Category: nutrition

Week 20

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Wrapping up week 20 with cucumber chips!

Cucumbers are very low calorie and jam packed with nutrients.

Some of the benefits include: hydration (high electrolytes), bone health (Vit. K), cancer (antioxidants), cardiovascular (potassium and magnesium), diabetes (low glycemic index), inflammation, and skin care (inflammation and sunburns).

Don’t forget to save a couple slices for an eye mask while you wait for them to crisp!

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Week 19

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Yay our stay-at-home order is done in Denver. I am happily ending the Coronavirus miniseries of shelf stable snack ideas, and for week 19, I made Mexican Quinoa bites.

They are so good and super versatile! Next time I’m definitely adding some spicy green chiles!!

Recipe

  • ¾ cups quinoa, cooked
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 can (14.5 ounces) Diced Tomatoes, drained
  • 1 ¾ cups shredded cheese
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray mini muffin tins with cooking spray.
  2. In a large bowl, combine cooled quinoa, eggs, black beans, tomatoes, 1½ cups cheese, garlic, chili powder and cumin.
  3. Put a heaping tablespoonful of quinoa mixture into prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle tops with remaining shredded cheese.
  4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until edges turn golden brown. Remove from oven, let cool for 5 minutes and then gently remove from pan.
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Week 17

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Ramadan started this week, so in honor of, I made Sfouf (Turmeric Cake) 🥰

Sfouf is a Middle Eastern semolina turmeric cake, made with simple ingredients, no eggs and no butter. It’s vegan-friendly, light and simply delightful!

In line with the Coronavirus miniseries of shelf stable snacks, all these ingredients were in my pantry. I did not have semolina flour, so I substituted flaxseed and rice flour, also reduced the amount of sugar by half👌

Recipe

  • 1 ½ cup coarse semolina or fine, or mixture of both
  • ½ cup all-purpose or cake flour
  • 1 tablespoon turmeric
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ cup canola oil or other neutral oil
  • 1 cups milk
  • 1 cup cane sugar (I used half this amount and they taste great)
  • 1-2 tablespoons tahini to grease the pan can be replaced with oil
  • Handful of pine nuts or almonds
  1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF and grease a 9×9″ baking pan with the tahini sesame oil or other oil.
  2. Mix the dry ingredients (semolina, flour, turmeric and baking powder) together in a large bowl.
  3. Mix the wet ingredients (canola oil, milk and cane sugar) in another small bowl until the sugar is completely dissolved in the mixture.
  4. Combine the dry and wet ingredients until batter is smooth and bright yellow. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and sprinkle the pine nuts all over.
  5. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes until the pine nuts are golden.
  6. Cool on a wire rack and cut into 16 squares or diamond shapes.

Notes

Storage: Store any leftovers in an airtight container. They will last about 7 days at room temperature or about 10 days in the fridge.Substitutes: For best results, follow the recipe as is. However here are some common substitutes that would work well in this recipe.

  • For tahini, you can substitute oil or butter
  • For the coarse semolina, you can also use fine semolina, but don’t use flour instead of semolina because it will not yield the right results
  • For the pine nuts, you can use almonds. Silvered almonds work well and make sure they are raw since they will be getting roasted in the oven.

Sourcing: You can find some of the Middle-Eastern specific items like the semolina and tahini at Middle Eastern markets, natural-foods stores or even in large supermarkets, often located with other Middle Eastern ingredients.

Week 16

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Continuing with the Coronavirus miniseries of shelf stable snacks, my sweet tooth decided on Black Bean Brownies.

Yes, I made this for breakfast. No, I don’t regret it.

Black beans are a great source of protein, fiber, and have a low glycemic index, which means they can help stabilize your blood sugar.

Recipe

  • 1 1/2 cups black beans (1 15-oz can, drained and rinsed very well)
  • 2 tbsp cocoa powder 
  • 1/2 cup quick oats 
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup pure maple syrup, honey, or agave
  • 2 tbsp sugar (or omit and increase maple syrup to 1/2 cup)
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips (Not optional. Omit at your own risk)
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  2. Combine all ingredients except chips in a good food processor, and blend until completely smooth. Really blend well.
  3. Stir in the chips, then pour into a greased 8×8 pan.
  4. Cook the black bean brownies 15-18 minutes, then let cool at least 10 minutes before trying to cut. If they still look a bit undercooked, you can place them in the fridge overnight and they will magically firm up! Makes 9-12 brownies.

One cup (172 grams) of cooked black beans contains roughly:

Calories: 227

Protein: 15.2 grams

Fiber: 15 grams

Folate (vitamin B9): 64% of the RDI

Manganese: 38% of the RDI

Magnesium: 30% of the RDI

Thiamine (vitamin B1): 28% of the RDI

Iron: 20% of the RDI

Week 15

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Continuing with the Coronavirus miniseries of shelf stable snacks, and in honor of Easter I made Chocolate Coconut Eggs.

I have to admit, they taste so better than a Cadbury Creme Egg! You have to eat them quick since the chocolate melts in your hands…..awe shucks

Recipe

  • 75 g shredded coconut
  • 70 g coconut oil melted
  • 3 tbsp. coconut milk
  • 1 tbsp. sugar ( I opted for brown sugar)
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla

  • 60 g coconut oil
  • 6 tsp. cocoa powder
  • 2 tbsp. powdered sugar
  1. Mix shredded coconut, oil, milk, sugar and vanilla.
  2. Refrigerate until solid enough to roll into egg shapes.
  3. Roll small amounts into egg shapes and place in the fridge again to set completely.
  1. Mix coconut oil. cocoa powder, and powdered sugar together in a bowl.
  2. Place 1 Easter egg in the chocolate coating at a time. Using a spoon, turn the egg until completely covered.
  3. Place the chocolate coated eggs on a plate.
  4. Refrigerate until chocolate coating is set.

Week 14

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Continuing with the Coronavirus miniseries of shelf stable snacks, OATMEAL COOKIE SMOOTHIE is the winner this week!

🙏 Thank you past self for freezing a banana 🙏

This was sooo good, I didn’t have raisins so I decided to top with cranberries.

Recipe

  • 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats
  • 1 frozen (peeled) banana
  • 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 1–2 Tbsp. honey (to taste)
  • 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
  • pinch of nutmeg
  • pinch of salt
  • (optional: 1/4 cup raisins)

  1. Add oats to blender, and pulse until finely ground.  Add remaining ingredients and pulse until blended and smooth.  Serve immediately.