I was going to put away the work for a few days during the holidays, but I really want to send a quick note to everyone and thank you for your support over this past year, especially over the past few months as I transition from my full time corporate job to venturing off on my own. Thank you for following me, supporting me, working with me, sharing my content, for being a part of my community and trusting your health & fitness with me.
I wanted to wish you all a very happy Holiday Season and I hope you enjoy your time with family and friends. That means, stop counting the macros, the calories, and relax and embrace some of your favourite traditions. I was counselling one of my clients last night on nutrition and coming up with a game plan for 2015. She mentioned she was preparing home-made mac & cheese for the holidays – and I know you’re reading this, girl! ha NO JUDGEMENT :)! xo – and the nutritionist in me wanted to fall off my chair, but I didn’t. I encouraged her to have it, savour every bite, chew it, and basically, just enjoy. Don’t stress about the eating because stress is just not good for your health. Recharge and get ready to hit 2015 HARD! Whatever you goals are – fitness related or not.
To help inspire you, here are a few recipes I got from one of my holistic nutrition teachers, Lorene, who is a pastry chef – you can find her HERE, as well as my good friend and coach, Ray – you can find him HERE. I put in a few tweaks of my own in the recipes. In addition to my recent PROTEIN GINGER MOLASSES COOKIES, give these babies a try! Gluten free, dairy free options available! Like, comment, share! 🙂
Pecan Balls
Makes 50 cookies
What you Need:
- 2 cups pecans
- 1 cup whole wheat flour or brown rice flour
- 1 cup kamut flour or unbleached, organic al-purpose flour
- 1/2 pink Himalayan sea salt
- 1 cup organic, virgin, cold pressed coconut oil (in place of unsalted butter)
- 1/2 cup sucanat or yellow brown sugar (adjust sweetness to your liking, I’ve tried 1/3 cup)
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- Powdered cinnamon sucanat** or organic icing sugar or Stevia to roll the cookies
What to do:
Heat oven to 350°F. Process the pecans in a food processor until finely ground. Mix the pecans, flours, and sea salt in a bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the ground pecans, flour, and salt; set aside. Cream the coconut oil, sucanat or sugar and the vanilla together in a mixer bowl. Add the flour nut mixture. Mix until it forms a dough – use your hands to kneed of required. Shape the dough into balls about 1″ and place 2″ apart on baking sheets. You can roll the balls on the sugar/stevia before or after baking. Bake for 10-12 minutes. If baking two trays at a time on different shelves, rotate the baking sheets halfway through, until just beginning to brown, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes on the baking trays. If not serving, then place in in an air tight container and store at room temperature.
Golosso Biscuits
What You Need:
Makes 20–25 cookies
- 1/2–2/3 cup virgin, organic, cold pressed coconut oil
- 3/4 cup organic cane sugar (or 1 cup maple syrup or coconut sweetener)
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp lemon juice
- 1 cup kamut flour (which is a grain, not gluten free)*
- 1 1/2 cups spelt flour or whole wheat flour*
- 1/2 tsp pink Himylayan sea salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 oz (2 tbsp) hazelnuts (filberts), toasted and ground
What to Do:
Mix Coconut oil and sugar, maple or agave syrup until smooth. Add eggs, vanilla and lemon juice and combine until smooth. In a separate bowl, blend flours, sea salt, cinnamon and baking powder and add to the coconut mixture. Add nuts. Turn dough out onto the counter and shape into a long cube. Cut into 8 slices of approximately 1/2″ thickness. Form each one into a square no more than 1/2″ thick and measuring about 4″ x 3 1/2″. Place onto cookie sheet and bake at 325 degrees F for 20 minutes. They should be golden brown on the bottom. Remove from the oven and cut each square lengthwise into 4–5 pieces. Turn the biscuits onto their side and dry in the oven at 275 degrees F for approximately 20 minutes. Let cool and store in an airtight container.
*For Gluten Free: Use brown rice flour or teff flour and 1/16th tsp of xanthan gum.
Pumpkin & Zucchini Muffins
Makes 40 mini muffins
What you Need:
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- 2/3 cup raw honey
- 1 cup fresh pumpkin or unsalted canned pumpkin as a healthy alternative – still packed with nutrients such as potassium and vitamin A, and saves a lot of time
- 1/2 cup virgin, organic, cold pressed coconut oil, melted
- 7 oz applesauce (home made if possible but again, depends on time. Can be made with apples, water, cinnamon, and organic sugar)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups almond flour, or whole wheat flour, or quinoa flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon pink Himalayan sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup shredded zucchini
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
What to Do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a mini muffin pan with paper baking cups, or use non-stick cooking spray. In a mixing bowl combine eggs and honey. Add pumpkin, melted coconut oil, applesauce, and vanilla. In a separate bowl combine all of the dry ingredients. Gradually add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and mix until well combined. Stir in the zucchini.
Pour into muffin tins, sprinkle the tops with chopped walnuts. Bake for 10-20 minutes or until you can poke a toothpick in a muffin and it comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
photo credit belongs to Lorene and Ray
