Hamburger Bun

I know a few people who have been waiting for this recipe. I recently made these and brought them to a cookout and they were a hit! The buns are soft, egg-y, a little sweet and DELICIOUS! This is also one of the easiest dough recipes I've ever made. Honestly, try them out!

Better Onion Bagels

Soooooo I've given you guys a recipe for onion bagels in the past (click here). This one is infinitely better. It's softer and chewier and it has the perfect amount of onions. It was taken from this awesome book called "Make the Bread, Buy the Butter", it teaches you how to make all this great stuff at home and answers the questions: is it worth it? Is it cheaper? So, give this a try! It's really not that hard to make!

Whole Wheat English Muffins

I was looking online for a recipe for whole wheat English muffins that were mostly whole wheat flour without being too dense, and I'm pretty sure I found the perfect one. It uses 5 cups of whole wheat flour and only 1 of white all purpose flour. If you find that it's still too dense for you, you can always substitute all purpose for the whole wheat until you reach the perfect density. English muffins are surprisingly easy to make. Give'em a try!!

Banana-Chocolate Chip Pancakes

This recipe is my go-to for easy pancakes. I always have bananas in the fruit bowl and chocolate chips in the cupboard so I know I can whip these up in no time at all. They're easy, fast, delicious and sweet enough so you don't have to add any maple syrup on top.

Onion Bagels

Update: I have a newer and better version of these guys here

Bagels. They're delicious. They're doughy. Fluffy. SO GOOD. Buuuut as for most carb-loaded foods, they're not so great for you. Especially if you eat store-bought ones, or the ones you get from your favorite coffee shop loaded with cream cheese. We can make them a little better though...
Deceptively Healthy is all about food that is good for your body and soul. It's health food that doesn't necessarily scream healthy. Bagels CAN be deceptively healthy, when you make your own.

How can they be better?
-First, you are making it yourself. This means you know what is in those bagels, there are no artificial ingredients or preservatives.
-Second, you can customize it. I've NEVER seen whole wheat onion bagels out there. Although these are not whole wheat I know that when I want to make them, I can. You can also add more or less salt, make whatever crazy topping for them that your big creative brain can think of.
-Third, if you eat these foods only when you make them yourself, it will be harder to overeat. It's so easy to go out and get a bag of french fries, or buy a pizza. But when you make it yourself, it's not so fast and easy to crank them out. You won't have it readily available if a crazy craving hits. This gives you more time to think about your decisions and it also makes you realize that maybe you don't need the supersized bag of french fries.
-It's also way cheaper, which is a big reason behind homemade food. A lot of people make food from scratch not because they're thinking of their health, but because they have a big family and need to cut back. My boyfriend loves onion bagels, they are his go-to breakfast if he's going to be sitting down and eating. Other than the Almond-Honey Power Bars that he can eat on the go. So buying them every week can add up. Thomas' Onion Bagels are about $.78 cents per bagel. If you make these, they'll cost about $.16 OR LESS for a bagel. You can't argue with facts. FACTS.
-Convenience. I know making your own bagels doesn't seem very convenient but they can be just as convenient as store-bought ones. Just slice your bagels once they're done, wrap them in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil, then throw them in a freezer bag and pull them out whenever you need a bagel! You don't even need to wait for them to thaw, you can thaw them in your toaster or oven. Or toaster oven.

So enough babbling, let's see how they're done.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

If you're bored of all the meals you've been making, try these lettuce wraps. Seriously, the flavors are unlike anything I've ever eaten. We use a blend of five spices along with some Asian sauce to take these from plain turkey lettuce wraps into a mini vacation for your mouth. They're that good. Let me show you how I make them.

Back to Basics 16 - Almond-Honey Power Bar

I've got a really great breakfast/snack recipe for you! This, no surprise, is an EatingWell recipe. I got it from my Simple Art of EatingWell cookbook. I make a batch of these granola bars at the beginning of the week for my boyfriend Eric to take with him in the morning as his breakfast.

These bars are very complex, filling and just sweet enough. They have so many tasty and healthy things in them! They're seriously amazing. Everybody that has tried them looovvesss them and begs me to make more.

Yields 8 bars

Chicken & Sweet Potato Stew

Well, the holidays are DEFINITELY upon us. Everybody is always extremely busy and you sometimes need to cut certain things from your to-do list to make time for something else. The #1 thing that gets dropped from that list? A homemade dinner. Well, no more excuses. This dinner cooks itself. Seriously.

Farro with Pistachios

I love farro! I discovered it fairly recently and I'm just in love. It's chewy, nutty and so versatile. It's also really good for you. You can add it in place of rice, quinoa, oats and even pasta. Seriously, it's so good. You can find farro almost anywhere nowadays. I've gotten mine before at Shaw's or Stop & Shop. The first time I made this dish, I did a happy food dance. I have made that dance every other time I've eaten this dish. It's that good.

Oat, Coconut & Pumpkin Seed Cookies

*Recipe adapted from Whole Foods website*

This cookie is filled with healthy goodies but still manages to taste REALLY good. If you can't find pumpkin seeds, you can substitute with almonds, dried fruit or even chia seeds.

Tea Smoothie

Today, I was inspired to work out again. I haven't done Zumba in ages so I thought I'd get my dusty DVD out from behind the TV stand and sweat a little. This smoothie is a quick and easy way to refuel and add a ton of nutrition to your body. Smoothies are a great go-to when you're hungry and just need something fast.

Bacon Breakfast Burrito

I know how tough it is to wake up in the morning for work, school, kids, what have you. I also know how tough it is to have the desire to make breakfast or even eat in the morning! Having said all that, breakfast is still the most important meal of the day. It sets you up for success! If you have a healthy, substantial breakfast, you are more likely to eat well the rest of the day. It also kickstarts your metabolism, and if you start off with protein and veggies, you won't be starving all morning hunting for chocolate all over the place (I never ever do that. Nope.).

I had an amazing dinner at my aunt's last night, but I ate a bit more than I would've liked. So this morning I had to get back to my low-cal routine. This is a REALLY easy recipe for a breakfast burrito, and you can do everything in your microwave in less than 5 minutes! Another plus, it has more than half of your recommended protein intake, and it's under 300 calories.

It's another Hungry Girl recipe, ya'll!!