Quinoa Carrot Muffins

I first stumbled upon this recipe here:

http://www.joyoushealth.ca/2011/09/20/quinoa-carrot-spice-muffins-gluten-free/

So far I've only made it once and only slightly changed it but am certainly putting this one aside as a keeper, you know when the kid devours one and asks for another that it was a hit!

Quinoa Carrot Muffins
1 1/3 cup quinoa flour (now, I screwed up and dumped in Kamut flour - next time will use the Quinoa since I love the stuff, but the Kamut was equally pleasing!)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2/3 cup soaked raisins (to plump them back up - soak for 10-20 minutes and then pour off the water before using)
(at this point I also added a few things of my own: 1/2 tsp nutmeg and 1/3 cup sesame seeds)
Mix all of the dry ingredients
In a separate bowl mix:
2 eggs (or 2 tsp chia with 6 tbsp water - let sit for 5 minutes to gel)
2/3 cup coconut sugar (next time I may slightly decrease this amount)
2/3 c plain yogurt or 1/2 cup of almond milk (I used 1/2 cup rice milk since it was open)
2 1/4 cup grated carrot

Mix the dry and the liquid ingredients together and pour into greased muffin tins (makes 12-15 muffins)
Bake at 350 for approximately 20-24 minutes

Enjoy!

Being kid approved means I just scored one more item that I can put into her lunchbox and know that she will eat it.

Hungry For Change

Attached is the free link for the worldwide premiere of Hungry For Change - Great video exposing secrets of the diet, weightloss and food industry, everyone out there needs to be informed.

http://www.hungryforchange.tv/online-premiere

Every single person out there needs to watch this video. It is only available for free until March 31, 2012. It's 1 hour and 29 minutes that you seriously need to take out of your day. We all put food in our mouths, therefore we all will benefit from watching this informative video.

Do yourself a favor and click the link and share it with your friends, I just did!

It's National Nutrition Month!

It's already the middle of March and I can't believe it's taken me this long to announce:

It's National Nutrition Month

So, what are you doing to enchance your nutrition choices?

Have you kicked things up a notch?

Here's a few nutritional thoughts to keep in mind:

1 - Lifestyle- quit the yo-yo effect and leave the "diet" at the door, if you want to make some changes, then do them, what are you waiting for? Keep focused on the betterment of your health and make healthier choices everyday.

2 - Leave the processed goods at the grocery store - there are times when it seems easier and convenient to grab the pre-packaged easy food. Make sure your everyday choices involve whole food choices and if you're going to go with the pre-packaged stuff, do so on rare occasion only and know what you are feeding your body

3 - Keep  things simple, real live whole foods are that, simple. White sugar and white processed flour,  are all processed, refined, chemically altered and not dealt with well by our bodies. There are better choices out there, choose whole foods, whole grains and natural sugars on occasion.

4 - Do not deprive yourself - moderation is always the key - why deprive and over indulge later and then feel guilty and then totally abandon all healthy changes you've made? Reallly, its a vicious cycle, so moderation is key.

5 - Keep active - burn off some calories and have fun doing so. Go out and enjoy this bonus warm sunny weather we are having. Break out the runners, the bikes, the soccer balls and soak up that Vitamin D as well. I've been breaking out the spring wear and sandals and loving the sunshine.

6 - Set an example for others, be a healthy role model and seek advice, encouragement and support when needed. No one is perfect but be sure you remain accountable for your actions - if you can't be true to yourself then be accountable to someone else to help keep on track.

Please keep in mind, eating "sugar free", "fat free", "low fat" and filling up on processed cardboard boxed food, wrapped in colorful boxes, toting the above descriptions does not mean its nutrititious. Don't be "healthwashed" by marketing ploys and fall for their deceptive ways. Know what you are putting in your mouth.

Remember, not all fat is created equal, not all sugars are created equal, not all grains are created equal, really not all foods are created equal. Staying health conscious and making informed choices goes a long long way to the betterment of your health for today and your health for future years to come.

A few tidbits to keep in mind and to give you to ponder on this beautiful first day of spring.

Mulligatawny Detox Soup

So, another weekend has come and gone and what better way to end it then to have a fresh pot of soup in the fridge for the busy week ahead! Lunch is made for the next few days, perfect way to start the week!

I have often seen many references to Mulligatawny Soup and thought it sounded yummy and healthy and chock full of all kinds of detoxifying goodness, but for whatever reason (maybe the fact that I don't like to follow recipes) I had yet to try it, let alone make it.

So, after reading in a friend's recent face book post that they had made a pot of this soup it prompted me to find a recipe and make it.

I followed this recipe here:
http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.ca/2007/03/vegetarian-mulligatawny.html

I omitted the avocado oil as I simply thru everything in the crock pot so didn't figure it was needed.
I did not add the apples, simply because I did not have any granny smith's in the house.
I omitted the brown rice syrup as I didn't think it needed any sweetener and I totally forgot to add lime juice and still thought it was really good without it.

So, head on over and check out Gluten Free Goddess' Blogspot and have a look at her vegetarian mulligatawny soup.

It's completely full of whole, natural, healthy ingredients and well worth the try.

A few notes on Tumeric, just goes to show its worth adding some spice to your life:
Turmeric (otherwise known as Indian Saffron) - the yellowing pigment of turmeric comes from curcumin which has great anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Curcumin also helps the body to destroy mutated cancer cells, prevented them from spreading through your body. Curcumin also promotes the livers detoxification process and enhances the bodies production of glutathione. Tumeric may also help in the prevention of heart disease and helps to prevent the brain from degeneration.


Happy cooking!

Vegetarian Thoughts

With my HLC (Holistic Lifestyle Coach) background from CHEK and with my husband who has an extenstive CHEK and Poliquin background who loves to lift heavy and co-owns his own Personal Training Studio working as a Personal Trainer/Strength Coach, vegetarian is not a word that goes too far in my house.


There are many days where you would look at my diet and see a very vegetarian approach, however I still eat meat, daily and this I seem to fight with both sides of the coin on.


I see all of the right reasons for why I should eat meat and I see all the right reasons why I should take my diet on a further vegetarianism path.....which one's fully right? Well, as most things I see moderation being the key when it comes to this subject or any subject really. 

Do I get all of my protein from strictly animal proteins, NO.

Do I get all of my protein from nuts and seeds and alternate protein sources, NO.

I pretty much combine the two and am happy with what I get.

Should my elimination diet that I'm currenlty on not provide the results that I am looking for and need then yes, I may take a Vegan approach for a while just to throw another curve ball at it. Really, you never know until you try and right now I'm pretty much up to trying anything.

Thinking this post may be of hot topic at home and at the gym (www.realbodiesfitness.com), as I know the feelings on vegetarianism (as I am still a strong advocate of eating meat myself), however, this may be a route that I explore, even though I would plan on it only being temporary!

I am open minded though and know that sometimes even the greatest plans have faults and that sometimes plans change and results vary.

Will keep you posted if I happen to start moving on a path down this direction, still a few weeks out before I plan on doing many changes at all.

It's something to ponder anyway and I'm sure will have great debate.

Pumpkin Lasagna courtesy of Meg!

Pumpkin Lasagna, whoever would have thought? Well, since I am still avoiding tomatoes I thought I would try my friend Meagan's recipe that I ran into a few weeks ago on her blog.

Meg is awesome, her blog is fantastic. I met Meagan years ago with the Fly Gurlz, she was part of the Durham Chapter same as I and she is loaded with awesome energy, passion and fun loving awesomeness!

Be sure to check her out as she pursues all things good and has a great ability to megify the average recipe into something much healthier while maintaining super yummy flavor!

http://www.megified.wordpress.com/

Here is her recipe and photo from her blog, with my substitutions as I of course used what I had on hand:

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 clove minced garlic
1 pkg frozen spinach or 2 cups fresh - this I omitted as Bill has reminded me on many occasion that spinach does not belong in Lasagna, I don't agree, however changed this to a pkg of crimini mushrooms (next time will use a minimum of 2 pkgs of mushrooms)1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp dried sage (I used fresh thyme, because I had some)1 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
3 cups pureed pumpkin (I used canned) (used 1 can, 796ml)1/2 brick cream cheese-softened

2 tbsp egg white (used 1 whole egg)1/4 cup parmasean cheese

3/4 cup coconut milk (used 1 can 400ml)1/2 cup skim milk (omitted)1/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese (I used 1/2 cup)aprox. 1/2 pkg oven ready lasagna noodles (I used a box of gluten free noodles - it was small, could have used more noodles)

Method:

In frying pan heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute onions and garlic until translucent (aprox 3-4 min)
Defrost spinach and squeeze out excess water and add to pan. (did mushrooms here)Add 1/2 tsp salt, sage, black pepper, and nutmeg.

Stir and remove from heat.
Preheat oven to 400F
In stand mixer add softened cream cheese, parmasean, and egg whites (whole egg). Mix well.
Add pumpkin, 1/2 tsp salt, sage, black pepper, and nutmeg. Mix until smooth. ( I added 1/2 - 3/4 approx can of coconut milk to the pumpkin mixture)In a 9×13 glass baking dish add milk (used approx 1/4 can of coconut milk here) to bottom of pan and top with lasagna noodles.

Spread 1/3 of pumpkin mixture evenly over noodles.
Spread 1/2 of the spinach mixture over the pumpkin, and add another layer of noodles.
Repeat with another layer of pumpkin, spinach, and noodles.
Top with remaining pumpkin, and sprinkle with mozzarella.
Cover with tin foil and bake for 20 min.
Remove foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until cheese is bubbling and golden.

http://megified.wordpress.com/2011/11/01/pumpkin-lasagna/#comment-44

Now, as I wasn't sure if my family would be so willing to try a pumpkin lasagna I also made a quick beef and mozza regular lasagna as well. Happily, my hubby actually liked the pumpkin lasagna, totally surpised by this and of course happy with how well it turned out. I will certainly be comtemplating this for the next pot luck I have to go to or gathering of sorts.

Next to try (maybe next weekend) will be pumpkin chili, post sure to follow.

Technical difficulties, I copied and posted and apparently blogger does not like wordpress. Feel free to click on Meg's link and grab the recipe there instead.

Happy cooking!