Domesticity and Quinoa Muffins

I do not like to clean but I like to bake. In particular, I like to bake on the weekends when it provides me a domestic outlet that does not involve scrubbing a tub or mopping a floor. I can feel good about doing something for my children that falls under the category of 'happy childhood memories with a 1950s stay-at-home mom' without getting out a vacuum.

This weekend one of the baking adventures involved developing a Quinoa Muffin Recipe. I fell in love with these, so much so that I should probably not make them again. I think I ate 3 when they came out of the oven and another 5 the following day.

Now, if you haven't joined the quinoa band wagon, you should consider adding it to your diet. Quinoa offers a complete protein, meaning it contains all 9 essential nutrients. It is also a good source of magnesium, manganese, folate, and phosphorus.

On with the recipe...

Yield: 12 normal-sized muffins or 18 small muffins

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked quinoa
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup safflower oil
1/4 cup palm sugar (or other sugar)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup milk (I used 1% but use what you prefer)
1 large egg
1 tbsp vanilla extract


Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and prepare muffin tins. If using silicone you wont need to oil or use paper.
2. Mix wet ingredients in one bowl and dry ingredients in another.
3. Mix wet and dry ingredients together.
4. Pour into prepared muffin tins.
5. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes. For 18 small muffins, it takes 22 minutes in my oven.

People Who Build Your Character: What To Do About Them

I think most of us have at least one person in our lives that could be described as character building. I know I do, and if you don’t, well count yourself lucky.

That said, I find the most brilliant way to keep myself from wanting to throw things – I say wanting to throw things because although I would never actually throw something at anyone I also don’t even want to feel like throwing anything – is regular exercise.

There are a whole host of reasons why you should consider physical exercise, including positive changes in self-perception and well being, an improvement in your self-confidence, a positive change in your mood, less tension, less anxiety, and just a general state of mental well-being.  Although I am certainly no scientist, there is significant research out there that shows this to be true AND I have experienced it for myself.

But why? Well, evidently, when we exercise our brain releases endorphins into our blood stream. The endorphins act in the same way as morphine (in fact the word endorphin is derived from the words endogenous and morphine). I don’t know about you but I think a brilliant way to deal with my issues includes a perfectly safe and legal drug courtesy of my brain.

Happy Sunday

It is Sunday afternoon and you really want a little bit of a special snack to lounge with while the kids nap… ok so now you know what I want on a Sunday afternoon. I have, however, solved my problem, without killing my nutrition plan. Welcome a yummy mocha latte and no-bake protein bars.

Let’s start with the protein bars because you have to stick them in the freezer for a half-hour to get them to really set.

No Bake Protein Bars 

Ingredients:

•  1 ¾ cups rolled oats (seriously people just stop buying the quick oats)
•  ½ heaping cup natural nut butter of choice (I used peanut butter but I am thinking cashew butter would be AMAZING)
•  4 scoops natural whey protein powder (I usually avoid the flavored stuff – too much garbage rolled in there)
• 1 tbsp of flax seed (because flax can really go in anything)
• ½ cup water
• 2 tbsp of agave nectar or raw hunny (we were reading Winnie the Pooh last night so that was an intentional typo)

Instructions

1. Put everything in a bowl, wash your hands, and mix it up with your clean hands.
2. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper, press the dough into the pan.
3. Pop the pan in the freezer for a half hour, remove and cut into 6 squares.

Ok, so now that we have our protein bars done, let’s move on to the latte. If you don’t know me well, you may not understand how strongly I feel about good coffee. It is kind of a love affair that coffee and I have going on and because it is such a strong relationship I try to limit my exposure to two cups a day. However, today is Sunday and we are going to town with a third afternoon cup so let’s make this mocha latte. 

Mocha Latte

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp ground coffee
• 1 tbsp cocoa
• ½ tsp vanilla
• ½ cup milk of choice

Instructions:

1. Put the first two ingredients in your French Press (if you don’t have a French press you could use a Melita).
2. Fill the French Press half way up with hot water, then add the vanilla.
3. While waiting for the coffee to brew, heat your milk. I chose the easy method of the microwave with a follow-up of my hand foamer. However, you could also heat your milk on the stove and whisk like crazy.
4. Add the milk to the coffee (in a cup, not the French Press – I do not drink straight from my French Press even with my extreme love of coffee). 

Now settle yourself down, enjoy, and if you children are awake by now put on a DVD – something educational so you can feel good about taking a break. Voila, Happy Sunday!!! 

Baby Boy Banana Muffins

These muffins are named after my son's extreme love for them. They are really quite healthy Enjoy.

Ingredients:
4 mashed ripe bananas
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/8 cup wheat bran or wheat germ
1/8 cup hulled flax seed (you can just leave this out if you don't have any and use wheat germ/bran instead)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1/4 cup agave nectar or raw honey
1/4 safflower oil
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling!)
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

Instructions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350. Prepare 12 muffin tins either with cooking spray or line with paper.
2. Combine all dry ingredients in one bowl.
3. Combine all wet ingredients in another bowl.
4. Mix all ingredients together.
5. Pour into muffin tins and bake for about 30 minutes (mine work out perfect in 28 minutes).

Beautiful, Not Broken

Everyday on my way to work I walk by a large photo of Marilyn Monroe hanging in the window of a hair salon. The other day, as I noticed how beautiful this Hollywood icon appeared in her photo, I couldn’t help but remember that she was evidently far from happy. Of course, I am no expert on the life of Marilyn Monroe, but that doesn’t really matter. My point is that, although this woman was a superstar and has remained an icon in the psyche of popular culture she appears to have been a terribly unhappy person who had a number of broken marriages, no children and a dependency on prescription drugs. I think her life provides a clear illustration: your character and your relationships are what really matter. No matter how beautiful you are it isn’t your appearance that will make you happy.

I know we all hear it, but you really wont find your life’s satisfaction in perfecting your body. As you work to improve anything in life, you need to do it from a place where you know you are just as valuable today as you will be when you have lost 10 pounds or gained some muscle or run a marathon. Losing weight or accomplishing a goal is important but it cannot be the source of your happiness. So as you move into the new year and you potentially think about setting some goals for yourself, be reminded that you want to be beautiful not broken – set your sights on creating a character that is as beautiful as you are on the outside. Use your nutrition and exercise goals to support healthy relationships and a lifestyle that inspires other to create a better life for themselves.  

Oatmeal to Go Breakfast Cookies

These are my favourite thing in the world to make. I love this recipe so much that I have had to limit my making them, or as in the case of this weekend, plan on giving most of them away. I am bringing these to work on Monday (yep, back to work after a whole year off on maternity leave). I tend to eat them for two or three meals a day when I have them on hand, which isn't the most balanced approach to life so I will pawn off the delicious healthy 'cookies' on others. These cookies freeze really well so whip up a batch, throw 'em in the freezer, and you will be ready to grab one when you need a healthier snack on the go instead of some sugar and saturated fat filled store bought bar (yuck).

The recipe is modified from one in Tosca Reno's 'Eat Clean Diet Recharged' book (if you haven't figured it out yet, I love Tosca!).


EC Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

1 1/3 Cup Safflower Oil or Light Olive Oil (or any 'healthier' oil, buy organic cold pressed if you can)
1 1/3 Cup Unsweetened Applesauce
1.5 cups Sucanat, Palm Sugar or other healthy sugar
4 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
1 ½ tsp salt
8 cups rolled oats
2 cups whole wheat or 12-grain flour
1 cup wheat germ or flax or a combination of both (if you don't have wheat germ or flax just use flour)
1 cup plain whey protein powder (if you don't have protein powder just use flour)
8 oz raisins (optional)
8 oz chopped walnuts (optional)

* If you really want to get crazy, add 8 oz of smashed up 80% cocoa dark chocolate - this will be the addition for my coworkers*

Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Cream the oil, applesauce and sugar together in large bowl until smooth. Beat in eggs, vanilla and sea salt. Use a large wooden spoon or clean hands to work in flour and oats. Add raisins and walnuts (or chocolate) if desired and mix until evenly distributed. Shape the dough into large 3-inch balls and press into 5 or 6 inch flat cookies on baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes or until as brown as you desire. Cool on wire racks.
Makes 24 very large cookies.

Five Things

Today I thought I would share a random assortment of information and tips with you, just things I think everyone should know:

1. Crunches - You would have to do about 250,000 crunches to lose 1 pound of fat. You will never have ab definition by relying on crunches. The key to abs surrounds is your diet. You need to eat clean – for more info on this check out Tosca Reno’s books if you haven’t already.
2. Fitness Models - Also related to those coveted abs (particularly for women) 99.9% of fitness models on magazine covers diets down before a shoot.That fabulous body does not look like that 365 days a year. Although, I am no fitness model, I will use myself as an example here. I intentionally gained about 8 pounds after my fitness show earlier this month. Why? It wouldn’t be healthy for me to maintain a body fat percentage that low AND I was water depleted the day of the competition. I was down about 3-4 pounds of water weight! I am learning to be happy without the level of muscle definition I had a few weeks ago and recognize that magazines are not a reflection of reality (which I can forget sometimes).
3. Lifting weights – if you are female, under no circumstances will you look like a body builder if you lift weights. You do not have the testosterone required to build bulky muscle. Muscle on women only makes them ‘tighter’ and ‘leaner’. Also, as a bonus, resting muscle burns more calories than resting fat which means you get to eat more. I don’t know about you but I would like to be able to eat extra food every day. I like food. I eat six meals a day and I love it!
4. The scale – The scale can be evil. Do not rely on your weight to tell you what you look like. Have you ever walked up to someone on the street and said “Excuse me, what do you weigh?”. A number means very little, especially if you have a significant amount of muscle. For instance I know a woman who is almost 4 inches shorter than I am and weighs the same as I do (140 pounds – yep I just revealed my weight – shock and big gasp haha). Guess who looks “better”? She does - She has a lot of lean muscle and a lower body fat percentage. Instead of relying on the scale, take before and after pictures, measurements, body fat percentage, the fit of your clothes, and most importantly how you feel as an indication of your progress.
5. Planning and Preparation - These are the keys to almost all success in life, and particularly in terms of health and fitness. If you want to succeed you need to plan your meals and your workouts. Prepare healthy food on the weekends so you have something nutritious to grab when things are going crazy. I like to throw a bunch of chicken breasts on the foreman grill so I can chop and add them to any meal. Get your workout clothes out the night before so all you can do when you roll out of bed is put them on. My running shoes are literally beside my bed when I go to sleep at night. My morning routine looks like this: Get up; make coffee and grab a quinoa pancake from the freezer; drink coffee and eat pancake; work out. Make exercising a non-negotiable habit and healthy food all that is easy to grab in your house.

Ok, I think that sums up my little rant of the day. Big hugs and support to everyone keeping it healthy through the holiday season.