Posts Tagged ‘recipe’
A Tale of Two Cookies
We were gone all weekend at the Stanford Invitational track meet in Palo Alto. The weather was simply phenomenal and left me wondering, “why don’t I live in the bay area?” This point was driven home when we disembarked in Seattle to a sleeting 38 degree afternoon. And although Portland was a few degrees warmer when we finally landed, it was raining even harder.
So, after a beyond-muddy long run on Sunday, I decided that I would usher in nicer weather with some Spring Cleaning. Sometimes there is no greater satisfaction than bringing organization to chaos and disarray! OK… so maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration. But I have been obsessed with cleaning and detox more than ever lately. I just want to shed any unnecessary baggage and live lightly, freely. I have recently donated significant portion of my clothes, weeded out unused kitchen items, and shredded loads of old receipts and papers.
In the spirit of domesticity and my new creative energy, I embarked on two new cookies- both vegan and gluten free of course…. Pumpkin Seed Hippie Cookies & Sunbutter Delights… one for me and the other for Ian.
1/3 C raw agave (amber)
1/3 C erythritol
1/2 C almond butter
1 C quinoa flakes
1 C almond meal
1/2 C rice flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp celtic sea salt- ground (or kosher salt)
3/4 C pumpkin seeds
Splash of almond milk for added moisture.
Cream coconut oil, sweeteners and almond butter together. Then add dry ingredients mixing well. I mixed these with my hands! If you want it to be sweeter, just add a few sprinkles of stevia. Drop dough in small mounds or spoonfulls onto cookie sheet. (I use the silicone liners so they are non-stick, if you don’t have these you will need to greese the cookie sheet).
Bake for 12-16 minutes at 300 degrees until edges get golden.
3/4 C Raw sugar or evaporated cane juice
1/4 C Fruit sweet or apple juice concentrate
1 C Sunflower seed butter
1/2 C Garfava Flour
1 C Potato starch
1/4 C Tapioca Starch
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp Ener-G egg replacer wisked with 2 Tbs warm water
Bake for 12-14 minutes at 350 degrees until golden brown.
Related Posts:
Kenyan Chai Tea
This is a perfect warm cuppa when it’s cold out!
pinch of Cardamom
1/4 tsp fresh cut ginger, grated
2 Sticks of cinnamon
1/2 tsp tea leaves (or 2 black tea bags)
Sweetener to taste (Agave, Sugar, etc.)*
2 Cups milk (Almond, Soy, Rice will all work)
6 drops pure vanilla
In saucepan, add spices to water and bring to a boil.
Add leaves (or tea bags) and immediately add milk
Cook on high heat until tea boils
Add vanilla
Strain tea into pot or glasses.
Related Posts:
Fast Recovery… Berry Smoothie
In my brief stint at Oregon, before quitting law school, the athletic department’s nutritionist required us to either down a “Balance Shake” in a can or a bar immediately following a hard workout. She wasn’t entirely fond of me since I refused to ingest these products. Not only did they contain dairy products, but they were loaded with the dreaded HFC (high fructose corn syrup) and coated with hydrogenated oils (trans-fats). GROSS. This wasn’t the stone age either- it was the fall of 2002. And, she was supposed to be a nutritionist! (Never mind that she was overweight herself, probably from snacking on too many of these free bars and shakes that were given to the school as some kind of promotional deal….)
Instead, my compromise was that I would bring along a Clif bar or almond butter and jam sandwich. These wholesome snacks, however, were very hard for me to consume after really exerting myself… especially if it was hot. I have a terribly sensitive stomach! And hard efforts make me nauseous. To be honest, for most of my running life, I have avoided eating anything for quite some time after a strenuous workout. I have also always been known by my coaches for slow recoveries.
And that is something I would like to change.
There is frankly too much evidence available now about muscle breakdown and recovery for me to neglect this aspect of training any longer. I have forced myself to get over my food aversion mostly through liquid forms of energy replacement. Bellow is a recipe for the smoothie that I consumed today after a moderately-paced 16 miler. It was sunny and hot toward the end, and I felt really zapped of fluid.
In a blender:
24 oz filtered water
1/4 C unsweetened cranberry juice
1.5 C of organic frozen mixed berries
2 tsp stevia powder
1 Tbs agave nectar
3 Tbs rice protein powder*
1/4 tsp sea salt
If you like a thicker smoothie, you can add ice.
- Fruit- bananas, melons, pineapple, mango, peaches, nectarines, plums.
- Dried fruit that has been soaked the night before in a little water to plump it up like: apricots, raisins, currants, dates, figs, prunes, etc. Provides fiber, flavor, nutrients.
- Juices (especially high antioxidant juices like unsweetened pomegranate, blueberry, acai, gojiberry- trader joes has some excellent varieties) Make sure they are free of HFC and other added sweeteners.
- Greens: powdered greens, spirulina, chlorophyll, blue-green algae, kelp. If you have a vitamix or K-tec, then add some whole greens like kale or sea-vegetables to the smoothie!
- Bee pollen
- Almond butter, handful of nuts (like walnuts or almonds)
- Flax oil, or flax seeds (preground if you do not have a very powerful blender) for Omega-3′s and fiber from the flax seeds.
- Dash of cinnamon- tastes great and helps regulate blood sugar.
- Powdered vitamin C, Emergen-C packet, liquid trace minerals.
You can be creative and add whatever you like. Sometimes I make “desert” smoothies too… with rice milk, agave, brewed chai tea, cinnamon, and ice. Great ending to a hot summer’s night.
I’d love to hear more ideas for creative smoothie making!
Happy sipping.
Related Posts:
Snacking Simply… Raw, Grain-Free, Paleo-Friendly
That being said, I don’t know why I haven’t been eating more dates. I’ve read this recipe in a few raw food “cookbooks,” and I think it is ingenious:
Ingredients: 1 date, 1 pecan
To make: pit date, if needed. place pecan inside date.
enjoy.
Pure genius.
Related Posts:
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Saturday we finally had a house warming party….. I think it has been 2 and 1/2 months…. but better late than never. It wasn’t the greatest idea as far as timing, not only because of Hood to Coast, but because it was the first weekend we had practice with the team. That meant that both mornings we were up at 6:30 or earlier… Yesterday I was dragging so much!
Ahhh…. the cookies….. everyone was expecting something from me, but I haven’t hosted anything since going GF in March. So I REALLY wanted to make something that would be entirely undetectable from the real thing. SUCCESS!!!
I also accomplished the dairy free part, but couldn’t quite get soy free. Being short on time, I only managed to stop by Whole Foods…. and all their chocolate chips had soy lecithin. So annoying (just like the annoying soy additives to almond milks!)
I was hoping to recreate the recipe in a half batch on Sunday, but I ended up napping instead. It was much needed because, as it was, I was dragging yesterday at the Cafe.
1 C palm oil
1 1/2 C light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tbs vanilla (gf)
2 C gf flour mix*
1/4 C fine white rice flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 C shredded unsweetened coconut**
10- 14 oz chocolate chips
1 C toasted walnuts (optional- also could use pecans, etc)
Preheat to 375. Line pans with parchment or silcone sheet or grease.
Beat oil and sugar well, add egg and vanilla and continue on medium speed until fluffy.
Add dry ingredients except coconut. Mix until well blended. Mix in coconut, chocolate, and nuts. Drop onto sheets in balls, they will spread a little.
Bake 8-10 minutes
Cool on wire rack
*Use a GF flour mix that does not already contain leavening agents or gums. I used a combination of garbanzo flour that was freshly ground along with brown and white rice flours and potato starch. The standard rice flour mix of 2 C rice flour, 2/3 C potato flour, and 1/3 C tapioca starch would work fine too.
**For a more traditional cookie, feel free to leave out the coconut. The unsweetened kind gives more texture, moistness, and fiber to the cookie- almost giving it an “oatmeal-like” mouth feel for me.
