I am a Protein Cookie Monster

Who does not love cookies?  Some have actually called me the Cookie Monster because I just love them so much, but I try to stay away from too many baked goods if I know what’s good for me. 

But that doesn’t stop me from trying or coming up with new recipes for “healthy” cookies.  Just as long as they contain chocolate chips and no raisons, I am one happy camper.  At least if they are relatively healthy, I do not feel too guilty eating them all by myself.

So let me introduce you to a healthy cookie.  Yes, that is correct.  These contain absolutely no artificial flavours, refined sugars or flours. They do however have healthy grains, fats and protein and I even managed to make them Gluten-Free .  My belly will be thanking me. 

Ingredients

Combine all of the following ingredients into a medium-sized bowl and mix well.  Makes 12 cookies.

• 1/4 cup Gluten-Free flour mix (I used a mixture of Millet, Potato Starch, tapioca flour and xanthan gum)
• 3/4 cup Old Fashioned Oats
• 1/8 cup ground flax/chia seeds
• 1/8 cup  Navitas Naturals Protein Twister Power
• 1/8 cup Agave Syrup
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts'
• small handful of chocolate chips
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. Gluten-free Baking Powder
• 1/8 cup  olive oil
• 6 oz.  plain non-fat Greek yogurt

Preheat your oven to 375F.  Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with Pam.  Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups, about 1/3 cup full.  Then bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. 

Mine only took 12 minutes.  The cookies are moist and tender.  I think next time I will add a smidge more agave since I found they were lacking a little in sweetness.  I think it’s because of the yogurt.  Perhaps I could buy the vanilla Greek Yogurt and use that instead. 

I will definitely be making these again.  They would be great right before or after a workout because they contain healthy grains and lean fats and protein to help repair and build muscle.  I think though, that I will make them slightly larger next time and try on a cookie sheet.

Just for fun, I entered the ingredients into a recipe nutrition program I found on the internet to see the nutritional value of these cookies….here is what some of the data gave me (per cookie)…

• 55 calories, 3g protein, 4g fat, 1g sugar, 7mg magnesium, 51mg phosphorus, 88mg potassium, 12mg sodium
• Yup, these ones are a keeper!

Question – Do you have a favourite pre-workout snack to help you power through your workouts?  How about after your workouts?

Bea

xoxo

Breakfast and Dinner perfection

It felt so nice to sleep in this morning and to wake up to the sun shining and the snow all melted away.  Trevor is away this week, on a work trip and also visiting family out East, so I have the weekend to myself.  And since I finished up my report cards last night, I planned on having a fairly mellow weekend, especially after a crazy busy week. 

When I woke up this morning, I decided to try my hand at making the popular Breakfast Pizzert I keep hearing and reading about in the blogosphere.  Christin over at Purple Bird Blog made one a while back that looked really tempting.  SoI thought I’d try one out myself this morning..with no kids around and no commitments, let the cooking experiment begin

TADAHHH …….

Looks like one ginormous cookie or pancake….and it tasted oh so good. I ate it around 10:30am and my stomach didn’t even make a peep until about 4pm.  Definitely very filling.

GF Apple Pumpkin Breakfast Pizzert

Mix together all of the following ingredients

• 1/2 cup  Gluten-Free flour mix
• 1 tsp  Aluminum free Baking powder
• 2 tsp  agave syrup
• 2 Tbsp  100% pure pumpkin pure
• 1/2 grated apple
• pinch of salt
• 3/4 Tbsp  Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter
• 1 tsp  Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp  Vanilla
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/3 cup  Chocolate Chips

Spray a glass pie dish and pour mixture into the prepared dish.  Stick in a 420F oven that was NOT preheated for about 15 minutes.  Allow to cool in the pie dish for a few minutes before trying to remove it. 

I found mine was a little tough to get out in one piece without breaking it, so if you eat it right out of the dish, why not?  I also drizzled mine with some maple syrup, but you can top yours with whatever your little heart desires. 

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I’m sure glad I managed to get my pizzert out of the oven in time this morning.  About 10 minutes after sitting down for breakfast, the power went out.  I had already noticed when I got up that all of the clocks were flashing, so this was obviously not the first time the power went out today.  But with the power out, it was perfect timing to get out of the house and run a bunch of errands.

I planned out my meals for the next few days, made myself a grocery list and headed over to Trevor’s house to take care of something for him.  I also made my way to the school to print off my report cards, prepare some stuff for Monday and work a bit on my class banner (pictures to come soon… you will NOT want to miss those). 

Now on to tonight’s meal… it’s DA BOMB……..

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Roasted Leg of Lamb with Smashed Potatoes and Squash

It didn’t take long at all to make the Lamb and the flavour was unbelievable….juicy, tender and very very tasty. 

Here’s what I did…….

ROASTED LEG OF LAMB

• 1 Kg  Butterflied Boneless Leg of Lamb
• 3 Tbsp  Pesto
• 2 Tbsp  Balsamic Vinegar
• 3 tsp  olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• salt and pepper to taste

To prepare the marinade, mix all of the ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside while you prepare the lamb.

Trim any excess fat off of the lamb, including that large gland that is often found on a leg of lamb.  (not every piece has one, but most do… it kind of looks like a really big chunk of fat, but it’s more round and bubbly). 

Place the lamb in a dish and pour the marinade over the lamb.  Cover and place in refrigerator for a couple of hours. 

Preheat your oven to 450F.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and go get your meat thermometer.  Find the thickest part of your meat and insert thermometer.  Place the meat on the cookie sheet and into your oven.  Mine took about 20 minutes or so, but you want an internal temperature of 145F for Medium Rare. 

After you take it out of the oven, tent it with aluminum foil and let rest for about 10 minutes.  By doing so, the juices in the leg of lamb will have a chance to settle.  Then place on a cutting board and cut with the grain into desired thickness. 

Serve lamb with potatoes and vegetables and all of the good juices that came from the lamb. 

Smashed Potatoes and Squash

I used 3 medium red potatoes and a medium sized butternut squash.  Place the potatoes into a large pot.  Peel and slice your squash into large pieces and place into pot with the potatoes.  Add enough cold water to cover your vegetables.  Then boil until tender…about 25 to 30 minutes.

Drain the water and then peel the potatoes.  Add some fresh grated nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste, 2 Tbsp of Earth Balance Butter and about 1/2 cup of milk.  Smash everything together until you get the consistency for mashed potatoes.  I also added about 1/3 cup of freshly grated Parmesan Cheese.

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For dessert I had a bowl of fresh fruit and some non-fat vanilla yogurt. 

So the night comes to an end with an anticipated good game of hockey.  We play tonight at 10:45pm (gross times, but it’s for the love of the game…).  I’m going to try my dandiest to not fall asleep on the couch before I have to leave..only about 1.5 hours to go.  But then again, I do get to sleep in tomorrow morning.  There will be no school visits on my agenda either.. simply a day to relax, play with the dog, enjoy some fresh air and do a little bit of cooking.  Oh…and plan out a few lessons on nutrition for my class. 

What are your plans for Sunday?  What do you do when you have a day to relax?

Hope you’re all having a great weekend.

Bea

xoxo

Baby it’s cold outside

Brrrr…How cold is it in your neck of the woods?  My area is in a deep freeze…we had temperatures of –8C when I woke up at 9am, but the wind-chill made it feel more like –15C.  Now I know it’s probably much colder where some of you live, but we are not used to these temperatures.  At least it was a sunny day today.  They are calling for some more snow tomorrow night and into Saturday before the rain hits and the temperatures go back up. 

So my day was more or less productive.  In my school district we get paid days off to work at home on report cards or to do other teacher prep, such as visiting other colleagues in their classrooms.  I got my reports started, but then had an appointment with the Bank for RRSP’s and also a doctor’s appointment this afternoon.  I was not looking forward to the doctor’s visit as it was time for a physical, but it went well, so no complaints.  (I was anxious since it was a male doctor, but he was great about it).  After my appointment I had to go to the school to prepare for tomorrow, so it was well after 5pm by the time I came home.

And what was for dinner you ask?  Rosemary Vanilla Chicken with a Medley of Rice

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ROSEMARY VANILLA CHICKEN WITH A MEDLEY OF RICE

How to make

This one is an easy creation.  And come to think of it…another GF and Dairy-Free meal…..First you will want to prepare your ingredients. 

• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 450g chicken, boneless, skinless and chopped (you can use thighs or breasts..your choice)
• 3 cups of spinach, chopped
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup low sodium free-range chicken broth
• 2 Tbsp  Sorghum flour and some broth to make a thickening agent
• 1 vanilla bean
• 2 tsp  fresh rosemary

Chop the onions and garlic.  Cut up your chicken into smaller pieces.  Heat up some oil in a wok and add your chicken.  Cook until chicken gets brown.  Then add your onions and garlic. 

Continue to cook until most of the liquid is cooked up.  Then add your broth and wine and bring to a boil.  While boiling, prepare your vanilla bean and the rosemary.

 

Slice your vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the paste. Also chop up your vanilla bean into small pieces.   Add this to your chicken.  Also chop up your fresh rosemary and add to your chicken. 

 

Now chop up your spinach and add it to the pot as well.  Stir well and continue to cook for about 5 minutes.  Then reduce heat on low and keep warm until ready to serve.

I served mine over a bed of rice.  I love my rice….. it looks like this in the package, but turns all purple after cooking.

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Now that I’m finished with dinner, it’s back to report cards.  Oh how I love this time of year. 

I’m glad tomorrow is Friday.  My student teacher visits for the first time tomorrow as well, so here’s to hoping the kids cooperate and are on their best behaviour. 

Not sure how much time I’ll have for blogging this weekend…. we have a school function to attend Friday night…I’m at the pool all day Saturday to recertify for my lifeguarding (I hope I pass)…then back to the rec center Saturday night for a hockey game.  I’m going to be one tired cookie by the end of the weekend, that’s for sure. 

Anybody have exciting weekend plans? 

Have a great night….

Bea

xoxo

Curried Pork Shepherd’s Pie

Hey guys,

So once again I surprised myself with another great creation in the kitchen.  But first, how did you like my GF DF and Vegan Chocolate Cake?  I’ve got some leftover cake in the fridge and a couple of Vanilla pods, so I think I’m going to try to make a Vanilla sauce to go with it..will see how much time I have tonight as I have some work to complete for tomorrow’s school day. 

So as I was saying, tonight’s creation was inspired by my leftover pork shoulder from Sunday night’s dinner.  I wanted to make some Chilli with it, but realised that I had no canned tomatoes in my pantry.  Well then came about Plan B…. Shepherd’s Pie.  But not just any pie… see for yourself. 

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Directions

First I boiled 3 medium sized Russet potatoes.  Instead of using water to boil, I used the left over broth from the Braised Pork Shoulder.  But water works too. 

While the potatoes were boiling, I cut up the left over pork meat and a couple of carrots. 

I also made a gravy to go with the pork meat.  First I melted 2 Tbsp of Earth Balance butter in a medium saucepan.  Then I whisked in 1 Tbsp of Sorghum Flour to make a Roux.  Make sure you get all of the lumps out.  I cooked this for a couple of minutes, then slowly added 2 cups of my broth from Sunday’s pork roast.  Then I added the pork and carrots to the gravy mixture. 

I also added a spring of thyme, 2 cloves of fresh pressed garlic, some salt and pepper to taste, a pinch of grated nutmeg, a dash of worstershire sauce, 1 Tbsp of Fish sauce and 1 Tbsp of Yellow Thai curry paste.  I set the meat mixture aside and prepared the mashed potatoes.

To make the mashed potatoes, I peeled them and then added 2 Tbsp of Earth Balance, a splash of milk, salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.  Then I mashed the potatoes until they were nice and creamy.

Turn on your oven to 350F.  To assemble the Shepherd’s Pie, I layered a casserole dish with the pork mixture, then added the mashed potatoes on top.  Finally I covered the potatoes with about a cup of grated Dill Havarti cheese.  In to the oven everything went for about 10 minutes, covered.  Then I removed the lid and turned on the broiler  until the cheese became golden and bubbly. 

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That’s it for tonight.  It’s going to be a crazy rest of the week… in a nutshell it includes…doctor’s appointment, Bank appointment for RRSP crunch time and it’s report card writing time.  Plus all day this Saturday is my Lifeguarding recertification course at the local pool…I’m very nervous about it as it’s been 4 years since I worked as a lifeguard.  What will be will be I guess !

Any big plans this week? 

Beaglebea

xoxo

Gluten-free, Dairy-free and Vegan Chocolate Cake

Ok guys…this cake is absolutely divine.  You will fall madly in love and you will feel like you are floating into another dimension.  If you are a chocolate lover, addict and want to cheat… I dare you to make this.  And it’s so simple to make too. 

INGREDIENTS

• 10 oz  Dairy-free 72% dark chocolate, chopped or broken into small pieces.
• 7 oz  Earth Balance Butter, diced
• 5 large eggs (Flax substitute for Vegan version) – room temperature
• 1 cup  brown sugar (sucanat)
• 1/4 cup  cocoa powder, for dusting pan

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease a 9-in spring form pan and dust with cocoa powder, tapping out any excess.  If your spring form pan isn't’ 100% water-tight, wrap the outside with aluminum foil, making sure it goes all the way up to the outer rim.

First I melted the chocolate and the butter over low heat in a medium saucepan.  Continue to stir until you get a smooth mixture. 

So this is what happens when I ask the boyfriend to help me in the kitchen.  Hehe…he had a little bit of fun taking pictures, wouldn’t you say?

While Trevor was melting the chocolate and butter for me, I prepared the egg and sugar mixture. Using an electric hand mixer, beat until nice and frothy.  Then when the chocolate was nice and smooth, I added it to the sugar/egg mixture.  Continue to beat until well mixed.

 

Make sure you also tap your pan a couple of times on the counter to remove possible air bubbles and to level out the batter.

Cover the top of the pan snugly with a sheet of foil and place into a larger baking dish, such as a roasting pan.  Then I added enough hot water to baking pan to come halfway up outside of the cake pan. 

I baked it for 75 minutes.  The cake is done when it feels just set, like chocolate pudding.  If you touch center gently with your finger, it should come away clean.  Lift cake pan from water bath and remove the foil.  Let the cake cool completely on a cooling rack before serving. 

Braised Pork Roast

This is a tasty, juicy and flavourful pot roast.  The trick to keeping it moist is by braising it in the broth mixture.  Keep in mind that you need to have a really large roasting pan to be able to hold all of the liquid.  You can use the reserved liquid to make a soup or freeze it for future use. 

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Lbs  Fresh Boneless Pork Shoulder Roast
• 1 Tbsp  olive oil
• 8 cups (2L)  apple juice
• 4 cups (1L)  white wine
• 8 cups (2L)  chicken stock
• 3 carrots, diced
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 1 head  celery, diced
• 1 cup  brown sugar
• 5 bay leaves
• pinch of salt
• 1 bunch fresh thyme

DIRECTIONS

Preheat your oven to 275F. 

Prepare the liquid and pour everything into your roasting pan.  Make sure you leave enough room so that it doesn’t overflow when you add the vegetables and the roast later.  I used fresh apple juice that I got this weekend from the wine shop.  They were pressing about 300L of apples this weekend and were selling fresh juice for 2$/L.  Sweet deal and perfect for the roast.  I ended up only using 1 bottle of the white wine.  We drank the rest

VERY IMPORTANT:  Reserve about 2 cups of the broth for deglazing the frying pan after browning your roast. 

In a large frying pan, add oil and heat over medium high heat.  Sauté the carrots, celery and onions until translucent.  Add to the broth mixture in roasting pan. 

Now comes the best part.  Take your pork shoulder and brown from all sides in a hot frying pan.  I used the same pan as with the vegetables.  Don’t forget to brown the outer edges too.

When nice and golden from all sides, deglaze the pan with the reserved broth.  Cook for about 1 minute, then add the brown sugar and continue to cook for 2 to 3 minutes.  Then add this liquid mixture to the roast and broth in roasting pan. 

Now before putting the roasting pan into the oven, don’t forget to insert a cooking thermometer.  Since my roast was boneless, it was easy to shove into the middle of the roast.  Cover with lid and place in the oven.  You will then cook the roast until it reaches an internal temperature of 160F. 

The roast took about 3 hours to cook.  When done, remove it from the broth and slice on a cutting board.  The roast is done when the juices run clear upon cutting.  Serve immediately with some of the vegetables in broth.