Pinterest Tested: Banana Smoothies and Healthy Cookies

Anyone else addicted to Pinterest like I am? Who even needs Google anymore? When I want to find something fabulous, I can almost always count on Pinterest weeding it down for me.

The problem I’ve found is that some of those miracle cleaning solutions or delicious looking recipes fall flat when I actually try them.

So every Monday I am going to test an idea from Pinterest and tell you whether it actually works or not! It will be like the Mythbusters of domesticity. Woohoo!

So let’s get started with a bang…two tests!

I, along with half the U.S. population, am trying to lose a few pounds for the New Year, so here are two healthy options to help me stick with it. (By the way, dieting stinks! I hate it! I can’t wait to be done!)

Test #1–Banana Oatmeal Smoothie:

Banana Oatmeal Smoothie

The first time I made it, I used almonds and I did not like the texture…too chunky! Maybe my blender is weak sauce, I don’t know. So I substituted peanut butter instead. I didn’t have yogurt and didn’t want to have to keep that on hand, so I used milk instead. With my substitutions, the recipe looks like:

1 banana
1 cup 1% milk
1/4 cup rolled oats, raw
2 tablespoons peanut butter

This has turned into one of my favorite breakfasts! The oats make the smoothie taste like cookie dough. It’s absolutely delicious!

The way I made the recipe, it comes out to 570 calories. So even though it is a healthy breakfast, it’s not low calorie.

THE RESULTS: Delicious (with tweaking), nutritious, but make sure you watch the calories!

Test #2–Healthy Cookies

No Fat, No Sugar Healthy Cookies

These cookies intrigued me. How can it be a cookie without butter and sugar? I followed the directions exactly, except I omitted the raisins. I don’t love raisins in cookies and didn’t have any on hand, so that was an easy choice. Although the finished cookie is not super sweet, it has potential! The cookies are like a cross between banana bread, no-bake cookies and a granola bar. Yum! The flavor was very mild (especially without the raisins), so I think next time I make them, I will add orange rind, craisins, more cinnamon and maybe a touch of nutmeg. I also want to try subbing the bananas for pumpkin puree. The best part of this cookie, though, is the calorie count. If you skip the raisins and divide the dough into twelve cookies, each cookie has only 57 calories! That is awesome! Here’s what my cookies looked like:

THE RESULTS: A great healthy cookie base, good texture, needs a little extra pop of flavor. Excellent nutrition and calorie count!