Food & fitness obsessed girl.
Almost the weekend!!! Big smile on my face for sure. It has seemed to be the longest week ever (one kid with strep and one with a reaction to an rx). With my youngest has been battling strep and a nagging cold —-I’ve been busy training, cooking and sanitizing pretty much everything in sight.
One of my goals for 2016 is to share my favorites with you all each Friday no matter how in-depth or not. So this week’s favorites include…
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— Knead to Cook
I’ve been neglectful the past two weeks regarding my Friday Favorites. I wanted to share my last minute, best Christmas gift ideas, that you can still get in the nick of time. Grab your mug of tea or coffee and enjoy!
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— Knead to Cook
Peppermint Cacao Energy Bites. Vegan. GF.
Despite having a huge tree in my living room, I’m still not believing that December is upon us. I’ve been doing some Christmas shopping and I thought I better get a jump on some festive treats to have around the house. I’m not a big cookie or cake fan but bites… they are so easy and pack a nutritional punch on-the-go plus great for my girls before or after practice or after school. I just love these and they come together in no time.
These are great frozen – enhancing that pepperminty flavor. These also make a great holiday treat to make for friends or co-workers.
— Knead to Cook
I’ve been wanting to go back to sharing some of my current favorites – geez I did this over 2 years ago and let it fall by the waist side. So today, I’m back at it. My blog isn’t just about food or running… or at least I don’t want it to be. I want to share some of my favorite finds with you. Food. Clothing. Whatever! I’m lucky enough to test out about 25+ products a month from various companies and I want to share what my favorites are along the way. Most don’t make it, to be quite honest. I’m pretty picky about what I put in or on my body nowadays. In my pursuit to expand my vegan diet to my lifestyle – a lot has changed for me and continues to do so. So sit back and read along. I hope you find some products to try or test out yourself. Better yet, maybe even a gift to share this holiday season.
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— Knead to Cook
Easy Pickled Carrots and Jalapeños. Vegan. GF.
I don’t know about you but I’m a huge pickle fan! Actually anything (or almost) I could devour. These are great for an appetizer board with other veggies/dips for summer parties. Great with sandwiches or veggie burgers. You can use whatever vegetables you prefer in this recipe too. Cauliflower works great! Fix it and forget it. The longer they sit the better the flavors develop. I created this recipe with my running guru as my inspiration…. I hope you love these x444.
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— Knead to Cook
Sweet & Spicy Pumpkin Pie Roasted Almonds | Knead to Cook.
Happy Monday friends! I never did mind Mondays only because its a reboot – a new start and fresh chance at doing amazing things. Perspective. Today’s day started out with an early morning 6.26 mile run. It was the first run of the season with gloves but I will note that I suffer from Raynaud’s and seem a bit more sensitive to cold morning temperatures. The run felt great and energizing. From there lots of errands and a dog walk with Samantha.
I’ve been having a week (or more) of eating like a voracious monster. Literally if a camera was on me from noon till 4 all they would view is me eating – constantly. My husband is convinced its just my body healing and needing extra nutrition. I sure hope he’s right as I go back to the doc next week for more X-rays. Praying for good progress!!
I do have several Meatless Monday recipes to share but whipped these up and as I snack on them – this is what I chose to share with you all today. You can make these with or without cayenne pepper. Add more or less to your liking. These pack up and mail perfectly for the holidays or are great on your Thanksgiving table. Protein packed and a healthy snack for everyone. Gluten free and vegan.
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— Knead to Cook
I’m not a fan of baked oatmeal, I’m not sure why… just never a favorite. I am however a huge fan of oatmeal that’s been cooked, used in overnight oats, baked in in cookies or raw in smoothies- count me in! I wanted to make a muffin that was healthy and perfect for on-the-go breakfast for a busy week ahead. I wanted to appeal to everyone – kids included. One daughter loves dried fruit, the other despises it. Hubby is allergic to chocolate. Okay…. so I made two batches. One without chocolate and one with vegan chocolate chips (mini, so they weren’t loaded but still tempting). It worked! Every morning, I saw one or two of these walking out the door in someone’s hands and I was happy. Whole grains – gluten free makes for a happy mom!
It is National Whole Grain Sampling Day today… so this is the perfect recipe to share. This year I’m a Whole Grain Ambassador. I partnered with this council because whole grains have numerous benefits. Did you know?
Brown rice isn’t the only whole grain rice? It also comes in black (which you’ve seen me cook with), red and purple. What a great way to get your kids interested in eating rice.
3 servings a day of whole grains cuts blood pressure, reducing stroke by 5-20% according to a 2010 study by Scotland doctors.
Sprouting grains increases many of the grains key nutrients including B, C, folate and fiber.
Whole grains are not only fabulous for your health, they provide key nutrients you need to keep moving and stay healthy. They also taste incredible! I have hundreds of whole grain recipes on my site for recipe ideas. Here are just a few for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dinner and snacking.
They Whole Grain Council is also generously sharing (as they did with me) a box of whole grain goodies for one of my KTC friends. Please leave a comment below to be entered or on this post in my Instagram feed. US residents only. A winner will be announced tonight at 8 pm EST. The winner must email me their mailing address within 48 hours or a new winner will be chosen.
Good luck!
Lark Johnson from Texas was the winner. She entered via Instagram and has already submitted her information. This giveaway is now over.
Disclosure: I received a selection of whole grain products to sample but was not compensated for this post. All opinions are my own.
— Knead to Cook
If you follow my blog, you know I’m always pursuing new recipe creations that are healthy and good for my family. Fabulously tasty muffins – a win! Muffins that add to muffin tops – a loss!
I don’t use or gravitate towards ingredients that aren’t smart or healthy especially after losing 32 lbs myself in the last year. I love products that don’t have trans fats, hydrogenated oils or cholesterol. 100% Taste. 0% Artificial Preservatives.
We have a very active family and I love to fuel that in the best way possible. As I tell my kids, good in and good out. Good foods fuel you efforts!
I created this recipe knowing I wanted to use coconut and carrots. They are both packed with greats vitamins, fiber and minerals your body needs. If you have decided to eat healthier in the new year or are continuing your dedication to being smarter about the food you make and consume, this recipe is for you. These muffins are moist, delicious and packed with flavor – which will have your family coming back for more. Plus make a great snacking option or breakfast on the go, brunch idea or a basket of these for a special gift for someone special. I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter® Deliciously Simple is not only the perfect topper for these muffins but works beautifully in cooking or baking equally. You can use this product just as you would use regular butter eliminating a lot of the calories and fat. Packed with 100% flavor with ZERO artificial preservatives! A win-win in my book! I was very excited to test this recipe out using this product.
Within 30 minutes of making a dozen of these muffins half are gone. Snacks for school, breakfast en-route to work/school and a snack with coffee have already claimed 6. I better go and grab one for myself before they’re gone! Enjoy the recipe. It yields 12 regular sized muffins.
— Knead to Cook
Various companies from time to time reach out to bloggers to help develop new or unique recipes with their products. Crown Maple Syrup reached out to me to and various other bloggers to create a sweet and savory recipe for the holidays. Coincidentally, they are also running a contest with said recipes and the winner gets to travel to their location and enjoy some fun benefits of being the chosen recipe. My family loves maple syrup so I felt compelled to participate. I always love trying new syrups and use it quite a bit in my vegan cooking and baking as well.
After waiting today at the oral surgeon’s office for my daughter to have her procedure, I was pondering some beloved holiday treats that I could transform using Crown’s maple syrup. Bacon was a definite as my husband proclaimed! Okay I can do bacon… and then bark came to mind. Okay… we got home, got my sweet girl settled and I got to work on my creation/submission. They sent me maple sugar (had to try) and three maple syrups. My mind was racing with excitement. I hope you love this as much as my family has already.
— Knead to Cook
This year in light of my year of healthier eating, I wanted to make a holiday gift for friends (I normally do my eggnog bread with rum glaze) that wouldn’t add to their cookie stockpile that they already had (not that there’s anything wrong with that) and that would be a gift that they could use for several weeks or even months. I thought of homemade vanilla extract immediately! Now, if you haven’t had homemade vanilla extract it is far superior to the store-bought version. Even the fancy gourmet versions that you shell out an arm and a leg for. I also wanted to make a gluten-free version for my gluten intolerant friends – so I used potato vodka versus a grain-based. This is such an easy recipe that will be well-received by all of your bakers on your Christmas list. Also a wonderful gift for teachers, mail carriers and hostess gifts.
— Knead to Cook