Happy Saturday morning to ya.

My last post gave quite a few healthy snack ideas for Super Bowl Sunday and I’m back today with a couple more. One is for an eggplant dip called baba ghanoush and the other is for a veggie chili. Both recipes (and the photos that accompany them) are Eat Clean originals created by Tosca Reno. As you all know, I think Tosca is awesome and love the Eat Clean principles. Needless to say, I’m excited to share these two recipes along with a few of Tosca’s tips for Super Bowl parties.

I haven’t tried the chili or dip yet, but I wanted to post them before the Super Bowl (just in case you’ve waited until the last minute like to me decide what you’re going to make.) I’m planning to try my hand at both recipes this weekend so I’ll report back with how they turn out.

I’ve had baba ghanoush plenty of times but I’ve never made it at home so this one is going to be fun to test out!

Baba Ghanoush

By Tosca Reno

Baba ghanoush is an eggplant-based dish that originated in the Middle East. In North America, it’s used as a dip for pita and vegetables, but in Egypt it’s a side dish. Grilling the eggplant before peeling the skin gives it a delightful, smoky flavor.

Servings: 12 x ¼ cup,

 Prep time: 5 minutes,

 Cooking time:

 25-35 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 large eggplant (1½ to 2 lbs)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ¼ cup / 60 ml tahini
• 2 Tbsp / 30 ml fresh lemon juice
• ½ tsp / 2.5 ml ground cumin
• ¾ tsp / 3.75 ml sea salt
• 1 Tbsp / 15 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbsp / 15 ml chopped fresh parsley

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F / 200°C. Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. Using a fork, prick eggplant six to eight times. (This will keep the eggplant from exploding when it cooks.) Place eggplant on grill to char skin, turning two or three times, 10 to 15 minutes. When skin starts to easily peel away, it is charred well.
2. Using tongs, transfer eggplant to a baking sheet and finish cooking in the oven until very soft, 15 to 20 minutes. To test doneness, stick a bamboo skewer into center of widest part of eggplant and if it easily slides in without resistance, it is cooked through. Remove eggplant and let sit at room temperature until cool enough to handle. Peel away skin and discard.
3. Cut peeled eggplant into pieces to fit into a food processor or blender. Add garlic, tahini, lemon juice, cumin and salt, and blend until smooth. Scrape baba ghanoush into a shallow serving bowl and using a spoon, make a well in center. Drizzle olive oil over top and in center well. Sprinkle with fresh parsley. Serve with warm pita wedges or veggies, or use on a sprouted Ezekial tortilla to make a wrap.

Nutritional Value

Per serving: Calories: 105 | Calories from Fat: 72 | Protein: 3 g | Carbs: 8 g | Total Fat: 8 g | Saturated Fat: 1 g | Trans Fat: 0 g | Fiber: 4 g | Sodium: 200 mg | Cholesterol: 0 mg

And, it wouldn’t be the Super Bowl without a big ol’ pot of chili! Hopefully my looks this pretty.

Vegetarian Chili

By Tosca Reno

Servings: 6, Prep time: 25 minutes, Cooking time: 35 minutes

Beans are an ideal source of Clean-Eating protein and even those who aren’t vegetarian love this “meaty” meatless chili recipe. It is still a satisfying version of chili without losing out on hearty flavor. Use leftovers in a wrap for lunch the next day.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp / 30 ml cumin seeds, toasted*
• 2 Tbsp / 30 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 large carrot, peeled and grated
• 1 head roasted garlic
• 3 Tbsp / 45 ml chili powder
• ¼ tsp / 1.25 ml red pepper flakes
• Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
• 1 cup / 240 ml canned white kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup / 240 ml canned great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup / 240 ml canned red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup / 240 ml canned black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup / 240 ml canned corn kernels, rinsed and drained
• 2½ cups / 600 ml water or low-sodium vegetable stock (gluten free if necessary)
• 2 tsp / 10 ml crumbled, dried oregano
• 2 tsp / 10 ml crumbled, dried basil
• 4 squares dark (75% or more cocoa) organic chocolate
• 28 oz / 784 g canned tomatoes
• Juice of one fresh lime
• Juice of one fresh lemon

Preparation

1. In a Dutch oven, warm olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, pepper and grated carrot and sauté until onion becomes soft and translucent. Stir in chili powder, toasted cumin seeds, red pepper flakes, sea salt and black pepper. Cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add all remaining ingredients. Blend well. Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and serve immediately. This recipe can be served over brown rice for a hearty variation. Leftovers are perfect in a wrap.

*To toast cumin seeds: place seeds in a skillet and warm over medium heat until you begin to smell the spices. Shake the pan vigorously so the seeds don’t stick and burn. Remove from heat and set aside.

Nutritional Value

Calories: 329 | Calories from Fat: 72 | Protein: 15g | Carbs: 56g Dietary Fiber: 15g | Sugars: 9g | Fat: 8g | Sodium: 1190mg

Last but not least, here are a few of Tosca’s “rules” from her latest book, Just the Rules, that apply to Super Bowl Sunday. Use these tips and you’ll feel awesome after the Super Bowl instead of stuffed.

Color Up: Super Bowl junk is often a sea of fatty beige foods. Colorful foods are filled with more nutrients and flavor than bland, monotonous, processed foods. Opt for a rainbow of colors on your plate, which offers numerous health benefits.

Smaller Portions, Smaller Pants: A festive atmosphere can often create an eating frenzy, which leaves you feeling blah. It’s okay to enjoy an array of foods, just eat smaller portions. Remember one serving of lean protein is the size of your palm; one serving of complex carbohydrates from whole grain is the size of your cupped hand; and one serving of complex carbs from fruit and vegetables is two hands cupped together.

Fletcherize and Swallow: Do you ever fill your plate, only for the food to disappear moments later? Gobbling food is a common disorder in our fast-paced society. Remind yourself to sloooooooow down, eating is not a race. Eating slowly will not only allow you to enjoy your food, but will help you determine when you’re full and help aid in digestion.

Good Carbs, Bad Carbs: Carbs can be confusing, and are often given a bad rap! Stay away from ‘bad’ grocery store, processed carbs and stick to ‘good’ carbs like fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains.

I hope you enjoy these two recipes. Have a great day! We’re touring another wedding ceremony/reception venue this morning (The Mill at Fine Creek), going to the grocery store and then I have a photography workshop all afternoon – it’s going to be a busy one.

I seriously can’t believe it’s already February! I also can’t believe it was 70° here in Richmond yesterday. I’m not sure what’s going on with our weather, but I’m loving it! We have a lot of fun things to celebrate this month at Casa EBF including Isaac’s birthday (next week), my b-day/Valentine’s Day (in two weeks) and the Super Bowl this weekend!!

I’m sure you’ve seen a million posts with game day recipes for the Super Bowl but I’m going to go ahead and give you another one. Hopefully you don’t mind.

The Super Bowl is all about the dips so here are four nutritious dips to snack on during the game. Pair these with fresh chopped veggies or baked chips (my favorites are Guiltless-Gourmet tortilla chips and popchips!)

Healthy Guac There’s a secret ingredient in this guac recipe that no one will ever guess.

Beet Hummus

Smooth Hummus featuring a little trick I learned that makes the smoothest hummus.

Black Bean Dip

Sweet Potato Lentil Chili On of my favorite chili recipes from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan.

Black Bean & Sweet Potato Burgers (Vegan and Gluten-Free)

Sweet Potato Fries from Tosca Reno’s Eat Clean Stripped Plan. They’re cripsy and healthy – touchdown!

Greek Quinoa with Avocados <– One of my favorite quinoa recipes!

Even if you’re not watching the Super Bowl, these recipes would be great to make on Sunday.

Moving right along…

As most of you probably know I have been doing the Eat Clean Stripped Challenge and it just ended last weekend. Well, to be blunt, I didn’t do so hot. A friend and I were keeping each other accountable by using a Google Doc to track our food and exercise for the first two weeks and things were going awesome. Around the third week my friend decided she couldn’t continue the challenge for a number of reasons so I was on my own. I did fine for the first few days and but the lack of accountability lead to cheats almost everyday. It wasn’t that I was eating awfully, but I certainly wasn’t following the plan. Hence the reason I didn’t see any real results. I’m not upset about it because I know that if I stick my mind to something and really want it, I can do it, but I just didn’t have my heart in it this time around.

I’m okay with that especially since I did do really well in some areas. For instance, I stayed away from alcohol the entire 28 days (!!), worked out almost every day, limited my packaged food intake, and got completely addicted to having my apple cider vinegar drink each morning. The apple cider vinegar (ACV) drink recipe is something I’ve picked up from the Tone It Up nutrition plan, but Tosca recommends 2 Tablespoons of ACV a day as well. It’s great for balancing your PH levels, boosting your metabolism and cleansing the body.

Overall I’m glad I challenged myself by trying this plan and for now I’m still focused on eating clean (following the TIU plan), just not being as strict about it. This is what seems to work best for me.

Speaking of Tosca Reno, I will be back soon with her tips for a healthy Super Bowl Party and a recipe! Have a great day.

Oh and the Sparkly Soul headband winner has been announced! Click over and scroll to the bottom of the post to see if you’re the winner. If you’re not the winner, no worries because for the entire month of February Sparkly Soul is offering 15% off their headbands for EBF readers/followers/friends. Just enter in FITFLUENTIAL coupon code at checkout to receive a 15% discount on any Sparkly Soul order for the entire month of February at www.sparklysoul.com.

Ever since making Mama Pea’s Gingerbread “Cliff” Bars a few weeks ago, I have been hooked on making my own protein bars. Each Sunday for the past three weeks I’ve made a batch of some sort of protein bar and devoured them throughout the week. It’s been fun.

This week I was inspired by Jamie Eason’s LiveFit recipe for Pumpkin Protein Bars and decided to make pumpkin protein bars that are vegan. I used both recipes as a guide and came up for a finished product that makes me a happy camper so I thought I would share.

They look like brownies, taste like pumpkin spice and are much more nutritious!

I skipped the baby food that Jamie’s recipe calls for, added in some extra protein powder and used molasses as the sweetener. Molasses is great because it’s natural and has a ton of vitamins and minerals including a significant amount of iron.

Overall, I think they turned out to be really good – soft and moist like an undercooked brownie. They have a nice sweetness from the stevia and molasses making them the perfect mid-afternoon snack or after-dinner treat. Although, I’ve been eating them at any time of the day – including breakfast.

Vegan Pumpkin Spice Protein Bars

Adapted from Mama Pea’s Gingerbread “Cliff” Bars and Jamie Eason’s Pumpkin Protein Bars / Makes 24 squares

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup oat flour
• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1 cup vanilla protein powder (I use brown rice protein powder, but others would work)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 cup blackstrap molasses
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 10 drops of liquid stevia

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Spray a 9 X 13 glass Pyrex dish with non-stick spray.
3. Stir together the dry ingredients including flour, oats, protein powder, baking powder, baking soda and pumpkin pie spice.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients including the molasses, pumpkin, applesauce, almond milk, vanilla and stevia.
5. Gently stir the dry mixture into the wet ingredients and stir until well combined. The batter tends to be kind of thick by the end so stir hard. (If it’s too thick, you can add a splash more of the almond milk, but I didn’t need to.)
6. Spread batter evenly into the 9 X 13 dish and bake for about 20 minutes.

Let me know what you think if you try these bars! And , if you’re not in the mood for pumpkin this time of year, you can also try my Banana Carob Protein Bars or these Cherry Protein Pop’ems. <– Both recipes are tasty!

Oh and if you happen to have a smartphone and love to find new apps, check out my “Show Me Yours” feature over at appSmitten where I share my three favorite apps.

appSmitten is a website/service that helps people find cool and useful apps for their smart phone. I just got an iphone last summer and I always feel like the late bloomer in the app department because all my friends know about cool apps before I do. I recently subscribed to appSmitten (after they contacted me about sharing my favs) and now I just check my email and find out about cool apps that peek my interest – for free. If you’re an app geek like me, you’ll probably like appSmitten too.

Question of the day – What’s your favorite app at the moment?

Hi and happy Thursday morning to you. I’m excited because I have the delicious little recipe I mentioned a few days ago to share with you today.

I said was going to go out and get the ingredients to make the goo balls asap and that’s exactly what I did.

Now I have a container of these babies waiting in the fridge for me at any given moment of the day. Perfection!

A little background behind these balls – Chef Jesse (the demo specialist at my local Whole Foods) has been talking up his heady goo balls for a few weeks and it wasn’t until Monday of this week that I was finally able to experience them in all their glory. Yes, they are worthy of the word glory.

I’ve had different types of balls before (i.e. coconut protein balls) but none have been quite like these. Not only do they contain two of my favorite foods – chia seeds and oats, but they’re packed full of other nutrient dense ingredients as well including:

• Cocoa Powder – High in magnesium and antioxidants.
• Amazing Grass Trio of Barley, Wheat and Alfalfa Grass – Increases and sustains energy naturally, detoxifies and cleanses the body, high alkalinity helps balance acidic pH levels, strengthens immune system.
• Raw Honey – Honey is said to be more digestible than any other sweetener. Because raw honey hasn’t been heated, it contains vitamins and enzymes that are lost during the heating process of pasteurized honey. It is also easier on the body during digestion because of its chemical structure and it does not cause a huge insulin rush as normal sugar does. Eating local honey is also said to help with seasonal allergies. <– Find more details on local honey and allergies here.
• Bee Pollen – an energizing super food that’s considered a complete food, one that provides all of the 22 essential amino acids, minerals, vitamins, protein, carbohydrates, etc <–Learn more about bee pollen here.

We recently bought raw local honey and bee pollen at the Forest Hill Farmers Market so I had both of these items on hand. If you don’t already have them, they should be relatively easy to find at your local farmers market or organic market. The Amazing Grass and chia seeds can also be found at an organic market or online. With that said, don’t let not having one or two ingredients deter you from making the recipe – I’m a big advocate of experimenting with what you have on hand.

As you can see, the goo balls will boost your energy and your immune system. They’re perfect for a pre or post workout snack, a small breakfast on the run or a mid-afternoon pick me up. And, don’t worry, the reason I like them isn’t only for the health benefits – they taste good too. They have a nice sweet flavor from the honey and dried fruit, a little crunch from the chia seeds and a hint of chocolate!! Enough talk – here’s the recipe so you can try them out for yourself.

Heady Goo Balls

Makes 25-27 balls depending on how big you make them.

Original recipe from Chef Jesse (who works at my local Whole Foods). The version I am posting here includes all the same ingredients, but is scaled down quite a bit. They can be made gluten free with the use of gluten free oats and vanilla.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup Chia Seeds
• 1/8 cup Bee Pollen Granules
• 1/4 cup Old-fashioned oats (use gluten free if you’re avoiding gluten)
• 1/4 cup Unsulfered Dried Apricots, chopped
• 1/4 cup Dates, pitted
• 1/4 cup Almond Butter, Crunchy Unsalted
• 1/4 cup Organic Raw Honey
• 1 Tablespoon Organic Cocoa Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon Organic Vanilla Extract
• 1/2-1 Tablespoon Amazing Grass Trio
• Shredded Unsweetened Coconut, for rolling

Preparation

1. Place chia seeds, bee pollen, oats, cocoa powder, cinnamon and Amazing Grass into a food processor or mini chopper and process for 20-30 seconds or until oats are finely chopped.
2. Add dates, apricots, almond butter, honey and vanilla extract and process until the mixture turns into a dough ball. Work “dough” with clean hands to make sure everything is well combined.
3. Pinch off small amounts of the mixture (about 1.5 teaspoons full) and roll into balls. Roll balls in shredded coconut.
4. Store in fridge.

I hope you like these balls as much as I do! I was going to do a full recap of the Whole Foods Cooking demo from Monday night but my camera died during the demo so I didn’t get photos of everything. Stephanie did a great job recapping it so just check her blog out for all the deliciousness. I liked everything on the menu and can’t wait to make the Warrior Breakfast, Vegetarian Pho and Salmon en Papillote at home.

I hope to be back before the end of the week with an update on the Eat Clean Challenge (officially there’s only 2 more days left!) and how Jamie Eason’s LiveFit Trainer workouts are going. Have a great day.

Nothing warms me up like a bowl of oatmeal on a winter morning – especially if it involves flavors that make me think of white sand, suntan lotion and piña coladas.

Take me back to Cayman please! (Ang, I’m looking at you. )

This bowl of oatmeal does just that with flavors of both banana and coconut. It’s delightful…

and now one of my favorite oatmeal variations.

The star ingredient is Blue Diamond’s New Unsweetened Almondmilk Coconutmilk Blend. I have a slight obsession with Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk so when I saw this at Kroger (on sale nonetheless) I had to buy it!

I like it because it’s unsweetened and has pretty much the same nutritional facts as their unsweetened vanilla almond milk – low calories, 50% more calcium than regular milk and no sugar! Plus it’s soy and gluten-free! Kroger didn’t have the vanilla almond/coconut milk blend but I definitely want to try that flavor next time!

A first sip I wasn’t super excited about the flavor, but that’s no surprise because I don’t really like to drink any milk product (dairy or non-dairy) on it’s own. The amazing flavor it brought to the oats more than makes up for it! I’d honestly buy it for the sole purpose of making oats, but I’m sure I’ll find other uses as well.

So if you’re in the mood for a tasty bowl of oats that will have you daydreaming about exotic islands, find yourself some coconut milk and give this little combo a shot. If you can’t find the almond/coconut milk blend, you could always use half almond milk and half coconut milk.

Take Me to the Tropics Oatmeal

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup old fashioned oatmeal
• 2/3 cup almondmilk coconutmilk blend
• 1/2 banana, sliced
• pinch of cinnamon
• splash of vanilla
• 1-2 drops of liquid stevia, optional
• 1 teaspoon unsweetened dried coconut
• 1/2 Tablespoon almond butter (or another nut butter)

Preparation

1. Put oatmeal, milk, banana, cinnamon and vanilla in a medium sized pot. Cook on medium-low heat for about 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally so the oats don’t stick. Remove from pot, top with coconut and almond butter and enjoy!

The first time I made this I used a little stevia to sweeten it up, but left it out the second time. I’ve found that the oats don’t really need any extra sweetness – a ripe banana will do the trick!

With all this talk about tropical flavors I’m ready to book a trip somewhere warm and sunny. Instead I’m heading in to work. Oh well, at least it’s Friday. Have a great day!