Triple Chocolate Protein Brownie Bars!

This is one of my favorite recipes! I discovered it last week and Corey loved them so i'm trying them out again tonight. They're super easy to make and you can add no or the little bit of dark chocolate that I suggest to make them moist. They're very chewy but really a great healthy protein packed snacked. Hope you all like them too!

Triple-Chocolate Protein Brownie Bars

Adapted from http://www.busybuthealthy.com/

Makes 16 bars

1 cup oat flour or whole wheat flour
1 cup quick oats (not instant or old fashioned)
3 scoops chocolate whey protein powder (low sugar, low carb variety)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup Stevia
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (dark are my favorite!)
4 egg whites 
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce 
1 cup unsweetened almond milk (or milk of choice)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly spray an 8×8 pan with cooking
spray.  Set aside.  In 1 bowl, sift together all dry ingredients.  Add
in all wet ingredients into the same bowl and mix until blended.
Lastly, add chocolate chips.  Pour into pan and bake for approx 18
minute or until firm on top all over and toothpick comes out almost
clean.  Cool completely and cut into 16 bars.

Nutrition (per 1 bar)
Calories: 90  Fat: 2.8g  Carbs: 10.4g  Fibre: 2.7g  Sugars: 2.7g  Protein: 6.6g

Happy New Year!

It's officially 2012 and I am completely in wedding mode! The wedding venue is booked for July 4th, 2013 at The Grandview. That beautiful view above is where our ceremony will take place...right there overlooking the Hudson River! The Mid-Hudson Bridge is to the right where fireworks will be shot off at night so we'll have the perfect view of the fireworks! Isn't it so beautiful?

In my spare time, I loveee to do research for mine and Corey's wedding. Now, this summer is going to be probably one of the busiest summers for us! We'll be meeting with people, booking vendors, shopping for dresses...all fun stuff that I can't wait for! I'm crossing my fingers that I definitely have my job back at Brookstone's HQ for the summer which would mean i'd be living in NH again in order to save up some money for our big day. And in regards to Corey & basketball..he is doing so great this year! He is the 2nd leading rookie in the entire league and he's been as high as the 4th leading scorer in the whole league so Corey is doing great. He's loving playing basketball as his job and I'm loving teaching English to my new class! Things are going well and let's hope he gets a great offer next year! We're very excited to see where we end up next year so keep your fingers crossed for us that first off he gets an offer and secondly that he gets a great offer that we're happy with! Of course I always tell him that I would LOVE to live somewhere warm next year..I can always wish, right? Well back to some wedding research...I just found out today how many sites/contests there are to win free things for your wedding day so I am all over that! 

PS- this is a giant bucket drink from a bar in downtown Augsburg, Peaches...probably one of the biggest drinks I've ever seen! Me, Corey and Skyler thoroughly enjoyed this delicious drink! 

Home for Christmas

I can't believe the last time I wrote a blog was right around Thanksgiving. There's so much that has happened since then, I don't even know where to begin! Well I think I'll start with the best news first, Corey and I are now engaged! It still seems surreal to me but I couldn't be happier. He tricked me and I can honestly say that I did not see it coming at all. I was told by one of Corey's team managers, Ruben that he had to take me to fill out some paperwork in regards to me staying in Germany. It sounded right to me...although I did think it was a little strange that we were going on a Sunday when just about nothing in Germany is open on a Sunday except some cafe's and restaurants. Of course I asked why it's open on a Sunday and when he told me it's open once a month, naturally gullible me believed him! I did wonder why we were driving to Landsberg, which is about 25 mins from Augsburg and once again, gullible me believed Ruben when he said this was the closest town to Augsburg that had the paperwork we had to do. Come to think of it...now when I look back at it, I don't know how I believed all that so easily..haha so funny now. Anyways, Landsberg am Lech is the town where Corey proposed to me. I didn't even see him when he first got there. Ruben told me to get out of the car while he parked and I literally just stood there waiting to go somewhere to do paperwork, passport and European citizenship papers ready! Then, I saw Corey all dressed up in a suit standing right infront of the waterfalls...I absolutely knew what was happening then. Corey told me how much he loved me and wanted to be with me and it was the most amazing moment when he got down on one knee and proposed. I don't think my hand could have shaken any more- I was so nervous/excited. And I have to say, I couldn't have picked out a more beautiful ring. Not only is it gorgeous, but it really means so much to me since the diamond in my ring, is the same diamond from the ring my dad gave my mom. It's absolutely perfect.

Now that you know the best news of my life, on a side-note, I also started teaching English at an English Language school in Augsburg. I am only able so substitute teach and help teach their 1 week intensive classes since I'm only in Augsburg until April but it's nice to be able to work a little bit for now. I wish I could work more but hopefully next year I can work full-time since I finally have my European citizenship!

Lastly, I am so excited because tomorrow I am flying home to the US for Christmas! I cannot wait...I miss my family, my adorable dogs Milo and Duchess and all my friends do much. I have so much to talk about with everyone- wedding planning, my life in Europe..everything, I just can't wait to be home for a bit. Not to mention living somewhere where I can 100% understand what everyone is saying will be amazing...German is such a tough language to learn but i'm still working on it! Well Ciao for now...finishing up my packing for home :)

Thanksgiving Recipes and Delicious Desserts!

The night before Thanksgiving in Germany so I'm sad to say that I won't be with my family at my Aunt Judi's house in NJ...first time not home for Thanksgiving which means I'm trying out some recipes for everyone to try tomorrow! We're having a small get together at mine and Corey's apartment...all of the Americans and a few others are coming to celebrate! I decided to make a homemade cheesecake (was going to make a homemade pumpkin pie then I found out that there is no pumpkin puree in Germany...I didn't feel like literally cutting up a pumpkin so that's why I decided on this cheesecake recipe) I also made a low sugar Cranberry Pear Sauce! 

Low fat Cheesecake

Adapted from food.com 

Ingredients

• Pie crust 
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• Cooking spray
• 2 8-ounce packages Neufchatel cream cheese, softened
• 2 8-ounce packages fat-free cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/2 cups Stevia or Splenda
• 1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 2 large eggs and 3 egg whites
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• Berry topping (optional)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mold pie crust to pan. Beat both cream cheeses and the sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until smooth, 5 minutes, then beat in the sour cream on low. Lightly whisk the 3 egg whites in a bowl, then add to the cheese mixture along with the 2 whole eggs, flour, vanilla and lemon zest. Beat on medium speed until fluffy, 3 minutes. Pour over the crust.

Place the cheesecake in pan and bake until the cake is set but the center still jiggles, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Turn off the oven; keep the cheesecake inside with the door closed for 20 minutes.

Run a knife around the edge, then cool completely. Chill until firm, at least 8 hours. Top as desired.

(the sauce being cooked!)

Cranberry Pear Sauce
Adapted from Skinnytaste.com
Ingredients: 
12 oz fresh or frozen cranberries
2 ripe pears, peeled and cored, cubed small
1/4 cup Stevia (agave, splenda or sugar can be substituted)
1 cup water

Directions:
Bring all the ingredients to a boil on high heat in a medium saucepan.
When boiling, reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the cranberries burst and the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and let it cool before refrigerating.Serve chilled or room temperature. Makes 3 1/4 cups.






This is "Lebkuchen" which is very similar to gingerbread in the US but it's more like a cake and comes with chocolate on top (of course the one I chose was the chocolate one), sugar or just plain. 

And this delicious piece of cake is from a chocolate shop in downtown Augsburg. Corey and I stopped to pick up a piece of cake after walking around the Christmas Market today..thought it would be a nice treat for our 3 year anniversary. I decided on the most chocolatey type of cake they had. It was even more delicious then it looks! 

Loving Winter in Germany

I just got back from the opening night of the Augsburg Christmas Market. It was so beautiful..I know i'll be going back there a lot more. I sampled Gluhwein which is "popular in German-speaking countries.  It is the traditional beverage offered and drunk during the Christmas holidays. It is usually prepared from red wine, heated and spiced with cinnamon sticks, vanilla pods, cloves, citrus and sugar. Glühwein is drunk pure or "mit Schuss" (with a shot), which means there is rum or liqueur added." My first tasting of Gluhwein was definitely strong but I hear that Gluhwein is different at all of the different places that serve it so I'm excited to try all of the different kinds. I am going to Rothenberg Ob Der Trauber this Sunday for Corey and I's 3 year Anniversary so I'm excited to see that Christmas town. Rothenberg is know for being Christmas-like all year round and for having one of the most romantic Christmas markets in all of Germany. 


                                      

Gluhwein..delicious!

This Thursday is Thanksgiving so it's a bit sad that it's my first Thanksgiving not in the U.S. with my family but I'm excited to celebrate it in Germany with everyone. It should be interesting trying to cook everything in my little oven but I am going to make as much as I can. (All of the instant mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy and spinach dip my mom mailed me will definitely help so thanks mom) 


And I have training for teaching English tomorrow. It's actually been really tough for me. I found this job where I could teach English to adults and to business professionals who were looking to learn English but it's been really difficult for me. I've never taught before..I actually went for Business so this is all brand new for me. Not to mention that I don't remember learning most of the stuff I'm being asked about since third grade. When my trainer asked me for an example of a past perfect continuous verb...I pretty much had no idea. It's funny how one can speak a language so well but when it comes down to knowing the rules as to why you say "a cup" and not "an cup"..it's interesting that you or shall I say that I don't know the rule as to why you use that word or why a tense changes then and not now. So I've training tomorrow and hopefully I can start substitute teaching by next week. It looks like for this year, I'll only be able to substitute English teach but I'm looking forward to working and teaching - any experience is helpful! Hopefully i'll be babysitting more this winter too. Anyways, almost 3 weeks until I'm back home in NY...I go home to the US December 15th-January 3rd and I can't wait to see all my friends, family and adorable dogs! I miss all of them so much... but for now Ciao and Frohe Feiertage!

amazing chocolates at the Christmas Market..had to take a picture to show how good they looked!

Corn Flake Peanut Butter Cookies

Once again I felt like baking something good to try but I wanted to make something that I've never done before...so I tried this recipe that I found on allrecipes.com. We have a huge box of cornflakes that we got & quickly realized why they were so cheap..they're plain boring cornflakes so I'm so glad I found a good way to use them up. I changed a few things from the original recipe so make any changes you'd like but this is how I created my cookies! 

Wow...as I am typing this, after I've tried one, I look over at the cookies and there are FIVE eaten already by my boyfriend in literally a matter of minutes! haha so funny...so clearly someone loves them, hopefully you do too! 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup splenda or stevia 
• 1/2 cup sugar free syrup or light corn syrup 
• 2 tablespoons light butter
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 3 cups cornflakes cereal
• 
  
• Directions:
• Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Bring the sugar and syrup to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat; stir in butter and peanut butter until thoroughly mixed, and remove from heat. Place the corn flakes into a large bowl, and pour the peanut butter mixture over the cereal. Mix until the corn flakes are coated with the mixture. Drop by tablespoon onto the waxed paper; flatten slightly if desired. Allow to cool before serving.

Nutritional Info 

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 85 | Total Fat: 3.5g | Cholesterol: 2mg

Lightened Strawberry Crepes Recipe

I found this recipe on food.com and made a few variations to it. I didn't have any brown sugar or cool whip so I made my crepes without those two ingredients and they were still delicious! But I decided to make something different for breakfast this morning..something nice for Corey to celebrate his teams first win last night! This recipe is great but after making 2 crepes, I realized it wasn't enough to feed my boyfriend...so I tripled the recipe and there wasn't a crepe left after he finished eating so if you have some hungry people, I'd recommend doubling or tripling this recipe. 

Ingredients:

8 ounces strawberries, sliced (optional) 

1 tablespoon brown sugar, Splenda (optional)

1 cup Cool Whip Fat Free (optional)

1/2 cup flour

1 egg

1/2 tablespoon oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 cup skim milk

1. For the filling: toss the strawberries and brown sugar in a bowl and set aside.

2. For the crepes:In a medium bowl whisk flour, egg, oil, vanilla, baking powder, cinnamon, and skim milk.

3. Heat frying pan over medium heat and spray with cooking spray. Pour 1/3 a cup of the batter in the pan and make sure it evenly covers the bottom.

4. Cook each side for 30-45 seconds on each side (should not be completely browned) And remove to a plate.

5. When all crepes are fully cooked, spread one or two spoonfuls of cool whip into the middle, cover with a spoonful of the berry mixture. Then wrap one side of the crepe over the mix and the other side over the first. Cover with cool whip and more berry mix. Repeat and enjoy!