Week 6: Zucchini Tater Tots

Hi all! This week I decided to make Zucchini Tater Tots, which I had seen in a video on Facebook. I thought they looked relatively easy to make and tasty. The healthy element of this recipe was the zucchini. Below are the ingredients I used:

- 1 zucchini

- 1/4 cup bread crumbs

- 1/8 cup green onions

- 1 clove garlic

- 1/4 tsp. onion powder

- 1/4 tsp. salt

- 1/4 tsp. pepper

- 1 egg

This recipe was probably the most complicated one I made out of the six. Keep in mind, though, that when I say complicated I'm not even close to being a chef. First, I had to shred the zucchini. However, you could eliminate this step by buying pre-shredded zucchini at the grocery store. This recipe also had more ingredients than usual. So, for starters, this recipe was harder to make. Taste-wise, these tater tots weren't very good. They had a very strong onion powder taste and still had the normal texture of a zucchini, which I don't particularly like. I don't think I would ever make this recipe again. 

Some of the ingredients

In the process of forming the tater tots

All in all, I'm glad I tried something new, but I wasn't pleased with these healthy tater tots. For ease of preparation, I would rate it a 5/10. For taste, I give it a 4.5/10. 

The final product

Thanks for reading!

- Emily 

Week 5: Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream

Happy Saturday! I was scrolling through Facebook this week and stumbled upon a Tasty video called "4 Healthier Desserts." After watching it I knew I wanted to make the first recipe in the video, which was a healthier version of one of my favorite foods, ice cream. The healthy element in this ice cream is the banana. Here are the ingredients I used:

- 3 bananas
- 1 tablespoon natural peanut butter
- 1 and 1/2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips
- Smuckers Magic Shell
- Mini Marshmallows

The frozen bananas right out of the freezer

This recipe was pretty straightforward. All I had to do was freeze the bananas, then blend them, add in the peanut butter and chocolate chips, refreeze and voila - recipe complete! So, a positive of this recipe is how easy is it to prepare. I didn't experience any setbacks when making this. As far as taste goes, it definitely didn't taste like ice cream. With that being said, it wasn't half bad. The main thing I dislike about bananas is the texture, and this recipe completely eliminated the soggy texture normal bananas have. I ended up putting some Magic Shell and mini marshmallows on it to help the taste.

Frozen bananas in blender

 

The picture to the left is the frozen bananas after being blended. The picture directly below is the blended frozen bananas with the chocolate chips and peanut butter mixed in.

I decided to do a different rating system. Instead of just having one number, I am going to have a rating for how easy the recipe was to make and another rating for how the recipe tasted. I would rate this an 8/10 for easiness to prepare. For taste, I would rate it 6/10. As I said, not bad, but definitely not ice cream!

The refrozen mixture

The ice cream with no added toppings

The result!

Have a great week!

- Emily

Week 4: Broccoli Burger

Hi everyone! This week I decided to make a broccoli burger. In the grocery store, I found pre- chopped broccoli, which I thought would make the perfect healthy ingredient, especially because broccoli is one of my least favorite foods. At first, I wasn't sure what to do with the broccoli. However, seeing as how yesterday, the day I made this recipe, was July 4th, I realized I had to make burgers with the broccoli! I didn't follow a recipe; instead, I just put the broccoli into the burger. Below are the ingredients I used:

- Lean ground meat
- 1/3 cup finely chopped broccoli
- Hamburger spices

I made 2 burgers: the traditional burger on a bun with cheese, featured above, (for me) and a burger that I put on a bed of lettuce (for my mom).

The pre-chopped broccoli

This recipe was a success! All I had to do was mix the broccoli bits into the meat and then cook the meat. It only took one extra step to make this burger healthier. Burgers, in general, aren't my favorite food, but we always eat them on occasions like the Fourth of July. If I'm going to eat a burger, I might as well add some broccoli! I genuinely couldn't even taste the broccoli in it, which made me so happy. I could smell the broccoli, but that was the only downside. It tasted just as good as a normal burger we would eat!

Based on how easy this was to make and the taste, I rate this burger a 7.5/10! I would definitely consider adding the broccoli in again the next time we have burgers. I would also consider adding chopped broccoli to other food items because it didn't affect the taste. Here are some pictures of the way it turned out.

My Mom's burger

My burger

The perfect Fourth of July dinner!

Hope you had a Happy 4th! See you guys next week!

- Emily