GF Chocolate Cookies

I go through baking phases, and this week was one of them.  I really wanted to make some gluten-free chocolate cookies, and man these turned out well beyond my expectations...I've even made them twice this week!  One batch I made with vegan choc chips, and one I did with slivered almonds, but even without these add-ins they are delish...taste like slightly crispy, fluffy brownie bites!  

I use Pamela's Baking mix for a lot of my baking: cupcakes, brownies, cookies, pancakes...it truly makes everything taste amazing.  It's a gluten-free flour mix, you can find it at Whole Foods or Vitamin Cottage.  It does have buttermilk in the mix, so if you're going for vegan this wouldn't work for you.

GF Chocolate Cookies

1 c brown rice flour

1 1/2 c Pamela's Baking Mix

1/2 c cocoa powder

1/2 tsp xantham gum

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/3 c Coconut spread (or coconut oil, or butter would work too)

2 eggs (for vegan use 2 tbsp ground flaxseed: 1/4 c water- Although you won't get the same consistency)

2 tbsp vanilla

3/4 c sugar (the plain old refined white sugar!)

1/4 c agave

1/3 c unsweetened almond milk

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix dry ingredients in large mixing bowl and set aside while you prepare the wet stuff.  

Mix coconut spread (melted), eggs, vanilla, agave, almond milk, and sugar in smaller bowl.  Once it's mixed well, pour it into the flour mixture and stir.  I just used a fork, but an electric hand mixture would be fine too.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, scoop out cookie blobs about a 1/2 inch apart (they don't spread much when they bake), and bake for 11 minutes.

Let cool, and I would keep them out (unsealed) the first day otherwise you loose the crispiness!  Enjoy these little guiltless pleasures, because we all need a treat sometimes :)

 

You may need a glass of almond milk near by! 

Diary of a Pregnant Nutritionist

So I thought it'd be fun to take you through my day, as I often get questions about what I eat.  So here we go...

My weekdays are all typically the same.  My alarm goes off at 6am, and I immediately get up to start making breakfast.  A glass of water is the first thing that goes down as I'm heating up my current obsession of decaf chai and almond milk on the stove.  Tazo is shown here in the picture, but man there is WAY too much sugar per serving, so I've switched to 3rd Street Decaf Chai (Boulder company) which has about 1/3 the amount of sugar and it's still delicious. I add the ginger tea because I like that flavor and sometimes it's not spicy enough for me without it.

I have a few rotating breakfasts, but this morning it was sauteed kale, 1 slice of virginia ham, and 2 eggs over easy (yes all the yummy nutritious yolks included).  Top with a little green chili, oregano, and pepper for flavor...yum, yum, yum, so excited to be eating eggs again!  This would typically be enough, however baby brain makes me think I need a little carbohydrate satisfaction in order to get through my morning.  SO, two of my almond carrot muffins with coconut spread on them and I'm good to go.  Finish getting ready and off to work for a 7:30 apt.

I typically have pretty light work days on Friday so, done with clients at 9am, had 1 strawberry and 2 almonds (just to hold me through my workout), and started my workout.  40 minutes of cardio (incline treadmill, and elliptical), and about 40 minutes of weights.  I got my snack of 4 strawberries, 1 apricot, and 2 turkey slices w 1/4 avocado around 10:45.  This didn't cut it, still hungry. So I had a Justin's Chocolate Almond butter packet as well.  These usually hold me over pretty well, and I needed to make it through lunch without lunch today because I hosted a nutrition seminar from 11:30-12:45.

I find that I am typically hungry every 2-3 hours, so it being 1:30 before I got home to make lunch, I was definitely ready for something filling and good!  I had a leftover burger we made last night for dinner (homemade from grassfed local beef, w green chili, shredded aged gouda, and spices in the mixture-so good!), a spinach salad with kidney beans, a few walnuts, a few olive slices, and this amazing roasted red pepper dip as the dressing.  And no I wasn't done yet.  I had a salad and protein on the plate and I "needed" a carbohydrate; so 1 almond carrot muffin, and some Pirates Booty!

Roasted Red Pepper & Almond Dip
1 jar roasted red pepper with the juice
1/2 c sliced almonds
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
sea salt &  pepper to taste

Food process all ingredients.  Easy!  This makes about 2 cups, so it goes a long way.  I have to give credit to my fellow nutritionist Robin Hutchinson for this recipe :)

I had a prenatal massage at 2:45 with the most amazing therapist in Denver.  Her name is Regina and she's at Harmony's Family.  Just wanted to throw that out there for any pre or post natal or really any female massage needed (she only works on women :)).  I stopped by Whole Foods on my way home for some feta (thinking ahead to my dinner), and a magnesium supplement.  Started prepping for dinner about 5pm.  I've always wanted to make beet chips and for some reason never tried it.  SO EASY, and they turned out amazing.  Since they have to bake for a while I got those peeled, chopped and in the oven, and then took Kaya for a 20 min walk.  Them I started getting the salad ready, steamed the kale, got fresh herbs from the garden, made the dressing, and set it all aside.  Pulled the chicken out of the fridge and through that in a casserole dish to bake (once the beets came out) for 30 minutes.  We typically grill, mostly because it's the quickest and my husband doesn't like to wait for food, but since it's a Friday and I had time in the oven it went!

Baked Beet Chips
2 large beets, peeled, thinly sliced (you can use more, as this is barely two servings, but more didn't fit on my cooking sheet!)
Olive oil drizzle
Salt

Preheat oven to 375.  Once peeled, slice the beets as thin as you can or if you have a mandolin this would be the time to pull that baby out!  Line baking sheet with parchment paper (my new favorite baking surface), drizzle with olive oil, salt them and pop in the oven.  I flipped them after 25 minutes, for a total cooking time of 35 minutes.  So So good, and way better than store bought!

Kale & Herb Salad
Two large stems of kale, de-stemmed, and steamed
1-2 cups baby spinach
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
3 tbsp feta
2 strawberries

Dressing:
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp chocolate balsamic vinegar (it was a gift, and it's amazing!)
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp fresh chopped chives
1 tsp fresh chopped mint leaves

And I got to sit down to dinner about 6:30pm waiting for Rob to come home from his bike race.  A Friday night is very exciting when you're pregnant!  And I actually mean that.  Knowing I don't have anyone else relying on me tomorrow (work) and I just get to focus on whatever I want to do is pretty exciting, and I very much look forward to my weekends!

Movie and then to bed :)