Blueberry Banana Quinoa Coconut Flour (Gluten Free) Muffins!

My friends and family know that, as a pastry chef, I love to bake and try new recipes. Recently I acquired a peaked interest in Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) and have been waiting for the perfect way to try Quinoa for the first time! I thought about using it as a rice substitute for dinner, or as an “oatmeal” with blueberries but I was still skeptical. The idea of making a muffin crossed my mind and I knew if I was going to try it that I had to find a really awesome recipe. I thought about whipping up something on my own, but being unfamiliar with Quinoa I decided not to risk it, so instead I set out in search on the inter-webular to find a good recipe. I found a lot of recipes that sounded ok, but a lot of the pictures that came along with them didn’t look particularly appetizing and the ingredients were not the makings of a special or moist muffin. I finally came across this recipe on PureFreshDaily.com and I could tell by the list of ingredients and the picture that these were bound to be moist AND yummy! If any Quinoa muffin was going to taste good, then this would be the one.

I had seen so many recipes that called for cooked quinoa – you make it basically the same way you make rice on the stove with a 2:1 ratio of water and Quinoa – so I guess the need for cooked Quinoa was stuck in my head that I overlooked the fact that this particular recipe actually calls for Quinoa flour! Oh man, I was pretty disappointed when I realized this since, by that time, I had already pulled all the ingredients out of my pantry and refrigerator to begin preparing my mis-en-place. I decided to take a risk and use the cooked version instead of the flour, and just hope that they turn out. If not, then this would be a pretty expensive mistake because some of the ingredients are a little more spendy than the average muffin ingredients. (Instead of butter I opted to use Coconut Oil.) To my surprise and good luck, the muffins ended up turning out great and I like how the cooked Quinoa added a nice element of texture to the muffins – so I might just do it this way on purpose next time I make them!

Here area few things I learned while making these muffins:

• When you scoop them into the muffin cups, they keep their shape during baking. They do not melt down and fluff up like most muffins do.
• Turns out it’s OK to use cooked Quinoa instead of Quinoa flour! *phew*
• You can use Coconut Oil instead of butter – much healthier and the coconut adds great flavor.
• Fresh blueberries worked out great! You can use frozen blueberries, but as they thaw out they bleed their color a lot and tend to end up “mushy”.  Using the fresh blueberries (small size) didn’t do that.
• They’re healthy!

Quinoa, as it turns out, has a long list of health benefits. Although it is used a lot of times in place of pasta and rice, it’s actually considered to be a protein (rather than a grain) because of its high protein content. It’s rich in antioxidants, magnesium and fiber. (Click here to read more about Quino) Also, by choosing the Coconut Oil over the butter, I was able to cut out the processed fats and use a more pure form of fats. Coconut oil is also very diverse and the unprocessed & unrefined coconut oil also has plenty of its own healthy benefits, such as increased immunity, maintaining cholesterol and metabolism, etc etc. The list goes on! Here’s some more information on Coconut Oil. Also, not only is this my first time trying Quinoa, it’s also my first time eating and making a gluten free snack! Gluten-free options are becoming increasingly popular, so I’m glad to be able to add this to my arsenal.

Hope you guys will try these and love them as much as I do! 

Fragrant Fish Soup from EatingWell.com

Over the past 10 months or so I have dedicated a lot of time to working out, eating better, and just trying to be healthier in general. There are plenty of times when I fail to stay on track, though, and a lot of times it’s because it just seems like the most satisfying foods are those that are high in calories and fat and deliciousness. Sometimes when I feel stressed out, overwhelmed, ill, or just experiences a moment of weakness I turn to comfort foods and snacks.  Sound familiar? ;-)  I have also noticed that it’s just sooo easy to swing by a fast food joint on the way home or order pizza on the days when putting forth the effort for a home-cooked meal just does NOT seem feasible.

I find that I’m much more likely to stay on track and eat healthier meals throughout the work week when I plan ahead. Last week I discovered a website called EatingWell.com and found several recipes that sounded really yummy, so I printed them out and added the ingredients to my grocery list. EatingWell.com features recipes that are 500 calories or less when you include the main and side dishes. Jackpot!

The first recipe I wanted to try was the Fragrant Fish Soup – my husband and I had a late lunch and weren’t very hungry by dinnertime, and this soup sounded like it would be a nice, light dinner. I have to admit that while I was preparing the soup I wasn’t very excited for it because it seemed maybe too simple and bland. I was also worried that my husband wouldn’t like it because he can sometimes be a picky eater who also tends to prefer stealthier meals over refreshing, light meals like this one.

We both took our first bite of the soup and immediately fell in love with it! The lemon zested jasmine rice gave the soup a very refreshing and unique taste along with the flavorful broth. Tilapia has a hearty texture, and the great thing about it is that it doesn’t smell or taste very “fishy”. The soup has a very Asian-inspired flavor and, despite the few ingredients required to make it, it had such a burst of flavors.

This is probably the best soup I have ever eaten and definitely the easiest soup I have ever made!

Here’s what I did: I cooked the jasmine rice in one pot with the lid on; meanwhile I poured my store-bought broth and shredded carrots into another pot to boil. Once the broth boiled I added in my fillet of Tilapia and boiled it about 5 minutes until it was fully cooked and then removed it from the broth. After removing the Tilapia, I added in some chopped scallions (green onions) and some julienned arugula. Once the rice was done (about 20 minutes) I added the zest and juice from one lemon and gave it a good stir before spooning some rice into my bowl. Then I ladled the broth over the rice and placed a big chunk of fish on top. Viola! Bon appétit!

I strayed slightly from the cooking instructions found on the recipe (for example, I skipped the fresh mint and also added my greens into the boiling broth instead of using them to garnish at the end). I also cooked the carrots in the broth to soften them a little bit.

And the best part is that according to Eating Well.com one serving of this soup is only 239 calories! How perfect is that?!

So anyway, my moral of the story --- along with sharing a delicious recipe with you --- is that one of my favorite things to do is plan ahead and be prepared because it truly helps me stick to a healthier lifestyle. I’m pretty excited to have found this soup because it basically takes care of it all  - It’s DELICIOUS, EASY and FAST. No more excuses for me! :)

If you want to check out the recipe, you can click here!

Frutique - Papaya Enzyme Exfoliating Gel – “Beauty by Nature”

I bought this stuff at Sally Beauty Supply, and the lady who rang my sale told me that she uses it and loves it! Regrettably, exfoliation has never been a consistent part of my skin care regimen, but I had made the decision to be better about taking care of my skin cuz, let’s face it, my skin definitely needs the help! I saw the Frutique product line while I was browsing, and I’m always up for trying the “natural” skincare alternatives when I can. This product uses Papaya extracts to naturally exfoliate the skin and is gentle even on sensitive skin types. I’ve heard that the scrubs are not good/preferred for exfoliation because they cause tiny micro-scratches on the surface of the skin which can be damaging. I used to use a skin refinishing lotion (similar concept to the Papaya gel, just combined in a lotion) and I really loved the gentle exfoliation, so I was very excited to try Frutique’s gel. However, the first time I tried the exfoliation gel I freaked, and thought “What have I done to my skin!?” Let me tell you the story …

The directions on the bottle say you should use the gel on a clean, dry face and rub in gentle, circular motions for 30-60 seconds until the skin sloughs off, then you can rinse your face. Sounds pretty straightforward, right? I washed and dried my face, pumped a few pumps of gel onto my fingers and began gently massaging it onto my cheeks, chin and jaw line. The skin began sloughing off almost instantly and I thought, “Hey, this stuff works great!” Then I tried rinsing it off… and that’s when panic set in! The sloughed off skin was stuck and would not wash away!! I tried scrubbing, using more gel, hot water, cold water … I tried everything! The skin that had sloughed off looked like pills of cotton, and was stuck all along my jaw line like a beard! (Sounds pretty funny when I think back on it, I admit! haha) But man, I sure was panicked and regretted using the gel and thought my face was ruined forever! In order to remove the skin I had to scrub my face real hard with a towel. I thought for sure my skin would be red and irritated for the rest of the weekend! (By the way, it’s a good thing I tried this stuff on the weekend and not while getting ready for work!) But, I must admit, once I had “exfoliated” the skin off by scrubbing with a towel, my face was incredibly smooth and, surprisingly, didn’t remain red and irritated. *phew*

That was how it all went down the first time I used the gel. Needless to say, I hated it and was about to return it and get my $13 back. But, I decided to be brave and try it once more, just to say I gave it my best effort because I really wanted to like it, despite the first go around. After trying it a second time, I had a much more “normal” experience with it and actually ended up loving it! I use it once a week now and it keeps my skin very smooth and even! I find that when my face is super smooth, my makeup goes on much more evenly and easily.

If you end up trying this exfoliation gel, just be cautioned that your first time might be similar to mine … or maybe what happened to me is normal?? Who knows? But the bottom line is, I’m glad I gave it another try because now I use it regularly, and even just bought Frutique’s “Citrus Essence Brightening Crème”. Verdict: So far so good. It’s supposed to help naturally brighten and even out skin tone with the natural licorice and citrus extracts. It goes on light and not oily, but feels moisturizing enough.

So that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it. Hopefully I didn’t scare you off with my horror story about my first use, because I think if you try it you’ll really like it just like I (eventually) did!

You can check out their website to see the other products they have. I can't wait to try some of their other stuff!

Downy UNSTOPABLES

Over the summer I saw some samples of Downy Unstopables attached to the laundry detergent that I buy. I didn’t think much of it at first but figured I would give them a try....


I emptied the packet of waxy pellets into my laundry machine and proceeded to wash and dry my clothes as normal. I could tell right away that my clothes had that really fresh-out-of-the-dryer smell and were soft(er than normal). Ok, so far so good…. Did I mention that laundry happens to be my least favorite household chore?? ... 

…A couple days later I could still smell the freshness of my clothes each time I went into the closet or opened a dresser drawer. Ok, I’m kind of impressed now.

…A week later my clothes still smelled freshly washed. Even my running/work-out jacket smelled as if it had just come out of the dryer.  Now I’m definitely impressed!

At this point I had run out of my sample packets and decided that I needed to buy some more of this stuff ASAP, and have used it in every load of laundry since then.

The only con is that they are relatively expensive, in my opinion. (They average $8 per container and I typically get about 15 loads out of it.) However, considering the fact that the freshness lasts as long as it does, I find myself not having to wash blankets and other non-clothes items as often, which saves on detergent and softener. We have 2 small dogs who like to cuddle in the couch blankets with us, and I have noticed that washing the blankets with Unstopables keeps them smelling fresh and not “doggy” for over a week! This is definitely a plus!

Purex also makes “Purex Crystals” which is a very similar concept to the Unstopables and is less expensive. I gave these a try hoping that they would be just as awesome and could save a little money but, unfortunately I wasn’t as impressed with the longevity of freshness. Purex uses “crystal” granules as opposed to the Unstopables’ waxy pellets – which I think may be how the freshness clings to clothes longer.  

If you’re not willing to fork over the $8 to try it, I recommend searching online for a free sample packet!

Check out their website for more info on Unstopables: 

Organix

A few months ago I stumbled across an Organix conditioner while I was shopping at Target. Maybe I've been living under a rock for who knows how long, but I had never heard of or seen this brand before. What's the first thing I do when I see a new hair product? I smell it! And oh my goodness, it smelled so good! Like a tropical, coconutty vacation in a bottle. I decided to buy the "brazilian keratin therapy" conditioner and began using it just a couple times a week.... I often switch back and forth between brands of hair products, depending on how I'm feeling that day, so this has been my "special" conditioner for the past couple months.

The other day a coworker mentioned to me that they have a full line of Organix products at Walmart and that the prices are better than Target! (Sorry Target, I love you, but hey ... a good deal is a good deal!) I went to Walmart and ended up buying "coconut milk anti-breakage serum", "moroccan argan oil renewing treatment", and "brazilian keratin therapy flat iron spray". And yes, I used them ALL this morning! What a great way to start the day, no? Needless to say, my hair smells delicious and is super soft.

I recently had a bad haircut; by asking for a "trim" my long hair ended up being an awkward-shoulder-length-mullet-ish...  If you just threw up a little, it's ok, I did too. My point being is that now it's more important than ever that I keep my hair healthy and split-end-free so it doesn't need to be cut even shorter. I'm not really "granola" or anything but I do opt for organic, chemical free options when I can. I feel good about using Organix on my hair because not only does it smell delicious, it has kept my hair really smooth, shiny and healthy and I'm looking forward to trying even more products in their line of hair care and skin&body!

Check our their website! http://www.organixhair.com/