Goodbye Granola

If you've seen The Devil Wears Prada (see 0:44), then you have some idea of what my life is like here in New York. This morning I found myself running for the bus with my over-full gym/lunch bag in one hand, my purse over my other arm, trying to answer a text massage from my boss, all in one of my best dresses. Thankfully this was sans high heels, which I keep a collection of under my desk. The montage of Andy running around loaded down with bags and boxes ran through my head. And my first task when the boss got in? Make lunch reservations, at two restaurants, for his very important customer. *sigh* If only I got all those clothes, too.

Good thing I had this for breakfast to get me going.

Lately I've been making my own granola bars, so that I could tailor them to my specific desires, increase the protein and cut down on the sugar. My mother used to make granola with oatmeal and wheat germ, and I found that quinoa flakes and flax meal make very good substitutes. These recipes still need a little tinkering, but I present them to you as a starting point.

Raw Granola Bar

1/2 cup- Pumpkin seeds
1 cup- dried cherries
2 cup- quinoa flakes
2 cup- Mesa Sunrise or other GF cereal
1/4 cup- flax meal
1/2 cup- peanut butter (or other nut butter)
3/4 cup- agave syrup or honey
1 tsp- vanilla extract (GF)
Cinnamon
Sea Salt
6 tbsp- NutriBiotic protein powder (optional)

In a small microwave safe bowl, or on the stove, heat the nut butter, agave and vanilla and stir until well mixed.

In a separate bowl mix all the dry ingredients well.

Pour agave nut butter mixture over the dry ingredients and stir until everything is well coated.

line a baking sheet or cake pan with wax paper. Press the granola mixtures into the pan using a wet spatula or a second sheet of wax paper on top. Place pan in freezer for several hours or over night.

Cut granola bars and keep refrigerated.

*Note: This batch came out a bit too moist. They were great straight from the freezer or fridge, but lacked structural integrity when they warmed up, they could probably work just as well with much less agave

Baked Granola Bar

1 cup- pumpkin seeds
1 cup- dried cherries
1 cup- dried blueberries
2 cup- quinoa flakes
2 cup- Mesa Sunrise or other cereal
1/4 cup- flax meal
1/2 cup- peanut butter, or other nut butter
1/2 cup- agave syrup or honey
1 tsp- vanilla
10 tbsp- NutriBiotic protein powder
Cinnamon
Sea Salt
2- egg whites

Preheat oven to 250 F and line a baking pan with wax paper

In a microwave safe bowl, or pan on the stove, heat the agave, peanut butter and vanilla, stirring until well mixed.

In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients well.

Add the peanut butter mixture and egg whites, stirring until everything is well distributed.

Press into prepared pan.

Bake for about 30 min.

*Note: These were dry and fell apart easily, probably because I used to much protein powder.

Puffed Amaranth Bar

1 cup- amaranth
2 cup- quinoa flakes
1 cup- mixed nuts
2 cup- dried fruits
1/4 cup- flax meal
1/2 cup-peanut butter or other nut butter
1/2 cup- agave syrup
1 tsp- vanilla
Cinnamon
Sea Salt
4- egg whites

Preheat oven to 250F and line a baking pan with wax paper.

In a large sauce pan with a cover heat a little oil on the stove. Puff the amaranth in small amounts in a manner similar to popping popcorn. Don't worry if it seems like some of it burns.

Collect puffed amaranth and other dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.

In a microwave safe bowl, or in a pan on the stove, heat the peanut butter, agave and vanilla, stirring until well mixed.

Add the peanut butter mixture and egg whites to the dry ingredients. Stir until well mixed.

Press into baking sheet and bake for 30 min.

*Note: these were the most satisfying in terms of being like a store bought granola bar, but, in my opinion, much healthier.

Happy Father's Day

A belated Happy Father's Day to all you dad's out there. Although this post is late, I did call mine on time, and I also wished it to the three father's that I live with. My boyfriend and I had a very nice day together, although his son did not come to visit or call. I'll keep my mouth shut about that since it's really not my place.

For breakfast I made a new pancake recipe that I've been experimenting with. Ever since I first intorduced my boyfriend to pancakes he's had a growing appreciation for them. He even started having one for breakfast every morning. Since he was eating them and I wasn't it seemed sorta silly to spend so much money on a GF pancake mix. I got him a whole grain oat bran mix and made him those. Actually, I mixed the batter and taught him how to cook one for himself each morning.

Then, watching him enjoy his pancakes, sorta wishing I could at least have a bite, I had a little scare. I cooked his pancake for him, and then on a whim and without thinking a tossed a Van's toaster waffle into the same pan to toast. I didn't realize what I had done until after I'd eaten most of the waffle. Luckily, if I had a reaction it wasn't bad enough for me to really notice.

Between that and our mutual search for lower carb, higher protein, whole grain options I decided that my best bet was to try to make my own pancake concoction, where I had complete control over the ingredients. All the gluten free mixes had far to many carbs for his taste, and were too refined for mine. After several batches, which weren't bad at all I came up with these. Saturday morning I was told not to change this recipe, they were just right. He couldn't even wait to let me take a picture.

Without further ado, let me present the Teff Quinoa Pancake.
low in carbs, high in protein, and super yummy.

1/2c. Quinoa flour
1/2c. Teff flour
1 Tbsp. Flaxseed meal
1 tsp. baking soda
2Tbsp. NutriBiotic ruice protien powder
2 egg whites
1c. Milk

Blood Type Diet and Hamburgeusas de Tres Carnes

I have been gluten free for two years now and almost all of my symptoms have dissipated. Recently some of my skin issues began to reappear and despite all my time at the gym I was not seeing results. I began researching additional food intolerances and diets. While at Barnes & Noble with my boyfriend doing research into books of exercises for women and he found the Blood Type Diet by Dr. Peter D’Adamo and he decided to get it for me.

After reading the book, almost cover to cover, I found that a lot of what Dr. D’Adamo proposes makes an awful lot of sense to me, especially in terms of things that I have already figured out about my system and it’s reactions. The premise of the book, and the diets that are outlined in it, is that each blood type developed among a group of people that were living in a certain way; hunter gatherer, agricultural society, etc and that each blood type has certain needs. Foods that are beneficial and foods that are not meant to be eaten.

Dr. D’Adamo proposes diets; food plans designed for optimal health of each blood type rather than the four letter word ‘diet’ which usually outlines a weight loss plan. He posits that when you are fuelling your body with the correct foods in the correct amounts, and participating in an exercise regimen that is recommended for your blood type, your body will rid itself of toxins stored in the fat and you will ultimately reach your own body’s ideal weight, and be healthier overall.

As I said, this makes a lot of sense to me. I know some people would think this is just a bunch of hogwash, but really, I don’t see how eating lots of lean protein, fruits and veggies and cutting back on grains is really going to hurt me. I’m not into fad diets, most of which strike me as being extremely unhealthy in the long run.

One thing that really caught my attention was that Dr. D’Adamo marks gluten as a food (well really an component present in foods) as being highly detrimental to type O systems, such as myself. He also points out that grains and simple carbohydrates in general are not recommended, something else that I had noticed in myself when eating gluten free breads ad bread products.

Dr. D’Adamo outlines each blood type and explains in what kind of environment each one evolved. Type O evolved as hunter-gatherers, Type A evolved in agricultural areas, and type B evolved much later than that in city dwellers, type AB comes from a blending of the two. He highlights foods that are beneficial, neutral, and detrimental for each blood type and how often they should be eaten. He also recommends various exercise and exercise plan designed for each blood type

I plan to follow this diet in a sensible manner for a few months and see what happens. After two weeks I already feel better in general, in my mind and the way I feel in my body. I’ve really stepped up in preparing more of my own foods, and more food for my boyfriend too. I’m trying to designs meals and snacks, especially things that travel well to be eaten on the go, for the both of us, around the highly beneficial foods for type O.

Last week I wanted to fix something that I could take to work for lunch everyday that would be healthy, satisfying and used a number of items from the type O beneficial foods list. I created this three-meat burger mixture that turned out really well, eaten with a salad or wrapped in lettuce.

Hamburgeusas de Tres Carnes

½ Lb. lean ground beef
¼ Lb. veal
¼ Lb. lamb
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
¼ bunch parsley
½ c. fresh spinach
1 egg white
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. sea salt with kelp and dulce

Finely chop onion, garlic, parsley and spinach; either by hand or in a food processor. Mix veggies, ground meat, spices and egg white until well mixed. Form into patties and grill.

Turkey Burgers, or How to Hide Vegetable Where They’re Least Expected

I started today with a little bit of a cold and a mission. Stepping out into the chilly air, I hoped I would be warm enough. After doing my homework on the web and studying mapquest I felt like I had a pretty good handle on where I would find our ‘local’ green market.

New York has a number of green markets around the city and in the boroughs. I’ve been to the one in Union Square and the one in Brooklyn is close to where I used to live. But up until today I had been unable to locate either of Queen’s two elusive markets. Armed with my shopping bag and list I struck out for the subway station.

As in turns out, the green market is not far from one of the stops on the #7 train and the NYSC gym that my boyfriend and I work out at in Sunnyside, so I didn’t have too much trouble finding it. It’s not a large market, not like the others I’ve been to, but the food was fresh and local and the people were very friendly. It’s still early in the season and I’m sure they’ll have more in the coming weeks.

I was able to get all the fresh veggies in my list. Just look at this bounty of baby greens. I even got red spinach, which I’ve never heard of before, it’s supposed to be a little sweeter than green spinach, I’ll find out soon enough. Now that I’ve found it, and since it’s so close to the gym, I’m adding the green market to my list of errands.

All the goodies I got lead me to my recipe of today: Turkey Burgers. Since the first meatloaf I made my boyfriend has been requesting different variations. First it was a beef and turkey meatloaf for the whole family and then it was an all turkey meatloaf for him to take for lunch at work. Now, the last turkey meatloaf I made he sliced up and took in sandwiches, but each slice was much smaller than the bread and I suggested that I could make turkey burgers that would fill out a sandwich better. Ever since then he’s been asking for turkey burgers.

Since I’m cooking for him, I feel partially responsible for his nutrition. He’s a personal trainer and really wants to take care of his body. But the food his mother cooks, traditional Ecuadorian fare doused in corn oil, is pretty light on the dark green leafy veggies and he has some inbred aversion to eating greens. Their idea of a salad is few pieces of iceberg lettuce along with a meal. So I formulated these turkey burgers to be very similar to the meat loaf and I tried to sneak in some dark greens. Hopefully he won’t notice. As long as it’s high protein, low fat and low carb he should be happy.

Turkey Burgers
1 ¼ Lb. ground light meat turkey
1 small onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
½ c. fresh baby spinach, chopped
½ c. fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp. poultry seasoning mix
1 egg or egg white
salt and pepper to taste

mix everything together with your hands until well mixed. Form into 4 or 5 patties and grill or pan-fry.

Grain Free Sweet Potato Almond Butter Bread

A few weeks ago Simply…Gluten Free posted a recipe for grain free muffins, and then grain free zucchini bread. Then I was bopping around and I found Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried’s recipe for sweet potato pitas. My boyfriend and I are both trying to cut carbs and I thought the idea of a grain free bread-type product sounded really interesting.

I’ve been wanting to try to grain-free peanut butter banana muffins, but I’m still not sure if I’m really allergic to them, and I’m not ready to try just yet, I was looking for an alternative fruit. The grain-free zucchini bread looked great until I ran the nutrition: with the almond butter and almond meal it ended up being pretty high calorie and fat. A comment on the muffin post made me think of pumpkin, but since it’s not pumpkin season, that was out. After seeing the sweet potato pitas, a plan began to form in my mind.

When I was at Trader Joe’s, deliberating in the nut aisle, I opted for almond butter because no one else in my house will use it and contaminate the rest of the jar with bread knives and such. With these recipes all open in my Firefox tabs and with my previous meringue research in mind, I created this Grain Free Sweet Potato Almond Butter Bread.

4 eggs- separated
1tsp cream of tartar
¾ creamy almond butter
2 small sweet potatoes, steamed and skinned
1 Tbsp agave syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
2 Tbsp NutriBiotic rice protein powder (optional)*

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Prepare a loaf pan with greased parchment paper or wax paper.

In a large mixing bowl beat egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form

In a second bowl beat the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Add almond butter, sliced sweet potato, agave syrup, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix until well blended.

Take a spoonful of egg whites and mix into sweet potato mixture. Mix sweet potato mixture into the egg whites and fold in well, until there are no white streaks.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes, until slightly brown on the sides and puffy on top. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and paper and let cool on a rack.

So far everybody in my house has liked it, and they’re a hard crowd to please when it comes to trying new foods. And it’s a really pretty color!

*I added this to add a little extra nutrition.

†A special thanks to Simply…Gluten Free and Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried. You ladies are great!

Tilapia on a Whim

Last weekend, while watching TV, my boyfriend asked me what tilapia was. He had read in his Flex magazine that some professional body builder was helping to train another and he recommended eating lots of tilapia. So naturally, my boyfriend wants to try tilapia too.

I did a little web research and learned that tilapia is not only on the “safe” list, it’s low calorie, high in protein and low in fat compared to, say, sea bass or tuna.

Never one to turn down a challenge I decided to give it a shot. I thought about what would be fairly fool proof, in terms of my boyfriend trying new foods: nothing fancy or spicy, and what ingredients I already had at home: the end of a bottle of white wine from my last seafood project.

On the way home I stopped at the local grocery, grabbed what looked good and threw this together.

2 fillets Tilapia
1 medium Vidalia or yellow Onion, sliced
2 cloves Garlic, sliced
1 Tomato, diced
3 sprigs fresh Rosemary, partially chopped
White Whine
Olive Oil
Salt and Fresh Pepper

Wash the tilapia and lay on a plate. Sprinkle salt, fresh ground pepper and chopped rosemary over fish. Clean and slice garlic and onions. Sautee garlic, onions and rosemary with salt and pepper until onions are translucent. Push onions to sides of pan, lay tilapia fillets in pan to sear on one side. After 3 minutes flip fillets and cover with onions. Add diced tomato and enough white wine to cover bottom of pan. Cover and cooked until fish is cooked through, about 7 minutes.

We had this with brown rice. I started the rice before I started to prepare the fish and they were done at just about the same time.

My boyfriend really liked it, the only thing that slipped my mind in the mad-dash for groceries was the lemon, luckily we always have limes in the refrigerator. I expect I’ll be making tilapia in ever more creative ways in the future.

Fennel & Eggs

As I was reading a health food magazine on the subway I found an article extolling the virtues of fennel. I don't see fennel very often, but I remember my Nonna loved it. It's indigenous to the Mediterranean and I'm sure that she ate it growing up in her Italian family; she used to call in fenochio.

Fennel is a winter vegetable, available from autumn to early spring. It has lots of vitamin C, folic acid, potassium and antioxidants. Historically it’s been used for bad breath and indigestion, intestinal spasms and cramps (maybe it’s the celiac’s best friend?)

I’ve almost exclusively had it in salads; it’s great with some walnuts, cranberries, citrus fruit and just a little vinaigrette. This article had some good ideas, but I wanted to try something a little heartier.

It’s hard to use many of the recipes I find, since I’m really only cooking for one. The rest of the folks in this apartment won’t try anything new, so whatever I make gets eaten by me. This was my first attempt, and although it doesn’t look like much, it is delicious! And quick.

Makes 1 Serving:
3 Eggs or egg whites
½ bulb Fennel
1 clove Garlic
1teaspoon Olive Oil
¼ cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
Salt and Fresh Pepper to taste

Thinly slice fennel and garlic, sauté in a large skillet until fennel is soft. Add eggs and stir, cook until eggs are set. Top with cheese, cover and turn of heat. Serve warm.

This is really filling, it makes a great breakfast. I think it would work well with just about any type of cheese. It could also be made to serve more; a larger batch could be baked in the oven.

Colada de Arroz

When I got home from running errands the other day I got to share a rare moment with my boyfriends mother. She was working over the a large pot on the stove, and after greeting each other she showed me her Colada de Arroz and told be what was in it. “Solo arroz, azucar, leche, canela, y pimienta de dulce.” We filled bowls of the steaming colada and put them to cool by the open window. As we ate our treat we looked through the newspaper coupon circular and conversed as best we could.

Our best moments are when we’re alone in the kitchen, working together or learning together. We two women, neither of who speak much of the other’s language, can bond and communicate over the simple task of preparing food. I learn the most Spanish when we’re working with food; it’s our common ground. Often we find that an hour or more has passed and we’ve understood each for most of that time.

Colada de Arroz is such a simple, comforting food. It’s the closest I’ve been to that oatmeal on a winter morning feeling. In America we would call this Rice Pudding, but this is nothing like the rice puddings never liked before, it’s not sticky sweet or gelatinous. It’s like warm, spiced, slightly sweet rice soup. It’s easy and gluten free.

After some cross communication and being translated through my boyfriend, here is the recipe, as I understand it.

1 cup White Rice
Water
½ cup Sugar
3 Cinnamon Sticks
10 pieces Whole Allspice
Whole Milk

Cook rice according to directions with the sugar and cinnamon. When it has 15 minutes left to cook, add the Allspice. When the rice is finished cooking, add enough milk to cover the rice. Stir the mixture until the milk boils. Cool and serve.

I am already imagining endless possibilities for this recipe: brown rice, skim milk, honey, maple syrup, more cinnamon, nutmeg, the list goes one. This could be a filling breakfast before a cold hard day or a warm comforting treat after a long day playing in the snow.