Breakfast-Dinner-Cookies

I felt like an update was in order so here we go. Some good recent eats and things:

The garden I was inspired to grow after having access to one of epic proportions in NZL now kicks ass. This is the progress from around 4-5 weeks.  From left to right: Rosemary (cutoff), Carrots/Thyme, Kale, Cabbage, Cucumber (and lots of Mint in pots and behind). I ate the carrots already and planted Basil, Summer Squash, and Tomatoes!

Lemon Pepper Kale Omelette

A breakfast with little carbs, but incredible tasty. Cook 3 egg whites in a pan with some Kale and mini sweet red peppers on top, fold after a while and cook some more with some lemon. Plate and top with the yolks, avocado on the side, and Sea Salt and Cayenne Pepper over everything. More lemon if desired. Yolks are healthier and tastier raw. Whites are healthier and tastier cooked. Nuff said.

A winner. Cayenne Pepper is a lot better for you than black.

Not as pretty, but almost as good. The left is the Brassica Special (class of veggies) and the right is GF Low Carb Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Some baked chicken breast w/ random herbs/spices sliced on top of the key players: mashed cauliflower, asparagus, and bok choy. All steamed and topped with a little butter and balsamic. 

For the mashed cauliflower: Cauliflower steamed w/ 3-5 Garlic Cloves, then Food processor-ed for a while with Rosemary, Oregano, Butter, Raw Milk, Sea Salt, Cayenne Pepper. Watch the pepper and garlic amounts, they are strong!

For the cookies (3): 1 egg, 2T butter, 1/8c Milk, 1/8t Baking soda, 3/4c Almond Flour, 1/4c Coconut Flour, 1 small packet Xylitol (maybe 1t), Handful Dark Chocolate Chips 73%, pinch Sea Salt, 1t Vanilla

Add more milk or more almond flour if you need to achieve better dough consistency. Bake until browned (for me toaster oven 350º ~15 minutes).

I realized that the key players in the dough for the cookies are simply almond flour and coconut flour in your desired ratio (more almond=more chewy/dense more coconut=more light airy),  milk (raw of course), vanilla, sea salt and sweetener. So if you just feel like making some dough to eat mix up w/ some Xylitol or Honey and go at it, adding chocolate chips, crystalized ginger, nuts, dried fruit etc for a splurging snack/dessert.

I liked this.

Triple Chocolate Cookies

This post is all about these Grain Free Super Chocolate Cookies which I will be making again, but first a bit about Kombucha!

I've made my own for a while before, but only drink 1-3 bottles per week and with my travel/limited time I've now switched to buying GT's again. Especially since they reintroduced the Classic stronger variety (actually raw, more health benefits) after the Kombucha Outlaw last Summer.

They really give me some good energy as well as help digestion, and now with the Chia varieties, I can sneak in some extra healthy nutrient packed fat with Omega 3's (although my main sources are still fish oil and grass fed meats/pastured eggs and yogurt, since you only convert 10-15% of Omega 3's in the ALA form to the beneficial stuff).

The Chia versions aren't carbonated, so easier to drink for those not used to Kombucha, and they remind me of slurping jello as a child. I've tried Cherry and Raspberry so far and they are delightful.

The also new "Third Eye Chai" flavor which is exactly as awesome as it sounds.

Now for Chocolate. Cookies.

I'd like to call them Triple Dark Chocolate Cookie Dough Almond Fudge Cookies!!!

I actually followed the recipe for once (since it didn't require any grains/sweetener/dairy), almost:

•  1/4 Cup Cacao Nibs and 2 Squares of 88% Dark Monkey Chocolate (the best) 

The changes were good, I would just recommend adding the nibs/chocolate at the end for crumbly purposes. They really are like fudge and cookie dough at the same time, with a tiny hint of delicious salty creamy coconut. Is that possible?

I even made another batch for my house/teammates (using chocolate chips this time, but only melting in some of them), and they all got gobbled right up.  I also made one extra cookie separate out of the batch where I really melted most of the chocolate in. It turned into way more of a crunchy biscuity chocolate type cookie! Much less crumble but I loved both variations (cookie dough vs biscuit).

Japa-Huevos Rancheros and Coconut Carob Cookies

 My first use of an entire egg (access to Canadian free range organic grain fed) in a while inspired me to do a Japanese Huevos Rancheros proper. Stoked on it!

Thank you to all of these epic farmer's market goodies! And discovering a quality cheap Seaweed Salad available at costco.

• Seaweed
• Steamed Squash w/ Sesame Oil
• Heirloom Tomato
• 1 Egg+ 3 Egg Whites cooked in Coconut Oil
• Sautéed Fennel in Coconut Oil
• Cashews
• Rainbow Gomasio
• Wakame Seaweed Salad
• Nutritional Yeast
• Grass Fed Beef Jerky

Using coconut oil in the pan = prime time! And the jerky bits acted just like bacon! Got my alternative cheese with yeast and plenty of Japanese flavorings make this dish all time! Definitely worth repeating.

Finally got around to making another buckwheat bake! I used what I had and was too lazy/interested in finding out what happens when you just use ungrinded buckwheat. It made for extra crunchiness!

 I went with a Tropical Coconut-Vanilla-Blueberry flavoring and was successful with all three! Just need to get the texture down a bit more. (Vanilla whey, Blueberries, Egg, Coconut Flour, Pecans, Dried Pineapple)

With Coconut / Homemade Cinnamon Almond Butter

I got pretty into it at the end. It tasted like vanilla-coconut-blueberry-almond-radness. The vanilla whey protein and whole egg combo made kind of a burndt vanilla sugar effect, like the burndt sugar ice cream from cows :) yum.

Grain Free Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies?

 The true question for these is what did I use because there's pretty much not a single normal chocolate chip cookie ingredient.

• 2T Coconut Flour
• 1/4 Teaspoon Sea Salt
• 1 Scoop Vanilla Whey
• 2T Shredded Coconut
• 18g Agave Nectar
• 1/3c Coconut Oil (cooled)
• 2 Chia Eggs (1/4c Chia Seeds, 1/2c Water)
• 1/4c Carob Chips

I went with whey protein added to some to see which came out better (it was the yellow whey protein ones!) 25 minutes at 350º F.

They actually don't break apart at all (chia seed magic), super chewy almost gummy like.  They aren't airy at all (no baking soda available) but tons of coconut flavor with a bit of crunch from the coconut/seeds and the kick of sea salt makes it. Carob is always delicious as well.

New Home New Food

It's been a while since posting, but it should be worth the wait, because I am now living in Whistler and have a new set of kitchen supplies, meaning some things are totally unavailable but others are introduced! More below...

I'd like to start off with a big thanks to Lenny and Larry's, as they are on board for 2012 and my cookie supply is stacked! I had a before bed binge the other night and consumed 1 of each flavor with a bowl and a half of Coconut Bliss Chocolate Hazelnut Fudge Ice Cream. Lemon takes the win for my favorite flavor. The end of my season break before switching back to super healthy (below)...

Best part of B.C. = Wild Salmon

I love the availability of quality good Salmon. You can get it fresh, flash frozen for sushi (like above), smoked, or in jerky form.  Since last time, I've been a fan of getting some filet's meant for sushi and just enjoying them in a salad. 

The farmer's market up here is quite epic. Wednesdays and Sundays, lots of local from right around the corner Pemberton. 

• Salad mix with rainbow chard in it (first time eating it raw, delish)
• Blueberries (holy crap! best blueberries on the planet, makes such a difference)
• Heirloom Tomato
• Cucumber
• Rice Cake Puffs
• Simple Flax Oil, Pepper, Lime Juice Dressing

Don't Judge a Book by It's Cover

This Oatmeal Breakfast Cookie was actually quite tasty. Just a little green because that's just the way brown rice protein is (I don't recommend it, just using it up).  Inspired by The Edible Perspective blog.

The Underside

• 1/4c thick oats
• 1/4c blueberries
• A date
• Cinnamon
• 2 scoops vanilla rice protein
• 2T chia seeds
• 1-2T coconut
• A bit of AB

I'll definitely do more overnight/20min+ in advance cookies in the future. Just mix all the ingredients in a bowl or on a plate and add just enough water or nut milk for everything to mold together/get soft but not turn into overnight oatmeal. The blueberries were once again out of this world, and the date as well (but I already knew those are always delicious). It's actually a lot like a big cookie!

Egg's go with seaweed very well. Thank's to epic Ramen Bowls I am well aware of that. Squash and the tastiest Green Heirloom Tomato from the farmer's market for my veggie fix. Pistachios, Nutritional Yeast, and TJ's Everyday Seasoning to spice things up. Partially enjoyed wrap style, or like Japanese Huevo's Rancheros?

That's all you get for now, but there's plenty more awesome farmer's market foods and new eats to come!

Bungalow Munchers

As I mentioned before, I needed to try my hand at cookies w/ avocado. Jeri from Bungalow Munch also wanted me to make a Bungalow Munch Cookie recipe. Thus, Bungalow Munchers are born.

Version 1.0: 

 I got a little bit carried away I think with too many ideas trying to fit into one cookie with these, but they are still quite delicious and well on their way to being a solid recipe.

The flavor is superb! If I can get the same flavor but have these present like cookies and not semi crispy granola-mush balls I will be on fire!

Sweet and flavorful yet a only a bit crispy on the outside and pretty mushy like bread pudding (I don't mind at all!) on the inside. The best tasting bread pudding on the planet! Chocolatey (carob) Carroty Granola-y Cinnamon-y Raisin-y goodness! I almost don't even care if they act like cookies or not. 

Version 2.0

I went for more dry ingredients the 2nd go around, and it definitely helped, but I need push it a tad more.  I kept the flavor except with more carrot (yess) and a little less sweet (the middle ground will be best) going from agave nectar to raw cane sugar, so will switch half-half.

(the lighting made them extra yellow, but they actually look more like 2 photos above)

I shaped them how I wanted them to turn out knowing they wouldn't flatten and they ended up much more like cookies! Still a bit soft, not crumbly, but not quite holding together fully either. The changes I'm incorporating below in the recipe should do the trick.

• 4t Egg White powder
• 2T Coconut flour
• 4T Brown rice flour
• 2T Whole Raw Cane Sugar or Brown Sugar
• 2T Agave Nectar
• 1t Cinnamon
• 1/2t Baking powder
• 1 Avocado
• 1/4c Almond butter
• 1t Vanilla
• 1.5c Bungalow Munch Granola
• 1/4c Carob Chips (or chocolate, just didn't have any...) *the more the merrier though!
• 42g Raisins (I had a small kid snack box, didn't measure it)
• 1.75c Shredded Carrot

Mix dry ingredients, food processor/blender/smart stick wet ingredients, add final dry ingredients and bake at 300º at 30-40 min shaped in their final desired form!

Gluten/Dairy Free with delicious carrot, cinnamon, raisins, granola, and carob chips.  The texture of the carrot/chips/granola is so bomb, yummy morsels to bite into in every bite! If you try out this recipe with or without great success please comment/let me know what you think/how it goes because it's one of my only recipes I came up with without really adapting from another one!

Cookies and Cookies

I love all things cookie. Cake, ice cream, pudding, they all don't compare (sometimes ok if they have heavy cookie influence, like Coconut Bliss Ginger Cookie Caramel Crunch!)
Thus:

The Cookies and Cream Parfait!

It's vanilla-y blueberry-nutty banana doughy AND CREAMY. and sweet! Really all I can say is cookies and cream with doughy delicious mushy oats, yogurt, and chewy blueberries / almond butter. Just mix 8 min+ in advance and enjoy.

  And if your a fan of banana, you must add a few frozen slices on top because they are delicious and pair with the almond butter amazingly. I originally made it with bungalow munch but it's just as good with oats if your keeping it healthier. So much protein all around either way at ~30g total!  Also, choco-chai (herbal chai+unsweetened cocoa powder) is officially a good addition inspired by my new favorite morning caffeine tea, Guayaki Mate Chocolatté.
-1/2 serving Tera's Vanilla Bourbon Whey Protein
-100g Non Fat Greek Yogurt
-1/4c Thick Rolled Oats
-2 Tbsp/15g Chia Seeds
-Almond Milk to desired consistency (50g)
-1/4c Blueberries
-1T More AB
-3 Slices Frozen Banana
If your feeling adventurous adding some bee pollen and honey would sweeten and give a nice twist.

So I busted out the Mogul's Cookie Mix. *Edit I found out this is the same stuff. (just add water and ignore the quaker directions)

Pretty stoked on attempt 1! A tad too much water/longer cooking was needed! The key seems to be make 'em real thick and go for lots of fruit. I can't believe how good the mix is so good with few super unhealthy ingredients! The taste is the same as in Whistler just need to master the texture. awesome!

The second time:

YESSS! I can now truly enjoy these Whistler goods whenever I want to.  Fruity-tarty-chocolatey roasted oaty goodness at my fingertips! I am pretty sure the mix is the same as this so I will order some and test it out. More on that soon. And it goes damn well with real Fraiché Froyo and Nonfat greek yogurt.

I shaped them slightly better and cooked a little longer and they turned out dialed (1" thick, 30 minutes at 325º).  This was enjoyed after getting home from a long hard race.  More on the Froyo though:

I checked out Fillmore Street and when I saw fraiche I had to go in (after seeing but not experiencing epic REAL froyo in Sun Valley).  They use local organic yogurt and just add a bit of real organic sugar for taste and freezing qualities and that's it. And all of their toppings are so organic/quality/healthier than normal. I got a pint to take home of Mango and Plain in plans of testing out after my final race of the season yesterday! Combined with the cookie=a quality reward for sure.

Whistler Final Eats

I have to get this out of the way before I continue with my at home creations! There will be some good ones coming as I am getting deeper into The Paleo Diet Fort Athletes! But first some more splurging from my travels:

Mmmm! I had to try the Banana Toffee Pecan Chocolate Chip edition from Mogul's. The banana goes with pecan and toffee and oats so well! Toffee chips add the sugary touch that berries do so well in the usual cookies, just in a more decadent desserty less tart kind of way. This version ranks high on the mogul cookies list!

The Fuji Market is my savior. I got an epic bag of mixed Japanese boiled root vegetables (refridgerated, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and much more!) and supplemented with Kale. Plus my experimental/always thinking about what to make/eat nature. Still didn't buy any oil/dedicated ingredients for cooking.

I used a soy sauce packet and left over kim chee juice and pickled ginger juice with some lime to make the best flavor/cooking agent! It was a little salty-little spicy-not really a little tangy but sort of. I love the super good kale and root veggies/mushrooms/shoots. The 'cheap' fish ($5 for sushi grade salmon!) tasted good raw and especially yummy with the pickled ginger. So crunchy and delicious all around with the nuts and seeds. Cashews definitely rule butt. Stoked to satisfy my craving for expensive fancy fish and stir fry without the cost!

The perfect 'final' cookie. I was hoping for the rare banana-toffee-pecan, but ended up with the never before seen Raspberry Toffee Pecan Chocolate Chip!A perfect suprise/end of my trip after my last big ride 4 hour xc ride (the most challenging of the trip for sure). I decided to hit up all the post ride routines in one. Coconut water, Gu recovery drink and cookie sesh.

  Combine the classic go-to raspberry with the sweet nuttiness of the toffee/pecan!   The extra crunch and flavor from the toffee chips and pecans brings the raspberry cookie to a whole new level.  Nuttier/sweeter/crunchier yet STILL tart and chewy.

 

This was actually the last cookie, I had to try the Apple Cinnamon since before I had Apple Pecan and thought how good it would be with some cinnamon. It really was just like a slightly denser chewier muffin top and made for the perfect oaty doughy breakfast cookie (half with dinner half in the morning).

And i'll end with some brief randoms

The Last Splitz Grill Wrap

Buffalo Burger with almost every topping

• Sprouts, Lettuce Tomato, Cucumber, Pickles
• Baba Ghanoush, Hummus (lots of it), Dijon

 Daifuku

A Japanese Mochi Red Bean Paste Cake from the Fuji Market! Sweet, gluten free, and delicious.

Fuji Market/My own Combo Salad

• Fuji Market: Seaweed Salad (Arame), Spinach Goma Ae (Sesame Sauteed), Pickled and Sweetened Pickled Ginger
• Turkey, Romaine Lettuce, Cashews, Almonds, Blueberries
• Lemon Juice

Mogul's Mega Muffin (Blueberry Oat Bran)

Plenty of deliciousness to choose from!

Only in Whistler! Part I

My favorite time of year! Racing in Whistler, B.C. I try not to dream or think about it because it's so good all around that it's painful for me to not always be here. I'll start with Mogul's Coffee/The Gone Eatery.

 Begin: favorite cookies in the world!

 Holy Wow! (salt shaker for size ref)

I thought about these cookies for one year. I was almost a little worried my taste would have changed  and I wouldn't appreciate them as much. But they are just as good! Even bigger than I remember. I've pretty much had one per day. That's impressive considering they are 1400 calories for a whole one (word on the street is). At least there's oil instead of butter and they do have fruit/oats/wheat flour in them!

Raspberry Blueberry Oat Chocolate Chip

I never want it to end when im eating it and it almost never does! it has all the best aspects of a raspberry, oatmeal, chocolate chip, and sugar cookie somehow. The raspberry is strong and sweet yet fresh and moist. The texture is perfect. Not overly airy or dense. The baking time is perfect creating ease to break apart sans crumbling and with delightful chewiness. Damn. I'd pay a lot of money for the recipe!

The outside gets more cooked so the middle is like fruity tart chocolate chip cookie dough while the outside remains more crunchy less sweet oatmeal choco chip. Stoked on both blueberries and raspberries together although solo raspberry is just as good. Bite into what ever section your in the mood for!

The popular banana version is quite delicious as well.  The doughyness comes out more and the banana pairs nicely with the slightly salty oaty goodness!

I discovered they make the cookies from a mix and just add fruit. I bought some but think it might be a Canadian Quaker product re-labeled. More on how that goes soon!  I also need to try the apple pecan and strawberry editions (they are more rare)! Checking for availability every day... But onto the muffins!

They do epic XL Muffins.  Massive Blueberry Oat Bran are delicious, and many more.  Of course I got my idea for pumpkin oat bran pecan muffins from these last year! They pair so well together. So big and mostly muffin top, the way it should be! Also such a delicious spice combo of nutmeg and cinnamon and cloves with raisins too! I think some hints of roasted maple too? I enjoyed with a little extra nuttiness from Almond Butter and some blueberries for my daily fresh fruit/antioxidant fix.

The Morning Glory Muffins are pretty sweet as well. Literally. A carrot muffin gone occasionally tart with apple, currants or golden raisins, and pineapple. So moist and delicious with just the right amount of chewy crunchy morsels!

 Bring on The Splitz Burger.

 With the best burgers to choose from such as Spicy Lentil, Buffalo, Lamb, Turkey, or regular, Splitz is the coolest burger place ever.  You can also get chicken breast, or teriyaki salmon.  With or without Yam Fries! Served on white or multi grain bun, or a wheat wrap, OR GLUTEN FREE BREAD! You choose your burger and then move down the line with all sorts of toppings.

 My first was the local B.C. Buffalo (grass fed). It tastes more earthy/gamey which pairs perfectly with the semi earthy gluten free bread by Food For Life.

• Baba Ghanoush
• Grilled Pineapple
• Guacamole
• Carrot
• Sprouts
• Pickles
• Cucumber
• BBQ Sauce

The baba ghanoush was amazing, exploding with garlic and roasted eeggplant. The bbq sauce from the burger with the pineapple paired a perfect sweetness.  I will be going back for the lentil and turkey burgers (so be ready for some more epic combos!). 

 

The 2 dollar meal! Local trail/race organization, WORCA, puts on 'Loonie Races' every Thursday night. They cost a loonie (Canadian $2 coin) and include apres meal and beer. And the winner gets $50! 150-300 people usually attend. I only made it 1/4 of the way through the race due to a flat tire, but was in around 6th with 300 people behind me! Sponsored by the Lift Coffee Company this time, the meal after was delicious. Pretty gourmet for $2! I want to make all 3 of these items! They also had wraps and cookies which I skipped.

• Quinoa Salad (Black Beans, Corn, Parsley, Tomato) 
• Roasted Cauliflower (Lemon, Red Pepper, Fennel)
• Kale Salad (Garbanzos, Barley, Tomato, Onion)

Another well known: The Mongolie Grill

 Get your bowl and put in your ingredients!

 Choose your sauces/flavorings!

What I got:

•  Broccoli
• Cashews (for the crunch and source of fat)
• Water Sprout Shoot (white things?)
• Water Chestnuts (I love them and they are so rare!)
• Carrot
• Lemon 
• Coconut Milk
• Onion
• Olives (had to give it a shot for stir fry b/c I could)
• Shrooms
• Garlic 
• Ginger (such bomb flavor)
• Chicken
• Zucchini
• Asparagus

 And it gets stir fried and mixed up right in front of you!

 Most people go with various noodles/meats and sugary sauces but I opted for the more veggie-base flavor options.

 My veggie combo stands out among the rest...

All done! Topped with Sesame Seeds, a tid bit of soy sauce, and accompanied by your choice of jasmine/brown rice, and miso/hot 'n sour soup.  I love that you can get it exactly the way you want. So customizable in every way!  My garlic-ginger-coconut-lemon flavoring was bomb and I got my veggie fix for sure.

 Next up will be everything I actually made (didn't eat out all the time, gotta save some $$$) and the remaining foods I have to try!