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Follow the Ruels

Quinoa Pasta

April 2, 2014

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I think it is fair to say that most women (or anyone watching their weight) have a love-hate relationship with pasta. It’s easy and comforting. But the carbs. Oh the carbs. I, personally, try to limit my pasta intake to once or twice a month. My husband, on the other hand, could eat it every. single. day. To compromise with him, I try different tricks to substitute or limit the pasta. My new favorite might just be this quinoa pasta I whipped up.

With the right tools, homemade pasta is actually really easy. Really, all pasta is is flour, eggs, and a little seasoning rolled thin and cut into strips (or some other fun shape). For this recipe, I replaced part of the flour with “quinoa flour”, which is dry quinoa processed into a fine “flour”.

DSC03749editThe quinoa flour is much coarser than normal flour, so you may not be able to make fine angel hair pasta. But it works perfectly well with any pasta roller attachment for making fettuccine or pappardelle noodles.

DSC03757editBecause of the graininess of the dough, I only rolled my noodles out to about a 3mm thickness on my pasta roller attachment for the KitchenAid. Then I cut them by hand with a pizza cutter to make thick papparadelle noddles.

DSC03764editI would love to give you a play-by-play of how to make pasta with a pasta roller, but the hard work has already been done by the fine folks at the Kitchn. And I probably couldn’t do it better myself.

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Once you have the noodles, you cook them just as you would any other pasta noodle. But because they are fresh and not dried, they cook much faster. Almost too fast if you are not careful and take your eye off of the pot.

With my quinoa pasta, I just tossed the noddles with some store bought pasta sauce and some sauteed veggies for a quick and light meal. But I plan on making this recipe again and using the noddles for lasagna.

 

 

/ Filed In: Eat
Tagged: healthy, pasta, quinoa

Protein Power Pancakes

November 19, 2013

Pancakes are one of my favorite things to make on the weekend. All week, I try to have a healthy breakfast – a protein smoothie with berries and spinach or Greek yogurt. On the weekends (especially now that the wedding is behind us) I like to do something slightly indulgent. Or at least pretend to be indulgent.
Truth be told, these pancakes are hardly indulgent (except for the chocolate chips I snuck in some of them). The secret, protein packed, ingredient is quinoa. But instead of whole, cooked, quinoa like I used in these muffins, I ground the dried quinoa into a flour. Genius, right? I can’t take credit. I got the idea off of Pinterest (of course).
And making quinoa into a flour couldn’t be easier as long as you have a blender or food processor. I used our Magic Bullet blender and it took only 15 seconds. 
Once the quinoa is ground, it can be used in place of flour for almost anything. The very nutty and distinct quinoa flavor is still there, so if you are not a fan of the quinoa flavor, then I wouldn’t recommend these. However, if you like quinoa and are in the mood for a hearty and healthy pre-workout breakfast, these are for you!

Enjoy!

/ Filed In: Eat
Tagged: breakfast, healthy, pancakes, protein, quinoa

Chicken Pita Burger

September 19, 2013

Sometimes, not very often, I head to the grocery store with no plan. No list. Nothing. This happens very very rarely. As much as I find meal planning to be a chore, I hate having to come up with a meal on the fly during the week when all I have in the fridge/pantry is hummus, some spinach, and black beans.

That’s what happened this week.

But, thank goodness I had more than just hummus, spinach, and black beans around the kitchen. Thanks to the ground chicken I didn’t use last week, left over mini pita pockets, Greek yogurt I always have in the fridge, and all the random veggies in the fridge I came up with the idea for a Greek-inspired chicken burger.

Despite the lack of planning and preparation, these burgers turned out so well! B went back for seconds, which is not all that common (I know it’s a good recipe when he goes back for more). And as a bride to be, I really appreciated that these burgers were pretty light, especially since I used extra lean chicken and pitas instead of buns.

Have you ever made something amazing just trying to use up things in your fridge?

/ Filed In: Eat
Tagged: burger, chicken, healthy, pita

Lemon Squash Muffins

September 5, 2013

 

These muffins were inspired by a recipe I saw in a recent Women’s Health magazine for lemon zucchini bars. I had obviously heard of zucchini used in baked goods before – in breads, muffins, even brownies. But it was always green zucchini, and it was always paired with chocolate.

A light bulb went off in my head and I immediately felt the need to translate the lemon bar recipe into a muffin recipe.

The grated squash not only replaces the need for some of the flour and sugar, but it keeps the muffins very moist. It does not add much flavor or texture, which is great if you are weirded out by having a vegetable in your muffin.

Other than the squash, the recipe I used was fairly close to my standard muffin recipe. I used egg whites instead of a whole egg to cut down on the fat. Because of the added moisture from the squash, the extra fat isn’t needed. I also cut back on some of the sugar even though I was using a pretty tart fruit like lemon. If you prefer your lemon baked goods on the tarter or sweeter side, you can adjust your recipe accordingly.

As usual, feel free to use whole wheat flour, almond milk, or sugar substitute in your recipe. Just bare in mind, it may change the flavor or consistency of your muffins slightly.

What other ways would you use a vegetable in a baked good?

Linking up with Weekend Shenanigans, This Weekend I, The GFC Collective, Less Laundry More Linking, Share It Link Party, Taste of Tuesday, Google Friend Conect, The Pin It Party, Pinterest Power Party, Style Sessions, Trend Spin Linkup, I Feel Pretty, What I Wore Wednesday, Random Wednesday, Wildcard Wednesday, Three-fer Thursday, Tucker Up, GYB Networking Party H54F, That Friday Blog Hop, #backthatazzup 

/ Filed In: Eat
Tagged: healthy, lemon, muffins, squash, zucchini

Whole Wheat Crepes

August 29, 2013

For some reason, crepes have always intimidated me. To me, they were the high maintenance and delicate sibling of the pancake. Maybe it’s because they are French. The French are high maintenance and delicate, right?
 
(Sorry if you are French and I offended you. If it makes you feel better, Americans are fat jerks.)
As usual though, I have to try to make crepes a little bit healthier. I did find one recipe that was SUPER healthy. Like it used bananas and oats and agave. I am not going that far. I just used whole wheat flour, egg whites, and almond milk. It definitely made them a bit lighter, but not taste like grainy bananas. Unless you like grainy bananas.
 
What I found in making crepes, is that you really want your batter to be pretty thin. If it is the consistency of pancake batter, then it needs to be thined out. Other than that, its really not that easy to mess up crepes.
 
It also helped me to watch a couple YouTube videos. Seeing other people make them helped my confidence and lessened the intimidation. I also didn’t try to be fancy and flip them like a pro. I used my fingers and flipped them over. There was no one around to judge my lack of flair and none of my crepes ended up on the floor.
 
 

The amazing thing about crepes is that they can be filled with anything. I love crepes filled with Neutella and strawberries. These crepes are filled with vanilla Greek yogurt, strawberries, and bananas then topped with blueberries. If B were around when I made these, I would have filled his with eggs, bacon, and cheese…like a little crepe breakfast burrito.

And if you are wondering, the plate featured above can easily serve 2 people. But I ate all four because I am a fat jerk.

What is your favorite crepe filling??

Linking up with Weekend Shenanigans, This Weekend I, The GFC Collective, Less Laundry More Linking, Share It Link Party, Taste of Tuesday, Google Friend Conect, The Pin It Party, Pinterest Power Party, Style Sessions, Trend Spin Linkup, I Feel Pretty, What I Wore Wednesday, Random Wednesday, Wildcard Wednesday, Three-fer Thursday, Tucker Up, GYB Networking Party H54F, That Friday Blog Hop, #backthatazzup

/ Filed In: Eat
Tagged: breakfast, crepes, Greek yogurt, healthy, whole wheat

How to Be a Healthy Traveler

July 23, 2013

By traveling, I do not mean vacation, because as we all know, calories don’t count on vacation.

What I am talking about is traveling for work.

If you travel for work on a fairly regular basis, I am sure you have come up with your own tricks to staying on track with your diet or exercise regiem. It has taken me a while to really establish a routine, but I think I have finally it out. Below I have listed some of my favorite trips to being a healthy traveler and not falling off the diet wagon.

1) Hit up the grocery store and stock up on some healthy foods like Greek yogurt, fruit, baby carrots or pre-cut veggies, water, nuts, and individual packages of natural nut butters of hummus. Obviously, you will want to be in a hotel that has a mini frigde in the room.

2) Keep some of your favorite workouts loaded on your computer. It’s really hard for me to keep up with my workouts when I travel, so if I have a fun option available I am more motivated to get up early and workout. If you can’t load anything on your computer, dry the videos at the DailyHiit and the DailyBurn for some great online workouts.

3) Find some classes you have always wanted to take at a local gym or fitness center. I always find myself wanting to try a yoga class or barre class, but never find the time when I’m at home. When I travel, I have a bit more free time so it’s fun to try something new!

4) Be active after work. If you travel with coworkers, it might be pretty typical to hit up happy hour, but I like to encourage my coworkers to either explore the city or walk somewhere for dinner if it’s an option. Or, if all else fails, walk around the local mall.

5) If you are on a strict diet, order meals from companies like My Fit Foods, Simply Fit Meals, or eDiets. You can pick them up at the beginning of your trip, store them in your fridge, and just microwave them in the office or at the hotel. These plans can be expensive to do on a regular basis, but why not try them out when you have a per diem.

6) Bring light weight and compact exercise equipment. No matter what, I always bring some clothes to workout in and a pair of light weight running shoes. I also really like bringing along a resistance bands, since weights are really not an option.

 
Do you have some tips for staying on track while you are traveling?
 
 Linking up for Google Friend Conect
 
 

/ Filed In: Travel
Tagged: exercise, healthy, travel, work

Quinoa Blueberry Muffins

April 22, 2013

THIS RECIPE HAS BEEN UPDATED!! Click here to see the updated version of the recipe. 

…

I’ve been on this weird kick of trying to make different breakfast foods using quinoa. First pancakes, now muffins. I have to say, after making Gordon Ramsay’s uber healthy blueberry muffins, I think I kinda like these better. It could just be that I am not a huge fan of banana, which GR’s version has. But these muffins are light and fresh tasting, and frankly, don’t taste so…..healthy!

But these muffins are just as healthy, if not healthier. There is no butter or oil. Very little sugar. Quinoa is incredibly healthy and packed with protein. I have found that quinoa, after it’s cooked, can be used almost interchangeably with flour or oats. So don’t be surprised if you find me making more recipes with quinoa!

I hope you give these muffins a try!

[yumprint-recipe id=’84’]
 
 
 

/ Filed In: Eat
Tagged: healthy, muffin, quinoa

Juiced

March 26, 2013

Things might have gotten a little out of hand last week. There was a lot of wine, a lot of sweets, a lot of bacon fat. I don’t regret any of it, but my it kind of takes a toll on my body now that I am old.

I felt like I needed to do something good for myself, so I decided that this week I would cut out all processed foods and increase my intake of fruits and vegetables. So I broke out the juicer and got my juice on.

Honestly, juicing is kind of a pain. It takes a lot of time to prepare and buying all the fruit and veggies gets kind of expensive. But it is so worth it! I feel so refreshed and energized. I haven’t had any caffeine all day and I never felt drowsy. To make it a little easier, I washed and prepped all my fruits and veggies on Sunday, so during the week I can just pop them in the juicer.

If you have a juicer, I hope I will inspire you to break it out and get juicing. To get you started, here are some of my favorite recipes.

Sunrise juice, so named because it is my favorite juice to have in the morning, is incredibly refreshing and energizing. Plus, it is amazing for the skin.

Ingredients
3 carrots, washed and end removed
1 orange, peeled and quartered
1 lemon, peeled and halved
1/2 grapefruit, peeled and quartered
2 apples, cored and quartered

Directions: throw everything into the juicer.

 

Beets might not sound like the most appetizing vegetable, but they pack a pretty mean nutritional punch. When combined with other sweeter and stronger flavored fruits and vegetables, you won’t even realize you are drinking beet juice.

Ingredients
1 beet, peeled and quartered
1 orange, peeled and quartered
1 carrot, washed and end removed
2 apples, cored and quartered
5-8 strawberries, tops removed

Directions: throw everything into the juicer.

This green juice is like a salad in a glass. Unlike other green juices I have had, this one is actually pretty tasty. The lemon and melon balance out the bitter kale to make a very refreshing and delicious drink.

Ingredients
1 handful spinach, washed
1 handful kale, washed
1/2 cucumber, quartered
2 stalks celery, washed
1 lemon, peeled and halved
2 apples, cored and quartered
1/2 cup honeydew melon, rind removed and cut into chunks

Directions: throw everything into the juicer.

I hope you try these recipes out. Also, if you have some favorite juice recipes I would love it if you would share them!

/ Filed In: Eat
Tagged: beets, carrots, cleanse, fruit, healthy, juice, oranges

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Hey There!

Hey there, I'm Lindsey. I'm a number cruncher by day and a home cook and baker by night. While I love to eat healthy and find fresh and healthy alternatives for my favorite foods, I will never turn down dessert! Life is all about moderation, right?

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