Chocolate-dipped Macaroon "Granola": gluten and grain free!

I'm always on the hunt for delicious and healthy snack foods.  Especially while I'm pregnant I feel the need/desire to snack.  So while browsing Pinterest, I pinned this delicious granola recipe.  It looks fantastic, but I wanted to make it grain free and add chocolate.  

What's the deal with grain free you may ask?  

Well, our society's diet is dominated by grains.  

Wheat is a huge part of that, but also oats, rice, cornmeal, barley, etc.

It's not that all grains are bad, but we don't need nearly as many as we usually eat.
Another name for a grain free diet is the Paleo diet.  You may or may not have heard of that.  Well, we don't eat that way all the time, but it has a lot of good principles.

Anyway, so that's what makes this snack great.  It's grain free - packed with protein, good fats, and antioxidants.

Plus it's just delicious.

Ingredients:

1 cup pumpkin seeds

3/4 cup of almonds

3/4 cup of walnuts

1/4 cup of ground flaxseed

1 1/2 - 2 cups of shredded coconut

1/2 t. coconut extract

1/2 t. vanilla extract

 1/2 c. coconut oil

1/4 c. butter

6 oz dark chocolate

*Preheat oven to 350

*Place nuts and pumpkin seeds on a cutting board and chop them roughly (you could also use a food processor, just don't grind them too finely)

*Put the nuts in a bowl and add the ground flaxseed and coconut

*melt the coconut oil and butter in a dish, then add the extracts

*pour the oil mixture over the nut mixture and mix well

*spread in an even layer on a rimmed cookie sheet (line with tin foil for easy clean up!)

*bake for about 10 minutes or until everything is toasty and your kitchen smells like heaven

*melt the chocolate in the microwave (go by 30 sec. increments so you won't burn it)

*drizzle the melted chocolate over the toasted granola

*stick it in the frig (or freezer!) until the chocolate has hardened

*break up the granola and store in an airtight container

*enjoy!!!

xoxo

jessica

Shake it like a salt shaker...

How friendly are you with sodium? 

Do you know where it lives and how much of it lurks in your favorite places?  

It's everywhere.  

I mean everywhere.

 (pretty picture from here) 

The past few weeks of this pregnancy, I have been extremely sensitive to sodium - if I have too much I swell up like a balloon.  So I'm trying to watch it.  Actually I've become a private eye detective, in search of that sneaky sodium fellow.  

So here are some things I've uncovered.

2 oz of deli turkey meat  --  640mg sodium

9 Santitos Tortilla Chips  --  110mg sodium

14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes  --   770mg sodium

15.5oz can of Goya Black Beans  --  1610mg sodium

1 cup of low-fat milk  --  102mg sodium

1 T. of soy-sauce  --  1000mg sodium

So what do those numbers mean?  

The average person, as stated by the USDA, should have about 2300mg a day. 

Middle aged and older adults should have no more than 1500mg a day.  

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says 2300mg should be the max for any person, and most should aim closer to 1500mg.  

1 tsp of table salt has 2325mg - that's 25mg higher than your max daily intake.

Our bodies only need 180-500mg daily to survive.  

The average American consumes 3436mg daily.   

That's 1136mg more than your max daily intake.

The Mayo clinic says this:

But if for some reason your kidneys can't eliminate enough sodium, the sodium starts to accumulate in your blood. Because sodium attracts and holds water, your blood volume increases.
Increased blood volume makes your heart work harder to move more blood through your blood vessels, which increases pressure in your arteries. Such diseases as congestive heart failure, cirrhosis and chronic kidney disease can make it hard for your kidneys to keep sodium levels balanced.
Some people's bodies are more sensitive to the effects of sodium than are others. If you're sodium sensitive, you retain sodium more easily, leading to fluid retention and increased blood pressure. If this becomes chronic, it can lead to heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and congestive heart failure.

Of course, foods that are processed, canned, pre-packaged, or served at restaurants contain the highest amounts of sodium.
So what are we to do?  Never eat pizza or chips and queso again?
That's one option of course.  If you cook everything at home you can control the sodium.  But, at least for me anyway, life gets busy and I choose not to do that all the time.
So I say, if you know you're ordering pizza for dinner, really watch the rest of your sodium that day.  And drink lots of water of course to help your kidneys process that salt.

So here are some fun things to do with salt besides eat it ;)

Make Salt Dough Ornaments 

Make a Salt Bath Scrub

Make Holiday Salt and Glue paintings!

Hope this has been helpful or at least mildly interesting.  Knowledge is power anyway.  I certainly don't claim to do everything perfectly when it comes to eating - but the more I learn, the more it helps me just to be aware of the foods that I'm putting in my body.
Something to keep in mind with all the delicious holiday foods coming our way ;)
Wishing you well,
xoxo
jessica

Sweetheart Fruit Salad

Here's a quick, healthy, festive treat to serve your sweetie on Valentine's Day!

Red-skinned Apples

Strawberries

Blood (we like to just call them Red) Oranges

Shredded Coconut (frozen or fresh)

Peel and slice the oranges, then slice the apple and strawberries.  Put it all in a bowl and sprinkle with the shredded coconut.  Yum yum!

have a great weekend,

jessica

Healthy, Colorful Dinner

This is the type of meal I enjoy cooking.  

It comes together quickly and looks pretty.  

 Bonus: it is super healthy!

MENU:

Pan-seared Wild Salmon

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Broiled Asparagus

Tip:  Walmart sells a bag of frozen Wild Salmon (better for you than farmed Salmon) for only $5.00!

Here are some of the vitamins in this meal:
Salmon:  Omega 3's - help with brain function, heart health, cholesterol, and many many other things.  Vitamin D, lots of good protein, and B vitamins.

Sweet Potatoes: high in vitamin A, C, and fiber. 
( I peel and slice mine, then boil them until tender, drain, then mash them up and add some butter)

Broiled Asparagus: high in vitamin K, folate, vitamin C, A, and B vitamins.
( I cut off the tough ends, and put them in a dish.  Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper.  Then broil them for 7-10 minutes - checking often so they don't burn)

(Charlotte loves it too!)

So give this meal a try sometime.  You're body (and your tastebuds) will thank you!
jessica

Flourless, Eggless, Sugarless, Peanut-free Wonderful Cookies!!!!!

how can that be???!?!  (you ask yourself)  I present to you...

 Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies.  

So - this week I am trying to eat very very healthy - a little detox of sorts - mainly just avoiding all of the common allergens - to give my body a little time to heal after the bombardament of holiday decadence.  Problem #1:  It's only Monday night and I really want some dessert.  I have cut out wheat, dairy, soy, peanuts, eggs, refined sugars(just for a week) - basically we're eating veggies, fruits, lean meats, and rice.  I've already eaten a lot of fruit today.  I don't want fruit at night - I want cookies.  So these little babies were born.  YUM!!!  They even passed the hubby test :)

Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
1 cup of oatmeal (I used quick cook)
3/4 cup of Almond Butter
1 banana - mashed
1/3 cup of chocolate chips or raisins

Preheat oven to 350.  Mash the banana and add Almond Butter.

Add the oatmeal and chocolate chips or raisins.  Mix well.  Drop in spoonfuls onto cookie sheet and bake for 7-9 minutes. 

Enjoy your guilt free treat!
jessica

Roasted Carrots - new favorite sidedish

It's tricky to be so seasonally busy and keep preparing healthy meals for your family (last night I succumbed to the temptation of take out pizza).  But most nights I do try to cook healthy meals.  This side dish is perfect - it requires very little attention - which means you can multitask :) 

Buy a bag of whole carrots ( I know you have to peel them but they taste WAY better than baby carrots).  Preheat your oven to 450.  Peel the carrots and cut them in half length wise, then in half again - so you have about 3" carrot sticks.  Put them in a glass dish and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Slide them in the oven for about 30-45 minutes.  Open the oven half way through and shake them around a little to make sure they are not sticking.  When they are golden brown and tender they are ready.  SO yummy!!!  I could eat them all!  Hope you are taking care of yourself during this busy and wonderful time!
jessica 

Healthier Snacking

You know, by now, that we love football.  A large portion of our Saturdays is devoted to watching it.  AND we like to eat "football food" while we watch.  You know-foods that don't require utensils, like burgers, wings, chips and dip.  We really like to make onion dip and eat it with pretzels.  Usually I make it with reduced fat sour cream - which sounds like a healthy choice to me.  However, in an attempt to be even healthier Ryan and I tried substituting Plain Greek Yogurt for the usual sour cream.  It passed the taste test with flying colors -there was a little more tang, but we liked it over all.  We did add 1 1/2 packets of onion soup mix to compensate for the tanginess.  Anyway here is the really exciting part - the nutritional comparison.  I calculated this for 16 oz. of reduced fat sour cream vs. 16 oz of nonfat plain greek yogurt.

REDUCED FAT SOUR CREAM                                                      NONFAT GREEK YOGURT
Calories: 675                                                                                      Calories: 275  
Fat: 52.5                                                                                              Fat: 0
Sat. fat: 37.5                                                                                       Sat. fat.: 0
Carbs: 30                                                                                            Carbs: 18
Protein: 15                                                                                          Protein: 40

WOW! Can you believe that?!?  We were shocked.  So give it a try next time you're making dip - that way you can have that extra brownie for dessert ;)