A Healthy Gluten Free Version of Chocolate Chip Cookies

A client shared this with me and so I'm going to share it with you. This is a gluten free, mostly healthy version of chocolate chip cookies. I made them and they are pretty good, not grandma's recipe, but knowing that I'm not consuming a bunch of unhealthy ingredients seems to make them pretty darn good.

Ingredients
2 cups almond meal, or almond flour
1/4 cup coconut oil, softened
3 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond meal, salt, and baking soda, then add the coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract and mix well.
3. Fold in the chocolate chips, then drop batter by rounded tablespoons onto a baking sheet lined parchment paper.
4. Bake at 350F for 8-9 minutes, until the edges are golden brown.
5. Allow to cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then serve warm or allow to cool to room temperature

My tips? Use organic organic organic to optimize the healthiness of them. Also, I put in the syrup and vanilla before I put in the coconut oil (which I melted) and they didn't flatten out. I would put the coconut oil in first next time (probably tonight as I want to try it again for a dinner gathering).

My nephew said they were really good and considering he's kinda a kid, I take that as a good sign. 

Bon appétit'
Colleen

Kale Chips Experimental

My daughter's friend offered me some store bought kale chips. By the snarl in her lip I could tell she didn't like them and wanted my opinion. Not very tempting. "Are they good?"

"Not really. I thought they would be but I'm a little disappointed." 

I didn't chance it, but the idea intrigued me a little so I googled a recipe. 

Super simple but I wasn't sure what seasoning to use. What would compliment kale? 

Hence the experiment. Three flavors. 

Sea salt. Olive oil. Lemon. That was my favorite pick. I would make these again.  

Sea salt. Olive oil. Lemon. Cumin. My daughter and her friend liked these best.

Sea salt. Olive oil. Lemon. Cumin. Turmeric. These were awful. 

So, give it a try. If you are dedicated to your wellness, they ware surely worth a shot as a healthy alternative to regular chips. 

Here's how it's done. I stripped the kale off the stems, broke it up into small potato chip size pieces. Washed it. Dried it. Tossed it in a bowl with the EVOO and seasonings. Spread out on a stone. Baked for 20 minutes on 400. Cooking time may vary depending on your oven and pan. Don't be afraid to try it while it's cooking. 

Enjoy!

Colleen 

Salmon Florentine

Salmon Florentine with Cashew Cream & Quinoa

On Thursday Mindbody FitPro posted this recipe. I LOVE ❤❤❤❤ salmon so of course this looked amazing! I read the recipe and acknowledged the simplicity of it. I can whip up a restaurant worthy salmon dinner in less than 30 minutes. Most fish is easy, only a few minutes in the broiler. You just need your goto marinade / seasoning and you can throw it together in your sleep. Seriously, I'm not a culinary wizard. Self taught through trial and error (I hate reading recipes)

I was happy to see that this would be no exception...the only snag was the ricotta cheese. 

Don't get me wrong. I'm not that pure. I do love milk and I like cheese. Dairy is not off my list of things I won't eat. I do limit how much though. Although often nagged at by my skin care therapist and health conscious daughter to remove dairy in order to clear up my teenage acne, I just can't. I'm not ready to say "I don't do dairy". I will however embrace the idea to slowly reduce it from my diet.

I'm embracing. First by completing a 7 day detox with my Studio friends, removing dairy for 7 days. Challenge accepted. So how do I make this recipe with no cheese when it's cheesy goodness it what seems so damn mouthwatering about it? My best friend, Google, offered me an array of vegan substitutes for ricotta cheese, but the one I cozied up to was the cashew creme.

I've never made it before but I will try anything. Recipe? Whole raw cashews and water. Oh, and you need a really good blender or food processor of some kind.

Off to the farmers market, I needed some supplies. Our new little Dos Vientos Farmer's Market was kicking off its first day so why not check it out? I could always go to Sprouts later. Happy me, they was a booth with raw organic nuts. I got me a bag of whole raw cashews, some fresh spinach and a piece of fruit I'd never heard of but got to sample and couldn't resist.

Ready to cook.

First the cashew creme. You will need some time for this one, but it takes 2 minutes to get it going. I told you you would need a high powered blender. I have a Ninja Master so I dumped the whole bag into the prep bowl, added enough water to just cover the cashews, put the lid on it and popped it in the fridge and went about my day. That was 1:00pm

At precisely 6:50pm my culinary guinea pig, Georgie arrived, so I pulled out all the ingredients and assembled the meal. I don't measure anything when I cook. It takes all the fun out of it, so my recipes are estimates.

Cashew creme, blended until the consistency was like ricotta cheese, about 2 minutes. The directions I found all said to leave them in the fridge overnight. I was really happy that the cashews absorbed much of the water and plumped up nicely after only 5+ hours.

In my wok pan:
Olive oil 
Minced Garlic
Chopped Sun Dried Tomatoes
Cooked these on low for a couple of minutes, just to heat the garlic. Then I completely filled the pan with the fresh organic spinach from the Farmer's Market and let it wilt down.
Threw in the cashew creme and stirred it up, removed from heat. I probably should have used only half the cashew creme, but I added it all. My bad. I had lots left over.

I drizzled the salmon with olive oil and lightly salt & peppered it then placed it under the broiler on high for about 3 minutes. (This will vary dependent on the thickness of your salmon.) For a thick cut I might go 4 or 5 minutes.

Remove from oven and put the Florentine on top. It was delish.

I seasoned the quinoa with a little salt, pepper, garlic and cut up some sun dried tomatoes in it.

My piece was about 3 ounces. I put about 2 tbsp of the Florentine on top. My estimate was around 400 calories including 1/3 cup of Quinoa, which I didn't finish. Although this is a higher fat dish, the fats were lots of Omega 3s and Monounsaturated fats which I I'm not going to get crazy over. It was a very healthy, easy, and delicious dish.

I had chicken with some of the topping on it for lunch today too. So good.

What would I try next time? I think I might add a little lemon to the cashew creme. If anyone tries this variation, let me know.

Happy Eats!

Omega 3s - Stop Messing around and Take them Please!

So what's the big deal with Omega 3's you ask? Well.....

They are my number 1 recommendation for supplements if that tells you anything, especially all my non fish eating friends. Omega 3's have so many benefits I will simply just have to share them with you.

So, your body can't produce it's own Omega 3 Fatty acids, even though they are an essential fatty acid. It must get them from other sources. If your diet is rich in Fatty fish, Flaxseed, Almonds, walnuts, cashews and pecans then you are possibly getting enough O3s. If not, well, the downside to this is heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and a number of other ailments.

I could get technical on what the O3s do and what the imbalance between O3s & O6 causes, but I've found that most peoples eyes glaze over when I get technical so here's the bare bones which should be more than enough reason for you to bone up on your Omega 3s.

They reduce High Cholesterol
They reduce High Blood Pressure
They reduce inflammation associated with IBS, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, depression, ADHD, asthma and cancer, and if you don't have any of these, they help greatly reduce your chances of ever getting them.
They block fat storage in your body, increase metabolism and help you burn fat faster
They improve blood flow
They suppress the production of cortisol, reducing stress levels
They helps stabilize your blood sugar levels

The average American doesn't get enough Omega 3s and overloads on Omega 6. This imbalance makes for unhealthy cell function resulting in many of the negatives discussed above. So add an O3 supplement to your daily routine and eat more O3 rich foods. You will notice the difference, I promise.

To your health!
Colleen