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Sugar-Free Me!

Posted on February 1, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

Welcome to February everybody! We’re one month closer to warmer weather!

I guess you guys might be wondering about the title of today’s post. Well, it just so happens that I made a commitment of sorts last night just before midnight. I was “trying” to catch up on some blog reading (I hate my late weeks at work…I get so behind!) when I caught Kayla’s latest post over at Little Miss Healthify and I saw that she was gearing up for another Sugar-Free Week. She is dedicating the first seven days of every month to sugar-free eats! Although I’m not a huge sugar addict, I felt like this would be a good chance for me to start taking notice of the added sugar I do have in my diet and challenge myself to find alternatives for those foods. Plus, I’m always up for a good challenge!

So, for the next seven days, consider me a Sugar-~~Plum~~ Free ~~Fairy~~ chick!

Oh, and just for the record, I did what any self-respecting person would do who just made a vow to go completely sugar-free for a whole week and had one last tofu brownie at 11:55pm before freezing the rest! C’mon, you know you’d do the same!

I don’t usually have any problems making a sugar-free breakfast unless it’s Pancake Sunday or I get a hankering for some Crunchy French Toast, but today I thought I’d sweeten it up a bit (naturally of course) in the name of the first day of my self-challenge!

“Grilled” Banana Bread Oats: (serves 1)

1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup oatbran
1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup cottage cheese stirred in at the end

As you can see, I repeated the KERF inspired oats from yesterday. I am totally loving the texture and flavor of these WITHOUT adding banana! Plus it let me be more creative with my banana ~~addiction~~ addition! Yeah, that’s what I meant…addition! 😉

I topped my thick and creamy bowl of oats with grilled banana slices that I just heated in a GREASED skillet over medium heat until brown on each side and then a small handful of walnuts. Ta-da, instant banana bread in a bowl!

During the course of the day, I made sure to check food labels for added sugars before I decided to eat. I’ve never really thought about how easily added sugar can sneak its way into certain foods. It’s really an eye-opener to see that some of my favorite foods have added sugar and I never even realized (i.e. sliced bread, bagel thins, and my jar of chipotle pumpkin salsa).

For dinner tonight, I was tired and really didn’t want to put in much effort so I dug into my freezer and found these:

I bought these Black Bean & Cheese Taquitos from Trader Joe’s months ago, and figured tonight would be the best night to try them out. I love that they’re all natural with no preservatives, artificial colors or flavors and they have a great ingredient list!

Ingredients: Tortilla (corn, water, lime), black beans (black beans, water, onion, garlic), mushrooms, jack cheese (cultured pasteurized milk, salt, enzymes), jalapeno peppers, spices. Canola oil used for frying.

I popped these babies in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes to brown up. While I was waiting, I whipped up a guacamole dip with a little twist.

Smoky Chipotle Guacamole:

1/2 medium avocado
1/2 cup white beans
1 medium clove of garlic (finely minced)*
1 teaspoon adobo sauce from a can of chipotle peppers
a tiny splash of Liquid Smoke
juice from 1/2 a lime
salt & pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mash with a fork until creamy. Top with Mrs. Dash Southwestern Chipotle Seasoning.

*Tip* When mixing fresh garlic into a dip, I dice it finely and then add a pinch of coarse salt and a few drops of olive oil and use the side of my knife blade to grind the garlic into the cutting board. You end up with a garlic paste and no big bits of garlic to surprise you in your dip!

I also heated up 1/2 cup cooked brown rice from yesterday’s dinner mixed with 1/4 cup of all natural salsa. And finally…it was dinnertime!

Mmm, mmm, mmm! It felt like I had hopped in the car and driven to the nearest Mexican restaurant…minus the oil laden dishes and hints of MSG! 😉

All in all I think Sugar-Free Week is off to a good start! Just don’t remind me that the end of this week falls on Superbowl Sunday! Quick, I need sugar-free dessert ideas!

Do you think you eat too much sugar? Could you commit to seven days without it?

Posted in Apps & Sides, Breakfast, Entree, Vegetarian | Tagged bananas, Mexican, oats | 36 Comments

One Down, Eleven to Go!

Posted on January 31, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

Hello hello and Happy Monday!

I had so much fun reading over all the comments from yesterday! You guys have some incredibly tasty ideas for brownie sundaes!

The brownie love continued into this morning with my lovely bowl of KERF inspired oats! Wanna see? Sure you do!

KERF Oats ala Coconut Brownie:

1/4 cup oats
1/4 cup oatbran
1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons dried cranberries
1/4 cup cottage cheese (stirred in at the end)

Bottomed and topped (you liked that didn’t you?) with one tofu brownie and a sprinkle of unsweetened shredded coconut!

I didn’t have to DRAG myself into work today like I normally do on Mondays. I had a great lower body workout first thing in the morning that energized me all day long! I don’t usually care for early morning workouts since I feel like I’m still asleep halfway through, but for the first time in a long time I got a really good night’s sleep and had no trouble getting up when the alarm went off at 5:30! Plus, I knew that a brownie oatmeal bowl was in my near future! 😉

Even after trying to think of what to make for dinner practically all day long, when I got home from work, I still didn’t know what I wanted to fix. I opened up the fridge and noticed I had a can of white beans left over from making Erika’s White Chicken Chili (I’m a dork and opened two cans when I only needed one for the half recipe I was making! Oops!). Then, I had an old pal told me exactly what to eat for dinner. You may know him…goes my the name of Google! That’s it…no last name…kinda like Madonna! He’s cool like that!

Well, obviously Google knows me a bit more than I thought (stalker-ish maybe?) and directed me to one of my favorite blogs for delicious and easy recipes, 101 Cookbooks! After oogling at the food porn for a couple of minutes and realizing that I was MUCH too hungry to wait a half an hour for dinner, I came up with a little sumthin’ sumthin’ on my own!

Smoky Chipotle Beans & Rice: (serves 2)
Inspired by Heidi’s Giant Chipotle White Beans Recipe

1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup diced onion
1 cup cooked white beans (I used canned)
1/2 cup diced tomatoes (I used canned)
1 teaspoon adobo sauce from a can of chipotle peppers
1/2 cup Mama Pea’s Smoky Chipotle Zucchini Hummus (Hey, why not, the stuff is awesome!)
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 cup cooked rice (I used TJ’s Fully Cooked Brown Rice)
Sautéed greens with a dash of red pepper flakes (I’m out so I winged it and threw some bok choy in there!)

1. Sautee garlic and onion in oil over medium-high heat until browned.
2. Add beans, tomatoes, adobo, hummus, and spices. Turn heat down to a simmer and allow to flavors to meld (about 4-5 minutes).

Heidi’s Cilantro Pesto:

1 medium clove of garlic
1/3 cup fresh cilantro
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
pinch of salt

Please insert Tim Allen’s man grunt here!

Since it’s officially the end of the first month of the year, I thought I’d share with you guys how I’ve been doing on my New Year’s Intentions.

1. Drink at least 64 ounces of water every day
I’m doing really well with this one, especially since my love for hot teas has developed into a near obsession! There has only been a couple of days where I’ve slacked on the “waterfront”.

2. Eat at least one serving of fish high in omega 3’s once a week
I’ve done this one EVERY week, and 2 servings in a week the last two weeks!

3. Get 7-8 hours of sleep each night
Um, yeah…I’m working on it. Most nights it’s still around 6 1/2 🙁

4. Try out one recipe a month that challenges my knowledge in the kitchen
Bread, Bread, BREAD! Though it wasn’t really as “challenging” as I thought, but I did get over my fear of yeast!

5. Read one book a month
Well, I STARTED one, but then I got bored with it. Looking for a new one!

6. Do 30-60 minutes of physical activity every day
In the last four weeks, I’ve maybe had 2 days of inactivity and I feel great! Thank you Team HEAB! I honestly could not have kept up the motivation had it not been for the accountability aspect of being a part of a team!

7. And last but definitely not least, reconnect with family and friends, more phone calls and more visits this year!
Definitely making progress with this one. I am proud to say that a whole week has not gone by without me talking to my mama! Hi mom! Love you!

For those of you that have New Year’s Resolutions/Goals/Intentions…how have you been doing?

Posted in Breakfast, Entree, Vegetarian | Tagged beans, bread, chocolate, coconut, cranberries, greens, hummus, oat bran, oats, smoked paprika | 29 Comments

A Chocolate Covered Sunday

Posted on January 30, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

Hello faithful readers, newbies, and lurkers! How was your Sunday?

We had another day of BEA-Utiful weather! I think the temperature got up to 58 degrees! I went with a friend and her pooch to one of our local walking trails and walked for four miles. It’s been a while since we’ve hung out so it was great to finally catch up.

I couldn’t believe how crowded it was at the park. The whole parking lot was full and people were parking on the grass and up the side of the road that enters into the park. I guess everybody wanted to take advantage of this “taste of Spring” before the snow bears its ugly head again. Yes, you heard me right…they’re calling for snow AGAIN on Tuesday! Will Winter ever end?!

Before my ~~frolicking~~ walk in the sunshine, I started the day out right…with some pancakes of course! I woke up this morning with brownie on the brain which meant there was only one option for pancakes…CHOCOLATE!

Chocolate Pancakes with Honey Peanut Sauce: (serves 1)

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup chocolate almond milk
1/4 cup egg substitute (I used Egg Beaters)
1 tablespoon natural applesauce
1 tablespoon cocoa
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
sweetener to taste (I used about 4 drops of vanilla stevia)
1 oz dark chocolate bar, chopped into bits

1. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.
2. Pour batter into a greased skillet over medium heat (I made 3 medium-sized cakes)
3. Cook pancakes until the edges start to pull away from the skillet (about 4-5 minutes) and then flip and cook an additional 2-3 minutes.

Honey Peanut Sauce:

2 tablespoons peanut flour
1/2 tablespoon honey
unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or you could use water) until thinned to your desired consistency

Ok, so maybe I added a little more honey! 😉

After my walk, I came home with an appetite! I couldn’t help but think back to yesterday’s mouth-watering lunch, but I couldn’t bore you guys with the same thing as yesterday, so…I made a “deconstructed” panini!

My “deconstructed” panini bowl consisted of 1/2 cup quinoa mixed with 1/2 cup diced tomatoes and a HUGE handful of spinach…ok, maybe 2 handfuls, Mama Pea’s Smoky Chipotle Zucchini Hummus and topped with crushed Red Hot Blues tortilla chips and smoked paprika!