CLEAN Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Hey guys, look what I found.

Happy Saturday. :)

Ready in 45 minutes, plus overnight refrigeration • Makes 24 mini cupcakes

Ingredients

Red Velvet Cupcakes

• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/4 cup Sucanat, finely ground
• 3 tbsp raw cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp coarse sea salt
• 1 cup beets, steamed and cooled
• 1/2 tsp vanilla-flavored liquid stevia (try: SweetLeaf Liquid Stevia Sweet Drops in Vanilla Crème)
• 2 tbsp raw honey
• 1/3 cup coconut butter
• 1 whole egg
• 2 egg whites
• 10 drops natural red food coloring liquid
• 1 cup Greek yogurt + 1 tbsp lemon juice (combine and set aside to curdle)
• 1 tsp natural vanilla extract
• 1 tsp natural chocolate extract
• Nonstick cooking spray

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 tbsp light coconut cream
• 2/3 cup fat-free cream cheese
• 1 tsp natural vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp vanilla-flavored liquid stevia
• 1 tbsp raw honey
• Seeds of 1 vanilla bean (optional)

Instructions

1. To make coconut cream, refrigerate coconut milk overnight, then scoop cream off the top when separated.
2. Preheat oven to 350 FF. Spray a mini muffin tray with nonstick cooking spray.
3. To make cupcakes, combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.
4. Puree beets and all wet ingredients in a food processor.
5. Combine wet and dry mixtures. Stir gently to combine.
6. Spoon batter into mini muffin cups and bake 18 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
7. While cupcakes cool, combine frosting ingredients and spoon into a piping bag. Refrigerate until cupcakes are ready to frost.
8. Once cool, frost cupcakes and serve the same day they are baked.

Nutrients per serving (1 cupcake): Calories: 70, Total Fats: 3 g, Saturated Fat: 2.5 g, Trans Fat: 0 g, Cholesterol: 10 mg, Sodium: 75 mg, Dietary Fiber: 2 g, Total Carbohydrates: 12 g, Sugars: 5 g, Protein: 4 g, Iron: 0 mg

Source 

Poor Nutrition Means No Weight Loss

Morning everyone! I've been working furiously on new headband styles and lacey undies for weeks. Working from home means always listening to Pandora, 8tracks, Netflix or whatever talk show is on local TV. Have you watched local daytime television lately?

Every show, every show has a weight loss/fitness segment. Every day there's a new workout style or diet recipe. Yesterday they mentioned Dr. Michael Mosley who claims that all you need is 60 seconds a day, three times a week to become "Skinnier and healthier." And everyone is concerned with calories, superfoods, gluten free stuff, and the latest craze, sugar. 

I coach my clients on nutrition before calories. Good nutrition, or what it means to be healthy, means that you're fueling your cells with the proper mix of nutrients so that your bodily processes--like  hormone and blood sugar regulation, metabolism and digestion-- all run smoothly.

These factors can greatly impact your ability to lose weight. For example, a slow metabolism means your body goes into fat-storage mode, burning up muscle for fuel and holding onto that precious tummy pooch. A messed up digestive system is even worse, and can cause a slow metabolism, chronic bloating...read more about that here. Hormones are another big player in the weight loss game. Leptin (a hormone) decreases when you restrict your calories, and tells your thyroid to tell your metabolism to slow down. Read more about leptin here. 

Without proper nutrition, these processes don't run as smoothy as they're meant to. While restricting your calories will cause some temporary weight loss, the weight you lose is water, then muscle, then fat, and if you do achieve any fat loss from calorie restriction your metabolism has become so slow that if you were to start eating normally again, you'd gain it all back instantly. Sound familiar?

If you're lacking in the nutrition department, you most likely have a slow metabolism and a handful of other symptoms; bloating, fatigue, cravings, weak immune system. 

On the flip side, if you're healthy, meaning all of these processes are working smoothly because your cells are getting the proper nutrition, your metabolism could win a race and you shed excess body fat.

If I had a segment on the early show, I'd tell the world this: Stop counting calories and nourish your body. Food is FUEL, but that doesn't mean you can't love what you're eating! I am such a foodie in the nerdiest sense of the word because I love, love eating and cooking (and eating) and all that meant when I changed my eating habits was I had to try harder to find things that I loved to eat.

You NEED to be focusing on realistic portions of the healthiest, most natural foods you can find or afford. Making nutrition a priority means long-term weight loss, improved immune function, and less stress for you because you won't hate your tired, fat body anymore, because you won't be tired and fat anymore.

lol

Grilled chicken, Black beans, leafy green vegetables, complex carbs like whole grains and sweet potatoes and oats, WATER. None of these are expensive. Ditch the stuff that comes in a box with a list of ingredients and stop counting calories, please, because nutrition optimizes fat loss.

And happiness.

Guess what this is? GOOD NUTRITION!

Click here for the recipe.

Teff Flour

It’s the world’s tiniest grain (so small that it can’t be processed or refined) and it is becoming more popular because it’s so versatile. Teff leads the grains in calcium content, which helps strengthen bones and may reduce PMS symptoms. One grain of teff is up to 40% resistant starch, which can help you lose weight if you replace the other carbs you’re filling up on, what I call “carbage” (processed foods like white bread, potato starch, sweets and the like). Teff can be white or dark in color and can be found at your local health food store or online for about $8 per pound. One serving size is about 1/4 cup and 160 calories. Sweeter and milder than wheat, teff has a molasses-like flavor. Teff can be cooked hot for a nice breakfast cereal – 1 cup of teff with 2 cups of water or juice, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until it’s thick and the liquid is absorbed. Add fresh fruit on top. Teff is also available in tortillas for a great wrap or to make quesadillas (a lot better than refined flour tortillas and gluten-free too!). 

source.

Avocado Salad Dressing (aka heaven).

You guys.

As if I don't eat enough avocados already, I found this amazing avocado salad dressing recipe. Add a little bacon to your salad because bacon loves avocado and you'll be in love!

Recipe Here

Planet Fitness told this girl to "Cover up her toned body".

Planet Fitness, the "judgement free zone" told this woman to "cover up her toned body" because it was intimidating others and they had received several complaints.

What do you guys think? Did Planet Fitness have the right to tell her to "cover up"?

Ban Total Refresh Body Cloths

Just saw these on TV -- haven't tried them, but totally invented this already. I carry around baby wipes to wipe my sweaty body after teaching / working out - but these are cooling, and scented. Try them out!

(Walmart carries them, or buy them online.)

Forbidden Rice: Healthier than Blueberries!

Last Saturday I went to Whole Foods and Trader Joes in Cleveland. One of the amazing things I came home with was "forbidden rice".

Whole Foods' bulk section has I swear like, thirty different kinds of rice.

If you haven't been to Whole Foods, do yourself a favor. Seriously. Rice, grains, pasta, flours, beans, soup mixes, nuts, seeds, dried fruits, COCONUT COVERED DATES (my favorite), organic honey... seriously, go. (If you need more convincing, check out Whole Foods website here.)

We looked up the nutrition facts of forbidden rice when we got home, and it turns out it's exponentially healthier than brown rice. And blueberries, they say.

Here's an article from CNN in 2010 on the health benefits of forbidden rice (also called Black Rice). Black rice bran contains antioxidants called anthocyanins, responsible for the black/purple color. These anthocyanins are also found in blueberries, but black rice doesn't contain sugar.

Ancient Chinese Legend says black rice is so rare, delicious, and healthy that only the emperors were allowed to eat it.

I'm so glad I found this. I don't remember how much I paid for it at Whole Foods, but you can buy it on Amazon here.

What are you going to put black rice in??

We have been eating tons of chipotle-style burrito bowls. Post coming soon!