Peace-Full Eats – Coffee Peace N' Cardio

Chocolate Cinnamon Cupcake Smoothie

Yesterday was National Chocolate Cupcake Day. I decided to whip up a healthy chocolate treat to get me through my busy morning of workouts. I used Organic Cacao Powder with Maca by Himaiania and Veggie Protein by MRM but please feel free to use your favorites. I also keep batches of oatmeal premixed with cinnamon, ground flax seed and chia seed for quick breakfasts. I added a 1/4 cup of my ready to go mix but just plain oatmeal and cinnamon will work just fine here. The stevia packet can be eliminated if you don’t want your smoothie as sweet or monk fruit, maple syrup, any natural sweetener will do the trick. This smoothie is full of superfoods for energy, cinnamon to help stabilize blood sugar, fiber to keep you full and cut your net carbs to a low absorption rate and 25 grams of protein (your protein powder and mix-ins can change this number). I hope the next time you are craving a chocolate cupcake for breakfast, this smoothie hits the spot.

Chocolate Cinnamon Cupcake Smoothie

Lemon Pepper Veggies With Tofu and Pasta

For today’s Friday favorite, this lunch was a quick creation that was super delicious. It is vegan, gluten-free and could easily be made low-carb by leaving out the pasta. I had some leftover in the fridge and it was a weight training day so I tossed some in. I have been keeping Tofu Cutlet on hand. I like that the edges are browned, you can cut it to cubes and they keep their shape. Great for salads and recipes like this.

Ingredients:

I container sliced mushrooms 8 oz.

1/2 bag of frozen green beans (steam in the bag size)

Vegan butter or olive oil

Lemon

Black Pepper

Garlic Salt

1/2 block of Tofu Cutlet or extra firm Tofu.

1/4 cup leftover gluten free pasta

Capers

Directions:

Steam green beans in microwave per package directions. Saute mushrooms in butter or oil. Add garlic salt, pepper and squeeze lemon on top. Add green beans and tofu cutlet cut into cubes. Add more seasoning as needed and more lemon. Cook about 2-3 minutes to develop flavor. Add pasta, cook one more minute. Serve and top with capers.

Taco Bowl- Low Carb & Vegan

Todays recipe turned out really good. So , this is one of those I threw a bunch of things in a pan and yum, but I am going to share it anyway. To make it lower carb, you could take out the soychorizo. I use the Trader Joes brand and its only 5 net grams so for the flavor it was worth it. Here we go:

1/2 bag of frozen spinach

1/4 bag frozen cauliflower rice

[defrost both about 3min}

1/2 package Tofu

1/4 package Soyrizo

1 TBS Mexican seasoning [on tofu]

Pico De Gallo

Topping:

Lettuce

Avocado

Pico De Gallo

Directions:

Defrost spinach and cauliflower rice in microwave (3 min) add tofu and Mexican seasoning into non-stick pan. Add soyrizo, cook 2 min. add defrosted veggies and pico de gallo cook 3 min. Remove from heat, top with lettuce, pico and avocado.

Try It Tuesday- Cauliflower Gnocchi

61524-cauliflower-gnocchi

I was excited when I saw another blogger post about this new Trader Joes find. It took me a few trips to TJ’s to find it in stock. Being gluten-free I have not found a replacement for gnocchi until now. It made for a quick, delicious filling lunch.

1/2 cup Cauliflower Gnocchi

9 Veggie Balls (Ikea- Gronsaksbullar)

!/2 cup frozen Green Beans

1/2 cup Tomato Sauce ( I used Summer Is Inside- Organic and BPA free)

1 tbsp. Nutritional Yeast

3 large Mushrooms sautéed with garlic, salt and pepper

I followed the package directions for the gnocchi and added the green beans and veggie balls. I put them in a non-stick pan with a 1/4 cup of water and covered with a lid and cooked for 6 min. Then I removed from heat, stirred in tomato sauce and nutritional yeast. Then I sautéed the mushrooms and added to the top.

Calories 340

Carbs 39g Fiber 10g Net Carbs 29g

Protein 14g

Fat 14.5g

Zucchini Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

My favorite way to start Sunday, is brunch! Coming up with new, delicious recipes to share with my family, relax and just hang out in our PJ’s. Before I even got to try it I heard my son “this is really good”. I knew it would be a keeper. Super moist, delicious, and you would never know it is gluten-free, vegan and low sugar.

Recipe:

Dry ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Oat Flour (ground oatmeal)

1/2 cup Buckwheat Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Xanthan Gum

1 Tbs Cinnamon

2 Tbs Chia Seed

3 Tbs Sugar (or coconut sugar or Stevia)

Dash of Salt

Mix all together in a bowl

2 Tbs ground Flaxseed (for flax eggs) add water and let sit 10 minutes

In another bowl mix together:

3 overripe bananas, mashed

1 grated zucchini (peeled optional)

3 Tbs Maple Syrup (can sub honey if not vegan)

3 Tbs Peanut Butter (can sub any nut butter)

add the flax eggs mix together, slowly add the dry ingredients and mix by hand, fold in 1/2-1 cup chocolate chips (your choice)

Pour mixture in greased pan, top with crushed pecan and raw sugar (totally optional) Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick come out clean.

Let cool slightly (the chocolate chips will be little lava pockets) and enjoy 🙂

Sunday Morning Coffee Cake

Inspired by my kids fondly remembering the coffee cake of their school-age years. I whipped up a batch of the good old Bisquick recipe for them and went to work on a gluten-free, vegan version for me. Then we made a pot of coffee, brunch on the patio, enjoyed a beautiful Sunday morning. My coffee cake received a thumbs up and ” that’s really good”, even next to a gluten filled cake.

Sunday Morning Coffee Cake (gluten-free& vegan)

Zesty Vegan Cheese Spread

This cheese spread is so good! A little bit of zip, creamy and cheesy. Great for sandwiches or as a veggie dip.

1/2 cup of soaked cashews

1 TBS Lemon Juice

1 1/2 TBS Nutritional Yeast

1 TBS Coconut Oil

1 1/2 TSP Chili Powder (or more to taste)

1 TSP Italian Herb Blend (dried)

Salt

UnSweetened Non-Dairy Milk (I used Almond)

Place all ingredients in a high speed blender, start with a tablespoon milk, blend, add more milk until desired consistency.

Asparagus Tomato Sandwich

Toast gluten-free bread. Spread cheese spread on each slice. Saute asparagus and green bell pepper in coconut oil over med-high heat for a couple minutes to lightly cook but retain slight crunch. Add tomato, salt and pepper. For non-vegan add salmon.