Peace-Full Eats – Coffee Peace N' Cardio

Meal Prep Monday- Marinated Tofu

Started out this Monday with a quick and easy meal prep to help me stay on track this week. Steamed asparagus with fresh lemon. Roasted sweet potatoes and marinated baked high protein tofu. High protein tofu is very firm and has little water so it doesn’t need to be pressed. It is easy to slice and holds it shape well while baking. For the marinade I used tamari sauce, liquid smoke, Siracha and olive oil. Soaked the tofu on each side for a few minutes and baked at 375 for about 30 minutes flipping halfway through. Quick and easy to pull together for lunch or dinner.

Peanut Butter Blondies

Sometimes you need a little afternoon treat. I was going through one of my Pinterest boards, looking at saved recipes for inspiration. Luckily this one I had all the ingredients for. They were moist, delicious, and just the right amount of sweet. All thanks to a surprise ingredient….garbanzo beans. These are grain-free, gluten-free, vegan and perfect with an afternoon cup of coffee. I made a few small changes to the recipe but you can find the original recipe by Joy Food Sunshine here. I hope you enjoy them and let me know what you think.

Ingredients:

1 15 oz can Garbanzo Beans

1/2 cup Peanut Butter

1/4 cup Blue Agave Syrup

1 TBS Vanilla Almond Milk

2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 Tsp Sea Salt

1/2 Tsp Baking Powder

1/4 Tsp Baking Soda

1/2 cup Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add all ingredients except chocolate chips into a high power blender or a food processor to make the batter smooth. Fold in chocolate chips.

Grease a a glass pan (I used vegan butter) and pour batter in. Top with extra chocolate chips and sea salt. Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes.

Vegan Caprese Appetizer

Looking for a quick and easy app for Happy Hour. Here it is. Make the cashew cheese ahead of time, all you need is fresh tomato slices and basil. Want to level it up? Add some balsamic vinager and an olive oil drizzle, some goid wine. Voila!

Cashew Cheese

1 cup soaked Cashews

Juice from 1/2 lemon

1/4 cup Nutritional Yeast (or to taste)

Sea salt

Drain and rinse cashews. Mix together with lemon and nutritional yeast in a blender or food processor. Refridgerate.

Slice tomatoes, add cashew cheese and a fresh basil leaf.

Taco Salad (Vegan, GF)

Leftovers are always awesome to make a quick and easy lunch. Last night I made Tacos so I had taco “meat”, cashew sour cream, home made salsa all on hand already. After teaching 3 fitness classes this morning, I was ready to refuel. This salad hit the spot.

Ingredients:

Lettuce, tomato, fresh corn cut from the cob, Beyond Meat crumbles , avocado, cashew sour cream, salsa. See below for recipes and tips

Beyond Meat Taco Filling:

You can find Beyond Meat crumbles in the freezer section. I found it at my local Wal-Mart. Cook to package direction then use your favorite Taco Seasoning packet and cook to directions on packet.

Cashew Sour Cream

Soak 1 cup Cashews, 20 minutes in hot water. Drain and rinse, add to blender or food processor. Squeeze in half a lemon, add salt to taste. Blend until smooth and store in refrigerator.

I tried Celery Juice…and I liked it!

So I have been hearing all this hype about Celery juice and how amazing it is. It can reduce inflammation, lower blood pressure, detox your kidneys, help with skin conditions like acne and eczema, the list goes on and on. Earlier this week I was having some stomach issues and thought I would give it a try. I drove to my local favorite juice shop and picked up a bottle. After 30 min, my stomach did feel better. At 6 dollars a bottle I decided to find a cheaper way to keep drinking it and really see how it worked. I picked up some organic celery for $1.99, some fresh mint and headed home to make a batch. I added some water to my blender, chopped up the celery and some of the mint, squeezed in some fresh lemon juice to copy the juice I had earlier. I also grated some fresh ginger in since its an anti-inflammatory I figured it could hurt. Blended it all up and poured it through a strainer pressing the pulp with the back of a spoon. It turned out good but was time consuming. So I ordered nut bags on Amazon. Today after blending I placed one of the bags inside a juice pitcher poured the juice into the bag. Then squeezed all the juice from the pulp. The pulp left behind in the bag was pretty dry and I was able to get quite a bit of juice. The last 2 days I have started my day with celery juice instead of lemon water, I don’t know if I am noticing a huge difference but I am going to stick with it and report back. I did also take some to the gym as a post workout recovery drink. With high water content of celery plus the fact that is has sodium and potassium electrolytes it makes sense that it would be a great way to rehydrate after a workout. You also get some Vitamin A,B,C and K, all seems like positives to me.

So my verdict, I think it tastes good, I am getting some extra water and vitamins and I am willing to stick with it and see if I notice any more changes. Plus, now I have the pulp to start playing with some recipes.

If you have tried celery juice, tell me what you think.

Pink Cosmopolitan Martini

A couple Fridays ago I found myself home alone with a new season of Queer Eye to watch. I was excited for an unexpected girl night and decided a cocktail was in order. This version of a Cosmopolitan is light, refreshing, and has a beautiful blush color. The secret, Pink Cranberry juice. I also used orange extract and fresh lime to keep the sugar low. I shook it up with some vodka, added a lime garnish and began my evening of binge watching. Hope you enjoy. Cheers.

Recipe:

1 shot vodka

2 oz cranberry juice (I used Ocean Spray Pink Cranberry)

1/4 fresh lime squeezed

1/2 tsp orange extract.

Add to shaker filled with ice, shake and pour into martini glass, garnish with lime.

Cal 132, Fat 0, Carb 6.5, Sugar 6

Hurricane Smoothie

Happy Fat Tuesday! Today’s post is inspired by the fabulous people that take my fitness classes and the beautiful 78 degree, sunny weather I am getting to enjoy in AZ. I woke up to a text from a friend looking for smoothie recipes. I shared some recipes I have posted here and my basic favorite ingredients I keep on hand. Once I arrived to teach my classes, I had several people tell me it was Fat Tuesday. I did not think to include any special music in my classes to celebrate, but we drummed and danced our hearts out, so good way to start the day none the less. I came home looking for a way to mark the day and celebrate in some small way. I already had chili in the crockpot so (thank you meal prep Sunday) making a Cajun inspired dinner was not going to happen. Then it hit me, why not make a smoothie. I went through my fridge and realized a fruity, hurricane inspired smoothie to enjoy outside while I write this post was the ticket! Wanting to keep the carbs and sugar low, I used one of my favorite hacks, tea in place of juice for the liquid. I have to say, I love how refreshing and light it turned out. This will be making many comebacks by the pool.

Ingredients:

Pomegranate White Tea (or passion fruit tea)

Fresh squeezed juice from 2 oranges

1/2 cup frozen raspberries

1 container Key Lime flavored coconut yogurt

1/2 lime juiced

Place all ingredients in blender and mix well. Add ice if needed.

To make this taste like a more authentic Hurricane you can add rum extract or just add some rum. Relax and Enjoy