Tag Archives: coconut

Going Healthy

Healthy Low Calorie Coconut Protein Granola

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healthy low calorie protein granola, cereal, breakfast

Do you love granola but not the stuff in most packaged versions? If yes, you’re not alone. Finding a good granola without added vegetable oils, is non-gmo (preferably organic), free of refined sugar, and doesn’t have too many dried fruits (with added oil and sugar) is not easy. Nevermind the high price of a tiny bag of most “gourmet” versions!

Similar to my coconut salmon cakes, this recipe takes the healthful deliciousness of granola to your kitchen? This greatly reduces cost while increasing nutrition.

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High protein, gluten free, no refined sugar, and full of crunchy flavor, how can you NOT love it? This coconut granola will have you skipping the bags on the shelf and quickly making a second batch in your home.

Seriously,  make a second batch because the first one will go quick. I speak from experience….

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Healthy Low Calorie Coconut Protein Granola

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 325.
  • Mix the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl using a wire whisk.
  • In a separate mixing bowl, add the pumpkin puree with 2 T milk or water.
  • Melt the coconut oil and mix into pumpkin mixture.
  • Add the wet to the dry and stir until well combined; this takes a while, be patient
  • On a parchment lined cookie sheet spread the mixture out evenly and bake for 30 – 35 minutes. Every 10-15 minutes stir and break up the granola for even baking.
  • Remove from oven once you see granola turning a deep golden color.
  • Allow to cool and enjoy however you would. The clusters make excellent portable snacks and smaller pieces can be used for your milk/yogurt “dressing”.

If you don’t care about the gluten free part, feel free to substitute rolled oats in place of the puffed cereal. Or you can use certified gluten-free oats. The oats will actually make for a crunchier granola.

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I hope you try and love this healthy recipe, and maybe even share with others if can! Have a great Sunday!

Do you like granola or try to keep away?

What’s your favorite treat that you wish could be healthier? I might have a way to make it better if you share.

Food, Going Healthy, NuttZo

Sugar Free Green Coconut Carrot Bread Recipe

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The other day I posted a picture of my Sugar Free Green Coconut Carrot Bread on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and promised a recipe was coming soon.

Since I like to deliver on my promises, I’m sharing it with you today. Consider yourself lucky, or maybe it should be forewarned…..hmmmm. Here’s the thing…..

I do about 90% of my cooking via the microwave. My main cooking method is steaming, mostly veggies, and microwave steaming is quick, efficient, and retains the most nutrients compared to roasting, sauteing, boiling, etc. I still cook with these other methods, just not often.

Now, many people avoid microwaves at all costs for fear that they’ll turn radioactive or some other harm will be done. This was a concern for me at one time, so I looked into it and was convinced it was a safe, if not safer cooking method. Think about the carcinogens resulting from grilling, roasting, or toasting, that’s not safe either.

Anyway, I wrote a post on my old healthy food blog, Just Add Cayenne, titled Is Microwave Cooking Safe that you can check out for my reasoning if you’d like. But that’s my preferred method, and that’s how I make most of my breads.

I’ll let you in on my little microwave bread cooking tool that I absolutely love; it’s a microwave omelet cooker! Yep, it’s the Nordic Ware Microwave Omelet Pan and you can get it off of Amazon for less than $7. The link is my affiliate link and I’d be ever so happy if you went through it to make your purchase. Check out my other favorites on the Amazon sidebar to the right.

I’ll save my microwave cooking details for a later post, but for now, how about that bread recipe? I adapted it to be cooked in the oven, so you’ll have to wait for my microwave version. It’s a lot faster, using less ingredients, and still delicious and healthy!

healthy, bread, cooking, recipe

Sugar-Free Green Coconut Carrot Bread Sweetened with PyureSweet Stevia

Get These Ingredients….

  • 1 egg + 4 egg whites
  • 1 cup steamed carrots
  • 1/2 cup steamed spinach, only drain a little of the excess water and leave the rest*
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 ½ cups oat flour; could probably use whole wheat, spelt, kamut, or high quality protein powder too
  • 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • 1/4 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut; I used the kind from Let’s Do Organic
  • 1/2 cup PyureSweet Stevia; if using pure or liquid stevia extract, use the equivalent of 1 cup of sugar which can be between 1 to 2 tsp depending on brand.
  • 1 Tbs Cinnamon; you can use less, but I’m obsessed
  • 1 ½ tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • Pinch of sea salt

Now Do This….

  1. Add wet (first 4) ingredients to the bowl of a food processor and puree until mostly smooth.
  2. Whisk all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. 
  3. Add your puree to the dry ingredients and mix with a large spoon or spatula making sure everything is incorporated.
  4. Pour into a loaf pan and bake 50 – 60 minutes in a preheated oven at 350 degrees. 
  5. The bread is ready when a fork or knife comes out clean when inserted in the center.  Cover the top with foil for the last 20 minutes to avoid burning.

*The water from the spinach helps retain volume and moisture since baking with stevia requires less bulk than if using sugar, honey, maple syrup, etc.

Give this to your kids and call it “Green Monster Bread” or something fun like that and feel good knowing they’re getting healthy food for their constantly growing body. Avery knows what’s up….

baby, food, healthy, recipe, parenting

And of course, this bread’s deliciousness is only compounded when you put a think layer of NuttZo on top. Remember, save yourself 15% on the best organic nut & seed butter in existence and used code liley15 when purchasing from their product page. It’s good for you, good for me, and everyone loves it! Winning all around! If only I can get Avery to give me back the jar…

nuttzo, babies, parenting, nut butter, healthy

What are your thoughts on microwave cooking?

Have you made bread in the microwave before?

Since we never go out to eat and I take on cooking mostly all meals in our house, it’s a must and I swear by the microwave. Never mind that odd glowing I get around 3am……

Food, Friday Food Facts, Parenting

Why I Feel Like the Worst Dad + Foodie Fun Facts #7: Coconut

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Hello and welcome to the end of the work week! Well, for most people anyway. If it’s not the end for you, then welcome to Friday!

Does your kid have a favorite parent they gravitate to more than the other? Are you that favorite parent, or are you seemingly on similar polar fields as your child causing them to repel from you? I feel like the latter as of late and it’s driving me insane!

For the past few mornings, Going Mom will be holding Avery after feeding her and then tried to hand her to me so she can get ready for work. But, Avery grasps onto my wife’s robe and starts crying making her unwillingness to come into my arms obvious….very obvious.

On one hand, sure, I get it, who would want to leave the arms of such a beautiful lady? But on the other hand, what the hell?! I’m Daddy, a pretty nice guy and her only daytime playmate so far.

How can I top those sweet kisses?
How can I top those sweet kisses?

It even happens without Going Mom picking her up. I’ll be laying inside the playpen with Avery, and Kelley will just walk by and Avery will start crying (real tears and all) as if my presence means nothing. This makes me feel like I’m the worst dad in the world!

I keep telling myself this is just a phase, as we usually do with a baby, but this has been eating away at me since the first occurrence. Please, tell me this ends soon and won’t last for months. She’s fine when it’s just us, but I want her to be happy to come to either of us when we’re both around.

Of course, I also want her to eat all of the veggies we give her, go to sleep without a fuss, and let us know the instant she poops. But for now, I’d be happy with her not crying when being handed to me. Otherwise, I just might become crazier than a coconut!

Speaking of, I have some coconut facts to share with you for today’s Friday Foodie Fun Facts. How do you like my segue? Hmm, maybe it’s my corniness that repels her….

Coconut Fun Facts

  1. Technically the coconut fruit is a drupe not a nut. Typical drupes include peaches, plums, and cherries.
  2. Coconut oil was the world’s leading vegetable oil until soybean oil took over in the 1960′s.
  3. Coconut oil contains MCT’s (medium chain triglycerides) which are easy to digest and a great source of energy that also helps boost metabolism.
  4. Falling coconuts kill 150 people every year – 10 times the number of people killed by sharks.
  5. In Thailand and Malaysia, trained monkeys are used to harvest coconuts. In some of the countries, annual competitions are held to find the fastest harvester.
  6. Coconut water can be a substitute for blood plasma. It was known to be used during World War II in tropical areas for emergency transfusions.
  7. The coconut does not get dispersed like other drupe fruits which spread through consumption by wildlife. Since coconut is very buoyant and highly water resistant, the coconut palm disperses its seed using the ocean.

I’ve been enjoying coconut a lot lately and love it’s health benefits and flavor! I’ll use organic canned coconut milk for smoothies, mixed with beans in a puree, as well as just milk to drink. Shredded coconut is also great added to cereal or sprinkled on baked goods.

Do you like using coconut? Any recipes/tips you care to share?

Any advice on how to get your baby to like you again?