Sweeeet Kira-line... oh oh oh

Okay Kira, this one is for you.


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I never considered myself to be a SWEETS person. Okay maybe that's false. But I don't think I'd die if I went a week or two without chocolate or gummy bears. Though. I do love Swedish fish... but I digress...

In need of a dessert that wasn't banana ice cream... I was perusing good ol' New Seasons Market for something to hit the spot. I found Laughing Giraffe Goji Cacao And Maca Snakaroon, which have decidedly changed my life, clearly it doesn't take much these days.


But what is EXTRA AWESOME about these bad boys is that they are 1. vegan 2. raw 3. paleo 4. SO FREAKING EASY TO MAKE.

The downside: horrendously expensive. I think the Pope must have blessed the damn Goji berries to justify the 16 bucks a bag (8 treats per bag)

So I did some more perusing... this time on the internets. I found the Queen of Quinoa's recipe to be most fitted to what my pantry held.

I altered a variety of things because of my inability to follow directions that's how I roll.

Just a note: you have to really enjoy the taste of sunflower seeds for this particular recipe... I'll probably sub almonds next time. If you are less than inclined to try the seeds, just use any dust and pulse a little longer.... I also plan on making this a series of different raw dessert recipes... so this is the first of hopefully many!


Chocolate Coconut Sunflower Balls (hah)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup hulled, roasted sunflower seeds
• 1 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut plus 1/4 cup for topping.
• 8 medjool dates, soaked in warm water for five minutes
• 2 tablespoons almond butter
• 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
• water

Get yer food processors handy!

Okay. So. 

Throw those sunny seeds (or almonds) into the food processor and pulse 10-15 times until crumbly. Add 1 cup coconut and pulse 5 times to incorporate. Dump that mixture into a small bowl and set aside.

Drain the soaking dates (yeah did you forget to soak those? because I forgot to tell you? whoops. Go soak. five minutes). 

Place in food processor and pulse 10 times to chop. Add in the sunflower seed and coconut mixture and pulse 5 times. Add the almond butter and then press go on the processor and let it work like hell. 

Let it run for about a minute and a thick dough should start to form. 

Test the mixture for consistency. The dough should hold together when you pinch it (like cookie dough). If its too crumbly, add a teaspoon of water and let the processor run like hell again. I ended up having to use 2 tsps of water, but it depends on how oily your almond butter is. 

Once doughy consistency is reached, pulse in the chocolate chips until well combined. 

Roll dough into balls, slightly smaller than a golf ball. Coat them in the remaining 1/4 cup of coconut. Place uncovered in freezer for 35-40 minutes.

Enjoy!

When you fall off the wagon, it may also run you over.

Ouch.

So. I just returned from a whirlwind work trip to Seattle. While, I managed to plan meals for 35 hungry college students with a variety of food allergies, I most definitely left myself out of that equation. whoops.

Sometimes I try to convince myself that my own food sensitivities are all in my head. Unfortunately, my stomach begs to differ. So when my meals consisted of quad tall soy lattes, the occasional bagel with light cream cheese and a beer (or 2) for dessert, my stomach would be so kind as to sucker punch me as a reminder that coffee does not a breakfast make, dairy is not my friend and I really shouldn't hang out with those gluten kids so much.

My body is kind of angry.

So my return home this week to my little safe-haven of a kitchen has been delightful. I took Tuesday off as a recovery day (You spend the weekend chaperoning a choir trip and see if you make it into work the next day...)
With this free day, I took my time getting out of bed, making breakfast, walking the dog, showering, doing dishes,really  doing anything productive  but with laziness came greatness in breakfast form.
Savory pumpkin pancakes, baked kale, and peppered turkey bacon.

The pumpkin pancakes are inspired by another recipe on interwebs, that I have lost.  So no this is not my original work, but yes I made it better. BAM. These are not by any means sweet, but they'd be delicious with honey or maple syrup. I just like how pumpkinny they are.
I threw some kale in the oven while making these pancakes and that made everything all the better.


Savory Pumpkin Pancakes (GF, Paleo-esque)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree (make sure it's NOT pie filling)
• 6 eggs
• 3 tbls coconut milk
• 1 tbl oil (coconut if you have it, I used olive because thats what my pantry gave me.)
• 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp honey (optional)

In a small bowl, sift together coconut flour, baking soda, salt and spices. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, coconut milk, pumpkin puree and vinegar till smooth. Add dry to wet, stirring well to fully incorporate. 

Spray a lovely skillet with some non-stick spray or oil and preheat over medium heat. 

Pour a quarter cup of batter into hot skillet. The batter is pretty thick, so  you'll have to use a spatula to spread the batter into a thin circle. These also don't bubble like normal pancakes, so watch carefully and flip over when the the edges start to brown. It takes 1-2 minutes per side, depending on thickness. 

Serve with greens and some ghee on top :)

tolerance is overrated or the revolution ceases, but the practice carries on

Sometimes I can't decide on a blog post title, so I make them irrationally long.

Bootycamp challenge ended last week and we sweated till we dropped in a final mountain climber challenge... and then we sweated some more.

Some before and after photos are currently posted on the Portland Fit Body Bootcamp facebook page and if you are looking to be inspired, look no further than to these amazing folks. All together, revolutioners lost more than 400 pounds. Amazing!

While I am super excited to buy new pants (smaller pants- I should clarify), the benefit of the challenge was more than shedding some unwanted pounds. I proved to myself that in spite of torn ligaments, flooding apartments, new found food allergies and anything else that was thrown my way, I could survive, if not thrive. My amazing bootcamp fambly, fabulous friends, and of course my own family, helped me through some crazy ish.

I now have the Wonder Years theme song stuck in my head... Have a little help from my friends...

Call me crazy, stubborn or just stupid, but I only took two weeks off class after I tore my ankle to shreds before I couldn't help but wake up at the ass crack of dawn to indulge in my 6 am power hour.
I am almost back up to speed (hey I held my own in the mountain climbers competition...)

While the revolution has ended, I've picked up some dietary habits that will probably not go away anytime soon. After the initial "AH WHAT DO I EAT ? THIS ISN'T VEGAN" freak out, I have really enjoyed the Whole30 (44) challenge. I appreciate the emphasis on whole foods and going back to basics.
And I feel so much better.
I have energy, I feel happy, I sleep. I don't need 40 cups of coffee a day (just the 3.5). I haven't been sick with a cold or flu since Christmas, a record indeed. And trips to the doctor and ER are now due only to clumsiness, rather than unexplained stomach cramps and vomiting.

I started eating fish and eggs around Christmas, and two months later, in preparation for some fancy solo valentines day dinner, I found myself skinning and boning a chicken.  

Boning. Not my activity of choice. Wait. Well....

Never mind.

I'm sure my poor mother is horribly confused, I don't blame her. We've been having the same "so what do you eat" conversation for years. Its been a variation of "if it has a face, I don't eat it..." and "dairy will kill me" ( flair for the dramatic much? )


But now, while dairy will still wreak havoc on my tummy,  my former grain and bean friends are also stirring up trouble, as my lovely doctor explained to me. Not by any means celiac or gluten intolerant, just sensitive. Awesome. I'm sensitive. Neat.  



In spite of this softer hallmark side of Liz of new found sensitivities, I suppose my mantra hasn't changed all that much. Moderation in all things, know what you're eating and where it comes from, processed foods suck. etc. etc. I'm just avoiding titles like lacto-pesca-ovo-vegfoodatarian.

So what do I eat?

Organic and local fruits, vegetables, white meat and seafood. Please see this glimpse of Portland Reality to understand.

But let me translate...

Food!