Beans, beans, the musical fruit...

Now that I've got your attention with the title of this post I will go no further with that little childhood ditty. Beans often get a bad rap for causing digestion discomfort, but they provide a hefty nutritional punch.

Guiltless Mac N 'Cheese

I posted on my facebook page asking my readers what they want to see more of on the blog. One gal responded with wanting more recipes that are quick,easy, and sneaks in veggies so the unsuspecting kiddos will eat it. I have had this recipe in my kitchen for two years now and we all love it. I usually use roasted butternut squash, but to save time you can use jarred baby food in its place. If you want to add more protein you could toss in cubed cooked chicken. It is also yummy to add sauteed spinach and mushrooms.

Cherry Crisp & Sur La Table Cherry Pitter

A few weeks ago Whole Foods had a great sale on cherries $1.99 a pound! So I bought over 5 pounds of cherries. In fact I still have some in the fridge. I also bought a Sur La Table Cherry Pitter. It is now added to my collection of odd, but useful kitchen tools that I use maybe every 3 months, but of course are absolutely necessary; or so I tell my husband. I would give this pitter 4 stars. It is easy to use,pits four cherries at a time and can accommodate large or small cherries to pit. The pits are collected in a slot at the bottom of the pitter so you don't have pits rolling all over the place. However, for every dozen cherries I pit I have 2-3 cherries with the pits hanging on the outside of the cherry by a string. I almost cracked a crown! So I inspect each cherry after pitting. It is easy to clean and if you are in the mood for a martini it can even pit olives.

Orange Quinoa Salad

Quinoa pronounced "keen-waah" was one of the first new foods I tried when I started eating a clean whole foods diet. Now that I follow a gluten free diet it sits center stage as a go to grain and side for several meals a week. Most brand's require you to pre-rinse in cold water and drain your quinoa before cooking to rid it of its bitter taste. I use Nature's Earthly Choice  Organic Quinoa which I purchase at Costco and it requires no rinsing. This little seed was a staple to the ancient Incas and was called the "mother grain." 

Streusel Topped Blueberry Muffins (gluten free, dairy free)

 I am upon the 1 year anniversary of living a gluten free life style. It is almost impossible to believe. This year has been an incredible amout of trial,error,learning, and more error. I have been "glutened" by myself or by another party on accident a handful of painful times. The first gluten free blog I started reading after learning my plight was The Gluten Free Girl. She is a fabulous writer and describes some gluten free foods "as more a texture than a taste." My first trip to Whole Foods to explore the world of gluten free gourmet was a sad disappointment as far as finding substitutes for my beloved ezekiel bread, muffins,bagels, & cereal. I found a lot of the packaged products to be loaded with sugar, starches, and carbs. I ended up leaving the store with just produce, some various protein sources, and quinoa. Thus began my quest to discover and create delicious, wholesome gluten free foods. I kept getting good reports and thumbs up for the gluten free fair that I was creating in my kitchen and this blog was born.
Today's recipe is a celebration of this milestone; it will literally be a party in your mouth. This muffin is light, fluffy, has a delicate crumb topping, and is moist. Did I mention it is gluten free? If you've thrown in the towel with gluten free baking give this recipe a go. Let me know what you think!

Streusel Topped Blueberry Muffins (gluten free, dairy free)

Muffins

1 cup of brown rice flour ( I use Bob's Red Mill)

1/2 cup of potato starch (I use Bob's Red Mill)

1/2 cup of blanched almond flour ( I use Honeyville Farms)

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 cup Blonde Palm Sugar

1 TBS baking powder

1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 cup of blueberries, defrosted if using frozen

1/4 cup of chopped walnuts

1/3 cup refined coconut oil melted

1 tsp of vanilla extract

2 eggs beaten

1 cup of cashew milk or coconut milk

Streusel Topping

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup Blonde Palm Sugar

2 TBS of brown rice flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1&1/2 TBS refined coconut oil melted

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a muffin tin well. I use a food grade rubber silicon muffin tray and lay it on top of a regular steel muffin tin to give it support. I grease it well and my muffins come out easily once cooled.

Prepare streusel by mixing all the ingredients for topping in a bowl mixture should be course and moist, but not wet. Set aside. Mix brown rice flour through sea salt in a large mixing bowl with whisk. Place blueberries in a separate bowl and add 1 TBS of flour mixture to the berries and toss. This keeps the berries from sinking in the batter.

In a third bowl mix oil, vanilla, eggs and milk then pour into dry flour mixture and stir well to combine then add in berries. Load muffin tray with batter and top with streusel topping. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and test with a toothpick in your biggest muffin; if it comes out clean they are done!

Today's Workout Blip:

Today's workout from my Get in Shape Girl Bikini Plan worked shoulders and triceps plus I did my 35 minute step mill workout. The funniest and one of the challenging exercises from today was crab taps. I lost my balance several times and had to perform 20 reps for 3 sets each. Here is a demo below from you tube.

Let's Connect!

You can now follow me on pinterest  and twitter @LeanGourmet. Also on the sidebar of the blog you can sign up to have the blog emailed to you. I have a facebook page too!

Until next time stay strong and carry on!

Brooklynn

Chic Chick Peas

The humble chick pea or garbanzo bean has become a real staple in my gluten free diet. According to Nutritiondata.com just 1 cup of cooked chick peas has 15 grams of protein, 12 grams of fiber, no saturated fat, and provides 26% of your daily value of iron! These legumes have class. I had never had chick peas or hummus until college. Rich and I used to eat at this little hole in the wall place called The Mediterranean Deli and Bakery in West Palm Beach, Fl. They have the best middle eastern food in the city! One of my favorite dishes there is the chickpea salad and they make their own hummus which is to die for.
I started roasting chickpeas this past winner to have as a protein snack. I also enjoy  them on top of salads, soups, and stews. It is a great grab and go snack!

Roasted Chick Peas

4 cups of cooked chick peas ( learn how to make them from dried beans here)
2 TBS grapeseed or olive oil
1 tsp of sea salt
2 tsp of ground fancy paprika

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed backing tray with parchment paper. Mix all your ingredients in a large mixing bowl then spread the chick peas on top of the parchment lined baking tray. Spread the peas out evenly so they're not crowding each other. Now depending on how crunchy you want your peas to be you will roasting them 30 minutes to 1 hour. Be sure to turn the peas with a spatula every 15 minutes and watch that they do not burn. Burnt chick peas can crack your teeth and are impossible to eat.

Don't my Chick Peas look so Chic in my Weck Jar?

Today's Workout Blip:

Today I had a sense of power as I hit the gym. I am on week 4 of my  Get in Shape Girl Bikini Plan. This is the longest I've stuck with an outlined plan and am thrilled with the results thus far. When I posted last Monday about my Chest/Back workout I mentioned that I really wanted to go for it with my decline pushups this week. I did! I maxed out at 30 reps circuit 1, 25 reps circuit 2, and collapsed at 27 reps on round 3. I also ramped up my burpees. I decided to do my second and third sets of burpees on one leg! I posted a video below of what it looked sans the sandbag the  trainer is jumping over. Give it a whirl!  For today's cardio I performed the prescribed 22 minutes of high intensity interval training (HIIT). HIIT has intervals of low intensity and high intensity work periods. For example I did 5 minutes of warmup and  cool down at the end of my HIIT on the treadmill and sandwiched in between that was were 1 minute periods of sprinting followed by 1.5 minutes of jogging. Here is a HIIT workout you can try. You repeat  the  high and low intensity intervals back to back then cool down with a light jog. One of my dear girlfriends wants to know exactly what my workouts look like. I am sorry to say that I can not divulge that info on this blog as I had to pay for my plan and that would do a disservice to my lovely virtrual trainer Kyra. However, I will continue to share snippets of exercises and if I perform a workout or circuit that I create on my own I will post it. 

Let's Connect!

You can now follow me on pinterest  and twitter @LeanGourmet. Also on the sidebar of the blog you can sign up to have the blog emailed to you. I have a facebook page too!

Until next time stay strong and carry on!

Brooklynn

Mango BBQ Sauce and Elliptical Incline workout

Fourth of July is right around the corner. Can you believe it?! Uh the smell of barbeque is floating through your mind now. Luckily today I’m bringing you a new BBQ sauce recipe you can try out this year. Yes, you can make your own home-made BBQ sauce and this recipe is gluten free and incorporates mango! Stay with me here. This time of year the mango trees in S. Florida are loaded with fruit and mango give this sauce a unique natural sweetness. This sauce is sweet, a bit spicy (my friends will gasp because I have an aversion to spicy stuff), and a little lip smacking kick. We had this sauce with chicken on gluten free hamburger buns (recipe from Celiac Vegan) with green beans as a side for dinner tonight. This sauce could be used for more than just chicken. Think BBQ ribs, BBQ pizza, pulled pork tender loin; go crazy and let me know what you eat this sauce with! Tip: this sauce can be made ahead of time and I do recommend that; who wants to be a slave to the kitchen on 7-4-12? This sauce should last several months in the fridge or you can cool it then pack in zip lock freezer bags and freeze for up to a year.

Gluten Free Mango Barbecue Sauce  

Mango sauce in a Weck Canning Jar

1 TBS of Olive oil

1 medium onion chopped

½ tsp garlic powder

1 mango

17.6 oz tomato sauce (I use Pomi)

1 cup of water

¼ cup light amber agave

¼ cup molasses

¼ cup organic apple cider vinegar

2 TBS fresh lemon juice

1 tsp of sea salt & ground pepper

Sauté onion, garlic, and mango in oil until soft in a sauce pot. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil then simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely. Send that sauce for a whirl in your blender , food processor, or my personal favorite Blendtec mixer until smooth and saucy! 

To add a bit of humor to today's post everytime I think of Mangos I recollect this little skit from SNL of JLO and Mango.

Anniversary Chili and week 1 recap of new workout plan

Today is my 5 year wedding anniversaryJ Today’s recipe is one of my husband’s favorites and it is a good time-crunch crockpot recipe. I promise I do cook, but alas I’m putting in some over time at the pharmacy tonight so crockpot anniversary chili it is!

When we were still friends in undergrad my husband, Rich, invited me over for some of his special “chili.” I made a batch of corn bread and headed over to his college apartment.  Rich’s chili consisted of fried cut up hot dogs, a couple cans of Hormel chili, and the Lord knows what else. I smiled and said “This looks great,” and forced myself a couple of spoonfuls. I only ate half the bowl and told the poor guy I was stuffed.  Come on you wouldn’t be honest either?! I only admitted how awful this concoction was after we were married and we still laugh about it. Today’s recipe is a far cry from my beau’s and its gluten free and clean. Enjoy!

Anniversary Chili

2 tsp cumin

½ tsp sea salt

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp dried mustard

1 tsp  dried coriander powder

1TBS cacao powder

1TBS turbinado sugar

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

½ onion chopped

2 garlic cloves minced

1.25 lbs lean ground turkey

1TBS olive oil

2 cups of cooked beans ( black/red/kidney/ chick peas- I sometimes use a variety together)

26 ounce Pomi strained tomatoes or 24 oz Flora strained tomatoes (BPA free/Gluten Free)

1.       Heat oil in skillet. Add turkey, garlic, and onion.  Sauté until turkey is cooked through. Then place in crock-pot.

2.       Add all remaining ingredients into crock pot and give it a good stir. Be careful not to spillJ

3.       Cook on low setting 8 hours.

4.       We top ours with a dollop of low fat greek yogurt with a sprinkling of cumin and chopped avocado.

Workout Blip Update

As of today following my Bikini plan designed by the get in shape girl I am down 3lbs! I have more energy, am sleeping like a baby, and have kicked that bloated water logged feeling. 

This week I was forced to try new dynamic stretching and warming up along with cool down stretching. I always rush through my workouts and loved how I was forced to slow down and enjoy the whole work out process from start to finish. I’ve upped my cardio training.  To be honest I hate gym cardio machines with a passion. I much prefer spin classes or running in the beautiful Florida sunshine. I did stick to my cardio program 80%; I skipped a 30 minute max 70%Hr session and my step mill workout ( I have a huge fear of those machines and my knee flared up within a minute of being on the darn thing.)

All in all this week took planning and prepping and the help of a loving spouse, but I made it through despite having to close the pharmacy 4 nights this week and working some overtime.  Keep strong and carry on! I included my picture (gotta love gym locker room shots) from this morning. Please ignore the not so great hair.