Her Modern Kitchen

Eating & Living in Austin, Texas

Snacks

Everyday Hummus

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Everyday Hummus is a staple in our home.  It’s easy to make, delicious, and one of those things you can eat every day.  Thus its name!

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For Christmas this year, I asked for a food processor and it’s the key tool for Everyday Hummus. In my mind, a food processor was the only major appliance my kitchen was missing. Lucky me, my Mom gifted it to me and I used it immediately on Christmas Day to grate some carrots for a Carrot Cake.

Hummus Basics

Originally, when I dreamed about using my food processor, I always pictured myself using it to bring together pie dough or some kind of pastry crust. I imagined myself all Paula Deen-like, processing cold butter into a flour mixture and magically having the most perfect pastry dough the world has ever seen. I imagined myself crimping dough around apple pies with lattice tops and singing merrily as I made beautiful pies — all thanks to my lovely food processor.

Everyday Hummus How-To

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Apple Pie Smoothie

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Apple Pie is an iconic American dessert.  And in my family, it was a regular.  I have quite a few childhood memories that include making and eating apple pie with my family. It was always around for holidays, made every year for my Dad’s birthday [because it was his favorite], and was enjoyed after most Sunday night dinners.

Making the pies, at least when I was younger, was a family affair.  I remember my Dad sitting at our kitchen table running apples through a hand-cranked apple peeler and watching the thin strips of skin drop to the floor.  These were my apple strings were favorite part, I always loved eating the long ropes of apple skin while watching him crank away.

While Dad was peeling the apples, my Mom would begin making the homemade pie crust using her Mom’s recipe [obviously, because in our family, we just don’t do store-bought pie crust].  I remember her carefully rolling out the dough so it wouldn’t tear and crimping it perfectly around the edge of the pie pan, creating perfect edges with ease.  Once the apples were peeled and cut, she’d mix the apples in with the sugar and cinnamon and pile them high into the crust, neatly topping everything with a buttery-rich crumb topping.  In our family, crumb topping was the only way to enjoy apple pie.  Not only did you NOT have to roll out two pie crusts but you got that extra crunch & warmth from the topping that made eating apple pie that much more comforting.

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My mom would bake the apple pie an hour or so before dinner so by the time our meal was complete, we’d be able to enjoy warm apple pie – which is the only way an apple pie should be enjoyed, warm & fresh out of the oven.  In fact, my Aunt Val didn’t even realize apple pie was served cold until she was in her 20’s.  Some may say she was considered spoiled but I’d save she was privileges for never having to eat cold apple pie [yuck!]

Most people love enjoying a slice of apple pie topped with vanilla ice cream, and in my family, we enjoyed that once in a while but our standard was to accompany apple pie was with a few slices of sharp cheddar cheese on the side.  It might sound strange, maybe even a bit “Polak” but apples & cheese are a common pair and the creaminess of the cheese and its slight bite paired perfectly with the sweet-tartness of the apple pie.  My Grandma Hellert would be the to initially make the cheese request and at times, she’d simply show up with blocks of cheese whenever she knew apple pie was on the menu.

Although I have fond memories of apple pie from my childhood, my current apple pie indulgence is limited to visits home or in this past Christmas’ instance, my Mom’s visit to Austin. And honestly, I’m fine indulging in it every few years but in between these homemade treats, I still enjoy the flavors of apple pie by mixing up an Apple Pie Protein Smoothie – the healthified apple pie!

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This smoothie recipe is something I came up with years later, after first enjoying an Apple Pie Milkshake during my 3rd grade class’ Apple Day celebration.  The original recipe had applesauce, cinnamon, milk, and of course, ice cream.  Mine on the other hand has fresh apples & applesauce, spices, almond milk & vanilla protein powder. It’s a slimmed down version of the milkshake but still delivers all the flavors of Mom’s apple pie without the fat, calories, and post-indulgence guilt.  It’s great for breakfast, a mid-afternoon snack or even a late night dessert!

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Apple Pie Protein Smoothie
 
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A healthy, tasty creation to curve a sweet craving that taste's just like Mom's homemade apple pie!
Serves: 1 smoothie
Ingredients
  • 1 cup almond milk, vanilla or original [I use unsweetened]
  • ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
  • ½ apple finely diced* [I prefer Fuji or Empire but I’ve also used Granny Smith for some extra tartness]
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp ground clove
  • ½ scoop vanilla protein powder [I use about 40 grams]
  • 6-8 ice cubes
Instructions
  1. Directions:
  2. Place everything in the blender beginning with the top of the ingredient list and working you way down.
  3. Add additional ice cubes as needed to acquire your desired thickness.
  4. Pour into a glass, sprinkle with cinnamon & enjoy!
Notes
Sometimes, I only add half of the apple to the smoothie and choose to stir in the rest to the smoothie after blending. Obviously, you can’t drink the smoothie but I enjoy eating it with a spoon, kind of like a soup smoothie!

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Grassroots Breakfast Bar

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While working in NYC, I discovered this little gem of a health bar, D’Vida, hidden inside the Credit Suisse building in the Flatiron District.  One of my favorite morning treats was to stop into D’Vida for a green juice and one of their breakfast bars – The Grassroots Bar.

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Their breakfast bars were by no means considered “healthy,” but half a bar paired with juice was the perfect balance for breakfast.  I loved these bars, they were buttery (yeah, I said buttery) and sweetened with a hefty amount of brown sugar.  They were also balanced (sorta) – with oatmeal, zucchini, carrots, and raisins.  I loved these bars, so much so, that I was  very specific about which bar I chose from the case: it had to be a bar without corners and cut from the middle of the pan, relatively large compared to the others (since I was only eating half that day), and the most “square-like” I could find.

I begged the D’Vida employees to divulge the name of the bakery that made their bars, but no matter whom I asked, I was told the bars were made exclusively for D’Vida and the bakery would NOT be revealed.  Determined to recreate the bars at home, I hunted down Grassroots Bar recipes online.  After the trial and FAIL of multiple recipes, I knew the only way to have these bars at home would be through some experimental baking on my own.

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Luckily for me, D’Vida oh, so nicely provides the nutritional information for all of their baked goods, including the complete ingredient list! On one of my final mornings in NYC, I stopped into D’Vida, order my usual, and requested to see the nutritional information for the Grassroots Bar.  With a few quick snaps of my phone, I had the complete list of ingredients and just for good measure, I snapped a pic of my favorite juice combo, too – The Glow.

After settling into life in Austin, I began my experimental baking: Mission Grassroots.  Luckily for me, the experimental phase only lasted 3 rounds.  On the third trial, I successfully recreated a Grassroots bar that satisfied my craving for D’Vida’s original and even healthified the bar some in the process.

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Yes, these bars have zucchini & carrots baked into them but if M<3 loves them – and by love, I mean eats them on an almost daily basis as his pre-gym, morning snack – then they’re good –  because this boy hates vegetables.

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Grassroots & Green Juice
 
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Serves: 24 bars
Ingredients
  • ¼ cup butter (room temperature)
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1½ cups rolled oats
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ cup shredded zucchini, drained*
  • ½ cup shredded carrots, drained*
  • ⅓ cup raisins, craisins, or dried tart cherries (or mixture)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, oats, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugars.
  3. Once creamed, add in the eggs and vanilla, mixing until combined.
  4. Gradually add in the flour-oats mixture until thoroughly incorporated.
  5. Remove from mixer, and by hand, fold in the zucchini, carrots, and raisins.
  6. Once combined, pour into a a greased 9x13 pan and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
  7. Allow bars to cool completely before slicing.
Notes
*After shredding, place the zucchini and carrots in a few paper or dish towels and press out all liquid. Once pressed, then measure a ½ cup of each. Pre-shredded or matchstick carrots can also be substituted and will not require pressing.
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 1 bar Calories: 106 Fat: 2.63 Saturated fat: 1.35 Carbohydrates: 20 Sugar: 13.96 Sodium: 107 Fiber: .89 Protein: 2 Cholesterol: 20.42