Chocolate Coconut Almond Milk Shake

Happy Earth Day!  What earth day festivities are you participating in this year?  I am planning on doing a little Crossfit in the morning, then Yoga, Lululemon trunk show followed by a Clothing Swap.  After all that, I am going to visit the farmer’s market and all the associated Earth day activities at the park.  I entered a raffle to win a rain barrel.  I hope I win!

My garden is growing things, whoop whoop!  I am seriously excited!  This is the first time I have not killed a plant within a week of planting it.  I have watered those babies every night when I get home from work, even though the bugs have started taking a liking to my delicious blood.  I swear I was out there for one minute and already had three bug bites.  I am prepared now when I go out there… I dress myself head to toe, so the only available spot to bite is my face…. This has not happened yet.  Oh yeah, I have to purchase tomato cages because the plants are actually reaching a height where they need them.

In other news, I will be teaching Pilates/Yoga again starting in May.  I am excited to get back to teaching and I know once I teach, it forces me to do Pilates and Yoga on my own a lot more.  I love both of them, but there is only enough time in the day for so many things.

I have seriously been craving ice cream lately, and when I say seriously, I mean every day for the past week.  Maybe because the weather has been in the 80’s all week and I have been wearing shorts every night.  One treat that I have found is a good substitute for ice cream cravings is my chocolate coconut almond milk shake.  It is cold, creamy, and delicious and hits the spot every time.  Oh and feel free to omit the coconut, it is still delicious without it.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Coconut Almond Milk Shake

Ingredients

1.5 cups Unsweetened Almond Milk

1 TBSP Raw cocoa powder

2 TBSP Unsweetened Shredded Coconut (optional)

1 frozen banana

Instructions

Place all ingredients in blender.

Blend (my blender has a “Frozen Drinks” setting and I just press that.  Otherwise, I would say blend for about 15-20 seconds or until everything has been pulverized.)

Enjoy!

~ Savannah FitNut aka Morgan McNeal

Chicken Nuggets

Spring is here!!  Wahoo!  I was very busy this weekend enjoying the spring weather.  I planted my very first garden.  Cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, cilantro, basil, and some other herbs, I cannot remember them all.  I hope I can actually grow a few vegetables.  I would hate to have nothing to show for at the end of the season, haha.  I also decided to buy a compost bin, well make my own for outside and purchased a small one for the countertop.  I am excited to see how it works out.

I am currently reading “Kick your Fat in the Nuts.”  The title was pretty amusing, so I decided to give it a read.  It is interesting thus far and I will be sure to summarize when I am done reading.  So far, there has been a bit of good advice, but there is also a lot of talk of testing your pH and finding any imbalances you may have.  I will have to read more and then decide if I want to check my pH and other body indicators, that just sounds weird.

Recipe for this week is healthy chicken nuggets.  The coating is made with almonds and coconut.  I dipped them in mustard, but the link also includes a healthy BBQ sauce.  Enjoy! 

 

Paleo Chicken Nuggets from MultiplyDelicious (slightly altered from the website recipe)

http://www.multiplydelicious.com/thefood/2011/09/coconut-chicken-nuggets-with-paleo-bbq-sauce/

Ingredients

1 lb ground chicken

1 egg yolk

½ cup almonds or ½ cup almond flour

½  tsp garlic powder

½ tsp onion powder

Salt, pepper to taste

Coconut oil

In separate bowl for dipping mixture:

½  cup almonds or ½ cup almond flour

½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Salt, pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Combine ground chicken, ½ cup almond flour, onion powder, garlic powder, egg yolk and salt & pepper. 
2. In a sauté pan, melt coconut oil on medium heat. 
3. Take about 2 tablespoons worth of the chicken mixture and roll into a ball and then coat with the coconut and almond mixture.  Repeat with the remaining chicken.  You should make about 15 to 18 chicken nugget/balls.
4. In small batches, place nuggets into heated coconut oil and cook on each side for about 3 to 4 minutes.  Transfer nuggets to a parchment lined bake pan and place in oven for 4 to 5 minutes to allow the chicken to cook through.  Repeat with the remaining chicken nuggets.

~ Savannah FitNut aka Morgan McNeal

Make your own coconut milk and flour

As you all know, I read “Wheat Belly” and I have been following the Paleo diet for a bit.  However, occasionally in cooking, I need a thickener for a soup or curry or just need some flour for my pumpkin pancakes.  There are a lot of alternatives to wheat flour.  Nut flours, coconut flours, etc.  Coconut flour is expensive.  Way more expensive than wheat flour.  For a 16 oz. bag of Bob’s Red Mill coconut flour, it costs $5.24 (or $0.33/oz.).  In contrast, a 48 oz. bag of Bob’s Red Mill organic whole wheat flour costs $3.14 ($0.06/oz.).   In addition, you can buy a whole gallon of milk for $4.00 (128 ounces) or a can of coconut milk for $2.99 (13.6 oz.), which equates to $0.03/oz. vs. $0.22/oz. So, what is a girl to do?  Make your own!

I bought a lot of shredded coconut at the store the either day.  It must have been on sale.  Googled how to make coconut milk and flour and decided to give it a go. It was super easy.  I used one cup of coconut and that produced the equivalent of about 2 cans of coconut milk and about 1 cup of coconut flour, all for about $1.00.  You can use the coconut milk for smoothies too and it is delicious.  I used it in a soup and it turned out great.

Homemade coconut flour and coconut milk

Ingredients

1 cup shredded coconut

4 cups water

Instructions

Put your shredded coconut and water in a blender and let it sit several hours.  I left mine overnight.

Blend your coconut and water.

Strain the mixture through a strainer or cheesecloth, whatever you have and collect the liquid into a cup or bowl.  That’s your coconut milk.  Refrigerate the milk if you are not going to use right now.

The leftover coconut will be used to make the flour.

Set the oven to 200°.  Make sure your leftover coconut has minimal water left it in.

Grease a baking sheet with coconut oil and spread the coconut over the sheet.  Bake until the coconut is completely dried out.

~ Savannah FitNut aka Morgan McNeal