Spoonful of Sugar Free

Registered Dietitian

sugar-free

Day 3: Exercise Challenge

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Welcome to day three of the Sugar Free Challenge!

Here is today’s sample menu:

Breakfast: Grain-Free Pumpkin Pancakes. Vegan Option: Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

Lunch: Salad with Dijon Dressing 

Dinner: Pesto Socca Pizza with Grilled Veggies

Dessert: Fluffy Banana Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Exercise Option: For those of you who chose to take part of the exercise challenge, your challenge today is to do 10 crunches, 5 squats, 5 pushups, 10 calf raises. 

Here are some helpful links for those who need assistance on how-to perform these exercises:

This option is for those who do not exercise regularly and would like to jump start their new year with an easy exercise routine. Each round of exercises take just a few minutes to complete. It would also be wise to add a bit of cardio to your day like walking, jogging, bike riding, or jump roping. When you get up in the morning, during lunch breaks, or before bed would be an excellent time to complete this routine.

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

Have you changed your exercise routine for the new year? What are your favorite exercises?

Roasted Chili Lime Nuts

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About a month ago I had a last-minute guest come for lunch. After throwing a few things together for lunch, I wanted to create something special to snack on. Since I was crunched for time, roasted nuts popped into my mind.

From the few roasted nuts recipes I made before, I knew they were quick and easy to make. However, I didn’t want to make any ordinary roasted nut, but something full of flavor that would stand out.

I thought of Averie and her love of a Chili Lime Nut she found in Mexico and Trader Joe’s. Since I have neither been to Mexico or bought Chili Lime Nuts at Trader Joe’s, I have no idea what those versions taste like. But…I think the way they disappear of the plate makes me believe they turned out pretty well.

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Roasted Chili Lime Nuts

Roasted Chili Lime Nuts

~These nuts are very simple to make and take less than five minutes to prep. Dairy-free, gluten-free, paleo, vegan, and sugar-free.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups raw mixed nuts (can use just one type of nut as well. I used a mix of walnuts, almonds, and peanuts)
  • 1/4 cup lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • dash hot sauce, optional to taste

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400*.
  2. Toss all ingredients together an spread on a baking sheet. Hot sauce is optional, but if you like extra spicy things you might want to add a few splashes.
  3. Bake for 15-20 minutes, stirring halfway through. You will know if they're done by the smell and the way the crackle. They should be golden-brown.
https://www.spoonfulofsugarfree.com/2011/12/30/roasted-chili-lime-nuts/

The tang of the lime and salt combined with the spicy chili powders make them highly addictive-you are warned!

These make the perfect gift. I gave these to my friends and neighbors for Christmas this year by packaging them in a glass jar (a recycled and cleaned jelly jar to be exact), decorating with a bow, and hand-drawing a label on top. This would also make a fabulous New Year’s gift! 

Health Benefits:

  • Lime: This citrus is full of vitamin C and can help aid in digestion. The acids in this fruit can help break down the food molecules in your stomach, making it easier for your digestive system. The vitamin C also helps you have healthier eyes.
  • Nuts: Rich in fiber, minerals, phytonutrients, and antioxidants. They are also high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats which can help lower cholesterol. They also might help reduce your risk of heart disease. The fats can also keep your skin healthy and your hair shiny!
  • Chili: This spicy food can help lower blood sugar levels, improve heart health, reduce inflammation, helps clear congestion, and aids in digestion.

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

What are your favorite flavored nuts? Do you roast your own or buy store bought?

Healthy, Homemade Gifts

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I’m glad everyone loved my Holiday Gift Ideas. Now, as promised, are my favorite homemade, food gifts for the holidays:

Chocolate Mint Crinkle Cookie Dough Bites

The favorite holiday cookie turned healthy! No-one can resist these because they taste just like Girl Scout Thin Mints!

Pumpkin Bars with Coconut Cream Frosting

A new favorite of mine that combines the flavor of pumpkin pie with a creamy non-dairy frosting. Perfect for pumpkin pie lovers.

Pecan Sticky Buns

A Pecan Roll made without grains, sugar, or dairy. A great gift to bring to brunches.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookie Dough Bites

Peanut Butter and Chocolate. No more needs to be said.

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

Just like Reese’s cups, but with no added sugar. Give this homemade version to a friend and I guarantee they will love it.

Grain-Free Pumpkin Spice Bread

It’s a bread with no grains and no flour. Can you believe it? Wow your guests with this.

Breakfast Bread

Forget the fruit cake and make this tasty bread instead. Full of whole grains, nuts, fruit, and spices.

Pumpkin Spice Latte Granola

This granola combines the favorite flavors of the season: pumpkin, cinnamon, and coffee. It also takes less than ten minutes to prepare.

Ways to Package Treats for Gifts:

  • Save your leftover glass jars to pile in granola or cookies (see the pumpkin spice latte granola above for the idea). Tie a ribbon around the jar and create a homemade label with paper and colored pens.
  • Buy “Chinese Takeout Cartons” (can be found at Michael’s Craft Store). They come in different colors and patterns and can be filled with tissue paper before adding the treats.
  • Paper Bags can be decorated with tinsel, ribbons, and paint.
  • Re-Use small decorated boxes. Fill with parchment paper to line the box.

Extra Package Decorations:

  • You may wish to print off the recipe for the homemade treat you are giving, and then attach the recipe to the gift along with a card.
  • Instead of making the treat, make the “Gift in a Jar.” Layer all the Dry ingredients of your recipe in a jar and attach directions on how to add the wet ingredients. Decorate the jar with ribbons.
  • Make a gift basket that combines homemade treats with fresh fruit (like pears and pomegranates), nuts, coffee, tea, cute mugs, fuzzy socks, or any other stocking-stuffer you can think of.

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

What are your favorite homemade treats to give? Feel free to provide recipes below!

Also, what are your favorite ways to package them?

 

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.

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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.

My Nutcracker Ate My Cookies!

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Once upon a time there was a little girl who was baking cookies for Santa. It was Christmas Eve, and the stockings were hung by the Fireplace. The tree was decorated and the smell of chocolate drifted through the air.

 

The little girl was making chocolate-mint crinkle cookies, and she had just finished making all the dough. She turned around to turn on the oven; but when she returned to her cookies dough, the bowl was empty! In it’s place was a wooden man, with her cookie dough in his mouth.

There’s the culprit:

 

She was furious with the wooden man for eating all her cookie dough! Now she had no more cookie dough to make cookies for Santa! There were only a few minutes left until Santa arrived, and there was no time to make another batch. She started to cry.

Then the clock struck Midnight and a clatter came from her living room. It was Santa coming down the chimney! He came over to the little girl to see what was the matter; after all, how could she be sad on Christmas Eve?

The girl told Santa Claus the whole story, and showed him the wooden man who ate her cookies.

 

Santa popped the cookie dough out of the wooden man’s mouth and placed it into his own mouth. He declared it was the best cookie dough he had ever tasted.

However, since the wooden man simply took the cookie dough without asking, Santa condemned him to only cracking nuts and never eating cookies again.

So that is how Chocolate Mint Crinkle Cookie Dough came to be, and how wooden men became Nutcrackers.

Don’t believe me? Ask Santa himself!

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Chocolate Mint Crinkle Cookie Dough Bites

Chocolate Mint Crinkle Cookie Dough Bites

~These cookie dough bites are unbaked. Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Soy-Free, Dairy-Free, Vegan, Paleo, and Sugar-Free.

Ingredients

  • 5 dates
  • 1 cup walnuts
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/8-1/4 tsp peppermint extract
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

  1. First, process the dates in a food processor or strong blender until smooth.
  2. Then add all other ingredients process. I like the walnuts to stay a bit chunky, but this is up to you. Shape the dough into balls or cookies and enjoy!
https://www.spoonfulofsugarfree.com/2011/12/10/my-nutcracker-ate-my-cookies/

Whatever you do, keep it away from wooden men.

 

Health Benefits:

  • Walnuts: This nut is a rich source of Omega 3’s. It can help lower cholesterol and protect the heart. Full of vitamin E, B, and fiber.
  • Mint: Besides simply freshening your breath, mint can help aid in digestion and remedy nausea. The strong aroma is also very helpful in clearing congestion and relieving sore throats.
  • Chocolate: Click HERE for a post I did about all the benefits of chocolate.
  • 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.

 

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

What is your favorite Christmas cookie?

When I was little, I loved making sugar cookies for Santa. Although they weren’t my favorite flavor, I liked making different shapes and decorating them.

This post was a part of my Operation Beautiful Food. Original recipe here: Christmas Cookies

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

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As you all know, peanut butter and chocolate (and banana!) is my favorite combination of all time.

Something about it makes my mouth water. Makes my dog drool, too, but I can’t share with him (no chocolate for dogs!).

 

I’d rather not share this treat with anyone, but ’tis the season of giving.

And Cookies. And Cookie Dough. And Pumpkin Pie. 

And Peanut Butter apparently (at least in my mind).

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

Yield: 2 dozen bites

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

~The bites are vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, and of course, sugar free!

Ingredients

  • 5 dates
  • 1/2 cup roasted, salted peanuts (or use unsalted peanuts and add your own salt)
  • 1 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
  • optional: 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder for extra chocolate flavor

Instructions

  1. Using a food processor (I have also had success with a magic bullet), chop the dates first into a date-paste.
  2. Then add nuts and chop.
  3. Finally, add chocolate chunks and stir.
  4. If the dough is too powdery, add a small dash of water. If it is too sweet, add more peanuts. If it is not sweet enough, add more dates. The recipe is extremely versatile.
  5. Note: It is best when the peanuts are chunky, so don’t over-chop the peanuts!
https://www.spoonfulofsugarfree.com/2011/12/07/peanut-butter-chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-bites/

Health Benefits:

  • Chocolate: Click HERE for a post I did about all the benefits of chocolate.
  • 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.

 

Thought-Provoking, Mind-Prodding Question of the Day:

Cookies or Cookie Dough? What do you choose?

This post was a part of my Operation Beautiful Food. Original recipe here: Faux Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Larabars