Apple and Date Energy Bites

Long time, no recipe posts. With all the prep and finalizing I’ve been doing on my upcoming e-book, Mind + Body and Breakfast, I haven’t spent as much time as usual in my kitchen. This past Friday night I made a conscious effort to stay in. I needed to get a solid eight hours of sleep before my 6 a.m. Saturday wake up call. I had numerous things I could and should have been doing, but I fell back on one of my favourite distraction tactics – procrastibaking.

I had nothing in mind that I wanted to make; I just wanted to do anything besides the work that was piling up.

I pulled out my food processor and decided to make something that I could bring to share with coworkers for a Saturday morning pick-me-up snack.

I assessed my pantry and determined that I would have just the ingredients I needed to make some energy bites. I tend to freestyle a recipe and then sometimes write it down after the fact. Creating my e-cookbook, one of my biggest challenges was to try and use exact measurements and write detailed directions. I love creating recipes on the fly and baking (also cooking) intuitively. But luckily this time I decided to use exact measurements and record them as I went, because this recipe turned out deliciously.

And after taste testing these cute energy bites, I felt disappointed that I didn’t come up with them earlier so that they would be included in Mind + Body and Breakfast. Oh well. I’ll share the recipe here with you guys.

Apple and Date Energy Bites

Ingredients:
1/2 cup dates, chopped
1/2 cup apple, grated
3/4 cup quick oats
1/4 cup hemp seed
1/4 cup natural peanut butter
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract

Optional – unsweetened, shredded coconut and cacao powder to cover energy bites

Variations – swap the grated apple for grated carrot, add pumpkin pie spice, and 1/4 cup walnuts for some delish carrot cake energy bites. Or add in 1/4 of nuts/seeds of your choice to add in an extra little bit of protein!

Directions:
1) Throw all ingredients into your food processor
2) Pulse until a dough-like mixture is formed
3) Roll a heaping Tbsp of dough into a ball. Repeat with remaining dough.
4) Optional – roll energy bites in unsweetened, shredded coconut or cacao powder.
5) Refrigerate for 15-20 minutes before eating

Energy bites can be stored in the fridge for one week or frozen for up to three weeks.

 

Juicing 101: Tips for Juice Newbies.

This week’s post is a bit of a continuation from last week. A part two, perhaps.

At what point should you stop shelling out $6, $8, or upwards of $10 for fresh- or cold-pressed juice and start making your own? It depends.

I thought that I would be saving massive amounts of money if I bought a juicer and started making my own juice. Reality is that juicing is costly whether you’re buying it or making it. I’ve heard several complaints about the price of the juices at Green Carrot Juice Company. Come on, it’s a business! Good produce ain’t cheap. I mean, you can go for all the deals all the time, but you’re probably compromising your health at some point. I can’t trust a $3 six-inch sub, Subway. No thanks.

Sometimes, the adage is true– you get what you pay for. Juicing is expensive, but the benefits out weigh the cost (of good produce and a juicer).

So, if you’re considering buying a juicer, I have a few tips for getting started.

Why Juice at Home?

It’s fresh. And it can be slightly cheaper in the long run. During the summer months, farmer’s markets are a great option to find an abundance of fresh, affordable produce. In winter, juicing at home is on the pricier side. Someone should start a green house and supply me fresh fruit and veggies. Thanks!

I like having a juicer purely for the convenience. Before Green Carrot, the options were pretty slim in Winnipeg.

Lastly, I like having the creative control over what goes into my juice. Juice and smoothie bars don’t generally offer customizable bevys in the Starbucks sense. I like making weird combinations. Just don’t try juicing an avocado or a banana; that’s not a thing. It will also destroy your juicer. Not that I’ve tried, but the Internet told me so.

Tips on Buying a Juicer:

I’ve mentioned this a multiple times: I’m frugal. I perused the Internet a lot before deciding on my current juicer. I’ve owned two juicers in the past four-ish years. A relatively cheap ($90) Kenmore juicer that lasted almost three years and my current Breville Juice Fountain Plus. I spent around $170 with taxes on the ‘ole Breville and I’ve been extremely happy with it. It usually retails for closer to $200 before tax, but I obviously waited for a sale. Shout out to Bay Days!

I’ve also used the world’s shittiest juicer and a friend’s $350+ juicer. However, I don’t remember the brand of these. The important thing is, that as a newb, I would strongly suggest that you don’t spend a billion dollars on a juicer. The difference between a $75 juicer to a $150ish juicer is way better than going from a $150 juicer to a $300+ juicer. Shoot for something at a mid-range price.

According to my research, and partially my experience, super pricey juicers create less foam and (maybe) slightly more juice. I don’t really get the point of having less foam. I like a good fruit and veggie latte!

The last (and most important) tip: look for a juicer with more than one speed. Any single-speed juicer is probably one of the rare $75 breed that can’t juice anything harder than a lemon. Steer clear. Or just buy a cheap citrus juicer.

Quick N’ Dirty Juicing Tips:

1) (Too much) citrus peel tastes gross juiced. Remove it. No need to peel apples, though, just wash ’em.

2) Go gingerly with the ginger. A 1-2″ piece is plenty for a single serving. Also, if you’re going to juice raw garlic, go easy on that, too. A clove will suffice.

3) When juicing leafy greens, or herbs, put them with a soft fruit (or veggie) to maximize your juice extraction. Think kale + oranges, or basil + berries.

4) Don’t force produce into your juicer, especially anything of a hard variety. Beets can kale your vibe, let me tell ya!
Pro tip 4.5: for hard fruit and veggies (apples, beets, carrots, etc) make sure you have your juicer set on “high” or power level two… we’ve already been through this, no using a one-speed juicer!!

5) Clean your juicer, or at least the filter, immediately after use. This may seem annoying, but trust me, dried on fruit and veggie pulp is way more annoying.

 

A (New Year’s) Resolution: Fitness for Fun.

I generally don’t make New Year’s resolutions for one main reason: I don’t keep them. The only New Year’s resolution I’ve kept to date is pretty silly. But at the same time not completely ridiculous. My resolution was to not wear sweat pants, yoga pants (yes Lululemon’s!), or PJ pants in public. With the exception of wearing yoga or work-out pants from the gym to the car, I have kept this resolution for going on seven years. It was mostly a look good, feel good thing. I have no qualms with people wearing sweats or Lulu’s in public, I just wanted to do this personally to feel more confident and ready to take on the day.

As the semester is coming to a crashing halt, I’m looking forward to what’s ahead. I’m looking forward to having a little extra free time, some “me” time. I have not been spending nearly enough time taking care of myself. I keep telling myself, “oh life is just crazy right now,” but really it’s mostly poor time management on my part.

Yesterday I decided to do something I hadn’t done in a couple of weeks– go for a run. And oddly enough the time flew by as my feet hit the treadmill. It’s usually a struggle to get through the 15, 20, or 30 minutes I spend running.

I needed that 20 minute run, mostly to clear my head.

It made me think about my friend Rose’s blog post from a few weeks back. I was working out to feel good, to treat myself for putting in a long day of work. For once, I wasn’t running because I ate Tim Hortons too many times in one week or because I was punishing myself for whatever reason. The run was the reward.

Years ago I used to spend over two hours at the gym at least four times a week. I would force myself to work out regardless of how I felt. I would exercise to point of exhaustion. Earlier this week I felt so overwhelmed, so exhausted with everything going on work-wise, school-wise, and life-wise yet I had a pull from within telling me to take a little time out for myself.

The gym felt like a whole new experience. The environment hadn’t changed. My mind frame had changed. The gym was no longer a place where I had to stay until I burned X number of calories or ran for X minutes. Perhaps I enjoyed my run because it was short and hadn’t done any exercise beyond taking the stairs in a few weeks.

I’ve been telling people for months, if not a year, that I want to try boxing. After all, Pan Am boxing is only a few blocks away from my school. I’ve yet to set foot in the building.

So, this takes me to my (New Year’s) resolution:

Try a boxing class.

Now that it’s in writing, someone (everyone who reads this) can hold me accountable for following through with my resolution. And this is one that I can actually keep.

Exercise should be a treat, you should do it because you want to do something positive for your mind and your body. It hasn’t always been this way for me. But thinking about it, playing soccer has probably been one of my favourite forms of “exercise”. I don’t have time right now to play in a league because of my hectic school schedule, but I look forward to getting back into the game when I have more time. And I’m also looking forward to trying a boxing class in 2015.

Cheers to positive resolutions, whether they’re for now or the new year.

Back to Bloggin’ and… Eating for Pleasure?

Back to bloggin’, and all things CreComm and IPP-related. No more frolicking in sunflower fields for this girl. Adieu summer, see ya next year!

Throughout the last three years working at a salon, one thing has become evident to me – hairstylists do much more than simply cut, colour, and style hair. They’re confidants, advice-givers, and very often (under-paid) therapists. And because many clients are comfortable divulging intimate details with their stylist, I’ve been privy to some pretty juicy gossip.

A few weeks ago, I was at the coffee bar when I heard one stylist and their client talking about something that piqued my interest – dieting. Diets, cleanses, and fitness routines are topics that are frequently discussed at the salon. Perhaps working in the beauty industry makes us more image-conscious than those in other industries. But what caught my attention about this conversation was one simple phrase “you should eat for pleasure only once a week.”

What!? Eat for pleasure ONLY once a week? The stylist and client both agreed that “you should eat purely for nutrition and have one cheat meal a week, or have one ‘cheat’ day.”

Why can’t eating healthy be pleasurable? I think it can! With that being said, I think there’s an assumption that healthy eating requires certain food/food groups to be off limits. I’ve made a conscious effort over the last couple of years to not demonize any food/food groups. However, I avoid certain dairy products because I’m lactose-intolerant. 😥

This conversation made me think about the idealized notion of what it means to be “healthy.” I don’t think healthy eating should revolve around any sort of restriction. Moderation and balance are two concepts I try to always keep in mind. Adhering too much to an idealized version of health can lead to orthorexia, the obsession with eating food that fits into a preconceived paradigm of health. I’ve definitely had my issues with restrictive eating, but until recently I didn’t know that it was a recognized eating disorder; I just thought I was a health-nut.

I’m currently working on creating a e-cookbook of healthy recipes–for those of you who didn’t already know–and I’m struggling about how to position and market it. I want to stray away from representing it as something that idealizes what a healthy breakfast should be. I don’t eat only foods that will be included in my e-cookbook. Sometimes, if a girl wants bacon and pancakes, a girl has gotta eat just that. It’s not a cheat/dirty meal; It’s just a meal.

On Saturday afternoon while I was microwaving a frozen burrito, a coworker asked me, “why are you eating that if you have a health and fitness Instagram account?”

My response: “Because, moderation. If I don’t eat what I want, I know I’ll just binge at some point.”

I don’t think it really got through to her. I guess, I should have just said, “Oh, this? This is my cheat meal…”

PS. follow me on my ~new~ health and fitness Insta account – @thelifeof_lucky