modified it to make it less fattening and healthier. They turned out so delicious. They were even better the next day. Laura and I ate a dozen in 2 days! (I guess they are not that healthy when you eat so many of them.)

Ingredients
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup applesauce
3/4 cup honey
4 eggs
2 cups grated carrots
1 cup unsweetened crushed canned pineapple, drained
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Directions
1 Combine dry ingredients.
2 Add oil, honey, and eggs; mix well.
3 Stir in remaining 3 ingredients.
4 Bake at 350 degrees until done.

Black Bean Salad

I made enchiladas yesterday and was looking for a healthy recipe for a side salsa/salad that would go well with it. I found this recipe online. It turned out so well. We LOVED it. So colorful and super healthy. The fresh basil was amazing in it, which surprised me - I would never have thought of putting basil in something like this. Only change we made was we used cherry tomatoes instead of plum because they're sweeter.

Black Bean Salad Recipe

INGREDIENTS

· 1 (15 ounce) can of black beans, thoroughly rinsed, and drained (or 1 1/2 cup of freshly cooked black beans)
· 1 1/2 cups frozen corn, defrosted (or fresh corn, parboiled, drained and cooled)
· 1/2 cup chopped green onions or shallots
· 2 fresh jalapeño peppers, seeded and minced, or 1 whole pickled jalapeño pepper, minced (not seeded)
· 3 fresh plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
· 1 avocado, peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks
· 1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro
· 1/4 cup fresh chopped basil
· 2 Tbsp lime juice (about the amount of juice from one lime)
· 1 Tbsp olive oil
· 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of sugar (to taste)
· Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

Make sure to rinse and drain the beans, if you are using canned beans.

In a large bowl, combine the beans, corn, onions, jalapeno chile peppers, tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, basil, lime juice and olive oil. Add sugar and salt and pepper to taste. (The sugar will help balance the acidity from the tomatoes and lime juice.) Chill before serving.

Serves 6 to 8.

YUMMY Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

My gosh these cookies are SOOO good. I've tried a lot of "healthy" cookie recipes and this is the best for sure. Make sure you don't overcook and they will be really soft! I take them out when they look kinda gooey still. My changes: 1) I used 1/2 cup applesauce and 1/4 cup butter instead of 3/4 margarine. 2) Only used 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Did not miss the extra sugar AT ALL and it cuts the sugar in HALF. Pretty awesome. 3) Substituted the cup of white flour for quick oats -- put in more than a cup though -- just added till I liked the consistency -- probably almost 1/2 cup more. 4) At least doubled the walnuts.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup margarine
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups sifted whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Generously grease cookie sheets.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the margarine, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the vanilla and eggs. Combine the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, baking soda and salt, gradually blend into the creamed mixture. Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts if desired. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheet.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. For bar cookies, press dough into a 10x15 inch jelly roll pan and bake for 12 to 15 minutes.