Happy Herbivore Book Review

I'm really excited about this month.  It's only the second day but it already seems to be going well.  The girls and I sat and watched Christmas shows and movies yesterday and I got a bit of Christmas shopping done today.

I'm having issues figuring out what to get Kaylee and Mo.  I want to get them everything and I can't make up my mind.

Are you having issues finding the perfect gift for the foodie in your life?  Well I have a suggestion.  The new book from Lindsay Nixon, The Happy Herbivore.  The Happy Herbivore is a blog that I follow religiously.  I received her book, Happy Herbivore Light & Lean a few weeks ago to review.   

This book is great.  There are over 150 recipes.  The first half is recipes and the second half has some exercises and workouts.  Perfect healthy living book.  I would say that if you are new to the healthy living scene, this book is definitely something you should pick up.  

All of her recipes contain no added fat or oil and are plant-based.  This is the description from the blog.
  
"I don't cook with oils or other added fats. All my recipes are fat-free or low fat and I focus on using whole, unprocessed plant foods -- but nothing obscure or bizarre! I use normal "everyday" ingredients we all have on hand and most of my recipes come together in 20 minutes or less, too!

I keep it healthy, affordable, easy, no fuss and most importantly: delicious!"

Her recipes are perfect for my dietary restrictions.  

As soon as I opened the book I was in love.  Every single recipe looked delicious and called for me to try it.  Since I received the book 2 weeks ago I have already made 3 recipes and have 6 more on the menu for December.  

The recipe I'm sharing with you today is one of my favorites.  When the girls and I have smoothie and muffin nite I like to try a new recipe.  Luckily, smoothie nite was planned for a few days after the book arrived in the mail.  

 

Blueberry Yogurt Muffins

Makes 12

Soy-free, Fat-free, Quick

If I had to pick a favorite kind of muffin, I think blueberry muffins would be it for me. With their hint of lemon, these muffins make me think of sunny, relaxed mornings. I also love that they’re made with vegan yogurt (a boost of protein!) and very little sugar.

2 c white whole-wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

pinch salt

¼ c raw sugar

1 ripe (spotted) banana

½ c vanilla nondairy milk, divided

6 oz vegan yogurt (plain, vanilla, or blueberry)

¼ c unsweetened applesauce

1 c blueberries (thawed, if using frozen)

3–4 tbsp lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line muffin tin with paper or silicone cups or use a nonstick pan, and set aside. In

a mixing bowl, whisk flour with baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. In a small food processor or

blender, whiz banana with 1⁄4 cup nondairy milk until silky smooth. Stir into flour mixture, then add yogurt, applesauce, and remaining nondairy milk. Stir a few times, add blueberries and lemon zest, and stir gently, folding in blueberries, until just combined. Spoon into muffin cups and bake 15–20 minutes

or until muffins are golden, firm to the touch, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Per Muffin Calories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Fat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.8g Carbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  25.6g Fiber. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2.9g Sugars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.8g Protein. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3.5g WW Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3

 

Do you have any favorite bloggers?  How excited are you for this holiday season?

New Month, New Me

Happy December 1st everybody!  I'm so happy November is over!  It was really not a good month for me.  I mentioned most of the things that went wrong during the month in my last post but, here's a quick recap.

• Sick for the first 2 weeks of the month
• Stressed-induced ulcer
• Depression
• My body refused fish of any kind.  The only animal protein I could tolerate was eggs, yogurt and cheese
• I only made it to the gym a handful of times
• The family's diet was seriously horrible due to everything that was going wrong with me

I'm happy  to say that I'm physically and mentally better, and I have reduced my stress by half.  My body is now allowing me occasional fish, I'm changing the family's diet back to normal as of today, and I'm headed back to the gym on Tuesday {I would be going back tomorrow but, Christmas doesn't shop for itself}

I don't know if this is happening everywhere in the world but, where I live, many of the fat free foods are being taken out of the local supermarkets.  My local Publix no longer carries light soy milk.  I could understand if they only carried the Greenwise Market {Publix's brand} brand light soy milk and no longer carry Silk or any other company's light soy milk but, they have taken every brand off the shelves.   I also have difficulty finding fat free coffee creamer {I buy it when I want to treat myself and don't want to pay coffee shop prices.}  I think it's interesting that while everything you read is talking about how unhealthy Americans are and how much we need to reduce our fat and calorie intakes, Publix is taking the healthier options OFF the shelves.  Does this make sense to you??!!??

So, in short, I now shop at Wal-Mart for my light soy milk and I make my own coffee creamer.  After Publix upset me by not carrying any flavor other than French Vanilla in the fat free creamers I started searching the internet for how to make my own.  Every website had the same basic recipe.  This would probably be a great gift for the coffee aficionado in your life.  

Ingredients
1 14 oz can fat free sweetened condensed milk
2 cups skim milk

Directions

1. Whisk together

You can add flavorings to it.  Here are a few links that have a bunch of flavoring ideas.  

Mrs. Happy Homemaker: 20 Different Flavors
Deliciously Organic: Homemade Coffee Creamer
She Knows: Fall Flavored Coffee Creamer 

Another great thing about this recipe?  The calorie count!  1 tablespoon {without any flavoring added} has 21.3 calories and 4.6 grams of sugar.  It makes 3.75 cups/ 60 tablespoons.  

For my first rial I made a pumpkin chocolate creamer since I am currently obsessed with Dunkin Donut's Pumpkin Mocha iced coffee.  Add .25 - .5 cup pumpkin puree and 1-2 T sugar free chocolate syrup to the base recipe.  You can also use cocoa powder but make sure to heat a bit of milk and mix the cocoa powder into the heated milk before mixing everything together.  

Fancy Seeing You Here!

Hey guys!  Sorry I've been gone for the past 3 weeks.  This month hasn't been any fun for me.  The stress of life kind of sent me into a mini depression.  Ontop of that, the girls and I each were sick.  I wish that once, just once, all the kids would get sick at the same time.  Whatever it was that the girls had went from one kid to the next.  I didn't get a break from it for a week!I'm happy to say that I am stress-free, mentally clear, nobody is sick, and the house is back to normal (or atleast what's considered normal in the house.)

There is one thing that isn't normal though.  The fact that my body has decided it no longer wants to eat fish.  For the past 2 weeks I have been living off of egg substitute, egg whites, and Greek yogurt.  Does this bother me?  Honestly, no.  I actually really like eggs.  Plus they are an AMAZING source of protein.  1 cup of egg substitute and egg whites hava 26.6 grams of protein and only 133.25 calories.  1 cup of plain Greek yogurt has {roughly} 140 calories and 23 grams of protein.  

Before I get any comments on the fact that there are so many other protein sources available that are vegetarian let me explain something.  The only reason I haven't varied my protein much is because I haven't gone shopping.  

Yesterday Mo and Ken went to a Daddy-Daughter Dance at Mo's school yesterday.  

Even though it was a gloomy, drizzly evening they had a blast.

I forgot something important!  Today is the 21st!  The 21st is Recipe Redux reveal day.  The theme for this month was DIY mixes.  As soon as I read the prompt I knew EXACTLY what I was going to do for you.  Flourless chocolate Cookies.  These are some of the best, fat free cookies I make.    Unfortunately I forgot to get a picture of the mix.  But this is what they look like when you bake them. 

Cocoa Cookie Mix
Makes about 24 cookies

Ingredients
2.25 cups powdered sugar
.75 - 1 cup cocoa powder

1. Mix together the powdered sugar and cocoa in whatever container you are giving to your hostess

Directions for finishing the cookies
Ingredients
3 egg whites

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease a cookie sheet
2. Add egg whites to mix
3. Drop 1 T batter onto cookie sheet.  Make sure they are nicely spread out or they will bake together
4.  Bake for about 8 minutes or until the tops start to crack.  
5. Cool on the pan

{You can also whip the egg whites and make them into a semi meringue type cookie.}
 
Nutritional Information
Calories: 55
Fat: 0.5 g
Carbs: 13.2 g
Sugar: 11.1 g
Protein: 1.3 g


Hope you {and whoever you give this mix to} enjoys!