Sweet Potato Muffins

I made these on Sunday and they turned out amazing.
They are high fiber and oh so yummy.

Also very easy to make.

Sweet Potato Muffins

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mashed sweet potatoes 

1/2 cup almond flour

1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Oats

2 eggs

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup blackstrap molasses

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 pinch of salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. 

Grease muffin pan or bake in cupcake cups.

Combine all ingredients then beat for 2 minutes on medium speed. I use my stand mixer. If the mixture seems to moist add a few more oats. 

Pour into muffin pan and bake for 25 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove and cool on baking rack.  

Yields 6 Muffins.

I store mine in the fridge and they make a great on the go breakfast.

TIP - I peeled and pressure cooked 3 sweet potatoes and mashed them up with my hand blender. I keep the excess in a sealable container in the fridge and use as sides for dinners or when I want to bake another batch of muffins.

Hope you enjoy!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This one is a keeper. Trust me.

On to the recipe. 

I made this and it was way to bland the first time.

So I made my own recipe.

1- Onion

1-Green Pepper

1to 2 t - minced garlic

2 t - Chili Powder

1t - Oregano

1-28oz Can Crushed Tomatoes w/ Oregano-Garlic-Basil

1-1/2 Cups of V8 juice

1-10oz can Chicken Broth

1-Can of Nibblets

1-Can of Black Beans

1-2 Chicken Breast (shredded)

2T of olive or cocoanut oil

Chop onion and green peppers and add to a large pot along garlic and oil. Cook until translucent. 

Then add Chili Powder, Oregano, Crushed tomatoes, V8 and chicken broth. Bring to a boil add shredded chicken turn down and let simmer for 10 minutes. 

Add beans and corn and allow to simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

Serve topped with shredded cheddar cheese, tortilla chips, sour cream and guacamole.

No lie this recipe is a show stopper. 

Easy to prepare and delicious.

Stay Warm :)

A Healthier Popcorn

I needed air popped popcorn for the Valentines Party Mix I was making and didn't have an air popper. So I improvised and what I got was a healthier cheaper version of my families favorite snack.

Here's all you need.

1/3 cup of popcorn kernels

1 thicker small paper bag. ( I used the Whole Foods smaller bag below)

{if you use a thin brown bag the kernel will bust threw the bag}

 

Fold the top of the bag down twice and then place in your microwave.

I popped mine until the pops stopped approximately 1:30 - 2:00 minutes. 

Pour and Enjoy!

No Oil, No Butter, No Salt

That is unless you want some. 

Then go for it. 

But the great thing is you can control what you put on it which makes it a healthier choice.

This popcorn works great for making chocolate covered popcorn!!!

Hope you enjoyed! 

What's your favorite popcorn or topping?

Gluten Free Valentine Party Mix

 All you need!

2 cups - Air popped pop corn (no oil)

1 cup - Gluten Free Snyder Pretzel Rods

2/3 Cup - Raw Almonds

1/2 Cup of M&M's

Wilton Candy Melts

Pink Sprinkles optional

 

On parchment paper mix up half of the ingredients and drizzle melted candy melts over mixture.

(Repeat until all ingredients are used)

Allow to cool and harden then enjoy.

Enjoy!

Gluten Free Cinnamon Buns

OK I've been gluten free for over a year now and in that time my lips haven't touched not one single sweet decadent cinnamon bun. Have I craved them? Oh gosh yes. Have I seen gluten free options in the grocery store? Of course, but nothing I wanted to spend close to seven dollars on. Don't get me wrong they looked good but.... :)

Boy do I have a treat for you today!!

SINnamon Buns!

yes i spelled that right and boy are they sinful.

Let me share what I did.

First I made this flour blend.  

{BTW - I've never used a custom flour blend before. }

Secondly, I had never baked like this. Ever! 

In my kitchen I have always used cups as measurements

never grams.

Just so you know this recipe calls for Tapioca flour and I had none so I substituted it for more white rice flour and had no problems.

So moving along I have to tell you I've been resistant to try this. 

But I have to tell you if you are holding back...you need to move forward.
This flour blend was easy to make and OMG it's so awesome.

Once you have your flour blend whipped up.

Head over to Gluten Free on a Shoestring to snag the recipe for these lovelies!

Continue on I have lots of pictures to show you on how this recipe came together.

 I mixed my dough in my standing mixer. Then rolled it out onto to my cutting board. 

Here I continued to flour my board and knead until the dough was no longer sticky and became soft.

Once you get your dough just right it's then time to roll it out and for this I have an awesome trick to share with you.

For these buns you'll need to roll your dough into a rectangle no thinner than 1/4" thick.

Wondering how in the heck you can do this easily??

And without perfection sticks??

Take a look.

A regular rolling pin will fit perfectly in a jelly pan like so.

As you can see my pans are loved very much and played with often. haha :)

Now cover the bottom of the jelly pan with parchment paper with a little excess over the edges. This will give you something to grab onto to when you start rolling the dough later.

You get a perfect rectangle and check out the thickness of the dough! 

1/4" thick! No more no less!

Perfection.

Now we can whip up the cinnamon mix.

Using a spoon mix together until well incorporated then spread on the dough leaving about a 1/4" clean edge on all edges. I left a little more and that's fine too.

Ta-Da!

Now is where that extra parchment comes in handy. Roll on the long edge tightly to form a roll like so.

Then I scored mine to make sure I got them all close to the same size before I sliced them.

You can just use knife to slice the rolls.

I love how pretty they look!!
You can grease a 9x13 pan or you can use a muffin pan.

I really love my Rachel Ray muffin pan. Nothing sticks to it and I never have to grease it.

Yes they will bubble over. I removed mine from the pan and onto a cooling rack only minutes after leaving the oven. Make sure you cover the rack with parchment paper to keep the sweet stuff on the rolls and not your counter top. Then I spooned the spilled over cinnamon mixture onto each one. While they cooled a tad I made the icing. 

The recipe calls for mascarpone and powdered sugar I used cream cheese instead. 

Why? Well I just didn't have any mascarpone, so I improvised. 

The end result??

Lip smacking, finger licking and the sound of forks hitting plates.

Anna had a friend over and they were both very happy with the buns.

Perfect start to a chilly Florida morning. 

Hope you enjoy and give this recipe a try.

Stay warm my sweet readers!

Giving credit where credit is due...

Thank you so much for a wonderful Gluten Free Cinnamon Bun recipe by Gluten Free on a Shoestring. I haven't purchased many cookbooks since going gluten free but I have to tell ya 

I will be buying this one.

Ingredients

• 1 lb stew meat
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 onion, thickly sliced
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 cup Gluten Free soy sauce (I used Tamari)
• 1/2 brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp fresh minced finer
• 1/2 hoisin sauce (Wizard's brand is Gluten Free but I couldn't find it)

Directions

1. Freezer directions- dump all ingredients into a labeled freezer bag, seal, mix up, freeze flat. It's as easy as that!
2. When you're ready to cook-take the bag out of the freezer the night before and let it defrost in the fridge. The next morning dump the bag into the crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. If you're going to be longer just add a bit more water so it doesn't dry out. Serve with fresh steamed, stir fried veggies or over rice!
   
   This meal was so good. All I did was put all the ingredients into a freezer bag and freeze.  Then just drop the contents into your crock pot and cover.  I do need to tell you that I don't know if you can even say this is Mongolian beef because I was unable to find the Hoisin sauce but the meat was still so good. I will try some different grocery stores and see if i can find it and retry this meal again. It was excellent without it though.
   
   
   

   Enjoy!!

   
   
   

Gluten Free-zer Crock Pot Chicken Tacos

Gluten Free-zer Crock Pot Chicken Tacos!!

These turned our great!

I cut the roof of my mouth on a regular corn shell taco. Am I the only one that does this? I don't know hot pizza and tacos have it out for me. :)
So anyhow I decided to put everything into romaine lettuce and Oh My Goodness I'm hooked. 

These things were great!

Crunchy! Strong! Delicious!

If you haven't tried this definitely try one.
{and let me know what you think}

Ingredients

• 3 boneless chicken breasts (This made a ton for us and we had to freeze the leftovers)
• 1 packet of taco seasoning (I make my own My Taco Seasoning Recipe)
• 1 can of rotel tomatoes or you can chop up fresh tomatoes and season as you like fresh is always better
• 1/2 cup of water (original recipe called for 1/4 of water and 1/4 of oil i don't like to add oil)

Put your seasoning in the bottom of the pot.{Doodles optional} Place your frozen chicken tomato mix on top and cover. As you can see my frozen mixture didn't want to lay flat in the bottom this is why they recommend you thaw in the fridge over night. However this cooked just as awesome within a few minutes it had thawed enough and was flat in the bottom of my pot!

Directions

1. In your crock pot pour the taco seasoning place chicken on top and pour tomatoes over the top following with water/oil mixture. Don't stir.
2. Halfway through if you are home you can flip the chicken but it's not necessary. I didn't and the chicken was perfect.
   After the the meat is done just shred the chicken stir and serve on shells or lettuce.
   
   

This is what the chicken looks like in the end. Honestly all you need do is stir and the chicken shreds itself.
Serve with all your favorite topping!

Tip! I know the writing is messy but you can write directions for your meals on the fronts of the freezer bags then when you pull it out you don't even have to fumble with a recipe!

I hope you enjoy these tacos as much as my family has. 

Like I said it made a ton. We had them for dinner two nights and I had them for lunch one day and we still have enough left over for one more meal which I will freeze for a day when I just don't feel like being in the kitch!

Giving credit where credit is due I found this recipe on Who Needs A Cape.

What is your favorite Crock Pot Taco recipe??

CLARITY

When I first started running there were times when I thought I was going to die.  OK so I'm exaggerating a bit but it was tough in the beginning.  You have to admit the picture above is pretty darn funny and fits perfect with how many feel when they first start running!
Yes, that's me signaling to my sister-in-law, waiting for me at the finish, to call 9-1-1 cause I seriously felt like I was about to fall flat on my face!!

I can laugh about this now but back then I was really pressuring myself hard.

I would see all the runners in the mornings and they looked so fit and their movements were so fluid.  I wanted to be like them. So naturally I was thinking within a few weeks that's where I would be.
Uh...I quickly found out. Not so much!
But if I had only known....

Oh how I wish I had known when I first started running all the signals that running sends your body. I would have been so much kinder to me.  I wish someone had pulled me aside and said
"Listen this is what your going to feel and here is why so be kind to YOU."
I think I would have been more patient with myself and would have been more understanding had I known all the amazing processes that were taking place inside my body when I first started out. 

I would have told myself 

"It's OK that you feel tired. It's OK that you can't sprint a mile non-stop. It's really OK that your muscles are sore and everything you're feeling right now is normal."
 And I would have loved it if someone had sat me down and had a real heart-to-heart with me.
I imagine that conversation going... 

"Kim"
[insert really really long pause here]
"I know what you're thinking... You're thinking back... Yes, way back when you where little Kim, AKA Kimmy. And I know you used to run super fast but honey, let's be honest with each other, it's been a long while since those legs have seen that kind of action. So be patient. It will come."

Being brought back to reality is always a good lesson. Sometimes hard to hear but always good.

So is knowing and understanding what's happening behind the scenes. 

For example this next line shocked me when I read it. 

Did you know runners/endurance athletes have more blood volume than someone who is sedentary?

I never knew that!!

Really?    Seriously?

YES RUNNERS have a HIGHER BLOOD VOLUME.  I don't know about you guys but when I read this I was floored. I hope I'm not the only one out there that finds this totally cool and fascinating. :) Now with that being said just think about all the energy needed to build that extra blood!! And that's only one tiny portion of the runner transformation. So if you are just starting out remember this. It takes a lot of energy for your body to chisel away at the old you to strengthen and build the new you, 

The Runner.

I bet you also didn't know running stimulates the body to expand its aerobic capacity by building new blood capillaries beds, which is somewhat similar to building new highways, so more oxygen and nutrients can be delivered quickly and efficiently to your working muscles. Slow-twitch oxidative muscle fibers are developed, blood volume increases, and glycogen stores expand. More mitochondria and enzymes, necessary for greater energy production, are created. Bone cells are stimulated and make stronger bones; connective tissue, muscles, tendons, and ligaments are strengthened, and on and on. OK seriously! This is pretty freaking amazing dontcha think??? That is a heck of a lot of stuff going on inside our bodies. Geesh. How dare I get aggravated at me! It's true though and sadly we don't realize all of this internal work going on because we can't see it; however, it becomes evident when overuse injuries, like tendonitis, stress fractures, muscle strains, or shin splints appear. And boy-oh-boy we don't like any of these problems.
So be careful, listen to your body and please please take it easy on yourself.

So when you start running remember this. There is a lot going on inside your body so trust it. It knows what its doing. Fuel your body right, drinks lots of water, get adequate rest, supplement your diet with a mutli-vitamin and keep an eye on your iron stores as they can become depleted much easier if you run regularly.

It's been a little over a year now that I've been running at least 3-5 times a week.

In that year...

I ran my longest race which was a 10 miler at Disney.

I found strength in family and finished my longest run to date with my Sole Sista Jackie.

I'm a little less puffy these days due to running and eating a healthy diet.
It's puffy not fat. haha

I've connected with some amazing men and women on-line and in person who inspire me to be my very best and teach me a lot about running.

Back in 2010 - Arlene, Myself and Gabby

I've seen old friends take up running and let it take them places they never dared dream.
Gabby up there on the right is a running machine. I talked her into going with me to a run and she hasn't stopped. You go Gabby Girl!!
She just ran her second Half Marathon last weekend!!

Teri, Myself, Arlene and Zoe at the Orlando Color Run.

I've made new friends and reconnected with old ones.
We've all ran a few runs together and we hope to do more this year!

I've accomplished a lot in a year and I hope to keep excelling and inspire others to get out and move!

What have you learned about you, your body and running that you would love to share?
I would love to hear from you!

The Color Run

Ever since I heard about The Color Run I wanted to do it.
It just looked like so much fun running around in clean white clothes and getting sprinkled with color!

After a long wait for the registration to open the race was finally moved from it originally decided date of December 2, 2012 to January 13, 2013.

It sold out fast.

Packet pickup was fun and easy and I bought a some fun shorts and socks from The Color Store.

10,000 people signed up and I believe they all showed up and brought a friend.

I felt like I was at an LMFAO concert.

There were chants...

"When I say COLOR you say RUN"

"COLOR ---- RUN ---- COLOR ---- RUN"

We had ...

Dancing rUnicorns, Beach Balls, Goodies be tossed into the crow.

There is a Dancing Unicorn on top of the START tower. I promise!

 Dancing, yes lots of dancing, 

Great Music, 

Wild Hair including some white afros! 

 There was a great vibe here for sure

Everyone was happy and ready to run, party and get colored up.

Here we are at the finish. I'm on the left and my neighbor friend is on the right.
We both agreed that a mask of some sort would have been nice while going through the color stations at each kilometer of the race.

It does get a tad hard to breath when your running with all the powder in the air.

All in all is was a lot of fun.

Gluten Free-zer Crock Pot Sweet-&-Sour Country Ribs

This meal turned out great. But next time I will be more prepared and really bring the country with some cornbread, may some gluten free mac-n-cheese and baked beans. Yummy!!

This time we were healthy with steamed broccoli and carrots and green beans on night one.
Night two we were going to do rib sammies but we opted to just reheat everything. 

We really liked this recipe and will do it again.

Put all ingredients into a freezer bag and freeze for later or pop it into the crock and go!

• Ingredients

• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon mustard powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 4 pounds country-style pork ribs, separated into single ribs
• Barbecue sauce, for serving (optional)

Directions

1. In slow cooker, whisk together ketchup, sugar, vinegar, mustard powder, cayenne, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
2. Add ribs to slow cooker, and toss with sauce. Arrange ribs, bone side up, in a single row. Cover; cook on high, 6 hours (or on low, 10 hours).
3. Serve ribs drizzled with pan juices and, if desired, barbecue sauce.

Cook's Note

Oven method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In step 1, use a 5-quart Dutch oven or ovenproof pot with a tight-fitting lid; add 1 cup water. Cover; bake until ribs are tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Proceed with step 3.

Original Martha Stewart Recipe can be found here!

Here's to finger lickin' dinners!

Run Like a Girl!

One of my next runs I really want to go all out.
You know with pink and sparkles all the fantastic stuff we ladies get to wear.
Not that I look un-lady-like when I run it's just that I like to wear a lot of black.
Yes, I am the Cat Woman of the roads around here.
Every so often I'll throw in a colored top to jazz things up.
But what I really want is to just GLAM up my run.

Here are some ideas I came up with that
I'M SO LOVIN'

PS I don't know any of the lovely ladies who are posing so beautifully in their skirts. But I promise you I will get a group together and we will rock a race here in Orlando in full lady regalia.

If you would like some Team Sparkle merchandise hit their site at www.teamsparkle.com

So tell me how do you run like a girl?

Gluten Free-zer Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff

Meal #1 of our Gluten Free-zer Crock Pot Meal Extravaganza!

BEEF STROGANOFF

Ingredients

• 2 pounds beef chuck, trimmed of excess fat and cut into thin slices (about 1/2 inch thick and 3 inches long)
• 1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
• 1 pound white mushrooms, trimmed and halved (or quartered, if large)
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 1 tablespoons Dijon mustard - (it calls for 2T but I only used one)
• Cooked gluten free noodles for serving - I used Tinkyada Noodles
• Chopped fresh dill, for garnish (optional)

Directions

1. In a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, toss beef, onion, and mushrooms with 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt and teaspoon pepper. Cover, and cook on low until meat is tender, about 8 hours (or on high for 6 hours).
2. In a 2-cup glass measuring cup, whisk cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water. Ladle 1 cup cooking liquid into measuring cup or use 1 cup of beef broth; whisk to combine. Pour into a small saucepan, and bring to a boil; cook until thickened, about 1 minute. With slow cooker turned off, stir in cornstarch mixture, then sour cream and mustard. Serve beef over noodles; sprinkle with dill, if desired.

Here's all I did...

I woke pulled the bag from the freezer and placed it into my crockpot.
I am used to cooking in my crockpot by adding a little water and based on the reviews on this recipe I did just that and added 1 cup of water, set the crock pot for 8 hours, covered and walked away.

A few hours later...
I couldn't believe the wonderful aromas that were greeting me even in our garage!!
The whole house smelled yummy.

When I popped the lid off and took a gander this is what I had.

Man it smelled good, fell apart it was so tender and when I sampled a taste it was really tasty too!
{Do make sure you season your meat the way you like so you get a very flavorful meat once cooked}

Note: Do not cook over 8 hours because what juices you have will evaporate. If this happens no worries just add a cup of beef broth to your corn starch mixture and follow the recipes directions.

All in All ...
We really loved this recipe. All though a lot of reviewers on the original recipe said the meat was bland I made sure to season mine well with salt and pepper prior to cooking and it tasted wonderful!
They also commented that it was too mustardy. Is that a word?? So I cut mine back to one tablespoon and tasted the sour cream mixture before adding it to the meat.

If you would like to check out the original Martha Stewart recipe click here.

Here's to saving time and eating well!

Do you have a favorite CrockPot recipe??

Gluten Free-zer Crockpot Meals

Hey I love being in my kitchen. I love cooking but just like anything it can become rather tiresome when you do it day in and out. As I'm sure you all know when your kids and hubby come home from work there is that one burning question they always like ask...

"What's for dinner?"

That question can really shred my nerves if I'm secretly asking myself the same question. 

Plus it seems I'm always cooking while everyone else is relaxing, watching TV and playing outside. 

I want to be involved in that fun stuff too guys!!!

So in order to be able to step out of the kitchen and into the fun world my family is enjoying during the last few hours of light we have in the evenings, I'm trying crockpot meals!!!

Don't think I've ever bought so much meat at one time. These meals will be hearty, full flavored and paired with fresh salad or stir fried or steamed veggies 

I have prepared 12 meals, where each meal should easily feed our family for two nights. 

Leftover night will be a variance  of the previous night but just as yummy!

I promise. :)

Ill be posting recipes, reviews and pictures of each meal so be sure to check back!!!