One Minute Cheesecake

Are you ever craving something just a little unhealthy after dinner, or at three in the morning? We are.  But we’re usually too busy, or too lazy to put anything together.  This recipe from yourlighterside.com solves that problem with a few ingredients, some creativity, and a microwave.

Serving size: one cup’s worth of cheesecake

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla/ vanilla extract
• 2-4 tablespoons sugar/ sugar substitute

Optional:

• Fresh fruit for toppings, or to be swirled into the cheesecake
• 1 graham cracker to crumble and press into a crust under the filling)

Instructions:

1. Mix everything together in a microwave-safe bowl.
2. Place in microwave on high heat for 90 seconds.  Stir every 30 seconds. Keep in the refrigerator until you serve it.
3. If you’re so inclined, go for whatever berry is in season, smash a couple, and fold them into the cheesecake filling.
4. Smash a graham cracker into crumbs.
5. In a ramekin, cup, or small bowl, mash the crumbled graham cracker into the sides of your container until it takes the shape of a crust.
6. Spoon in the filling.
7. Top with fruits and your choice of whipped cream, Nutella, caramel, or whatever you have on hand.  Or all of the above.

Enjoy!

Source: yourlighterside.com

Banana Cinnamon Quinoa

I mean, quinoa for breakfast

When the nutritional superstar of our decade and the most important meal of the day get together, there’s no telling what could happen. Maybe you’ll finally be able to combat those awful morning headaches, or have enough energy to do that morning run you’ve been meaning to go on.

Quinoa is one of the most protein-rich foods we can eat, containing all nine essential amino acids, and has about twice as much fiber as other grains. Since it’s more so used in lunch and dinner dishes, we were ecstatic to find a breakfast recipe that featured both this supergrain and our ingredient of the week: bananas.

Initially, we planned on making two servings of Chocolate Banana Breakfast Quinoa (click here for that recipe). But we forgot to pick up cocoa powder while we were out shopping for groceries—a minor slip up on our part that turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Rather than go back to the store to buy what we had forgotten, we decided to make the recipe our own, aka alter it to fit what we had in our pantry (namely, cinnamon, honey, and a bag of walnuts).

Here’s what we ended up using:

• ½ cup raw quinoa
• 1 cup almond milk
• ½ cup water
• Dash of sea salt
• 1 banana ( ½ mashed, ½ cut up in slices)
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1-2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup of walnuts
• Butter
• ½ teaspoon brown sugar

And here’s what we did, in numerical order for your convenience!

1. Bring ½ cup of quinoa, ½ cup of water, 1 cup of almond milk, and dash of sea salt to a boil in a small pot.
2. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally. (Usually recipes say to cook the quinoa until all the liquid is absorbed. That’s nearly impossible with this recipe, given the ratio between the amount of liquid you’re using and the amount of quinoa you’re boiling. We recommend cooking the quinoa for a solid 10 minutes, then turning off the stove.)
3. While the quinoa is cooking, toast the walnuts in a separate pan. Turn the stove on to low heat and melt a small bit of butter on the pan. Pour the walnuts into the stove. Sprinkle ½ teaspoon of brown sugar and a pinch of cinnamon on top of walnuts. Remove walnuts and transfer to a bowl after 4-5 minutes.
4. Remove quinoa from stove and transfer to a bowl.
5. Mix in the mashed banana, cinnamon, vanilla, and honey. Stir until evenly combined.
6. Garnish quinoa with banana slices (and mint, if you’re feeling fancy). If the quinoa is too dry, mix in some almond milk.
7. Enjoy!

Prep time: 5 minutes | Cook time: 10 minutes | Serving: 2

Healthy Banana Split

When all you want to do is stuff your gut but all you have are bananas…wait

As college students, we know how hard it is most some days to roll out of bed early enough to eat breakfast in the morning. That’s why we thought this quick, healthy and delicious recipe was so great! What could be better than a nutritious version of your favorite ice cream sundae? That’s why when we found this idea, we just had to share it with all of you.

For two servings we used:

• 1 banana
• 1 container vanilla yogurt
• 6 strawberries
• Handful of blueberries
• 1 kiwi
• 1/2 cup honey granola

It’s pretty self-explanatory. Cut the banana in half twice—once lengthwise and once widthwise so you have two “butterflied” halves. Wash your fruit and cut up your strawberries and kiwi into bite-sized pieces. Next, simply assemble your fruit and top with the yogurt and granola. The great thing about this recipe is that there’s so much room to experiment! Try slivered almonds, peanut butter, chocolate granola or any other combination you can think of, including different fruits.

Prep time: 3 minutes | Assembly: 2 minutes | Serving: 2