No work on Fridays, wooo! 😀
Yesterday a fun new kitchen gadget arrived: a Soda Stream! I don’t think I’ve seen Mr. Prevention so excited over something blog-related…ever. I’ve seen the Soda Stream in the blogosphere and I’m excited to have one of my own :-D. Tonight we tried the Diet Grapefruit flavor and it was delicious!
Mr. Prevention also tried the cola and really enjoyed it. We put together a video to demonstrate how EASY making the soda is…(sorry about Lily barking…she’s not a fan of new noises!)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9EKwQe_GjQ]
You can make 50 8-ounce servings for $4.99! Score! Added bonus: the diet flavors are aspartame-free and the regular soda contains no high fructose corn syrup and are a mere 35 calories for 8 ounces! This will certainly help off-set the cost of my Zevia addiction 😉
I also had an itch to bake last night…so I did! There’s soooooo many new recipes I want to try this week!! My co-workers are going to be getting a lot of cookies and muffins next week at this rate!
WARNING: ADDICTIVE COOKIES AHEAD!!
Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies adapted from Cooking Light
6.75 ounces all-purpose flour whole wheat pastry flour (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter 50/50 Smart Balance Butter Blend, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg 1/4 cup Egg Beaters
3/4 cup finely chopped dried fresh apple
3/4 cup caramel bits or 16 small soft caramel candies, chopped
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F
Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a bowl; stir well.
Place sugars and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture; beat at low speed until just combined. Fold in apple and caramel bits.
Drop dough by 2 teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Flatten balls slightly with hand. Bake at 350° for 9 minutes. Cool on pans 3 minutes. Remove cookies from pans; cool completely on wire racks. Yield: 3 dozen
Nutritional Information (per cookie): 94 calories; 2.5 g. fat; 63 mg. sodium; 17 g. carbohydrate; 0.9 g. fiber; 0.8 g. protein
Result: These. Are. Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!! These truly may be the best cookies I’ve ever had!!!
Apricot-Coconut Bran Muffins from Lily’s Health Pad
1 1/2 cups wheat bran
1 1/4 cups non-fat buttermilk
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup natural turbinado sugar (could use refined cane sugar)
2 eggs
1 cup chopped, dried apricots
1/3 cup unsweetened coconut
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350º F.
Combine the wheat bran and buttermilk. (Simply wet bran with milk. Don’t over mix.) Set aside for 10 minutes.
Combine and stir flour, baking soda, and sugar. Add bran mixture and eggs. Stir just until ingredients are moistened. Fold in apricots and coconut.
Grease or line cupcake tins with liners. Equally distribute batter into 12 moulds. Bake at 350º F for 16 to 18 minutes.
Remove muffin tin from the oven. Let muffins sit for 5 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Information (per muffin): 150 calories; 2.8 g. fat; 37 mg. cholesterol; 35 mg. sodium; 28.8 g. carbohydrate; 4.4 g. fiber; 2.6 g. protein
Result: Yum! These are reeeally good!!! Love muffins for breakfast 🙂
I’m taking a break from NNM topics today. I’m pooped after all that baking 🙂
Mr. Prevention and I are off to Dallas this weekend to visit friends. Not sure what the weekend brings, but I’ll try to check in!
Question: What’s the last thing you baked? Is there a baking modification you always make (i.e. canola oil for vegetable oil)?
Any fun weekend plans? 🙂
TGIF..have a wonderful, healthy, happy weekend!
Somehow I’m not surprised that he was a fan of this gadget…nice video! How much arm-twisting did that take? 🙂
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None! He’s like, “I’m making soda” and I said “Okay, I’m recording it!” : )
I’d never heard of Soda stream before. We are holding a big poker tournament this weekend. 100 playersX$120 buyin…long night coming tomorrow night!
Cool machine! I’ll have to see if they sell those over here! And the muffins look (as usual!) soooo good. Mr. Prevention is a lucky man! ;O) Have a great weekend- hope the weather by you is as nice as it is in Dijon! I’ll be spending it on job applications but at least I can open the windows and enjoy the springtime breezes. A++
I baked some coffee cake a little while ago. It was awesome!
Soda Stream looks interesting. But sorry, when I see the words “caramel” and “apple” in a blog, it’s an immediate skip to the recipe. My heart be still! I HAVE to try that recipe. I’ll make them after a long run so if I end up eating the entire batch, I won’t feel as guilty. 🙂
Have a super weekend!
That soda maker is so cool! Hey, a few drops of Sweetleaf stevia (orange or lemon) flavors & fizzy water is divine! Remember my “Skinny Soda”….you don’t need to spend on the Zevia no more!!
Just booked hotel…….check your tweets 🙂
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I don’t know how to check my tweets! Twitter is rather confusing to me 🙂 Help!
Love the baked goods! The last thing I baked was Irish Soda Bread. But I made a million cupcakes last Saturday. I just love baking so much.
No huge weekend plans for me other than just spending time with friends! Have a good Friday, Nicole!
I must live in a bubble because I have never seen a soda maker. That is awesome!!!!! I think I will have to put it on my long wish list of kitchen gadgets.
I love to bake and come up with my own recipes. I think the last thing I baked was some homemade pita bread. They are whole wheat with flax. My parents liked them so much that I barter with them and make the pita bread weekly for them to use as thier bread.
I think I may have to try those cookies out!
Have a great weekend in Dallas!
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Oooo did you post the recipe for that pita bread? Sounds wonderful!!!
It is from this site http://www.chow.com/recipes/12095 It is very good!!! I have to find who’s blog I saw it on. They just had the url to it also so I just put that url in my favorites. They are simple and they also freeze great. I take one out of the freezer and nuke it for 15 seconds. PERFECT!
The cookies sound yummy!
All your goodies look so good!! Depends on what I make, but I will try to sub out for healthier ingredients when I can. I am still experimenting so sometimes I will follow the recipe exactly just so I know it will taste good.
Enjoy your Friday!!!
Wow!!! I totalllly believe you when you say they’re the best cookies you’ve ever had!! They look phenomenal!!
How fun also that you made a video for sodastream. You somehow made that pink drink look amazing too. Now I can picture myself on a tropical vacation sipping some of that. hehehe 🙂
I copied that recipe of Lily’s too…am going to make them this weekend. So excited!! 🙂 Happy Friday Nicole!! 🙂
I love my Soda Stream! I love on seltzer and make a couple bottles of bubbly water every day. Don’t know what I did without it!
HAHA Lily was the star of that movie! she is too cute
Shoot I have not baked anything in forever! oh wait I made christmas cookies with my niece in december =) but they were pre-made and we just cut them into holiday shapes and added sprinkles lol
those cookies do look amazing…..i tend to love everything from cooking light anyway…..gonna run my 10K and relax! and you?
We looooooooove our Soda Stream, though now I worry about the water quality coming from the tap. I keep thinking we should get home delivery of water now if we’re going to drink more seltzer from home. I do walk down that grocery aisle now and go “Ha ha. I don’t have to buy you!” I’m very mature like that.
I don’t use their mixes but drink it with a big splash of Sobe Lifewater which I don’t like on its own. Plus the seltzer bubbles make me feel full. The Soda Stream is one of our prized possessions!
cookies surely sounds delicious..
I’m dying to get a soda stream! We go through so much seltzer it is ridiculous 🙂
I often do enova oil, are you familair? I baked a cake last weekend and it was so good and no modifications were made, but in general we do modify and cut things back.
I can’t wait to hear more about the soda stream. I really love this idea.
have i been living under a rock? i haven’t heard of this soda stream thing.
i’m not a huge fan of carbonated drinks so it doesn’t seem that spectacular to me, especially for the price.
ohh fun soda stream video! i never knew how it worked! omg those recipes look so good!! esp the cookies…anything healthified that tastes and looks that good I am all over!
So funny you just got a soda stream, so did I. I got one for my father and sister for Christmas and 2 of my friends have them so I decided to grab one to up my water intake.
I like to use stevia syrups since I’m not much of a fan of splenda. I get them here (they are also organic) https://www.naturesflavors.com/default.php?cPath=231 I have also found them at the health food store.
I’m glad that their regular flavours don’t use HFCS but couldn’t they use sugar and not splenda (yes, it’s in the regular and diet)
That soda stream machine looks SOO cool! Thanks for the demo 🙂
Ha-ha. Oh my, what was the last thing I baked? Muffin or cookie wise, I honestly can’t remember. Do sweet potatoes count? If so, yesterday! But, I can say that when I bake, I make the real deal versions…because I truly enjoy the rarity of me baking lol!
Have a great weekend!
such GREAT recipes GIRL! thank you!
Those cookies DO sound amazing! I’m definitely book-marking this. I mean….a girl can’t have too many cookie recipes. Am I right?
Gosh, it’s sad that I really had to think back to the last thing I baked! It was a few weeks ago, when I made some pumpkin butterscotch muffins. I miss my baking. Maybe I will try to put that on the agenda for next week!
Enjoy your weekend – I hope you have lots of warmth and sunshine!
Homemade soda, and diet without aspartame! Girl, this has got be wanting to buy this new invention already. What do they put in the diet if it’s not aspartame, just less regular sugar? Caramel apple cookies definitely sound addicting and unique. Will have to give this recipe a try. Last thing I baked = double chocolate muffins…so yummy!
Sooooooo jealous of your soda stream!! I tried getting the company to send me one to review back in october and they denied me. Maybe I’ll try again… 😉 It seriously looks so awesome!! Andrew and I are addicted to diet soda and this looks like a much healthier alternative!! 🙂
Sweet new gadget! Those cookies do sound like the bets ever! Apple and caramel?! Match made in heaven. The last thing i baked… that soda bread but before that whole wheat bread. I think I need to make cookies or muffins!! Have fun on your trip this weekend girlie.
Thanks for reviewing the soda stream, I’ve always thought those looked really cool! That grapefruit flavor sounds delish! Wow, Nicole, those cookies look amazing! Caramel apple is one of my favorite treats, so I’m happy to have it in cookie form. 🙂
Ok – Im pretty sure those cookies wouldnt last an entire day in my house. They sound amazing!
The soda stream sounds like fun!! Almost like my ice cream maker. It’s one of those things that is fun, and delicious at the same time! I’d love to try that drink.
These recipes sound really good. As far as modifications, I almost ALWAYS choose other flour, other than white flour. I also like to add flax in place of oil or butter (part of it) and I usually use Smart Balance oil, with OMega-3!
Have a nice weekend Nicole!
My kids would love that soda stream! Your cookies sound delicious. I made my banana chocolate chip muffins yesterday. In baked good recipes that I don’t develop, I typically replace half the white flour with whole wheat, use 2/3 cup canola in place of each cup of solid fat, add a few tablespoons of wheat germ or ground flaxseed, and add finely chopped nuts or a bit of pumpkin puree for added nutrition. I’m glad I found your site!
Those cookies look aweseom. It’s rainy and gross here in Texas today, so it’s the perfect day to try a new recipe. Plus I think I have all the ingredients already.
Mmmm, what yummy cookies! The sodastream sounds so cool too – what a fun new toy!
Wow–so glad to know those cookies are THAT good! I’ve been searching for a recipe to try out this week, you may have ended the search haha!