Spoonful of Sugar Free

Registered Dietitian

Giveaway

New Favorite Jumping Jacks Workout {Giveaway}

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When my family was in town last week, I learned many things. Including a fun jumping-jack workout! It takes 10-15 minutes to complete and works the whole body. It’s a great way to jump start the day with a quick morning workout, or to do when you don’t have much time to spare.

When I was in Chicago over the weekend, my days were packed with activities, and I didn’t have much gym time. This workout was easy to do, and you don’t need any fancy equipment to do it.

Now you have no excuse to not workout! Muahahahaaa!

My aunt taught me this workout. You complete fifty jumping jacks and fifty exercises. For each round after that, the reps decrease by five. At the end, cool down with your favorite stretches. The first time I did this, I was sore the next day! Jumping jacks work a muscle that I really don’t use that often.

NOTES:

  • Crunches: Do not strain your neck. May be completed with legs in the air or on ground.
  • Squats: Do not squat with knees over toes. Squat in 90* angle. If you cannot do this the first time, try using a chair as a guide.
  • Bicycle Crunch: On the ground with legs in 90* angle in air with head up and arms behind head. Bring opposite elbow to opposite knee. 35 each leg.
  • Curtsy squats: bring one leg behind and squat like a curtsy. 30 each leg.
  • Pushups: Feel free to start from your knees.
  • Knee Pulls: Start with arms up and bring one leg up while pulling arms down. 20 each leg.
  • Mountain Climbers: start in plank and bring knees to chest. Should be completed quickly.
  • Burpees: Start in Plank and jump knees towards hands. Jump up. Go back to plank. (This is one rep).
  • Feel free to change the workouts up a bit! Do kick box-punches instead of jumping jacks, pull ups instead of burpees, etc.

Giveaway Time! 

Henley from SlimKicker would like to give one of these Digital Measuring Cup and Scale to one Spoonful of Sugar Free reader. This is for all your hard work, everyone!

How to Enter:

This Giveaway is now Closed. 

There are multiple ways to win. Please leave a separate comment below for each entry.

  1. Answer this question: How do you keep yourself motivated to stay fit?
  2. Subscribe to Spoonful of Sugar Free by entering your email address in the “Subscribe” box on the right. Or follow by RSS, google reader, etc. **Please note that if you were subscribed to me before, you may no longer be subscribed because I switched my site servers.
  3. Like me on facebook.
  4. Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway. Can be something like, “I want to win @Bobs_Red_Mill coconut flour @SugarFreeAlex  http://www.spoonfulofsugarfree.com/2012/02/26/chocolate-peanut-butter-cake-giveaway/ ”
  5. Follow SlimKicker on twitter.
  6. Follow me on Pinterest and Pin something of mine.
  7. Blog about this giveaway on your blog.

Giveaway ends Sunday, March 25th at Midnight.

Good luck!
P.S. If you are in need of some motivation, check out SlimKicker.com. They offer a calorie counter, and challenges that keep you motivated. It’s like a level-up game, where you start out as level 1, and gradually level up as you complete harder and harder challenges. (Courtesy of SlimKicker). 

 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Birthday Cake

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Happy Birthday to Me!

What better way to celebrate than with cake and presents?

Presents for you! Bob’s Red Mill sent me a few gluten-free flours mixes to try out (coconut flour,  hazelnut meal/flour, and teff flour), and to giveaway. Bob’s Red Mill is a great company, and I use many of their products for my baking.

Coconut flour has to be one of my favorite gluten-free, grain-free flours. Made from  the fiber of coconuts, it has a light sweetness without the carbs. This cake and my brownie recipe are my favorite ways to use it. Check out my coconut flour pinterest board for more ideas.

Print
Grain Free Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Cream Frosting

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 1-layer cake, 9 servings (double or triple recipe for a layered cake)

Serving Size: 1 slice

Calories per serving: 165

Grain Free Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Cream Frosting

~This cake is too good to be true. My whole family enjoyed it. Gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, grain-free, and, of course, sugar-free! Inspired by my Grain-Free Fudge Brownie Recipe.

Ingredients

    Cake Ingredients:
  • 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 eggs
  • 5 dates
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/4 cup milk-substitute (I used unsweetened almond milk) whisked with 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar to create vegan buttermilk.
    • Frosting Ingredients:
  • 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
  • 1/3 cup dairy-free milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)

Instructions

    Cake Instructions:
  1. Preheat oven to 375*.
  2. Blend the dates into a paste. Add wet ingredients and stir until well-combined.
  3. In a separate bowl combine all dry ingredients and stir until lumps are gone.
  4. Combine wet and dry until well combined. Mix very thoroughly to ensure there aren’t any date chunks. The dates are the natural sweetness in the recipe. Feel free to add more dates if needed to suite your sweet tooth. The 5 dates make a dark chocolate cake, more may be needed for more sweetness.
  5. Lightly grease a round 9" cake pan (I used coconut oil), and pour batter into dish. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
    6. Frosting Instructions:
  6. Blend peanut butter and milk until creamy and fluffy. You may add dates to the frosting as well if desired. Adjust liquid to suit your frosting thickness preference.
  7. Once cake is cooled, spread frosting on cake and top with Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups, like this cake. Or mix a small amount of coconut oil with cocoa powder, and drizzle on top of cake (as shown in pictures).
https://www.spoonfulofsugarfree.com/2012/03/03/chocolate-peanut-butter-cake-giveaway/

Health Benefits:
  • Chocolate: Click HERE for a post I wrote earlier about the health benefits of chocolate.
  • Coconut: Coconut is widely misunderstood because of it’s high fat content; however, coconut’s saturated fat is made up of medium-chain fatty acids. These medium-chains are easy to absorb and digest, and are converted quickly into energy. This means that the body has no opportunity to store the medium-chain as fat. Coconut is also a great source of dietary fiber with a whopping 5 grams per oz.!
  • Dates: A laxative food with a high-fiber content, so it can help those suffering from constipation. They are digested quite easily and are great for when you need quick energy. Also, regular consumption of dates has been found to help the growth of friendly bacteria in the intestines.
  • Peanuts: These legumes are full of protein with 7g per ounce. They also have a great monounsaturated fat content that helps your heart and brain. Peanut is a good source of Coenzyme Q10 which protects the heart during the period of lack of oxygen example high altitudes and clogged arteries. It also has a high antioxidant and high niacin content that helps in the recovery of cell damage and provides protection against Alzheimer’s disease and age-related cognitive problem.

 

Mini Frittatas and Lazy Sunday Breakfasts

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I love Sunday mornings. Lounging around in pj’s, sipping on coffee, and then off to church. Breakfasts should be special on Sundays, yet easy enough you can make it in your pajamas and unbrushed hair.

These mini frittatas meet my “Lazy Sunday Morning” standards. They’re fast, easy, and adaptable. Simply whip up the ingredients and stick them in the oven. While they’re baking you can arrange a fresh fruit bowl or simply sip on a cup of coffee or tea. Whatever qualifies your “laziness” rules that morning.

Print
Mini Frittatas

Yield: 4 servings

Serving Size: 3 mini frittatas

Mini Frittatas

~Dairy-free, Gluten-free, Soy-free, Nut-free, Grain-free, Paleo, and Sugar-free.

Ingredients

  • 8 Large eggs (may substitute some/all for egg whites if desired)
  • 2 cups chopped vegetables (ideas below)
  • 2 tablespoons fresh herbs, optional
  • pinch salt and pepper

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375*.
  2. Whisk eggs until fluffy in bowl with salt and pepper.
  3. Add in chopped vegetables and herbs and mix.
  4. Lightly grease a muffin tin (you will nee 12 muffin cups).
  5. Pour the egg mix into each muffin cup.
  6. Bake for ten minutes or until slightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean. The frittatas will puff up in the oven and then settle down after you take them out.
  7. Let cool for a few minutes before removing from tin and serving.
https://www.spoonfulofsugarfree.com/2011/12/12/lazy-sunday-breakfasts-giveaway/

Ingredient Ideas:

  • Mexican: tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, black olives, and cilantro. Top with salsa and guacamole.
  • Greek: Bell peppers, spinach, kalamata olives, leeks, and capers.
  • Meat Lover’s: bacon, ham, beef, an whatever else is in your fridge.

Some of my favorite Brunch Recipes include the following:

(Please excuse my “Lazy Sunday Morning” attire: extra-large t-shirt).

To help me make this Sunday Breakfast, Oxo sent me a Egg Beater to try out and use. You can read more about the product HERE.

Thanks so much, Oxo! I love it. Very easy to use, and it whips the eggs perfectly. I can’t wait to create a healthy meringue and whipped coconut cream with it.

They also sent me an extra egg beater to send to one of you!

This Giveaway is now Closed. Thanks to everyone who entered.

Antipasto Skewers

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Happy November Everyone!

Can you believe it? The months of 2011 are racing by. Pretty soon we’ll be lighting off fireworks for New Years!

These were one of the appetizers I served at my Apple a Day dinner party. They were a huge hit, and probably one of the best dishes of the evening.

Antipasto Skewer of Chicken Apple Sausage, Roasted Tomato, Artichoke Heart, and Olive

~These skewers are dairy-free, gluten-free, and sugar-free! 

Ingredients:

  • 12 oz. Chicken Apple Sausages (I used Applegate Farms because they use minimal ingredients, they were organic, and I already knew that I loved the taste)
  • 1 small carton cherry tomatoes
  • 1 14 oz. can artichoke hearts, drained
  • olives of choice (I used a mix of kalamata and manzanilla olives)
  • 1 teaspoon oil of choice, for pan
  • wooden skewers

First, slice the fully-cooked chicken sausages into 1 inch slices. Put 1 teaspoon oil on pan and heat to medium-high. Place each sausage piece on pan and brown each side, about 5 minutes. Next, add the cherry tomatoes to the pan and cook slightly until it has turned slightly brown in spots, about a minute.

Take your wooden skewers and skewer the olive, artichoke heart, tomato, and then the sausage. Look at the picture below for help. Arrange on baking dish and cover with foil. Heat sausages in 350* oven for about 5-10 minutes or until warm.

You can also prepare these the day before and simply heat them in the oven before serving.

It makes a beautiful appetizer, and it is quite simple to make. You could even have your kids, young cousins, etc help with the skewering.

THOUGHT-PROVOKING, MIND-PRODDING QUESTION OF THE DAY:

Did you have a happy halloween? What did you do?

I hope you didn’t eat too much candy! If you did, consider signing up for the sugar-free challenge to give your body a sugar-detox.

Exciting News: Crunchmaster donated their Sea Salt 7 Ancient Grains and Multi-Seed Crackers to the challenge. Each participant is entered to win this prize or the Artisana nutbutters. There will now be two prizes with two different winners! Sign up HERE. 

Prizes, Challenges, and Guest Posts

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I have a few things to share with you today, so what better way to share than with a list and pictures?

We are up to 47 participants for the Sugar-Free Challenge so far. Thanks to everyone for signing up! I hope many more of you sign up for the challenge. It will be a fun way to boost your health and challenge your typical eating patterns. Ask your friends and family to join. It is always easier to challenge yourself when you have a buddy pushing you along. Sign up HERE. 

 

Check out my guest post over at HotFunFitness. The post covers a bit about my history, why sugar is not good for your body, and the recipe for Chocolate Banana Cream Pie. Check it out HERE.

Artisana will be giving away an 8oz jar of coconut butter and a variety of nutbutter squeeze packs to one participant in the sugar-free challenge! I love Artisana’s coconut butter, especially on pumpkin pancakes. This gives you more of an incentive to sign up and take the challenge!

THOUGHT-PROVOKING, MIND-PRODDING QUESTION OF THE DAY:

Is there something holding you back from taking the challenge? Please share so that I can convince you to take it!

 

Flourless Brownies {Giveaway}

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You have spoken, and it looks like you want flourless brownies!

I have made a grain-free fudge brownie before here:

It is made with coconut flour and dates for the sweetener. I highly recommend them because they are fudgy, dense, and healthy.

However, what I am I supposed to do when my craving for brownies hits, but I don’t have any coconut flour?

Make Flourless Power Brownies!

Print
Flourless Power Brownies

Flourless Power Brownies

~These brownies are grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, and, of course, sugar-free!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup pumpkin puree (or any other squash puree. You don't taste it, but it adds extra vitamins, fiber, and body. I'm sure applesauce could be substituted as well if you wish to try that.)
  • 1/2 cup almond butter (or nutbutter of choice. Almond butter is mild, so I can't taste it in the brownie. You could even add peanut butter to make it a peanut butter brownie!)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • Optional: 3 droppers-full of alcohol-free liquid stevia***
  • Optional: 1/4 cup chopped nuts or unsweetened chocolate
  • Optional: A few tablespoons ground flax for extra nutrients

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375*.
  2. Mix together the pumpkin, almond butter, eggs, vanilla, flax (if using), and stevia (or other sweeteners listed below, if using) until well-combined. Add in cocoa powder and baking powder until smooth. You may add a few tablespoons of water to help with mixing, but batter should be thick. Fold in chocolate or nuts, if using.
  3. Lightly grease a 8×8 baking dish (I used coconut oil). Pour batter into dish. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Slice and serve.
https://www.spoonfulofsugarfree.com/2011/09/07/flourless-brownies-giveaway/

 

***I used stevia for this recipe because it was sent to me by NuNaturals, and I wanted to try it out. Personally, I prefer bitter chocolate like my bitter chocolate cake for one. However, you can try adding pureed dates like my Fudge Brownies, add a bit of mashed banana, or simply eat it bitter (like me!).

Tastes fabulous with homemade coconut butter. 

They’re called Power Brownies because of the great benefits of:

  • Pumpkin: One cup of pumpkin has 7 grams fiber, 2650 IU Vitamin A, 564 mg potassium! It also boasts a truckload of antioxidants like Alpha-carotene and Beta-carotene.
  • Chocolate: Click HERE for a post I wrote earlier about the health benefits of chocolate.
  • Almonds: Almonds are a major superfood, and they are full of monounsaturated, good-for-you fats. It contains many nutrients that benefit the brain, and regulate cholesterol. The monounsaturated fats and vitamin E reduce the risk of heart disease.

Thanks to NuNaturals for sending me their products! The alcohol-free stevia drops taste great. You only need a few drops because it is very powerful. They have a new “Chocolate” drop that tastes like chocolate!

Stevia has been picking up a lot of speed lately as a sugar substitute. When I first started my site, I wrote a bit about my thoughts HERE. I’m still not completely sure about it, but it is great to have especially when I have guests and they might not have sweet buds like mine (non-existent). For example, these brownies with stevia were a hit! Everyone loved them. I think I’ve made three batches so far this week!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Want to try some stevia for yourself? 

NuNaturals will award FOUR winners with the following:

One bottle of Vanilla Stevia Drops (My favorite) and a box of Stevia Packets.

Open to Continental U.S. Residents only, sorry!

This Giveaway is now Closed. Winners were announced HERE. 

How to Enter:

There are multiple ways to win. Please leave a separate comment below for each entry.

  1. MANDATORY: Tell me what are your thoughts or experiences are with stevia. Have you tried it? If so, do you have a favorite variety? Do you have favorite recipes with it? Are you a fan? Do you have an interesting article you read about it? Please share!
  2. Subscribe to Spoonful of Sugar Free by entering your email address in the “Subscribe” box on the right. Or follow by RSS, google reader, exc.
  3. Like me on facebook.
  4. Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway. Can be something like, “I want to win some stevia! @SugarFreeAlex is giving away @NuNaturals http://spoonfulofsugarfree.com/2011/09/07/you-have-spoken/ ”
  5. Blog about this giveaway on your blog.

Remember, there will be FOUR winners! Good luck!

Giveaway ends September 14th at Midnight.

–

Also, NuNaturals has a Free Samples program. They will send you free samples of NuStevia Packets if you send them a self-addressed, stamped envelope to:

NuNaturals, INC
2220 West 2nd Ave. # 1
Eugene, OR  97402

Now through September 30th, you can get 15% all orders at NuNaturals if you enter this code:  BLG930. You can also get free shipping on orders over $35.