healthy – Page 2 – Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic

Food October 7, 2014

Healthy Vegan Banana Nut Bread

I’ve been playing around with vegan recipes for ages now, trying to bake healthy snacks that actually taste good. I’ve attempted to create a healthy version of Sasha’s favorite dessert – banana nut bread. After many failed tries, I baked a delicious loaf that is vegan, gluten-free and refined sugar-free. And yes, it tastes amazing! I have made it successfully three times now – twice with a loaf pan and once with a muffin tray. Sasha and I both agreed that the muffins were the most moist, but both are good.

I highly recommend this banana nut bread if you’re tagged for bringing a dessert to a party or even if you’re hosting one yourself. This dish works for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Sasha loves to top it with his favorite jam – Bonne Maman Raspberry Preserves, and I love it plain.

Food September 9, 2014

St-Germain French 75 Cocktail Recipe

It is no secret that I love St-Germain liqueur. It was the ‘her’ drink at our wedding (see menu below), and I missed it a lot during my pregnancy. Now that I’m breastfeeding, I can only have it in small amounts, which is why I made this delicious French 75 recipe in a champagne flute-proportion (also because it’s pretty with the garnish!). If you’re also breastfeeding, I highly recommend these Milkscreen Alcohol Detection Strips!

McKenzie and I used to go to my favorite bar in Houston, Anvil, when we lived together and always ordered French 75s. They were amazing (and strong!). It was made with champagne, lemon juice, simple syrup and gin. Instead of using simple syrup to sweeten it, I decided to use lemon flavored La Croix, as there is no sugar in the drink (healthy perk!). I decided to mix a little St-Germain into the recipe and ohmygosh, yes. It works. It’s delicious, and I highly recommend that you try it.

Ingredients

1 1/2 ounces Prosecco, Brut champagne, or dry sparkling wine
1 1/2 ounces St-Germain
2 ounces Lemon La Croix
1/2 ounce gin (I recommend Hendrick’s Gin)
Lemon twist, for garnish
Ice cubes (if you like it cold)

Food August 25, 2014

Sweet Summery Guacamole Recipe

I am an avocado fanatic – I could eat them all day long, so naturally, I love guacamole. The local grocery store in Durango recently had a sale on avocados – 10 for $10, which is a steal. We bought 10 and then realized they would go bad before we managed to eat them all, as we’ve been adventuring to different restaurants for dinner in the evening. I decided to make my signature guacamole dish, which is sweet and salty, given that I use Robert’s Reserve Roasted Red Pepper and Onion Dip and sea salt. This dip is very summery, given it’s slight sweetness. Depending on whom I am making the guacamole for, I’ll add cilantro to the top or jalapeños – enjoy with Stacy’s pita chips (Sasha’s favorite), or celery and carrots if you’re being healthy like I am right now!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of Robert’s Reserve Roasted Red Pepper and Onion Dip
3 ripe avocados
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1/8 cup of red onions
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
1 jalapeño pepper (optional garnish)
Handful of chopped cilantro (optional garnish)

Steps

Finely chop 2 garlic cloves and 1/8 cup of red onions and add to mixing bowl
Add 2 tablesppons of the roasted pepper and onion dip (in most grocery stores in a stand alone section near the deli)
Add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice to the bowl and mix
Add 1 teaspoon of sea salt to the bowl – keep out in case you want to add more later
Pit and add three avocados to the bowl – ideal to use a mortar and pestle (I love this Le Creuset one!)
Mix well and add additional salt if desired

Baby August 22, 2014

Isla Loves: BABYBJÖRN Carrier We (Giveaway)

Living in Durango for the past month has definitely been a change of lifestyle for our family. Instead of being confined to the indoor air-conditioning of Houston, we are constantly out and about, whether it be walking to the grocery store or our favorite restaurants, or going on a hike, we are always on the go. In Houston, I had relied heavily on our City Mini stroller when I was running errands, but we wanted to be more agile once we arrived in Colorado. My mom’s friend lent us a ton of baby items, which saved us from hauling them across the country. One of the items was the BABYBJÖRN Baby Carrier Original. We quickly learned that this was Isla’s favorite item in the world. She could be crying inconsolably, and we would plop her in the carrier and silence (they aren’t kidding, it’s golden). She loved it, which obviously meant that Sasha and I adored it even more. Bye, bye stroller.

BABYBJÖRN recently released their newest baby carrier – the Baby Carrier We – and they were kind enough to send me one to try. It’s amazing. Seriously. One of the biggest benefits we have seen over the original carrier is the added support for our backs. When you are walking around for awhile, this is important! The Carrier We comes with a pressure-relieving waist belt and padded shoulder straps, which evenly distribute Isla’s weight. In addition, the carrier is designed perfectly to provide ample support for her head, back and hips. Also, it is easy for me to put Isla in the carrier without assistance from anyone else. And she loves it too. She finds it so soothing, and so we take her absolutely everywhere in it (see hiking photos below!). The best part? The Baby Carrier We is ergonomically designed for children up to three years old, so Isla will have many years ahead in this carrier!

I’m excited to be teaming up with BABYBJÖRN to give away a brand new Baby Carrier We to one lucky individual! In order to enter the giveaway, you must do the following:

Reply to this post, including your name and who you’d be carrying around in your Baby Carrier We (or perhaps who you’d like to win the carrier for!)
You will get an extra entry by being or becoming a follower of Snapshots and My Thoughts (see ‘Follow’ button at the bottom righthand corner on desktop version of the blog)
You will get an extra entry by posting the giveaway’s URL to your Twitter or Facebook account (please tag @ailee_petrovic on Twitter or mention Ailee Semple Petrovic on Facebook)

One winner will be drawn at random. The more entries you have, the higher the chance you’ll win! The giveaway ends at midnight on Wednesday, August 27. I will announce the winner by Friday. I look forward to reading your responses. Good luck!

Follow BABYBJÖRN on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube.

The carrier passed the 6 mi. hike test! We absolutely love it. Sasha kindly carrier her up, and I took the trek down.

I was given the BABYBJÖRN Carrier We by BabySwede for my review. I was allowed to keep the product, but the opinion I am sharing remains my own.

Food August 4, 2014

Vegan Black Bean Brownies + The New York Baking Company

Ever since my vegan chocolate beet muffin success, I’ve felt a little braver in the baking department. Rizzi from The New York Baking Company (Facebook page) asked me to review their brightly colored silicone baking cups, which you can buy on Amazon here. After doing some research, I decided to try baking vegan, gluten-free black bean brownies. I found a number of different recipes online, and adapted them to make our own unique blend (mainly adapted from The Minimalist Baker’s recipe here). Sasha and I devored them within minutes – they are that good (and we’ve made them multiple times in the past week!). Did I mention they are flourless and have no dairy products? It’s definitely seems too good to be true. I have included photos and the recipe below – I highly recommend you make these if you’re trying to satisfy a sweet tooth.

The baking cups worked like a charm. They cost $9.95 and are worth every penny. Not only are these colorful cups BPA free, they are easy to clean – just rinse them and pop them into the dishwasher. The cupcakes came right (without any difficulty!) and into our mouths. Delicious! If you enjoy baking but hate peeling cupcakes, brownies, and muffins out of wrappers, I highly recommend you buy these cups.

Ingredients

1 can black beans
2.5 tablespoons flaxseed meal + 6 tablespoons water to create a flaxseed ‘egg’
3 tablespoons of melted coconut oil
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup of Truvia sugar blend
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 bar of vegan, gluten free chocolate (I love this one!)

Steps

Turn oven to 350 degrees in the bake setting
Mix 2.5 tablespoons of your flaxseed meal with 6 tablespoons of water and set aside to settle
Add together all of your dry ingredients (sea salt, cocoa powder, sugar blend, baking powder) and mix
Add the melted coconut oil and vanilla extract and stir well
Melt the chocolate in the microwave for 1 minute and add to the bowl
Add your flax egg – the batter should be icing-like texture at this point
In a separate bowl, add the drained, clean black beans and grind them until they are a soft, blended texture (you can do this in a blender or food processor, but my parents don’t have one in their house in Durango – it works easily by hand too)
Add the ground beans to the batter and mix well
Line your muffin tray with the baking cups and add the batter to each cup – these don’t rise much, so you don’t need to leave space
I added some almond butter to the batter for the last few muffins for a little extra kick – delicious!
Allow the brownies to bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the outside is slightly crispy, then wait until they cool off and enjoy!

Et voilà – the final product below!

One happy mouth

Recipe adapted from The Minimalist Baker

Baking cups provided by The New York Baking Company – all opinions are my own

Photos by me!