Tag Archives: breakfast

Chocolate Apricot Seed Balls

Balls all ready for snacking.

Balls all ready for snacking.

As I continue on my real foods journey, I find one of the aspects I struggle the most with is finding good quality, quick snacks.  My kids are still stuck in the “it has to be in a box to qualify for a snack” mode.  It is incredibly disheartening to go to the store, read package labels and realize how much crap is in the food marketed to kids!  Even food under the “health halo” of  gluten free or organic is often loaded with sugar listed in different forms to disguise how much sugar is actually lurking.  IT DRIVES ME CRAZY!

I was recently wandering around the internet looking for new snack ideas when I stumble upon My Darling Lemon Thyme’ s recipe for Raw Apricot, Dark Chocolate and  Coconut  Bites .  These sounded amazingly yummy to me but I wondered about tweaking them a little bit to add some protein.  I am incredibly obsessed with chia and hemp seeds right now so I immediately thought about incorporating them.

I am use to using dates in many of my raw snacks so I was intrigued with the idea of trying apricots for a different taste.  I try to find unsulfured apricots because the preservatives tend to give me a headache and upset my stomach.  I bought  Dried APRICOTS here.  I know they look discolored and a little unappetizing but I promise they taste just as good as the sulfured ones! I eat Hemp Hearts  and Organic Raw Chia Seeds every day for breakfast so they were a natural addition to these balls.

Ingredients.

Ingredients.

Into the food processor everything went.

IMG_1106It was important to keep grinding and grinding to break down the apricots and to get a paste to form.  Be sure to scrape down the sides of the food processor as needed.  Gradually adding a little water also really helped the balls hold together.  Checkout all that seedy goodness in the photo down below.

Balls before going into the freezer.

Balls before going into the freezer.

I know these are not the most visually appealing snacks but they definitely taste better than they look!  The raw chocolate on these balls is so yummy and not too sweet!  It is amazing combined with the orange flavor from the zest.

IMG_1110

Chocolate Apricot Seed Balls

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups unsulfered apricots
  • 3/4 cup of coconut
  • 1/4 cup of chia seeds
  • 2 tbs of hemp seeds
  • 1 tbs of orange zest
  • 11/2 tbs of melted coconut oil
  • For Raw Chocolate
  • 3 tbs of melted coconut oil
  • 3 tbs of cacao powder
  • 2 tbs of maple syrup
  • pinch of sea salt

Instructions

  1. Place apricots, coconut, seeds, zest and 1 1/2 tbs of oil in the food processor.
  2. Grind until a paste forms and mixture holds together when rolled into a ball.
  3. (I added a little warm water to help this process along.)
  4. Roll into balls.
  5. Place balls in freezer for 10-15 minutes to firm up.
  6. While balls are freezing, mix ingredients for raw chocolate together.
  7. Remove balls from freezer and roll in the chocolate.
  8. (You can completely cover the balls or cover only half of them depending on your taste.)
  9. Enjoy immediately or store in fridge for later snacking.
http://www.nourishedrootspdx.com/blog/chocolate-apricot-seed-balls/

These balls turned out super yummy and I have been snacking on one or two of them a day for the last few days. Even though they are small, I find they give me sustained energy.   The boys also declared them a winner- which is great, but then I have to share them!  I would love to have readers share any of their snack ideas.

This post contains affiliate links.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie Pancakes

Finished pancakes about to be slathered with peanut butter.

Finished pancakes about to be slathered with peanut butter.

I love the Fall because it signals to me that I should start eating pumpkin again.  Now, I love just about any squash but there is something so yummy about pumpkin.  I also really love breakfast.  In fact, I think it is my most favorite meal of the day!  Imagine my delight when I can combine two things I love in one sitting- breakfast and pumpkin?  It doesn’t get much better than that!  That is why I love this recipe for Gluten Free Pumpkin Pancakes.  (I made this recipe with butter and eggs but it is really easy to convert to a vegan recipes by substituting coconut oil for the butter and flax eggs for the chicken eggs.)

These pancakes are amazing because they combine tons of different warming spices like cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg- perfect to warm and nourish the body on these cold winter days.   These spices signal to me that the holidays are right around the corner!

Ground oats.

Ground oats.

I used my food processor to grind my oats to make the oat flour.  As you can see they still had some oat texture to them.  ( I found when I made subsequent batches that my Magic Bullet NutriBullet worked like a dream to produce really fine oat flour.)  You have to decide if you want your pancakes to have more texture to them or if you prefer a more traditional finely ground flour.  Also, if you have someone in your life with gluten issues, be sure your oats say gluten free on the package. Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Whole Grain Rolled Oats is an excellent brand.

We Ingredients.

Wet Ingredients.

I love the amazingly vibrant color of the wet ingredients in this photo.  You always hear about “Eating the rainbow” to maximize health.  When I  look at this picture, I can just imagine all the healthy beta carotene headed into my body with every bite of pancake!   Extremely high in fiber and low in calories, pumpkin is loaded with disease-fighting nutrients, including potassium, pantothenic acid, magnesium, and vitamins C and E.

Wet and dry ingredients together.

Wet and dry ingredients together.

Pancakes on the griddle.

Pancakes on the griddle.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie Pancakes

Ingredients

  • 1 cups of gluten- free oats
  • zest of half lemon
  • 2 tbs of coconut sugar
  • 1/2 tsp of baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp of salt
  • 1 tsp of cinnamon
  • 1 tsp of ginger
  • 1/4 tsp of cloves
  • 1/4 tsp of nutmeg
  • 1 tbs of flax seed ground
  • 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
  • 1/2 cup of milk (I used almond)
  • 2 tbs of butter or coconut oil
  • 2 eggs (could use flax eggs)

Instructions

  1. Place oats in food processor or NutriBullet to grind to flour.
  2. Mix all dry ingredients together.
  3. In seperate bowl, mix all wet ingredients including pumpkin.
  4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients.
  5. Stir well.
  6. Cook pancakes on well greased griddle or in a pan. Flipping only after first side is well browned.
  7. These are dense, thick pancakes so they take a little while to cook.
  8. Serve with maple syrup. (In my house, we add a generous dose of nut butter too!)
  9. Enjoy!
http://www.nourishedrootspdx.com/blog/gluten-free-pumpkin-pie-pancakes/

This recipe adapted from Cookie and Kate.

This post contains affiliate links.

Tiny Tip Tuesday: Eat Eggs

Super yummy, beautiful eggs.

Super yummy, beautiful eggs.

Unfortunately, over the years, eggs have been a much maligned food.  Due to their yolk’s high cholesterol level, doctors and other health professionals have advocated limiting their consumption, particularly for people with high cholesterol.  These recommendations are unfortunate because eggs offer many health benefits and their impact on cholesterol is not clear cut.  Eggs are a significant source of Vitamin A, Selenium, Folate, B vitamins and phosphorous.  Even though  their yolks contain 212 mgs of the 300 daily recommended mgs of cholesterol, over 70% of people show no cholesterol response to egg consumption and the other 30% of people (called hyper responders) showed a minimal increase in LDL and total cholesterol.   These studies show, however, that eggs change the LDL particles from the small, dense particles associated with heart disease to large LDL molecules.  People with predominately large LDL particles have a lower risk of heart disease.  In fact, some studies have actually shown egg consumption can increase HDL (the “good” cholesterol) in some people.  Egg yolks are also an excellent source of complete protein (6 grams of protein per large egg and they contain all of the essential amino acids) and they contain 100 mgs of choline, an incredibly important nutrient used to build cell membranes and by the body to produce the neurotransmitter, acetylcholine.  Studies have also shown eating omega-3 enriched eggs can reduce triglycerides by 16-18%.  Even though it was hard for me to let go of all the “knowledge” I had about limiting eggs due to their cholesterol count, once I started really examining the studies,  eggs gained a regular place in my family’s breakfast rotation.  You can’t beat their nutrient density compared to their cost!!  If you are interested in adding eggs to your diet but have a history of high cholesterol, talk to your health care provider about a recommendation for a healthy number of eggs to include in your diet.

Photo found on flicker under Creative Commons license.  See more beautiful photos by Woodley Wonder Works here.

Post shared on Fat Tuesday.

Tiny Tip Tuesday: Eat Breakfast Like a King

Photo by Ali Arsh.

Photo by Ali Arsh.

Recent research has offered support to the old adage “Eat breakfast like a king. Lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper. ” A study published in  Obesity randomly divided 50 overweight and obese woman into two groups.  Each woman received a total of 1400 calories divided throughout the day.  The first group, the Breakfast group  received the majority of their calories in the morning (700 calories for breakfast, 500 for lunch and 200 for dinner).  The second group, the Dinner group, received the majority of their calories for dinner (200 calories at breakfast, 500 for lunch and 700 for dinner). The only difference between the two groups was the timing of the bulk of their calories.  The results were astounding.  While both groups lost a significant amount of weight, the Breakfast group lost twice as much weight and showed a significantly greater reduction in their insulin levels and fasting glucose levels.  The Breakfast group also had a 33.6% decrease in their  triglyceride levels while the Dinner group’s triglyceride levels increased by almost 15%.  The Breakfast group also reported feeling more satiated throughout the day than the Dinner group.

What can we learn from this study?  Researchers for years have pointed to the importance of eating breakfast.  It is well documented that people who eat breakfast have more energy throughout the day, are better able to stay focused and tend to eat less throughout the day.  Traditional Chinese Medicine believes the body is most focused on digestion during the morning hours so consuming the majority of your nutrients during this period means your body will receive optimal nutrition.  Of course, the quality of the breakfast is important.  Sugary cereals, white bagels with cream cheese or waffles loaded with syrup are going to spike your blood sugar and then lead to a energy crash.  Be sure to add some protein and maybe a healthy fat to the start of your day.  This fat or protein will help anchor your carbs, slowing digestion and keeping you feeling full longer.  Good choices for breakfast include:

  • A whole wheat bagel with nut butter and banana.
  • A bowl of oatmeal, quinoa and other grains with ground flax seeds and berries.
  • Eggs of any kind served with sprouted whole wheat toast and a fresh fruit.
  • Chia seeds combined with almond milk, chopped nuts and fruit.
  • If you are going to have a cereal, try to choose one with the fewest grams of sugar possible.  Mix it with a full fat organic Greek plain yogurt or whole organic milk, chopped nuts and some fresh berries.

All of these options offer a complex carb combined with a healthy fat and a significant source of protein.  These breakfasts will help you have a healthy start to your day and could be one of the first steps to helping you control your eating throughout the day.  Controlled, mindful eating can be an important component of weight control.

This post was shared with She eats and Richly Rooted.

Tell me about your favorite go to breakfast options.

 

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