Taco Salad 04-16-13

Good Evening friends!

Hope your night is going well, I had a few extra minutes so I decided to post a second recipe today, yay!  

So most of my meals are made in mass quantity and I eat the same thing over and over again all week.  For example I made taco salad this past weekend during my food prep.  I ended up with 5 servings, perfect for the weeks salads, or occasional dinner when I'm too tired to make anything after the awesome trainer educed torture session.  

Taco Salad

1/2 lb ground turkey

1 can black beans

1 cup corn
1 handful fresh torn cilantro

1 red bell pepper

2 garlic cloves

1/4 red onion

Saute ground turkey and garlic that has been chopped, season with salt and pepper.  While cooking, chop red bell pepper in to bite size pieces.  When fully cooked removed from heat and toss with beans, onion, peppers, cilantro and corn.  This made 5 servings for me.  I served with salsa and avocado slices on top of mixed greens (kale, arugula, spinach, romaine, shredded carrots, red cabbage).

 Just a quick note, I use as much organic ingredients as possible, even if I do not specify on each recipe.
 Pictures are a little random for this recipe, I even forgot to take a finished product picture because I was busy cooking multiple things!

Fig Protein Snack Bars 4-16-13

Good Morning friends!

I hope you all are wearing a race tee shirt today in support of those affected by the horrific bombing yesterday at the Boston Marathon.  Even if your not a runner wear one.  If you don't have a race t-shirt, borrow one!  I can tell you, I and just about any other runner I know have many and would happily lend you one.

I've read that many runners who had finished their 26.2 miles and then proceeded to run to the near by hospitals to donate blood.  That is an amazing act that exemplifies the spirit of the running community.  My heart goes out to all of those affected by the tragedy of yesterday.

I've been asked to share this recipe by a few people so here is my fig bars.  I think they taste like fig newtons with out the crust, and a basic almond flour crust could be added to make them even more similar.  There is a recipe in one of my previous posts for a crust that would work well.  I also did a little calculation and found out that they are approximately 110 calories per bar, 17g carbs and 3g protein.  These are just estimates.  The protein can be increased by adding more protein powder.  I may add a little more next time.

Fig Bars
1 cup almonds
1 cup dates, pitted and chopped
1 cup figs, chopped
1 scoop vanilla Garden of Life Raw Protein

Place first three ingredients in a food processor and pulse until begin to form a uniform texture and forms a giant ball.  Place mixture in a large bowl and add protein, mix with your hands.

Smash down into a rectangle pan lined with plastic wrap or wax paper, place another layer of wrap on top and smoosh down again.  This takes a little attention, you want to be sure they are even so your bars are not unequally portion.

I used a rolling pin to smooth them out evenly, but a cup or a can could work well also.  Refrigerate for a few hours and cut into 16 bars.  Store in the fridge and enjoy!!

Do you like German Chocolate Cake? 04-04-13

Hello friends!

Can you believe it, 2 recipes in 2 days, wow I'm on a roll.  ;)

I saw a recipe a few weeks ago that couldn't stop thinking about.  German Chocolate Cake is one of my favorites, but I haven't had it in so long......all the sugar, dairy, more sugar, white flour......pretty much all things I try to avoid.  This pie needed a little bit of tweaking of course.  This is what came up with and enjoyed for Easter!

1 can lite coconut milk

1/2 c agave 

1/4 c coconut oil

2 whole eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp sea salt

5 oz dark chocolate chips

1/2 c egg whites

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut 

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

1 1/4 cup almond flour

3/4 cup flax meal

2/3 c coconut oil

5 tbsp ice cold water

In one pot heat coconut milk, agave, whole eggs, vanilla and sea salt.  This should be brought to a simmer over medium heat.  In a separate pot heat chocolate and coconut oil.  This needs to be done over low heat, the chocolate will melt quickly.  Once it is fully melted pour into milk mixture and stir thoroughly.  Allow to cool.  While cooling, whip egg whites until stiff.  Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, stir in 3/4 c of the coconut and 1/2 c of the pecans.  

 In a failed attempt at keeping myself from having too much chocolate I immediately filled the pan with soapy water so I wouldn't eat all the chocolate left in the pan.

The crust is very easy, mix flour, flax and coconut oil in large bowl.  Slowly add icy cold water, may not need all of it.  Only add water until it forms a dough.  Divide the dough into 2 balls and allow to cool in the fridge for 5-10 minutes.  

Press into the bottom of a pie plate and bake for 15 minutes at 350. Split the chocolate mixture between the two pie plates.  Top with remaining coconut and pecans.  Bake for 40 minutes.  Allow to cool before eating.  I liked it better cold from the fridge.  

I really enjoyed this pie and so did some of my family, as well as the awesome trainer!
I hope you give it a try, its totally worth it.  And since the recipe makes 2 feel free to share ;)

Tabbouleh inspired salad 04-03-13

Well hello!!

I know it has been a very long time since I shared anything, sorry I'm lazy ;)

So, next to my work is this yummy coffee shop that has amazing food.  I would eat there daily if I could afford to and didn't worry about pants getting tighter.  They have this salad that is topped with feta, veggies and tabbouleh.  It is great, filling and fairly healthy.  I had it a few times and decided it was time to make something similar on my own.  Normal Tabbouleh is made from Bulgar wheat.  I of course read every recipe I could get my hands own for Tabbouleh before coming up with my own.  I made a GIANORMOUS, yes that's a word trust me ;)

Tabbouleh Salad

1 cup, uncooked Sprouted Quinoa
1 small head Cauliflower
1 zucchini
2 carrots
1 bunch radishes
1 cucumber
1 tub grape tomatoes
3 small cloves garlic
1/4 red onion
3 lemons
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar
1 bunch mint
1 bunch parsley

Cook Quinoa according to package directions and cool.  While cooking shred cauliflower, zucchini and carrots.  Cube cucumber and quarter tomatoes.  Mince garlic and small chop red onion.  Slice radishes as thinly as possible, I used a mandolin.  Chop mint and parsley.  In a large bowl juice lemons and add vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, mint, red onion, parsley and mint.  Toss remaining vegetables into lemon mixture and quinoa.  Salt and pepper to taste.

I have eaten this salad everyday for the last two weeks.  It is so good on top of some greens.  I have been using kale, spinach and arugula.  I still have been using a drizzle of Bragg's Healthy Vinaigrette and adding a little organic goat cheese feta.

Quinoa Pizza Bites 03-19-2013

Well hello friends!
I know its been a while since I have sat down and shared any recipes.  I have been doing less baking and eating more salads.  Not too many exciting salads but I will share a few later this week.

One of the things I like to do regularly on weekends is food prep.  For food prep I generally make some type of treat, lately Amazballs from The Fitnessista  blog that I love reading.  I also cook up some chicken breasts, usually for my salads.  I have a salad everyday for lunch so I go through a lot of chicken breast.  Its easier to throw a few in the oven, slice and portion them out in one batch rather than do it daily.  I like to cut up my veggies for the week so they are ready to go.  Some of them I will pre-cook so its easy for dinner late at night after my trainer torture sessions.  Having cut and cooked veggies is perfect for quick meals like this omelet, topped with a little raw cheddar and mashed avocado.

The veggies I prepped also went into these egg muffins that I froze in individual servings for later use.

In the veggie mixture I used sun dried tomatoes, garlic, orange peppers and yellow peppers

Asparagus blanched then chopped into bite sizes

A jar of artichoke, strained and chopped

And last minute some tasty turkey bacon thrown in

All of this was thrown into a pan and sauteed until vegetables are tender

This is very handy to have in the fridge.  I have even thrown it on a bed of spinach, kale and arugula, drizzled with balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil for a lunch salad.

I know your thinking Where is the pizza??  Well, I found this recipe and have wanted to try it for bit now.  Well I of course can't simply follow a recipe so I made a few adjustments and they came out delicious!

Quinoa Pizza Bites
2 cups cooked quinoa
4 large eggs, beaten
1 cup chopped red onion
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp oregano
1 1/2 cups above veggie mixture and turkey bacon
1 cup fresh spinach, chopped
8 oz shredded raw cheddar cheese (I did this by weight not volume, the cheese I bought came as 8oz)

Heat oven to 350 F.  Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, this made more than I expected so use a big bowl.  The original recipe called for mini muffin tins, I tried one batch of them but even though I sprayed the pan they stuck....boo!

I had to spoon them out and now have a bowl of quinoa to eat instead of a bite.  They look great but if I do the minis again I will need muffin tin papers.  I only had the large ones so I did this instead

And it worked perfectly, please excuse the dirty pan it was my second batch....had to make sure it worked before sharing!  Place them in the oven and cook for 20 minutes.  Serve with marinara or pizza sauce.  I was actually out of my favorite tomato sauce so I bought this and its surprisingly pretty good.

What I liked about this sauce is while most tomato sauces are sweetened with cane syrup or sugar this one used agave, and its all organic.  Oh yea it tastes pretty awesome too!  I hope you enjoy these as much as I did.

Samoas 3-7-13

Good Evening friends!!

So I have come across a few recipes for some homemade samosa.  I  of course have been wanting to stuff my face with mass quantities of girl scout cookies.  I whipped these up based off this recipe that I found on foodie fiasco they looked the healthiest out of the few I have seen floating around the blog world and pinterest.  I made a few changes.  The took all of 30 minutes from start to finish and are delicious!

Almost Samoas

3/4 cup Almond Meal (I used what I had left over from making my almond milk so it was vanila and date flavored)
1/2 mashed banana
2 tbsp coconut oil
3 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 c Vanilla Agave
6 Tbsp Unsweetened Coconut
2 Tbsp Almond Milk

2-3  squares Ghirardelli 100% cacao
2 tbsp almond milk
4 packest Stevia

Throw all the first group of ingredients in the food processor and pulse until smooth.  Preheat oven to 325.  Makes 18 cookies.  Form into balls and smash down with thumb.  Bake 12 minutes.
While baking toss coconut, agave and milk in small bowl.  Microwave chocolate, stevia and almond milk 30 seconds and stir until smooth.  Top each cookie with a chocolate and sprinkle coconut mixture and drizzle the caramel sauce on top.  Place in refrigerator to cool.  The "caramel" mixture thickens as it cools.  Enjoy!!

Sitting in the Airport 03-01-13

Hello friends!
I know I have slacked a bit on the posting these days.  So since I had a few minutes waiting for my flight to leave for Phoenix I thought I would share a quick recipe since I whipped these up last night to take with me.  I know its a little weird that I cook and take food with me on my little trips but I know that if I do not have snacks on hand I will end up eating things that I 1) do not enjoy 2) fell crappy after and 3) regret eating.

With that said, in my luggage I have apples, pears, bananas, raw bars, and trail mix.  It is not a lot of any of them just enough so that while I'm wondering around Phoenix this weekend I have things to nibble on and avoid the hunger monster visiting leading to a full fledged binge on pasta or Chinese take out.

The bars I made are quick and easy to make, the thing that took the longest was forming them into bars.  If I am in a hurry I make large balls and that works too!

Raw bars
• 4oz almonds
• ½ cup sunflower seeds
• 20 dates
• 6 Tbsp almond butter
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 4 tbsp raw honey
• 2 scoops protein power
Place all ingredients in food processor and pulse until mixed thoroughly.  It should be thick and form into 15 bars.  Store the bars in the refrigerator.

Silly me forgot to take pictures but I will snap one when I am eating one this weekend and share.  These are great to take with you, just like the bars you probably pay 2$ or more for.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend and wish me luck on yet another half marathon!!!