Tag: almond butter

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Hippie Fuel: MOAR Homemade Granola, please!

Granola is undeniably delicious, but cruncher beware. Like trail mix, granola can be deceptively high in calories and low in nutritional goodness. That’s not to say that there aren’t good varieties out there, but read the labels and look out for ingredients like high fructose corn syrup and ingredients you can’t pronounce. The best way to avoid an unhealthy choice is to make your own hippie fuel from scratch–and it’s pretty darn easy!

Hippie Fuel: MOAR’s Homemade Granola

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What You’ll Need:

  • 2 tbs coconut oil
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened reduced fat coconut
  • 1/4 cup walnuts pieces
  • 1/3 cup dried cherries, unsweetened unsulphured
  • 1/4 cup dark chocolate bits (dairy-free)
  • 2 tbs raw honey
  • 1/4 cup almond butter

How to Make Them:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 ºF.
  2. Heat coconut oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add oats, flaxseed, coconut and walnuts to pan, cooking for 3-5 min until toasty but not burnt.
  3. Remove from heat. Add cherries, chocolate bits, raw honey and almond butter to the now-warm dry ingredients. Give everything a good stir until it all comes together.
  4. Spread the mixture in an even layer across a 1/4 or 1/2 baking sheet. Bake at 350 ºF for 20 min.
  5. Let cool at least 30 min then enjoy!

Makes 6 servings at 300 calories a pop. You can stretch this by adding just a few tablespoons to your oatmeal or yogurt to spice up your breakfast routine. If you’re bringing along the whole bag, make sure it’s to fuel you for a hike, run, bike or another physical activity of choice.

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My Top 5 Green Smoothie Recipes

It’s officially Cherry Blossom season here in the District, which means spring (real spring, not teaser spring) is just around the corner! To honor the onset of my favorite time of year in DC, I thought I’d share 5 of my favorite “Greenie”recipes. My Greenies are healthy vegan  smoothies that bring together fruit, dark leafy greens, plant-based protein and nutritional superfoods in one tasty and satisfying blend. At under 400 calories for 16oz of smoothie (that’s two full glasses!), all of these recipes are are great way to start your day. They’re also packed with dietary fiber (thanks to the flaxseed and chia seeds in there) and protein to keep you full and focused. Best of all, they have anywhere from 3 to 5 servings of fruits and veggies so by the end of breakfast you’ll have either met or surpassed your recommended daily intake. Now, that’s no excuse to eat junk for the rest of the day, but it is mighty nice to know that you’re giving your body much of what it needs for optimal function from the get-go. Also, studies show that if you start your day with a healthy breakfast you’re less likely to be obese, more likely to have good/stable blood glucose levels (and consequently more energy and less moodiness), and less likely to be hungry later in the day.

If you’re not a fan of almond milk substitute your favorite unsweetened rice, hemp, soy, coconut or skim milk, or try fat-free plain Greek, soy or coconut yogurt in lieu of almond milk yogurt. Coconut water is another good liquid to swap, just beware of its sugar content. Several brands really jack that up. My favorites are Blue Monkey, C2O, and–la crème de la crème–100% Raw Coconut Water.

 

 

(1) Banana-Berry Breakfast Greenie:

  • 8 oz unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 banana
  • 1 cup frozen whole strawberries
  • 2 handfuls baby spinach
  • 1 tbs almond butter
  • 2 tbs ground flaxseed
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

287 calories, 14g of dietary fiber, and 10g protein per serving.

(2) Blueberry-Kale Protein Greenie:

312 calories, 22g of dietary fiber, and 27g of protein per serving.

(3) Blueberry-Beet Power Greenie:

  • 8 oz unsweetened almond milk
  • 2 medium beets (boiled)
  • 1 cup frozen wild blueberries
  • 2 handfuls baby spinach
  • 1 tbs grated fresh ginger
  • 1 tbs fresh lemon juice
  • 3 tbs hemp protein powder
  • 2 tbs ground flaxseed

319 calories, 21g of dietary fiber, and 25g of protein per serving.

(4) Pineapple-Mango Vitamin-C Greenie:

  • 8 oz unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 cup frozen mango
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen pineapple
  • 2 handfuls of kale
  • 1 tbs chia seeds
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

341 calories, 13g of dietary fiber, and 10g of protein per serving.

(5) Dark Cherry Goji Greenie:

381 calories, 21g of dietary fiber, and 25g of protein per serving.

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Sweetly Salted Nut Butter Power Cookies

After drooling over a photo of grain-free peanut butter chocolate chip cookies posted by my friend Jehan on Instagram, I decided to put my own twist on a healthy, garbanzo bean-based power cookie. If you’re gluten-free, garbanzo bean flour is just about the best “alternative” flour out there. Unlike other bean flours and substitutes like almond meal, it doesn’t need to be combined with regular flour.

Not convinced? Check out this nutritional tête à tête:

Garbanzo Bean Flour:

  • 1/4 cup contains 110 calories
  • 6g protein
  • 18g of carbohydrate (of which 5g is dietary fiber)
  • 10% of the daily value for iron

Whole Wheat Flour:

  • 1/4 cup contains 110 calories
  • 4g of protein
  • 23g of carbohydrate (of which 4g is dietary fiber)
  • 6% of the daily value for iron

Brown Rice Flour:

  • 1/4 cup contains 140 calories
  • 3g of protein
  • 31g of carbohydrate (of which only 1g is dietary fiber)
  • 4% of the daily value for iron

Let’s all clap for the heavyweight champ: Garbanzo Bean Flour!

These power cookies are full of protein, dietary fiber, vitamin E, iron and a delicious kick of sea salt, dark chocolate and your favorite natural nut butter.  If you’re constantly on-the-go, this is the perfect snack to tuck in your purse, backpack or hipster messenger bag for a healthy pre- or post-workout way to (re)fuel your body.

Chocolate Nut Butter Power Cookies

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What You’ll Need:

  • 3/4 cup natural almond or peanut butter (raw, unsalted)
  • 1/3 cup raw honey (+2 tbs hot water)
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups garbanzo bean flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp  baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp table salt
  • 1 cup dark chocolate chips
  • 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt (to spring on top)

How to Make Them:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.
  2. In a KitchenAid mixer or food processor, mix your nut butter, raw honey and water until smooth. Add in apple sauce, egg and vanilla extract and blend again.
  3. Slowly fold in the dry mix, blending as you go.
  4. Mix in the chocolate chips with a baking spatula. (Don’t be alarmed if it doesn’t look like the typical cookie mix. It is meant to be very thick and sticky.)
  5. With wet hands, form into 1″ balls. Place balls 1″ apart on a piece of parchment paper. Gently press down on each with a fork, criss-crossing imprints if you want to be fancy.
  6. Sprinkle each cookie with a few grains of coarse sea salt (if you’re into the whole salted-sweets crazy like I am:). Bake for ~10 min.

If you try this recipe out, let me know what you think. The dough can be hard to work with but these tasty power cookies are worth it!