Whole Grain Pancakes (Eat Clean!)

It's been awhile since I've made pancakes, and what better to do on a dreary day? This is a purely homegrown recipe, so feel free to tweak it to your needs and ingredients on hand.  They make a great low-calorie, nutritious breakfast or snack and fit into the clean eating lifestyle (but more on that in a future post). AND they are sugar-free!!  There are many variations you could do with these like adding unsweetened cocoa powder, wheat germ, flax seed, chia seed, etc. Experiment! (These do not get real "fluffy" like typical pancakes.)

Whole Grain Pancakes

Ingredients

2 cups unsweetened almond milk

2 t white vinegar

1/2 cup oats

1/4 cup yellow cornmeal (stone ground is best!)

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup tapioca flour (substitute soy or whole wheat if needed)

3 T ground flax

1 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1 t cinnamon

1 t vanilla extract

1/4 cup egg whites/liquid egg substitute (or 1 whole egg)

Directions

Add the vinegar to the almond milk (to make buttermilk) and set aside for 15-20 minutes.  Mix all dry ingredients; add egg whites and vanilla.  Add buttermilk and stir until moistened.  Batter will be runny! Let it sit for a minute or two before using.  Drop by approximately 1/8 cup fulls (I use a coffee scoop) onto a hot skillet coated with cooking spray.  Cook on one side until air bubbles surface and pop; these need to cook longer than regular pancakes due to the density of the wheat flour.  This recipe makes about 24, 2-inch pancakes.

Top with fresh berries, sugar free syrup, or natural peanut butter and enjoy!

Nutrition (per 2 pancakes)

Calories: 71

Total Fat: 1.4 g

Total Carbs: 13.5

Fiber: 2.8 g

Protein: 3.6 g

Stay healthy!

Peanut Butter - my weakness!

The Truth About Peanut Butter!

I love peanut butter! This has always been one of my weaknesses whether it’s straight out of the jar, icing on a cake, or candy! Here’s what I think about peanut butter.

Best Choice: Organic Natural Peanut Butter (creamy or chunky)
Acceptable Substitutes:  Natural Peanut Butter or PB2
Stay away from: Any processed peanut butter – especially the flavored ones! (honey roasted, chocolate, etc.)

And here’s why… 

     Peanuts are one of the most heavily sprayed crops out there, and so eating non-organic peanut butter is bringing those pesticides into your body.  I know that it’s sometimes difficult (and always expensive) to buy organic, but this is one of those times you should.  It’s especially fun to grind your own organic peanut butter at Whole Foods Markets – and it’s no more expensive than store bought.

      Natural peanut butter is the only kind that has NO SUGAR ADDED to it! Sorry to rain on your parade, but if you think Simply Jif or Skippy Natural are really “natural” you have another thing coming… any peanut butter that is not natural has added sugar. Extra sugar your body doesn’t need!  Check your ingredients list.  And don’t even get me started on the reduced fat peanut butter! Think about it, fat gives food flavor. When fat is removed from food to produce a “reduced fat” product, flavor is also removed.  But the food companies need the food to have good flavor so it sells, so what do they replace the fat with? Sugar and salt! If you don’t believe me, compare a jar of reduced fat peanut butter to regular. The sugar will be higher and the fat will be lower.   

     The oil that you see floating on natural peanut butter often deters people from buying/eating it.  They think they don’t want to eat all that grease. Well, first of all, that fat is the good fat – peanuts are a great source of mono unsaturated fat. Second of all, all that fat is in your precious processed peanut butter too, in addition to the chemicals that keep it from separating out when on the shelf! So, stir it in and reap the health benefits of natural food without added sugar or chemicals.

     I’ve recently come across a peanut butter substitute called PB2.  It’s peanut butter that has had the oil pressed out of it and is in powder form.  You reconstitute it by adding water.  The good: 2 tablespoons has only 45 calories as compared to about 190 in “real” peanut butter.  The bad: the taste isn’t as good because the fat has been removed (see above!).  It’s great to stir into oatmeal, add to smoothies, or anything else that you want to have a peanut butter flavor without adding too many calories.  It’s probably not going to cut it for a PB&J sandwich, but for the calorie trade off it’s not too shabby.  If you’d like to try it, buy from amazon.com as that is where I’ve found it cheapest.

     Organic, natural peanut butter is a great part of a healthy diet.  It’s full of protein and good fat; when combined with a piece of Ezekiel bread or whole grain crackers, you’ve got yourself a well-balanced snack.  So, enjoy your peanut butter (reasonably- it still is high in calories!) – but buy natural!

Stay Healthy!

Chocolate Cheesecake Bites

Another great little (simple) dessert!  This is a scaled down recipe that can be doubled, tripled, etc., as desired. The greek yogurt adds protein while the unsweetened cocoa powder is rich in antioxidants!

Chocolate Cheesecake Bites

Ingredients

.5 cup low fat vanilla greek yogurt (I like Dannon Greek; plain greek will work as well but they won't be quite as sweet)

4 oz. Neufchatel cheese (aka light cream cheese)

3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

splash of vanilla extract

pinch of stevia (I have also used about 2 packets of sun crystals in place of stevia; any low/zero calorie sweetener will do)

1 package of mini fillo shells (like Athens)

Directions

Allow yogurt and Neufchatel cheese to come to room temperature; blend all ingredients until smooth.  Fill each fillo cup with a dollop of the mixture; top with chocolate sprinkles or mini chocolate chips.  This version fills about 22 shells.

Nutrition

Calories (in 1): 30   Fat: 1.8g   Carb: 3g   Protein: 1.5g   Fiber .2g   

 

  Stay healthy!

Carrot Cake Makeover

So, this weekend I had the urge to bake something.  But, as is typical of me, I couldn't just follow a recipe I found - I had to find a way to make it healthier.  Sometimes, however, this has backfired on me, and I've wound up trashing my latest creation.  This time the product was great! The recipe has no oil and low sugar; it also incorporates fiber-rich, whole wheat flour and omega-3 rich ground flax. And, did you know that both cinnamon and ginger are thermogenic herbs that improve metabolism?? Hope you enjoy my made-over, low sugar, carrot cake!

Low Sugar Carrot Cake

Ingredients

3 eggs (mine were fresh, organic, and free range from The Veggie Stand) 

1 cup of unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp vanilla extract

1.25 cups unbleached, all-purpose white flour**
.75 cup whole wheat flour

.75 cup white/light brown sugar (I packed brown in the bottom half and filled to full with white)

2 tsp baking powder

.25 tsp baking soda

2 Tbsp ground flax

1 tsp cinnamon

.25 tsp cloves

.25 tsp nutmeg 

.5 tsp ginger 

3 cups finely shredded carrots
.25 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

 Pre-heat your oven to 350.  Mix the eggs, applesauce, and vanilla together.  In a separate bowl, whisk together both flours, sugar, ground flax, baking powder, baking soda, and spices.  Once everything is well blended, stir in carrots and walnuts by hand.  Spray pans with non-stick cooking spray before baking.  Baking times will vary depending on what you make: cupcakes = 18-22 minutes; cake = 38-45 minutes.  A toothpick inserted near the center will come out clean when the cake is ready.

Yield

This recipe made about 24 cupcakes.

Nutrition 

 Calories: 95
Total Fat: 1.7g

Total Carb: 15.7g
Fiber: 1.7g
Sugar: 10g

Protein 2.5g

Stay Fit!

The Inaugural Post

   I always felt like blogging was for creative people, people with too much time on their hands, or people who wanted to be heard.  Then, I got to thinking - well, I'm creative, and I do have some ideas that I think are good, and I'd like to share too (though I can't claim to have too much time on my hands)!  So, Fit and Frugal for Life was born.  

   The title of my blog encompasses two topics of special significance to me - being healthy and saving money.  I have spent the better part of the last decade reshaping my life into something I am very proud of and believe is a lifestyle I can and will maintain in the future.  I've also done this while watching my money yet not sacrificing the quality of my life or experiences.  As you may imagine, I've amassed lots of tips and tricks related to both health and money that I hope can help and inspire others to live their fullest, most frugal and fit life.  

  My goal for this blog is simple: to share what I have learned in the hopes that my experiences will benefit someone else.  

A healthy and thrifty lifestyle is the greatest reward - now let's pay it forward!