Link Love Wednesday: Good for a Few Laughs!

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1. I am looking forward to trying out this “cheesy” coconut sauteed chickpeas and kale recipe from Fannetastic Food!
2. Did you know that it is YouTube Comedy Week? Will and I were exploring some videos last night and came across this hilarious series of “true facts” about obscure animals. I couldn’t stop clicking on more and laughing! I loved this one…

3. This chopped apple quinoa salad from Pinch of Yum looks perfect for packing in my lunch for work.
4. Now that warmer weather is here, I am craving more overnight oats! These vanilla blackberry overnight oat parfaits by Fit Foodie Finds are so adorable.
5. I am kind of obsessed with sweet potatoes. When I came across this savory sweet potato casserole, I immediately pinned it for future reference! Looks yummy.
6. Speaking of sweet potatoes, how about these sweet potato & black bean burgers from Cookie and Kate!
7. Angela from Oh She Glows has done it again! I can’t wait to try this chocolate version of her coconut whipped cream. :-)
8. Loved this collection of “the most embarrassing things ever blurted out by kids”. Hilarious!
9. Olive to Run posted this great guide to running apparel and motivation – love it!
10. I can’t get enough of this Macklemore and Ryan Lewis song, “Can’t Hold Us”!

High Protein English Muffins

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Time for another Recipe Redux! The theme for the month of May was healthy brunch dishes. After thinking over it a bit, I decided to try my hand at making homemade English muffins. After our recent success making a high protein pizza crust using almond flour and wheat gluten, I just had to try using that same combo for these! For any of you who may be unfamiliar with wheat gluten, it is just another name for the protein found in wheat (which unfortunately is becoming an increasingly common allergen). In this case, I used it in a dehydrated powder form. However, wheat gluten is also used to make the vegetarian protein product seitan. Gluten is important for baked goods because it gives the food structure. When baking with non-wheat flour like almond flour, you sometimes need the added gluten to make things rise as they bake!
One of the great things about the gluten is that it really helps pack in the protein! Each muffin has 14 grams of protein compared to the 5 that are in a traditional English muffin. If you are like me, the more protein I can get in my breakfast, the longer I can last before my stomach starts growling for lunch! High-Protein English Muffins
(Makes 10 muffins)
Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups almond flour
- 1 cup wheat gluten
- 1 packet fast acting yeast
- 1 1/3 cup warm milk
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons oil
Directions:
1. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add oil and milk and stir well until it starts to form a sticky ball of dough.
2. Let dough rest in a warm place for about an hour. It won’t rise much so don’t worry if you can’t tell if it’s gotten any bigger!
3. Divide dough into 10-12 patties, each about 3 inches round. Place patties on a cookie sheet and let sit in a warm oven. After about 30 minutes, they should start to puff up a little.
4. Put a skillet or iron griddle over medium heat. Lightly grease and cook patties for about 15 minutes, flipping occasionally. When done, they should be lightly browned on both sides.
Serve with your favorite toppings!

Bad Case of the Mondays

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How was your weekend? We had fabulous weather here in Chicago, so we definitely tried to make the most of it! Thursday night, I met one of my coworkers for dinner at this cute little new-to-me restaurant near our neighborhood called Antique Taco. Oh. my. goodness! It was so delicious! In fact, I convinced Will to go with me again the next night. I loved their rosemary margaritas, mushroom tacos, and fish tacos!
Saturday night we headed downtown to visit a couple of places participating in Chicago Craft Beer Week. My favorite was Rock Bottom Brewery where we had the chance to sit on the rooftop patio. What a great view of some of the surrounding skyscrapers!  They were offering a tasting flight of their brews as part of the event. I think our favorite was one called Runner’s High. :-) 
After such a lovely weekend, it is always tough to head back to work. Since I’ve been to Antique Taco twice in the last week,  I thought I would share this funny taco/nacho joke Will showed me recently. We could all use a laugh on Mondays, right? Anytime I think about those foods, I remember this joke and chuckle! Let’s “taco bout it”. :-)

High Protein Pizza Crust (ie. Pro-Dough!)

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As a vegetarian, I am always looking for interesting ways to incorporate more non-animal sources of protein in my diet. Will, on the other hand, is always looking for ways to creatively make favorite foods low in carbohydrates. Both of these diet restrictions may seem to be on different ends of the spectrum, so it makes it fun to come up with dinners. We felt like doing a bit of experimenting last night and came up with this recipe for a high protein pizza crust. In place of the flour, we used a combination of almond flour and wheat gluten. So, instead of having about 16 grams of protein for 2 servings of crust, this one has 38 grams! You can find both of these ingredients from Bob’s Red Mill which is carried by Whole Foods. I was really surprised that the texture of this crust is actually really close to regular flour dough. I also thought it was tastier than the cauliflower crust we have made in the past.

 

Pro-Dough Pizza
(Serves 2)
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup wheat gluten
- 1 tsp salt
- Dash of oregano and garlic powder
- 1/4 cup water

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine flour, gluten, salt, garlic, and oregano in a small bowl. Add water and stir well. Knead dough into a ball.



2. Spread dough 1/4 inch thick on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges of the crust begin to brown lightly.
3. Top crust with sauce, cheese, and toppings of choice. Broil for 5-7 minutes or until cheese is melted and lightly browned.

10 Things Tuesday: I Wish Jennifer Lawrence was My BFF

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Here’s a recap of some of my favorite posts from the wonderful world of the internet this week!
1. I have seen so many people baking with avocados lately. These Peanut Butter Avocado Cookies from Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean look so yummy!
2. I am drooling over these Homemade Pop Tarts from A Beautiful Mess!
3. I’ve been feeling a bit under-the-weather this week with a cold, so this Carrot Soup with a Kick from {Never Home}maker looked even more appealing!
4. I often wonder how I can make my breakfast oatmeal more interesting. Angela from Oh She Glows knows just how to spice it up with this Tropical Pineapple Boozy Oatmeal.
5. If I were ever famous, I totally wish I could be as cool as Jennifer Lawrence. I feel like we could be friends. Have you seen this hilarious photobomb?!
6. This 45 Minute Circuit workout from Fit Souffle looks like a doozy. I can’t wait to try it out!
7. Anne basically combined all of my favorite foods in this awesome recipe for Sweet Potato Black Bean Quinoa Salad! I can’t wait to try it out this week.
8. This Southwestern Quinoa and Black Bean Casserole by Pinch of Yum looks like a perfect dish to cook up on the weekend for quick heat-n-eat meals all week!
9. Peanut Butter and Pickle Sandwiches… this is why I love Joy the Baker. :-)
10. This Sweet Mint Tea from Heather’s Dish sounds like a perfect way to cool off in the summer.

Gluten-Free, Low-Carb Pancakes

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Seriously, I think the weekends were made for breakfasts involving pancakes. There’s nothing better than sleeping in, brewing some coffee, and whipping up a batch of warm, fluffy pancakes. However, since I don’t do it often, it always feels special when I do get to make them. Since they are pretty loaded with carbs, which is something Will limits, I haven’t been making pancakes… but I missed them! Yesterday, we thought we would experiment a bit and see if we could come up with a tasty low-carb option and developed these! The recipe is based on one from Mark Bittman’s cookbook How to Cook Everything for Light and Fluffy Pancakes which involves separating the eggs and whipping the whites to make a super airy cake. Even though almond meal has the tendency to be too heavy for baked goods/cakes, these turned out great!

Gluten Free, Low Carb Pancakes
(Serves 2)
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup almond meal
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 eggs, separated
- 1/2 cup milk
- Butter, oil, cooking spray for cooking

Directions:
1. Place egg whites into mixing bowl and whip with electric mixer until whites are mostly firm.
2. Combine almond meal and baking powder in a bowl.
3. Whisk together vanilla, egg yolks, and milk in a small bowl until blended well.
4. In a large bowl, combine egg yolk and almond meal mixtures. Gently fold in the egg whites.
5. Heat a skillet over medium heat and grease well with oil or butter. Pour about 1/4 cup batter in pan and cook until underside is lightly browned. Flip pancake and cook until second side is lightly browned.

I enjoyed mine with some strawberries, banana, syrup, and a dollop of whipped coconut cream. (Check out this recipe for whipped coconut cream from Oh She Glows!).

The Fitness Comparison Trap

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Maybe I bring it on myself by following too many fitness blogs, but I find it really hard not to compare myself to some of the uber-fit bloggers out there. Fridays always make me think of this because many bloggers post recaps of their workouts of the week. How in the world do they have the energy to run 10 miles and then do a 90 minute hot yoga class?! Or an hour long spin class followed by cross fit?! I did the whole workout recap myself for a few weeks, but then I started to feel weird about it. If I feel inadequate reading about other people’s workouts, could someone reading my blog possibly think the same thing after seeing mine? I would hope not!

I’ve often wished I could be the person who has the stamina to do multiple workouts a day or even 7 days a week, but I can’t… I would rather have energy for my other activities and avoid injury rather than stress my body with too much exercise. It has taken me a while to get to this point, and I still struggle with comparison.  For example, some people can get away with running 6-7 days a week, while I feel my best when I do only 3-4 a week. I keep thinking about this post on Miz Fit’s blog about exercising intuitively as I seek to learn to be more honest with myself about exercise.

We know–when we’re honest with ourselves–if we wanna skip a workout because we’re feeling lazy or our bodies need the rest.  -MizFit

We've all had those days where we have been planning to workout and you find it is the LAST thing you want to do. Yes, it isn't good to skip your workouts all the time, but it's also ok to take a random day off.You really don’t have to exercise every day to be fit! In fact, this week I have taken a break because I’ve had a bit of a nasty cold. I ran four miles on Sunday and then have not done anything but try to rest up in the evenings. Did I feel guilty that I haven't worked out at all? A little. However, even though it was sort of a forced break, it has given me a chance to look forward to exercising again because exercise is supposed to be enjoyable! You should never have to workout. You should want to or be excited to workout! Fitness shouldn't be a chore but something you enjoy doing!    

What do you think? Do you exercise according to plan or based on how you are feeling? Do you ever find yourself comparing your workouts to others?