I’ve mentioned before my love for chocolate. I really, really like chocolate. To the point where I don’t think I’ve ever even had a flavor of ice cream that wasn’t some kind of a riff on chocolate. Really.

When I plan on having a splurge, it always involves chocolate. I follow the 90/10 rule for the most part-if I eat well 90% of the time, the other 10% I can have whatever I want and it won’t have negative repercussions on my health or physique.

Many people will do just fine taking this to 80/20.

On that splurge, I don’t worry about calories. Many times a small amount of “real” ice cream is much more satisfying than a larger amount of “fake” ice cream. And to me, a bit of really dark chocolate is a square of heaven.

But sometimes you want something sweet, but maybe you don’t want to have a full-on splurge. You may want to keep it somewhat “healthy” and yet still quench the sweet tooth.

For that, I have some answers.

For the Superbowl this past weekend I made two items that fit that bill to perfection.

Mmm...chocolate....

I was inspired by Shirley at Gluten Free Easily and her recipe for Flourless Oatmeal Cookies. I actually stayed very close to the original recipe. The only substitutions I made was that I subbed out a bit of nonfat Greek yogurt for half of the butter, and used egg beaters. This recipe does not use much sugar, but you could also use stevia-I did not this go round.

If you do, let me know how it goes!

Flourless Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (Thanks Shirley!)

-3 TBSP unsalted butter
-scant 1/4 c of nonfat plain Greek yogurt
-1.5 cup gluten free oats
-1/2 cup sugar
-1/4 cup packed brown sugar
-1/8 tsp sea salt
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1/4 c egg beaters
-2/3 cup mini chocolate chips

-Preheat oven to 350 F
-Melt the butter. Let it sit while you combine and whisk together the oats, sugars, and salt.
-Cream the butter and yogurt with an electric hand mixer. Add the vanilla and egg beaters.
-Add the wet to dry and combine with a wooden spoon. Add in the chocolate chips and combine.
-Chill in the fridge (Supposed to be 30 minutes, I was impatient and gave it about 15)
-On a baking sheet lined with parchment, place small rolled balls of dough and flatten slightly.

Fun tip-a baker friend of mine told me a long time ago she uses a tablespoon measure that looks like an ice cream scoop to measure out her drop cookies so they are uniform. It works great!

-Bake for 12-17 minutes. Mine took 17, which was odd, but I’m OK with it.

These were awesome. I admit I did taste the batter, but for the most part they made it into the oven and to the party.
They were a huge hit-they were crunchy and wonderful. I was the only gluten free person in attendance, and everyone loved them. Given that they are treats, they are relatively healthful as well.

The second treat I made was Black Bean brownies. Various versions of this recipe have been floating around for a while now, but I saw this one at Lean Bodies Fitness, which is a community I am a part of. If you’ve never tried these, I highly recommend. I didn’t tell anyone the “secret ingredient” until after they tried, and raved about, the brownies. They couldn’t believe it. These make a very dense, fudgy brownie. Not a cake-like brownie. The next time I make these, I am going to substitute nonfat Greek yogurt for the bananas. Banana flavor is good, but I’d like to see what they are like without it. Made with this current recipe they are actually vegan.

Mmmm...more chocolate...

Black Bean Brownies

-Preheat oven to 350 F
-Rinse VERY well one 15 oz can of black beans.

Combine in food processor-
-Rinsed black beans
-2 bananas
-1/3 cup agave nectar (or any sweetener of your choice)
-1/4 cup cocoa powder
-1 tsp vanilla

Process very well until smooth. I added 1/4 tsp of spoonable stevia also.

-Add 1/4 cup gluten free oats and process again

Put mixture into a nonstick-sprayed 8×8 pan. Bake for 30 minutes.

These are great ways to feed the sweet tooth without expanding your waistline. However, they do have calories, and just like anything, moderation is key. If you eat the whole batch in one sitting it defeats the purpose a bit.

For more sensible information on setting up a healthy gluten free way of eating, click here.

Let me know what you think in the comments!

We eat a lot of poultry. I’ve mentioned before my fear of sprouting feathers and clucking.

There was recently a Twitter discussion about eating chicken-and Sandra of the Gluten Free Optimist (aka Maryland Celiac) mentioned her need for more ideas for baked chicken. And a dislike of Italian Dressing, BBQ, sour cream, and mushrooms. (Did I get them all? I hope so!)

So consider this the baked-chicken-with-none-of-those-ingredients “not really a recipe.”

When it comes to baking (or roasting) chicken, there are 3 basic methods I use. The first is marinades, the second rubs, and the third just seasoning prior to tossing them in the oven. I generally use boneless skinless chicken breast, as I enjoy the lean protein and ease. I am also very fortunate to have a local market where I can get boneless skinless chicken breasts in a family pack size for $1.49/lb. You could of course always use skinless boneless chicken thighs as well, and I have a suggestion for bone-in and skin on chicken breast at the end of this post.

Marinades:

Marinades are time intensive, but not labor intensive. It does require a bit of pre-planning to allow to meat enough time to sit in the marinade, get tenderized and absorb all that flavor. Allow at least an hour to marinade, several hours would be better. I have even (accidentally) allowed chicken to marinade for almost 24 hours, and it was OK. I would not recommend that though, as the chicken can get very mushy and kind of gross as the acids in the marinade break it down more than you want it to. I tend to use zip-top plastic bags to make the marinade, then add the chicken and squish it all around so it is evenly distributed. Toss it back in the fridge and let it do it’s thing!

Ideas for marinades:

(For all of these, you can add about 1/4 cup of olive or canola oil to the below combinations)

-Lemon or lime juice, fresh peeled and cracked garlic cloves, cracked black pepper, sea salt

-Red wine vinegar, oregano, garlic powder, sea salt

-Apple cider vinegar, fresh chopped garlic, sea salt

You get the basic idea. You want something acidic (citrus juice, vinegar), some herbs/spices, and then a bit of oil. The only vinegar I don’t use with chicken is regular balsamic-because it makes the chicken an unappealing brown color. (although it tastes great.) I have used white balsamic which is very tasty. You can see that you can mix and match these to fit whatever you have on hand. If you have fresh herbs you can use those also. My favorite is lemon juice, garlic, salt/pepper, and chopped fresh rosemary and thyme. Very often I don’t have rosemary and thyme fresh, so I’ll use dried.

Rubs:

Rubs are exactly as it sounds-a spice mixture that you rub onto the chicken and let it infuse flavor. You can take any of
the ingredients you would use in a marinade (just use a tiny bit of the acid and the oil-just enough to make a paste) and chop/process the solids very small, and use that as a rub. If you can, allow these to sit about 10-15 minutes prior to cooking. Not as time intensive as a marinade.

Other ideas for rubs:

-Cumin, cayenne, and 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (these are found canned, usually in the ethnic food section-a great smoky flavor)

-Cinnamon and cayenne. Sounds bizarre, I know-but it’s really, really good. You can also add a tiny bit of brown sugar.

-Onion and garlic powder, sea salt, black pepper

-Tarragon, garlic, lemon zest

Easy seasonings:

This is the simplest-just pull out the jar/can, sprinkle, flip, sprinkle, and put into the oven. Here are a few I like:
(Remember-always check labels for hidden gluten in case a manufacturer changes their formula.)

-Crazy Jane’s Mixed Up Salt

-Lemon pepper

-Lime pepper

-Creole seasoning

-Greek seasoning

-Old Bay

-Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo Wing Sauce-not quite a seasoning, but just as easy. Cover the chicken with sauce before cooking-viola! Healthier not-wings

If you are using skin-on versions, just make a slit in the skin, and put the rub mixture/seasonings inside the skin as well as on the outside. Really rub it in well, and make sure to cover as much surface area as you can. It gives a really nice flavor.

Hopefully this helped give you a few ideas for chicken. For more (free!) information on gluten free and healthy nutrition planning click here, or enter your contact info below this post.

Share your favorite way to prepare the bird of honor in the comments below! You can never have too many ways to cook chicken….

It was time. Time to attempt a protein bar with one of the non-dairy proteins. I was a little scared, to be honest. Whey protein is very friendly when it comes to baking gluten free, and I wasn’t sure how the rice protein would react. (I decided to use the rice protein instead of gemma since some people may already have rice protein on hand. Gemma protein is a bit newer on the scene.) Check out my dairy free gluten free protein powder 101 if you missed it for more info on these powders.

I saw a recipe in Eating Well that sounded good, but it was a refrigerate only bar, and for whatever reason I never have good luck with these. Probably because I live in the sub tropics of South Florida and they melt. Immediately. Upon removing from the fridge. Anyhow-I like to bake my protein treats. So I decided to improvise.

As I’ve mentioned before, I tend to treat recipes as a guideline more than a set-in-stone idea. Hence the “kind of a recipe” title. So please do the same with this-these are all experiments and works-in-progress.

I thought the rice protein may produce a bit of a crumbly texture, so I tried to compensate with a bit more moisture. After cooking, I think I could have added a little more, so keep that in mind and let me know how you make out. Next time I’d add another mashed banana, more applesauce, or more eggs or egg whites. Something for just a bit more moisture. I would have reached for greek yogurt or ricotta cheese ordinarily, reminded myself-”no silly-these are dairy free!”

Mmmmm.....yummy

OK onto the good stuff:

Ingredients:

First thing I did was spread 30 grams of slivered almonds and 1 cup of gluten free oats on a jelly roll pan and toast them at 350 for about 10 minutes until fragrant and awesome smelling. While that is in the oven combine:

the Wet ingredients:

-1 mashed medium banana
-4 oz unsweetened applesauce
-80 grams of diced dried fruit (I had cranberries, apricots, and cherries)-I let this sit in the wet ingredients to plump a bit
-1 tsp vanilla
-.5 cup egg white
-1 TBSP coconut oil (you may need to melt this a little first if it’s in solid form)

Combine all of the above wet ingredients. To that add:

-.5 tsp stevia (I use the spoonable kind-you can use whatever sweetener you want here)
-3 scoops of rice protein powder (measures to approximately 1 cup-mine was chocolate flavor and sweetened, so you may need to add sweetener or additional spices (cinnamon etc) if yours in unflavored.) I used True Protein rice protein that I reviewed here
-2 tsp cinnamon
-2 TBSP cacao powder
-The toasted oats and almonds that by now have come out of the oven, either that or they’re burnt by now

Add the dry to wet. Actually, add the protein powder first because that takes a bit more mixing. Then add everything else.

Spread into a 8×8 pan sprayed with non stick spray.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Definitely not longer or they will get too dry.

Here’s the nutritional breakdown based on my protein powder:
6 servings (this is 6 good-sized squares)
per serving:

225 calories
6 grams of fat
27 grams of carbohydrate, 4 of which are fiber
18 grams of protein

These were very tasty. The slivered almonds gave a nice crunch, and the dried fruit is a nice chewiness. They kept their shape well, and can be wrapped up in saran wrap and stuck into a lunch bag. (I know some you are thinking snacks for the gluten free dairy free kiddos You can add some chocolate chips on the top prior to cooking to make them more attractive to the kidlets. They would also make a good grab and go breakfast snack, since time can be an issue in the morning. To make a bit more substantial meal you can add a few hard boiled eggs or egg whites and off you go. I do think the rice protein made them a bit more crumbly, and I’m curious to see how the gemma protein cooks. But that’s next time

For ideas and guidance on setting up a healthy eating plan you can get my free outline below, or click here for more information.

Let me know how they turn out for you and any modifications you make! Share in the comments below!

Chicken is a staple in my house. Of course the running joke is that at times I feel like I’m going to sprout feathers, I eat so much poultry. It’s a great source of lean protein, versatile, and I am fortunate enough to have a family owned food market nearby where I can get boneless skinless chicken breast for $1.99/lb. All the time, not even for special sales. If you have access to one, look into a food market and you may find some great deals. The one near me offers great quality and prices for meat, poultry, produce and fish. I still have to go to the regular supermarket for other items, but a trip to the market is a Saturday morning ritual for me.

Hot chicken in the city

Chicken breast is my choice, but you could certainly use thighs as well. For this method, you do need boneless and skinless (you could of course remove the skin and debone yourself if you’d like.) First we’ll go over the actual “recipe” I used, then discuss ways to modify it so your choices become almost endless!

1-Begin with a pound or two of boneless skinless chicken (or turkey) breast.

2-Line a countertop surface with plastic wrap. Place the breasts on the plastic wrap, and cover with another piece of
plastic. Using a kitchen mallet (or if all else fails and you don’t have a mallet, you can use a wine bottle!) and pound out the meat, starting at the middle and working your way out, so that the meat spreads out and becomes flatter. Pound it to about 1/2 inch thickness or so. No need to bust out the ruler, eyeballing it is fine.

3-In a small bowl, combine fresh or frozen spinach, sliced sundried tomatoes, and some part skim ricotta cheese. (This is where you can get very creative and modify to make a whole new meal.) You’ll want about a cup of ricotta, some good sized handfuls of spinach and a handful of tomatoes. Yes, you can be that non-specific. Add some sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Make it kind of paste-consistency. You know you ate paste as a kid, you know exactly what I mean. Don’t try to lie. You can also just combine the ricotta and spices and kind of lay the spinach and tomatoes on in the next step….

4-Spread the ricotta cheese over the meat, then add the spinach and tomatoes over the top covering it. Roll the chicken starting at one end, like a jelly roll. Try to keep the stuffing inside it if you can. You’ll probably need to fasten the end with some toothpicks to keep it together.

5-Place on a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan and bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes.

Remove and cut into, and revel in the beauteous-ness of it all.

So here are a few modifications you can try for the stuffing. Everything else remains the same, just the stuffing “stuff” changes.

-Prosciutto and mozzarella

-Wild rice and dried cherries (this one does get a bit messy-I also add a bit of feta or goat cheese to bind it a bit)

-Turkey bacon and cheddar

-Chopped broccoli bits and feta cheese

-Pepperoni and mozzarella and tomato paste (like pizza!)

-Spinach and goat cheese

-Orange marmalade mixed with broccoli and and a bit of Parmesan cheese (this is really good, I promise.)

Now go forth and create your own chicken. Leave a comment below and let me know your take on it-I can’t wait to hear!

I have finished the updates on the nutrition guide for now, as well as the audio companion. Sign up below to have the free document and MP3 sent to you, and as always let me know your thoughts!

Cooking is not rocket surgery.

I know many people are intimidated by the idea of cooking for themselves, and in my opinion this is why many people rely on pre-packaged, take out or out-to-dinner meals. I am all for the idea of making your life easier and more time efficient,
and I think that some just don’t realize that cooking can be really easy. You don’t have to use a complicated recipe with
a list of ingredients longer than your arm. Heck no. That IS intimidating! I love cookbooks, and I have a bunch, and I love to look thru them. And that’s how I get ideas. But I don’t use them to cook. How is that, you ask? Well….

With the exception of baking, it’s rare that I use a recipe per se. (And admittedly, since I mostly cook quick breads/protein bars and brownies I don’t always use recipes for those either. It’s more of a “hmmm…this batter is a bit runny…add some more protein powder/oat flour/cocoa! approach) I read a recipe, or see something prepared on TV, and then use/modify that recipe to make something that works for me. I use and teach more of a “method” approach to cooking-learn a way to do something, then you can make modifications and make that method work a bunch of ways for a bunch of applications.

If you cook chicken a particular way, chances are good you can do a similar thing with turkey, or pork. See where I’m going with this? If you make a sauce (as I mentioned in my eating flavorfully gluten free post) you can change it up by changing just a few flavors, but use the same ideas.

OK. Here’s the deal.

Shirley over at Gluten Free Easily had posted her “Special Turkey Breast” recipe around Thanksgiving. I can never have too much turkey, and turkey breast is easily a staple in our house. It’s generally a big piece of protein that can be cooked once and eaten for days. (Very important as I referenced in the planning ahead for eating success post.) Since we had a big crowd at Thanksgiving and not enough leftovers, I made Shirley’s recipe the weekend after Thanksgiving. And boy was it yummy! Turkey breast has a very mild flavor, and using the vinegar gave it a great “pop” of flavor. I had never used vinegar in the crock pot before, for reasons of which I haven’t a clue. I use vinegars all the time for pretty much everything. It was such a great method, that I used it again this week-with a riff. So thanks to Shirley for the original idea!

Before getting to the good stuff-just think about the possibilities! You can use this method/idea with chicken, turkey, pork, really anything you would stick in the crock pot. You can mix it up with any seasonings/vinegars that sound good.
The possibilities are endless! (OK-maybe not endless. But pretty close.)

A slice of heaven...I mean turkey

Balsamic Pepper Turkey Breast

-Take a big honking turkey breast. Stick said turkey breast into crock pot.

-Throw in some peeled cracked garlic cloves

-Mix in a measuring cup about a cup of balsamic vinegar, about 1/4 cup of olive oil, about 2 tsp of mustard powder, about 1 TBSP of lemon pepper seasoning, and some sea salt. (Yes, I am this precise-I’m not gonna lie.) Pour over the turkey about as evenly as you can.

-Cook on high about 4 hrs or low about 8.

Try not to burn yourself getting it out, and don’t let the dog tackle you as you carry the crock over to the sink to wash it. (OK-that may not apply to you.)

-Enjoy!!!

Please let me know how it goes! Are you a method cook, a recipe cook, or a “I’m too scared to try” cook? Would more
method ideas like this be helpful? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, or shoot me a message on the contact page!

For specific information on nutrition, sign up below for my free nutrition guide.

Now be method-fabulous!

As a follow up to my last post with tips for making your food more flavorful while keeping it healthy and gluten free, here is a very simple recipe that incorporates some of those ideas.

(I know I need to work on my food-photo skills. They are not very good. I promise I will get better.)

You really need smell-a-vision to appreciate this lemon chicken

Very Lemony Chicken

-1.5 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
-1/2 c fresh lemon juice
-2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
-1/2 c fresh grated lemon zest (or chopped peel if you don’t have a zester)
-3 tsp chopped fresh oregano or 1 tsp dried oregano or italian seasoning herbs
-1 medium onion sliced
-1/2 tsp sea salt
-pepper to taste
-1/2 tsp paprika

Place chicken in a 13×9 glass baking dish. Mix lemon juice, vinegar, lemon peel/zest, oregano and onions. Pour over chicken and marinate several hours or overnight. (I actually use a zip top bag-easier to turn and store in the refrigerator. Or you can use the dish. Your call.) Sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika. Cover and bake at 325 for 30 minutes, uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes or until done.

You could then add some quinoa, rice, (which you can cook on the stovetop while this is baking) potato (some roasted red potatoes would be very nice with this I think-in the oven with the chicken), and some veggies. Perhaps you could roast some root veggies at the same time the chicken is cooking. I know the temperature isn’t exactly right, but we’re all about flexibility and getting the food cooked here, not perfection. You could saute some green beans, or some spinach and make a bed for your chicken. Whatever you do, you could add a squeeze of fresh lemon just before serving to tie the flavors together. (Whatever you do, don’t squeeze fresh citrus on green beans and let them sit. The color will leach and they will taste great, but look really nasty.)

Enjoy! Let me know how it goes, or some of your favorite and easy ways to have flavorful and healthy meals. For details on creating a more specific nutrition plan, sign up below for your free guide.
Now let’s eat!