Sweet Snack: Dates & Pecans

Dates & Roasted Pecans

Here’s a delicious snack when you’re craving something sweet. This is something I’ve been enjoying as a treat after my lunch. It helps to satisfy that sweet craving after lunch or dinner. I first discovered this a few years ago when on a restrictive nutritional plan that didn’t include sugar.

Ingredients:
Organic Dates/ Honey Dates
Roasted/Unroasted Pecans

You can either roast the pecans or not roast them. If you decided to roast the pecans you can do so in a non stick skillet or in a toaster oven. Try not to burn the pecans.

Take one pecan and one date, open the date and place the pecan inside. Enjoy!

Nutty Mix- Trail Mix

I'm so excited to share with you the nutty mix (trail mix) I just concocted. Tomorrow is a tournament day for me, so that means judging all day and snacking, since there is no time to eat. I wanted to create something festive and flavor full so I headed off to my local market to have some fun.

Nutty Mix

Ingredients

1 cup raw almonds

1 cup raw walnuts

1 cup raw cashews

1/2 - 1 cup raw pepitas

1/2 - 1 cup raw sunflower seeds

1 cup goji berries

1 cup jumbo raisins

Measure out all ingredients and put them into a large Zip Lock Freezer bag. Zip the bag close and shake. Shake until all ingredients are mixed. You can store the Nutty Mix in the Zip Lock bag or poor and store in a air tight container.

If you're craving a sweeter version add 1 1/2 cups carob chips. This is a good mix to put out at holiday parties or any type of get together.

Enjoy!

Banana Date Nut Cookies

I’ve had a few people try these cookies and they love them. They instantly asked me for the recipe, and I had to post.

If you’re looking for a treat that has no added sugar, flour or eggs this is the recipe for you. With the different nutritional plans I’ve been on this gives me something sweet to eat without the guilt. I really like the fact that the recipe doesn’t include any processed sugars, flour or eggs.

Banana Date Nut Cookies

Ingredients:
3 medium to large ripe bananas
2 cups organic rolled oats
1/2- 3/4 cups chopped pecans
1 cup medjooled dates, pitted and chopped
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 tsp alcohol free vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions:

In a large bowl, mash the bananas. Stir in oats and chopped pecans to mashed bananas. Chop the dates and process in a blender to get them a little more chopped up. Add dates, coconut oil, vanilla, and cinnamon to banana mixture. Mix well, and allow to sit for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Once the cookie mixture has sat for 15 minutes, drop mixture by the spoonful onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 15-20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly brown.
Let the cookies cool until you can store in the refrigerator. These are best served cold.

Hope you enjoy!

Weekend Pancakes

The best weekend pancakes to enjoy any time of the week. In my family pancakes were always a special treat that my dad would make on Sundays. To this day when we all get together at my parents house my dad will make us his famous pancakes. Yummy!

I decided to switch up my regular pancake recipe this morning. This is a recipe that does not include flour, milk, or refined sugar. These were so enjoyable I thought I would share.

Oatmeal Banana, Blueberry, Walnut Pancakes
Makes 2 Pancakes
1/2 cup Organic Rolled Oats
1 Tbsp Ground Flax Seed
3 egg whites
1 Tbsp Agave Nectar
1/2 tsp Alcohol Free Vanilla
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 large banana
1/4 cup blueberries
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat fry pan on low with olive oil. Make sure oil is distributed evenly. In a high speed blender place rolled oats, ground flax seed, egg whites, agave nectar, vanilla, and Cinnamon. Blend all ingredients together. Once ingredients are blended slice and add bananas, add blueberries and chopped walnuts. You can also save the chopped walnuts as a topping for your pancake instead of adding it to the batter. Add batter to fry pan cook each side until it’s golden brown. When you are done cooking the pancakes drizzle agave nectar on top (instead of maple syrup).

When strawberries are in season I like to make my pancakes with out the fruit inside. Instead I cook up the pancake and add 1/2 cup chopped strawberries, 1/4 blueberries, and drizzle the agave nectar on top.

Enjoy!

Craig D The Produce Guy

I'm so proud of my friend Craig D The Produce Guy. He is going to be featured on a radio program which is broadcast nationally. Congratulations Craig D The Produce Guy! Make sure to check out what Craig D has to say about white corn. I think I'll be buying some for my annual Labor Day BBQ.

Veggie Wrap

This last week my lunch was so exciting and colorful. I was inspired to make something different, something clean and nutritious without adding meat. Lately I've been into eating Ezikiel tortillas and decided to make a wrap for my lunches this week.

Veggie Wrap
1 Ezikiel Tortilla
1- 1 1/2 Tbsp Goat Cheese
1/4 small avocado
carrot (shredded)
hiccuma (shredded)
red cabbage (shredded)
red onion (thinly sliced)
spinach
home made Italian Dressing

How I like to layer my wrap:
Of course start with the Ezikiel tortilla, next spread the goat cheese evenly over whole side of the tortilla facing myself/you, next I take the 1/4 of avocado slice it up and put on one 1/2 side of the tortilla, now for the rest I add the carrots, hiccuma, red cabbage, sprouts, red onions, and spinach (keeping it to the half side of the tortilla so it can be folded/rolled).

Once I've layered my wrap I add my nice home made Italian dressing to the side with all the veggies, then I take the side that has all the veggies on it and roll it into my wrap , and cut in half.

Make sure not to over stuff your wrap, tempting with all the great ingredients, you won't be able to roll or keep together well.

Other ingredients to possibly add:
Zuchini
Cucumber
Tomato
Red Bell Peppers/Green
Mushrooms
Shredded Lettuce
Radishes

Italian Dressing
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
3 Tbsp Flax Seed Oil
3 Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
3 Tbsp Vinigar
1/4 cup Water
1 tsp Agave Nectar
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Dijon or spicy mustard
1/2 tsp Sea Salt

For the Italian Dressing place all ingredients in a high speed blender and blend on high.

Another kind of burrito:
One of my easy go to meals, usually for dinner, is an Egg White and Quinoa Burrito. This is a meal that can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I’m always on the go, going from work to Taekwondo or work to the gym, and this is quick and easy and gets me on my way sooner then later.

Egg White & Quinoa Burrito
1 Ezikiel tortilla
3 egg whites
Spinach
Mushrooms
1/4 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
Pepper
1/4 cup cooked Red Quinoa

Cook up mushrooms in fry pan (don’t over cook), add egg whites, spinach, and seasoning, scramble. Cook scrambled eggs to desired consistency. Heat up Ezikiel tortilla. Place red quinoa in the middle of the tortilla, place scrambled eggs on top of quinoa. Fold the tortilla into an open burrito (one side open, other side folded).

Lemon Delights

This refreshing treat went over great with my family and my roommate. My mom liked it so much she kept going back to the freezer for more. It has the perfect lemon zing to it, similar to the infamous lemon bar. This treat is something you can make and store in the freezer. One Lemon Delight can help satisfy your sweet tooth.

Ingredients:
2 cups Cashews
1/4 cup Agave Nectar
3 Tbls Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
2 Tbls Lemon Zest
1 tsp Vanilla extract or 1/2 Vanilla bean scraped
1/8 tsp Sea Salt

You will need a food processor with the S blade. Start by putting the cashews in the food processor, grind until meal forms. Do not over process into cashew butter. Once meal has formed add and evenly distribute agave nectar, lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla extract and sea salt to the cashews and process. Ingredients will form a sticky dough. Spoon dough onto parchment/wax paper (easy to peel off frozen cookies) and freeze. Once cookies are frozen peel off paper and place cookies in freezer bag. It is recommended that you not make cookies bigger then 1 1/2 inches in diameter, thickness of the cookie is up to you.

I hope you enjoy these treats as much as my family and I did!