Chocolate Coffee Drink! (No sugar, caffeine, low fat -- has protein!)

I just love those Starbucks mixed coffee drinks, but they're full of sugar, fat and additives like flavorings. But I wanted a healthy version. This is really tasty, and all of the ingredients are healthy things you should be eating anyway! :)

Make this:

*Decaf coffee

*Almond milk (I used homemade)

*Cocoa (I like a lot, so 2 tablespoons)

*Protein powder (yes, the regular kind is full of sugar/flavorings, so I used organic grass-fed whey protein without any sugar or other additives)

*Water

*Stevia

Just throw together in a blender or Magic Bullet, and it's chocolately, sweet, and delicious! 

I avoid caffeine because I've noticed I have more energy without it, and it's better for your nervous system. If you have anxiety, it might be from coffee or other kinds of caffeine, which give you highs and lows during the day, and can make you feel anxious.

Cocoa is super healthy for you. 

And this has both almond milk and protein powder, so you're getting a ton of protein, which you'll need if you're working out (and following a very healthy diet, without a lot of cheeseburgers). 

Enjoy your chocolate coffee drink, with no guilt! :)

Lemonade/Flavored water or juices

We all know the juice isle of the grocery store is mostly sugar water, with artificial flavors and colorings, that can be quite harmful and unhealthy. Some colorings have been linked to cancer. And really, you may as well down a half cup of sugar straight.

So a good alternative that is still tasty? Make your own!

You'll need:
*Filtered water
*Lemon Juice, or any juice from a health store that is concentrated and has NO sugar or added ingredients -- I have a cherry one -- note that it will not be sweet at all.
*Stevia, or other sweetener.
*Berries

Combine your water with a swig of your lemon juice, or other natural juice you bought from a health food store (such as natural cherry concentrate, or blueberry, or pomegranate, etc.), and throw in your stevia. I like to put a few frozen berries in here because they're pretty and also add some nutrition! Enjoy.

Chocolate Milk/Chocolate Milkshake/Ice Cream (Without milk, ice cream, sugar, or chocolate!)

I've really been trying to cut out sugar, and just be healthier in general. However, I LOVE ice cream and chocolate!!!

I wanted to have both. Impossible?

Could I not deprive myself, but also get the health benefits?

I was feeling run down, catching every cold in sight, and not looking my best due to my horrible diet. I wanted that "glow of health" (that I used to have when I was healthier), and I missed having tons of energy! It seemed like after a short activity I just was ready for a nap! And a lot of this, was due to ordering too much horrible take-out food.

A lot of that take-out food was...ice cream sundaes and chocolate shakes! Yes, I had the excuse of not only have a divorce recently finalized, but I was starting to date and also going through numerous mini-break-ups, so sugar was needed!

However, it got to be embarrassing, because the delivery guy recognized me. He of course knew exactly what was in those stapled brown bags...Who orders only desserts? Um, me! He knew the truth!

All of that sugar was making me feel (and look) like crap.

But how could I give up something I loved so much? I then found this amazing substitute! It's seriously JUST as good, in my opinion. Okay, maybe 1-2 points less good, but that's worth it to me, to be healthy, AND enjoy a rich and sweet treat.

What you need:
*Avocados
*Cocoa powder
*Any kind of mind (regular, soy, almond, cashew, coconut, etc.)
*Stevia/agave/honey (any kind of sweetener. I used Stevia because I wanted to avoid sugar of course!)
*If you want a cake, you'll need non-gluten flour, guar gum, and baking powder.

These are your basic ingredients for any kind of chocolate dessert. You can pretty much use whatever ratios you want. I often use a half avocado with about a cup of milk, and 3-4 teaspoons of cocoa powder. But it's really up to you. The creamy/fat taste comes from the avocado, the chocolate taste obviously comes from the cocoa. So mix it up depending on your palate.

Chocolate Milk
Milk
Cocoa powder
Stevia (or other sweetener)

Stir together!

Chocolate Milkshake 
Milk
Cocoa powder
Stevia (or other sweetner)
Avocado

Blend in a blender or magic bullet. You can make it more like a "chocolate mouse" by putting in more cocoa powder and using less milk.

Chocolate Ice Cream
Use the Chocolate Milkshake Recipe. Then pour into a glass dish, so it is a fairly shallow layer, freeze.
Hack up the frozen layer (freezes faster than you think), and eat! It tastes surprisingly similar to ice cream, due to the fat in the avocado. If you want other flavor, leave out the cocoa. It will be a green color on its own, and you can add any flavor you'd like.

I was super lazy with the presentation here, but I seriously SCARFED this down immediately. You can make it look more like real ice cream if you scoop it out in round shapes. I just hacked out these triangular pieces so I could eat it right away! :)

Chocolate Cake (With ice cream over) -- see above. (Green ice cream is without the cocoa.)

Use the Chocolate Milkshake recipe. Then add in these ingredients in a bowl:
*A non-gluten flour (I used coconut flour, with about a 1/3 as much soy flour)
*Guar gum (this stuff makes non-gluten flours stick together)
1 egg
*Baking powder (about a teaspoon or so)

Stir together, pour in a cake pan sprayed with Pam, and bake at about 350 until done. I'm guessing 30-40 minutes, but depends. This cake alone is okay. However, put your chocolate "ice cream" over it, and it's seriously AMAZING. And soo similar to the real thing, you'll be shocked.

The Amazing Quinoa! (As a breakfast cereal too...) It's "The Year of the Quinoa." 

Here is Quinoa with pineapple, cinnamon, ginger, a bit of stevia, and homemade cashew milk. 

I have to admit, I was not caught up in the quinoa craze. I just didn't care. It's pronounced "KEEN-WAH," but I still didn't care. I was more than happy with my brown rice, and while I knew I "should" eat more quinoa, it just seemed difficult. It had to be "cooked." That took longer than ordering from restaurants.

2013 is officially recognized as "The international Year of the Quinoa," by The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO). How cool is that? Putting "the" before "quinoa" also makes it sound really cool. Like a rapper name. "The quinoa" is in the house. 

Little did I know a few things about quinoa, that have since made me a fan.

*It only takes 10-15 minutes to cook. (Unlike millet that takes 35-40, or even rice which takes longer).
*It's acts like a grain, but is gluten-free (gluten (which is found in wheat products, pasta, and just about ALL of our food here in carb-based America, is bad for everyone, even if you're not "intolerant" it does stress your body. Occasionally eating it is fine, but gluten and refined grains are seriously stressing your body out).
*It helps you stay skinny. Quinoa helps fight obesity. In studies, where animals ate quinoa daily, the animals had far less obesity.
*It has more flavonoids than cranberries! And it's anti-inflammatory, has a ton of antioxidants,
*It's a complete protein source, unlike all the other grains. What??? How can a grain-looking-thing ALSO have a ton of (complete) protein? I was blown away by this. No other grain has protein by itself. This means when you're cooking, you can eat quinoa as BOTH your carb and protein, so simply throw in some veggies or fruit, and it's complete. Huge time-saver. 185 grams of quinoa has 8 grams of protein! 
*It's not from the grain family! What? Even though it acts/tastes like a grain, and is a healthy carb, it's in the family with beets, swiss chard, and spinach!! Crazy.

OKAY, I'M SOLD.

How to prepare it: 
*Pour out a cup of it. Rinse it off with water. I find it's easier to use my hand to "strain" the water out, because the tiny grains go everywhere otherwise.
*Boil it in 3 times the water for about 10-15 minutes, or until the little spheres pop open. 
*Optional: If you have an extra 3 minutes, before adding water to the quinoa, first saute the quinoa in olive oil for a few minutes. It will add a nutty flavor.

How to use it: 
You can cook up a big pot of this once a week (it's pretty fast to make though), and then eat as follows:
*Instead of oatmeal. Pour some homemade almond or cashew milk over it, with some cinnamon and blueberries or other fruit, and a bit of stevia, agave, or honey. Tasty! I like this more than oatmeal now.
*Like rice: Use it anyplace you would normally use rice: in a stir fry, as a side dish, etc. It's great to saute it with some olive oil, garlic, onions, and any herbs you may have. So good!
*As a cold salad: If you cooked up a big pot of the stuff, take out a bit and mix with chopped tomatoes, parsley, some olive oil, lemon juice, and some salt and pepper, etc. You can make sort of a "pasta salad" kind of thing here. Add any veggies you want, including chopped bell peppers, zucchini, etc.
*To bake with: Throw some cooked quinoa into muffin or cookie recipes for added texture, protein, and healthiness!

Yes, "The Quinoa" has been officially welcomed into my daily diet! Welcome.

Read more about quinoa here:

Make your own MILK! I made Cashew Milk (takes less than 10 minutes). 

This is something that's really excited me. I usually have always bought 1% or skim milk, soy milk, or sometimes coconut or almond milk -- I had NO idea you could make milk yourself!

Why would you want to? Because processed milk (even the "healthy" ones like soy milk, almond milk, etc) have a lot of added chemicals, preservatives, and the way they're processed to be mass produced means important nutrients are destroyed. I'm sure drinking the occasional processed milk won't kill you, but why not make your own when it's so easy!

This is really all you need to do:

*Get a cup of cashews, or coconut flakes, or soy beans, or whatever you want to make milk from (except cow of course :).
*Throw your cashews (or whatever you've got) into a glass and fill it with water -- doesn't matter how much. Just make sure the cashews are submerged.Throw it in your fridge overnight, or for at least 4-6 hours.
*Take it out. Drain out the water. Rinse a couple of times. Add 4 cups water.
*Throw it in your blender or Magic Bullet. Blend.
*You can use it straight (like a smoothie texture), or buy a cheesecloth strainer (looks like a wizard's hat!) and pour it through the strainer into a glass or bowl. Squeeze it until you get all of the milk out.
*If you strained it, you now have a lot of nut pulp. You can use this in baking to add protein and nutrients and texture to you baked goods, or add a bit into smoothies or oatmeal for protein. Just keep it in a baggie or tupperware until you're ready to use it.
*Pour your finished milk into a pretty glass bottle if you wish, or just keep it in a regular glass w/ some plastic wrap over it in your fridge.

Due to not having preservatives, drink it within 2-3 days. Not hard to do as it's seriously tasty!

Flavorings: You can add flavoring, a pinch of salt, a bit of stevia, agave, or honey. I think it's really good straight. You can also add a bit of cocoa powder for a delicious chocolate milk, or blend in a magic bullet for a chocolate milkshake (a bit of avocado will make it taste like icecream).

About protein: Note that a nut milk (almond milk, cashew milk, etc.) will of course have protein, where as a coconut milk won't. So keep that in mind when calculating how much protein is in your meals.

The time it takes: It takes a TINY amount of time to do ALL of the above steps (throw some nuts in water, put in fridge, take out, rinse, blend in a blender). That probably took less than 4 minutes -- it's faster than making a smoothie. The only thing that will take some time is straining, since you need to be patient and squeeze the cheesecloth. If you're super busy, you can drink it w/o straining and you probably won't notice the difference (especially if you're just pouring this into oatmeal, etc.) If you're picky about the texture, the extra 6 minutes will matter to you. But they aren't necessary if you're a busy city dweller.

Enjoy your milk!! :) It's soo yummy! <3

Super Creamy Tomato Soup -- With no Cream

small pan size (makes about 2 bowls) 

2 large tomatoes (from the vine is what I got)

Onions -- about 2 inches of onions cut off from the end (minus those layers you have to pull off)

1 clove garlic

olive oil

dried basil

dried dill (put 3 times as much basil as dill)

a bit of ground pepper

swiss or mozzarella cheese (optional) 

Tomato paste (probably 6 tablespoons.)

1 chicken bouillon cube

blender or Magic Bullet 

In olive oil simmer garlic and onions (cut it up sloppy, you'll be blending it in a blender later anyway!)

Cut up tomatoes in big chunks -- you can be sloppy with this as well.

Once browned, add the tomatoes to the onions and garlic. Let it all turn a lighter shade of pink and cook down. Now spoon out the chunks into a magic bullet container, and pulse it until the onions are smooth. Probably twice. Leave it in the blender for now. 

In the same pan (which is now of course empty -- your soup is still in the blender), throw in the buillon, tomato paste and probably 3 inches of water in the bottom. Start cooking this. Throw in a bunch of basil w/ it (coat whole top layer) and the dill. 

Now return to your blender. By the way, if you sample this blended stuff, it tastes creamy, despite being no cream in here! Like magic. 

Now pour your blended tomato mixture into the pan, along with the tomato paste mixture. Add any fresh basil. Add the (optional) cheese to the bowls if it's grated.

It's seriously amazing!!

Healthy Egg Salad!

2 Eggs (you can remove the yolk if you like, but I find it nutritious)
1 small clove garlic
1 slice onion
Splash of olive oil
black ground pepper
A bit of lemon juice
Celery (optional)
Dijon Mustard (get one without sugar and chemicals, such as the Whole Foods one made only with  mustard seed and Apple Cider Vinegar)
Tiny bit of Mayonnaise -- or use plain Green Yogurt

Optional spices: You can add dill, a bit of chili powder, paprika, or chopped Jalepenos are all interesting things to add, if you like some spice. I prefer mine without these.

Saute splash of olive oil and chopped onion and garlic until brown*. Hard boil eggs. Remove shells, chop. Add a dollup of mustard and a tiny bit of mayo (you can leave out the mayo, or use a bit of fat free greek yogurt). You can also leave out the yolks, though I think they're nutritious. Mix together and add some black pepper (and optional chopped celery) and you're done!

To make it a full meal, place egg salad over lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, chick peas, (whatever you like in a salad!) and add a gluten-free biscuit. If you're concerned about fat, most of your meal here is lettuce and vegetables, with just a dollup of your high-protein egg salad. We're leaving out the large amount of mayo, and the common sandwich version it's typically on unhealthy white bread (more calories, and gluten even if it's whole grain bread) with a lot of cheese and mayo. We're leaving all of those unhealthy calories out, but keeping the flavor.

*Note: Garlic and olive oil sauted together release a lot of healthy immune-boosting action. It's actually an ear infection natural cure to put a clove of garlic sauted with olive oil in your ear (please don't burn yourself if you try this -- wait for it to cool off, and never do this if you have a punctured ear drum. So imagine the effects of eating it! Your whole body gets the boost.