Morselicious alMONDay Mania

July 16, 2012 by 6 Comments

Happy MORSELICIOUS Monday or shall I say alMONDay.

Today we have a guest post from my  friend and colleague, Lauren Kelly.

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Hi my name is Lauren Kelly. I am a Certified Nutritionist who has a passion for nutrition, health, food and wellness.  I am a busy mother 0f 3 little boys and have been happily married for 10 years.  I love teaching my family and friends healthy fun tips and how eating whole, unprocessed foods benefit your mind and body.  I am a recipe developer, nutritionist, food and nutrition blogger that loves healthy food!

Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten Free and Dairy Free)

Disclaimer** These are AMAZING!!

These cookies are made with all natural ingredients, but taste delicious at the same time.  My kids could not get enough of these!  These are one of my favorite treats when I want something sweet but want to still eat healthy and clean.

I made these for a friend whose family is dairy free due to dairy intolerance.    Those who suffer from this experience gas, bloating, pain and cramps in the lower stomach and maybe even vomiting.   Adapting to a dairy free lifestyle may require some extra work, but can be quite manageable once you change your eating habits.  I wanted to show them that you can still eat healthy (and dairy free) and still eat yummy treats!!

Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

 adapted from Clean Eating Magazine

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 cup unsalted almond butter, stirred well (I used Trader Joe’s Natural Almond Butter, lightly salted with flax seeds)
  • 3/4 cup Sucanat (MORSELIST note: I chop 3 dates & mix w 1/4 c boiling water)
  • 1 large egg  (MORSELIST note: I use 3 tbsp flax meal mixed with 1/2 cup water)
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda (MORSELIST note: I skip the soda to reduce sodium)
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt ( I omitted since the almond butter was salted)
  • 3 oz dark chocolate ( I used Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet chocolate chips that are Dairy, Nut, Soy and Gluten Free)

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium bowl, stir together first 5 ingredients until blended. Stir in chocolate.
  2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes. Remove to a wire rack and let cool for 15 more minutes.

 

Nutrition Information per cookie: Calories: 110, Total Fat: 8 g, Sat. Fat: 1.5 g, Carbs: 10 g, Fiber: 1 g, Sugars: 3 g, Protein: 2 g, Sodium: 55 mg, Cholesterol: 10 mg
http://laurenkellynutrition.com
Filed Under: Morselicious Recipe, Recipe & Interview Tagged With: , , , , ,

Nutso-sweet Friday-what the heck is the PALEO diet?

July 13, 2012 by 3 Comments
Happy NUTSO-SWEET FRIDAY!
Are you having a MORSELICIOUS week?
What are your weekend plans?
Thank you for your NUTSO-SWEET questions.
Please keep ‘em coming!
Q.  What is the Paleo diet? Do you recommend it?
A.  

The Paleo diet focuses on the type of diet our ancestors may have consumed and is based on lean meats, seafood and unlimited fruits and vegetables. It takes a step back in time when their were no convenience foods – and thus no prevalence of trans fats, high glycemic carbs, overly-salted, processed foods. And we know high consumption of these foods to be cause of weight gain, cardiovascular disease and various other health problems. Replacing dairy and grain products with fruits and vegetables make this a clean, lean diet rich in beneficial phytonutrients.
Check out this link to see which foods are avoided on the Paleo diet.
It suggest that certain foods need to be cooked for edibility and thus wouldn’t have been avail to the hunter/gatherer. But since you can soak and sprout chickpeas and oat groats (a whole grain) and enjoy them raw, I don’t see these foods as a problem (I enjoy them raw or cooked. Though RAW foodists suggest the nutritional value is greater when eaten sprouted / uncooked). Understandably, the hunter/gatherer likely didn’t have the time to stay and soak these foods. But just because of the limitations of their time, doesn’t mean these foods won’t have value to us. Whole grains and legumes provide heart-healthy B-vitamins, protein and dietary fiber – and add healthy variety to our diets.
In line with Paleo, I am certainly a fan of including rich in vegetables and fruits that also includes lean meats and seafood. And I agree that it is important to wean off of highly processed foods. But I like to include whole grains and legumes, too. So I’d take this diet and run with it, but add in some heart-healthy whole grains, like my fav’s quinoa and oats, and a variety of legumes (lentils, edamame, chickpeas to name a few).
BTW: I recently discovered the power of raw and made a delicious raw hummus salad – including chickpeas, arugula, cilantro, lemon and parsley – so this does include a lot of veggies/herbs and no highly processed items (all natural and no preservatives).
Filed Under: NutsoSweet Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Nutso-sweet Friday: What’s so great about RAW?

June 29, 2012 by 6 Comments
Happy NUTSO-SWEET Friday!!
Any fun weekend plans? Thank you for your questions….
We LOOOVE your questions and need mo’!
Keep ‘em coming!
Please help Mac-n-Mo’s qualify for a Small Business Grant.
and vote for Mac-n-Mo’s (make sure to include the dashes & apostrophe)
We need 90 more votes to qualify by tomorrow, June 30th!
And if you haven’t already, please become a Facebook fan!
Thanks a million morsels in advance.

Q: What is so amazing about RAW Foods?
A: Not only do your plant-based foods keep you healthy, learning to enjoy them RAW is a great way to enjoy and reap the value their synergy of nutrients. While you can enjoy a mix of cooking with heart healthy plant foods and a RaW-mazing lifestyle, when you eat RAW, you can benefit with the power of plant enzymes for your digestion and metabolism. (Cooking can destroy some of these natural enzymes.)
Some RAW tips:
1. Keep it simple.
  • store peeled ripped bananas and/or avocados in your freezer to prepare smoothies in a snap (Nut milk, banana, and your fav fruits or vegetables and spices) check out this Morseliciousness smoothie for an inspiration.
  • Soak nuts and seeds overnight, rinse and blend with water to make nut milks for smoothies, soups and dressings.
  • Soak hulled oat grouts to prepare an amazing oatmeal with almond butter, bananas..

2. Crack that coconut. That sweet refreshing juice is great for hydration and full of electrolytes. It is also great for your skin. But the meat inside coconut has so much RAW-possibility: coconut cream to enjoy on fresh fruit, a base for a healthy pudding, you can even mix it with coconut kefir to make a dairy-free yogurt. But my fav, using it as a substitute for mozzarella in a Caprese salad (with basil, olive oil, sliced tomatoes).

3. Don’t stress. The point of a RAW lifestyle or incorporating more and more RAW foods into your diet is to feel good and enjoy your foods. If you are uptight about doing it all completely RAW or stressing about how to do it, you won’t be benefiting entirely because stress isn’t good for your health or well-being. So take it as you can and have fun with it. I’m not a vegan, vegetarian or complete RAW foods individual, but I am happy and healthy as I incorporate more and more nutrient-dense foods into my diet (focusing on the majority of my intake being plant-based).For some great recipes, soaking tips and inspiration visit: http://www.leafcuisine.com/
And a note from The Morselist:  I am not completely RAW and LOVE incorporating RAW foods into my diet, including salads, smoothies, raw nut butters and my occasional treat of a RAW restaurant/cafe! :)
Filed Under: NutsoSweet Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Work-it-out-Wednesday

June 27, 2012 by 4 Comments

Happy WORK-IT-OUT-WEDNESDAY!!

What do you want to work out?
Let’s start a conversation and share ideas.

I’ll begin by sharing that I’ve been working on

CLEARING THE CLUTTER,

literally and figuratively and it feels SOOOO good!

The most challenging aspect has been figuring out WHERE to start, but once I did, there’s no stopping Mo, the whirling dervish, especially when I’m rocking out to my show tunes! :)

The benefits:  more space to work, to think, to move, to think, to dream, to breathe,

PLUS,  I’ve donated 7 large bags to Goodwill so far! It’s been a win/win.

Health experts also say that by clearing our clutter, not only do we clear the chaos, we also make room for a more healthy lifestyle, including diet choices..not drowning in a sea or pile of STUFF!  An overall LIGHTER feeling.

Is your STUFF weighing you down?

OK…your turn..  :)

http://mo-themorselist.healthcoach.integrativenutrition.com/

Filed Under: Healthy Living Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Morselicious Monday & making the best of things

June 25, 2012 by 6 Comments

Happy MORSELICIOUS MONDAY!

How was your weekend?

Yours truly had a full weekend: a blend of work and play:  studied for big NUTRITION exam, which is today, created and cooked up 4 new recipes, including one for a client and 3 for an upcoming cooking class I’m teaching & Doug was my lucky taste tester!  Worked on a few new accounts for Mac-n-Mo’s, cleaned, shopped for groceries, explored Costco, (always an adventure), hiked, took my dance class with Liz and enjoyed a Matcha Green Tea Latte with unsweetened almond milk afterwards, which replaces the term,

“COFFEE TALK,” into “MATCHA CHAT.” Do you think it will catcha on? Get it?
Catcha. Matcha.  I know, it’s a stretch.  

Doug treated me to an incredible one hour massage, which this Morselist needed and very much appreciated! All in all, a FULL weekend! OK, your turn. What did you do? I want details!

There are 5 days left to VOTE for

Mac-n-Mo’s to qualify for a small biz grant?

Mac-n-Mo’s
Los Angeles, CA
Thanks a million morsels in advance!

http://mo-themorselist.healthcoach.integrativenutrition.com/

Filed Under: Healthy Living Tips, Quote-tip Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
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