Blueberry Coconut Breakfast Cookies

This is one of those recipe that I pinned on Pinterest but forgot about it. Once I re-discover it and baked it, we are hooked.

The first time I made these breakfast cookies, I made it with macadamia nuts. The coconut oil, macadamia nuts, banana, and vanilla baking in the oven smelled incredibly delicious. I have since tried with almonds and pecan, but the macadamia nuts version is the favorite in the household. Kaydn, usually is not impressed with "healthy" treats, but he'd eat these up straight out of the oven! I have to fight him off if I want to give some away.

Dry ingredients:

1 1/2 cups gluten-free rolled oats

1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes 

2 tablespoon golden flax seed meal

3 table spoons hemp seed

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cups coarsely chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts, almonds, or macadamia nuts)

1/2 cup dried blueberries

Wet ingredients:

3 ripe regular size bananas, mashed

1/4 cup coconut oil, warm enough to be liquid

1 tablespoon raw honey or agave

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degree.

In a large bowl, mash the bananas and add all other wet ingredients and stir together until blended. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix until well combined. (Note: The mixture will seem a little dry once the coconut oil cools down and solidify but the cookie should hold the shape when it's removed from the cookie cutter.)

Line the baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray. Press mixture into round cookie cutter (2 1/4 inch or 2 1/2 inch) and place on the cookie sheet. You can also use square or triangle baking pan. 

Bake 350 degree for 25 minutes or until golden. Let cool on cookie sheet. It's best when they are still warm and toasty and crunchy on the outside. Yield about 15 cookies. Store in a airtight container, reheat in toaster oven to serve.

Original recipt for the blueberry-coconut-pecan-breakfast can be found on http://www.kumquatblog.com/2012/03/blueberry-coconut-pecan-breakfast.html

Coconut Lime Cilantro Cashew Chicken

When I got home from the gym yesterday (Kaydn had swim and I went to Zumba), the only thing I had done for dinner was taking some chicken breast from the freezer to the fridge to thaw. It was one of those evenings that you wish dinner was already prepared . . .  or a little better planned . . .  oh well.

After thinking over all of options of a chicken dish and to use up whatever is in my fridge, I came up with this coconut lime cilantro cashew chicken, and it was surprisingly good. I love the coconut, lime, and cilantro combination!

3 chicken breast, thinly sliced
1 onion, half and then sliced
1 cup sugar snap peas
1 red pepper, cut into thin strips
1 yellow pepper, cut into thin strips
1 zucchini, half and then thinly sliced
1 cup cilantro
1/2 cup cashew (I used raw cashew since that is what I have in the house)
1 can of coconut milk (I used about 2/3 can that was left over)
1 - 2 Tbs shoyu or tamari sauce
juice of 1 lime
1 Tbs agave

Sauté onions with some olive oil until slightly softened, add the sugar snap peas, stir and cook for a couple of minutes, add peppers and zucchini and stir. Sauté until vegetables are cooked but still crunchy. Remove the vegetables from pan and set aside.

Sauté chicken with olive oil. When chicken pieces are almost cooked, add the vegetables to pan. Add the seasonings and stir to make sure the sauce covers the chicken and vegetables evenly. Add cilantro and cashew, stir lightly, remove from heat and place  in a serving dish.

Smoothies

Cassidy & I have been on a alkalizing detox program for a little while. She did it to improve her health and lose some weight; I did it to support her and also to get a start with my new gluten free eating plan. I think gluten has been giving me digestive trouble so I decided to removed it from my diet, along with dairy and sugar which I gave up a couple of year ago. The 21 days alkalizing detox plan is basically gluten free, dairy free, and sugar free plus lots of other restrictions. Some days I feel like a rabbit while I'm munching on baby carrots, cucumbers, and celery sticks. . . .
The best thing that we learned from the detox program is that I discovered some really yummy non-dairy smoothies. We started the program at the beginning of December; what a terrible time to embark a new eating challenge! I felt like there was no way I could help Cassidy to get going since December was the busiest time of the year for me but I managed to come up with a plan.

To save time, I peel and cut up the fruits in advance (approximately 1" chunks), measure and store them in zip lock bags in the freezer. Since I always make two large smoothies, each bag contain 16 oz of fruits.
When I make smoothies, I just pull out one zip lock bag, break up the frozen fruits a bit, dump them in our VitaMix Blending Station blender, add almond, rice, or coconut milk beverage to 16 oz mark and start blending. Usually a little more liquid is needed to keep the blender going until the frozen fruits and non-dairy milk are blended smoothly. I prefer the coconut milk (Silk PureCoconut original) with my smoothies but almond (Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Vanilla, unsweetened) or rice milk (Kirkland Signature Organic Ricemilk original) works well also.

Below is a list of smoothies flavors that we love.

Mango Pineapple
8 oz mango
8 oz pineapple

Pineapple Kiwi
3 large kiwi
enough pineapple chunks added to make 16oz

Pineapple Peach
8 oz pineapple
8 oz peaches

Pineapple Raspberries
10 oz pineapple
6 oz raspberries
1 Tbs agave

Raspberries Peach
10 oz peaches
6 oz raspberries
1 Tbs agave

Blueberries Raspberries
8 oz blueberries
8 oz raspberries

"Frosty" smoothie treat
1 cup Vanilla Almond Milk (Blue Diamond Almond Breeze sweetened, or other brand) place in ice tray and freeze into ice cubes
2 Tbs baking cocoa
1 Tbs agave
1/2 cup Sweetened Vanilla Almond Milk

Breakfast Green Smoothie
1/4 cup almond meal
1 piece of fresh ginger, 1/2' thick
1 cup fresh baby kale
1 cup fresh spinach
8 oz mango
8 oz pineapple
6 oz coconut water

Pumpkin, Apple, and Chive Biscuit and other variations

I am not sure if it is "old age" or my liver is no longer functioning well, gluten has been giving me digestive trouble. Couple of year ago I removed dairy and refine sugar from my diet and now gluten is gone. At this rate, pretty soon I will not be eating anything . . . maybe only veggie and fruits. . .  :-(
With my new eating plan, I've been on the lookout for gluten free recipes and I discover a blog called The Urban Poser by Jenni Hulet and absolutely love just about everything. Everything looks so yummy delicious and it's mostly dairy free and gluten free. I almost pinned every photo onto my Pinterest.

The original recipe is called Pumpkin, Apple, Bacon, and Chive Biscuit from The Urban Poser but since bacon is not on the alkalizing detox plan which is  dairy free, gluten free, and sugar free and Cassidy thought the biscuits are too "eggy" (can anyone tell that she doesn't like eggs), so here I am changing recipes.

Dry ingredients:
1/2  cup coconut flour (original recipe called for 1 cup coconut flour, the biscuit is very falls apart easily)
1/2 cup gluten free flour
1/2 tsp baking soda (original recipe calls for 1 tsp baking but I think the final product tastes too much of baking soda)
1/4  tsp salt

Wet ingredients for pumpkin biscuit:
1/2  cup coconut oil, softened
2/3  cup fresh roasted pumpkin puree (butternut squash, acorn squash...)
4-8 Tbsp of coconut milk beverage (depending on the moisture content of the squash)
1 egg
2 Tbs chive chopped, thinly sliced (or dehydrated)
1/4 cup very finely chopped tart apples
(1/4 cup bacon pieces)

Since there is no added sweetener in this recipe, I came up with a different version of the biscuit - apple cinnamon - to be enjoyed while we are on the detox challenge. It's very yummy! Cassidy likes it better than the pumpkin version.

Same dry ingredients as above and add 1/2 tsp cinnamon and a pinch of all spice for apple cinnamon biscuits. 

Wet ingredients for apple cinnamon biscuit:

1/2  cup coconut oil, melted
2/3  cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 egg

1/4 cup very finely chopped tart apples

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F.  Combine dry ingredients, shift, and set aside.

In a separate bowl combine the coconut oil, pumpkin puree (or apple sauce), coconut milk (for pumpkin biscuit only), egg, and beat till smooth.  Add the flour mixture to the batter and mix well until no lumps. Add apples and chives (or apples for apple cinnamon biscuit) and mix well. The batter should not be too thick, a little on the soft side but still be able to hold together. Add more liquid if needed as it may vary depending on the texture of the pumpkin puree. Use an ice cream scoop to scoop and drop batter onto the oiled or parchment paper lined baking sheet.Makes about 8-10 scones.

Bake for about 20-25 min or until slightly golden. Do not over bake of they will be dry. Best eaten same day or while still warm. Can store in airtight container and reheat in toaster oven or microwave before serving.

Gluten free flour recipe from The Art of Gluten Free Baking:

1 1/4 C (170 g) brown rice flour
1 1/4 C (205 g) white rice flour
1 C (120 g) tapioca flour
1 C (165 g) sweet rice flour (also known as glutinous rice flour or under the brand name, Mochiko)
2 scant tsp. xanthan gum

Raw Vegan Chocolate Cream Cake

I found this recipe on Pinterest a long while ago from http://www.pure2raw.com/2012/02/raw-triple-chocolate-cheesecake-recipe/. It perk my interest because the picture of the little chocolate cheese cake looked so good and it is dairy free! I have  developed lactose intolerance recently (the last couple of years) so I immediately wanted to try the recipe. I was a little skeptic about how good it would taste since it is raw and vegan. But I was in heaven when I had my first bite. It has become one of my favorite treats, right up there with Alicia Silverstone's chocolate peanut better cups. This chocolate cream cake is smooth, rich, and creamy; so good!

By the way, I am so glade that Roland purchased the Vitamix blending station (the same thing at Jamba Juice). We always make fun of his obsession with blenders but I sure love using it.

Crust
Ingredients:

1 cup almond meal (original recipe called for pecans)

3-4 medjool dates

1/2 Tbsp maple syrup

1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of Real Salt

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse till combined. The crust material should slightly stick together. If it is too dry, add a little more maple syrup. Scoop the almond chocolate crust into mini cheesecake pan and press down with fingers to form the crust firmly into pan. Set aside and make the filling.

Filling

Ingredients:
2 cups cashew pieces
1/2 cup maple syrup (or agave)
1/2 cup water (use half or less if you soak the cashews for a long time)

2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup raw cocoa powder (or regular cocoa powder)

1/2 cup coconut oil, melted into liquid

Directions:
Soak cashews for about 10-15 minutes (optional), rinse well and drain. Place cashews into blender with maple syrup, vanilla, and water, and cocoa powder and blend until creamy. Add in the coconut oil  (make sure the coconut oil is in liquid form) and blend till smooth. Scrape down the sides if necessary so the filling is nice and smooth.

Scooping the filling into mini cheesecake pans and fill to the top. Place the chocolate cream cake into the freezer to set for a few hours before removing from pan.

I like the vegan chocolate cream cake as is but it is fun to have some optional toppings such as chopped almond and chocolate ganache (1/2 cup vegan semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips and 1/8 cup coconut beverage or any nut milk,  melted over a double boiler).

2012 Bike Rides

It has been more than a year since I last wrote a blog post or finish any posts that were started. October 8th last year, Kimberly was engaged and that put a immediate stop to my blogging; life went crazy for a few months. Kim was married on the end of 2011 so I guess I have been lazy for almost  a year!?

My 2012 new year's resolution includes attending "workout classes" at the gym. It took almost a whole month to get the courage up to try a zomba class. The zoomba class was very fast paste, had a super fun teacher, but it was hard to figure out what I was to do with my arms and legs. The Spin classes took a little longer to work up the discipline; I went to one class in the summer of 2011 and it was incredibly difficult and not so much fun. I managed to start going to the spin classes about 12 weeks before the Goldilocks bike ride; did not want to be in the same shape as last year. And now I've committed to spin three times a week.  My weekly work out class schedule is three zomba classes for fun, three spin classes for the cardio training, and one muscle blast class for "torture" (I guess to toughen the body and the mind).

Kimberly and I did the Goldilocks and the Little Red Riding Hood women's only bike ride this spring. I think the spin classes had really paid off. We did the 40 miles loop for Goldilocks and 50 miles loop for Little Red Riding Hood and it was so much fun, so unlike the 2011 Goldilocks!

May 12th 2012, Goldilocks

 

Starting line - getting ready.

The weather could not be more perfect, sunny, but not too warm.

Rest stop. Similar cute signs were every where.

Finish Line. ( I did get there before Kimberly, just saying)

It felt great to be at this end of the balloons. 

Both of us got new shoes this year.

June 2nd 2012, Little Red Riding Hood

The weather was a bit cloudy and cool but we decided against jackets.

Hanging around before our start time.

Starting Line

First rest stop.

Ready to head out again after the first rest stop.

Second rest stop.

The scenery was beautiful all the way.

Third rest stop, I think this was my lowest point.

Lunch at the third stop.

Finish line.

We got a little bit of drizzles when we started the ride, but the weather cleared up and it was a beautiful day.

Lunch after we finished.

 Ice cream bar, I think we earned it.

Our souvenir bracelet. Peace! 

Coconut and Macadamia Puffed Cereal/Granola

This is a Somae Foods recipe from the family whom Kim nanny for. My kids are not big granola fans but are cereals lovers. So I replaced the oats and WW flour with puffed grains and it was a hit: lightly sweetened crunchy grain puffs with bits of coconut fakes and chopped macadamia nuts. The last time I made the cereal, we finished the batch in less than 8 hours. I made it again the following morning and we ate them all again in less than 8 hours. I can snake on this cereal all day!

Wet Ingredients:

2/3 cup pure maple syrup

6 Tablespoons coconut oil

1 teaspoon real vanilla

Dry Ingredients:
pinch of salt
3/4 cup chopped macadamia nut

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes or shredded coconut

12 cups of puffed grains; Arrowhead Mill makes puffed corn, kamut, millet, rice, and wheat with no added sugar, salt, and preservatives. We usually use a blend of corm, kamut, miller and rice.

In a sauce pan melt the coconut oil on medium heat, remove from heat and add the rest of the wet ingredients and stir to mix. In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients and then add the syrup/oil mixture. Mix until the cereal are coated evenly with the syrup/oil.

Spread the cereal mixture onto two or three large baking trays lined with parchment paper. Bake each tray for 21 minutes; turn or stir the cereal every 7 minutes. Cool completely before serving and store in airtight container.

Original Recipe
4 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
3/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts
salt to taste
2/3 cup pure maple syrup
6 Tablespoons coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon real vanilla extract


Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Blend the oats, flour, coconuts, nuts and salt together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together maple syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla until well blended. Stir in oat mixture. Place the mixture on a large baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake for 30 minutes. Turn or stir granola halfway through baking to avoid burning. Cool completely before serving. Store in airtight container.

Goldilocks Bike Ride 2011

http://www.goldilocksride.com/

We did it! We rode 42 miles at the Goldilocks ride. It was truly a learning experience for Kim & I.

Neither one of us has been on a road bike before. I just purchased a new bike two weeks prior and Kim does not have a road bike so we had to borrow one. For various reasons: rain/cold/snow weather, she was away at school, I was working a lot of extra hours in April & May, we did not get a chance to try out the bikes until the night before the event. We "fixed" a few minor problems that night. First of all, the borrowed shoes did not fit Kim so she & I had to traded shoes. I was not used to the borrowed shoes and could not clip in or out and fall over. Skinned my right knee and bruised my thigh. (It was a good thing that I am used to falling over on a bike, happened quite a few times last year, and usually just a little bleeding at the knee with no major damage.) It turned out the clips were installed incorrectly to the shoes so I was able to fixed it. 

On Saturday May 7th we headed out early in the morning and the episode of the shoes/clips issues last night turned out to be a small problem. I still had a little trouble clipping in, but it was manageable and minor compare to what was ahead of us. 

As soon as we got there to pick up our packets, we realized that we did not have any spare tiers or tools with us. It was too late to do anything about it so we prayed and hoped that we would not have flat tires.  Our biggest problem came when we started the ride. Kim could not keep up! Imagine that, the half-marathon runner had a hard time staying up with the almost half a century old mom; we were going down hill and I was hardly paddling. At first I though it was because she did not know how to use the gears efficiently. Eventually, I traded bike with her and immediately realized that there was something wrong with the bike. It was more work to ride it than my heavy mountain bike. We pulled over and figured out that the rear break was off center and was rubbing against the tire. No wonder she could not keep up; she was riding with the break on. Since it was the first time she rode a road bike, she had no idea what a road bike should feel like. Of course we had no tool and could not fix it. I finally lift the little lever on the break that is used when you want to remove the wheel to fix a flat tire. I made sure the rear break would still work for her and we moved on. I instructed her to pull over when she see a support vehicle to have them help her fix the break issue and went ahead. Anyway, while I spotted a support vehicle and pulled over to wait for her, she missed the car and me and went ahead. Anyway, we were separated because I thought she was still behind me and keep waiting for her at the rest stops while She thought I got impatient and left her behind. We did not see each other again until the end.

We come up with  list of things to be aware of for first timer of a biking event.

• First of all, make sure your bike works properly.
• Carry a spare tier and some tools. We were lucky that we did not have flat tires. After the Goldilocks, I went straight to the bike shop and purchased a seat bag and some tools in case of a flat tire or a broken chain.
• Adjust the helmet to fit properly; my helmet kept sliding backwards, it was such a bother.
• Each riders needs to carry a cell phone - this is not only important when you get separated and need to contact someone, it is also very important if you have a flat tire,  get injured, or experience a bike malfunction that you need to be picked up from the side of the road. Kim did not want to carry her cell phone with her from her long distance running experience, but it was a mistake for biking event.
• Each rider needs to carry the little map provided by the even organizer - when I pulled over to the support vehicle, a lady had to call her family to come get her because she rear rim was bad and could not continue the event. If you don't have the map, it's harder to give you location. The map also had event organizer contact phone numbers that could come in handy.
• Eat, eat, eat, and drink, drink, drink. Stop at every rest stop to eat and drink even if you don't think you need to. I rode to the turn around point which was about 28 miles. It was after a long uphill ride so I rested, ate, drank, refilled my water bottle, had a potty break, rested some more, and was ready to head back. Now it was a nice long down hill so I was feeling great. I arrived at the 3rd stop in very little time. I was worried about where Kim was and decided to go ahead and skip the rest stop and ride to the end. BAD IDEA!!! I was "bonked" when I was about 5 miles from the finishing point. According to Infinite bike shop, in endurance sports, particularly cycling and running, hitting the wall or the bonk describes a condition caused by the depletion of glycogen stores in the liver and muscles, which manifests itself by precipitous fatigue and loss of energy. I have never did anything long distance before and did not realized that I need to eat weather I think or feel that I need it or not. 
• Each rider should carry some food, preferably sugary food in the pocket. When I started to feel the huger and lost of energy, I stopped when I feel I had to but I only had water to drink. Soon I ran out of water and I was so hungry. I went on. At the very last hill, and it was just a little hill, I had to stop again and I was shaking.  I had to walk my bike about 15 feet to the top of the hill. When I felt that I could continue, I was in such bad shape that I barely had enough energy to lift my leg over the bike. I could not clip my right foot in to get started. I managed to lift my foot to try to clip in again and simply toppled over onto the ground. Talk about precipitous fatigue! Only if I had some sugary food with me; I could of avoided all of the un-necessay sufferings.
• Last but not the least: apply sun screen to every exposed face, arm and leg area. We both forgot to sunscreen and we were sun burned! Kim was in better shape because she had been out in the sun more often than I. My poor thighs and the back of my legs was burn pretty bad and I was in pain for days. My sister-in-law who is an experienced long distance biker said that she carries a small tube of sunscreen in her seat bag so she will always have access to some sunscreen; smart!

Despite all of our inexperience and troubles, we had a great time and immediately went and signed up for next year after we had a chance to eat. I wondered why after all my "sufferings", I was so ready to do it again? Kim also wonder how in the world I got these markings on my legs; they weren't just grease marks, I had cuts and bruises and one of the bruise mark looked just like the bike chain mark. Yeah, I think I won the klutz award. 

  

Crossing the finishing line was exhilarating; it was all worth it. And the only way to get there is to RIDE ON!!! I bought this necklace before we even started the ride; I guess I knew what I needed to do to finish.

Cassidy's Prom 2011

Cassidy turned sixteen and was ask to prom a week after her birthday. Kimberly was the sweet big sister; she came home from BYU to dress hunting with us and then came home again to do Cassidy's hair and makeup. She was so excited to help to sent Cassidy on her first date. Here are some photos of preparing to go to prom.