Tuesday Eats...

Good Morning!

We are now mid way through the week. Hope you're week is going well. I'm excited for today because temperatures are suppose to tip into the 90's :-) This could be my last hot and humid day of the season to enjoy. 

Alright, lets get down to business. Yesterday I had a very clean eating day. Mainly because I was equipped with healthy snacks. 

I started my day off with a slice of ezekiel toast with almond butter, sliced peach, and a hard boiled egg. A perfect breakfast with fiber, produce, protein and healthy fats :-)

A few hours later I had a Larabar for a snack. This held me over because I wanted to go to the gym before eating lunch. 

For lunch I had leftovers. Curried chicken with kale and barley in a sesame oil dressing:

A few hours after lunch, another snack: hard boiled egg and almonds. 

Last but not least for dinner I made whole wheat pasta with broccoli tossed in a garlic chili oil dressing (recipe to come later).

I also managed to get a lot of exercise in. During the day I went to the gym and hot up the elliptical and weights. At night, I went to the pool and practiced swimming for an hour. Not bad!

All in all I'm very happy with how the day went yesterday. I just have to keep up with clean eating and exercise :-)

How was your day?

Monday Recap...

Good Morning!

Monday is finally over and we are now into Tuesday. Four more days until the weekend!!!

So, let me tell you about my day yesterday. Well, I will mainly tell you about my eating habits. Breakfast started off great:

I had almond bread cake with a side if peaches. After one bite I knew I needed more since I was ravenous so I smeared some peanut butter on top. This was an 8:30am breakfast. 

By noon, I decided to forgo my lunch workout because I was starving and wanted to eat my lunch at that time instead. 

Lunch was a curried chicken kale salad with avocado. I devoured this in seconds. I was still hungry afterwards but decided to wait some time before I had something else. 

After about an hour I was still hungry so I had a Larabar. For some reason this only kept me full for half an hour. This is where things took a turn for the worse. 

I had TWO bowl fills of goldfish crackers and a cookie. This was followed by a handful of Hershey kisses. I was just so hungry!

Well, when I had all this I was finally full. So full that I could not eat dinner. I also felt extremely lethargic, down and my stomach was cramping up. Despite all these issues I had a large slice of chocolate cake with almonds at night. 

As you can see, there was absolutely nothing nutritious put into my body after lunch. Not one thing and I definitely felt it. 

I think I wrote this post more for myself. To see the choices I make and the way they make me feel. To remind myself that if I have a goal in mind to keep at it to see results. Yes, I was starving yesterday. Maybe I need to readjust my portions but I also need to work on better food choices when hungry. 

Today is a new day. I've packed a nutritious breakfast and lunch along with a few healthy snacks. If I continue to be ravenous I at least have healthy choices on hand. 

Recipe Alert: Pumpkin Cake...

The official day of Fall is September 22nd but as soon as Labor Day is over I get pumpkin fever. I LOVE pumpkin anything.  Pumpkin coffee, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cake...I love it all. I love it even more when it's healthy :-) The calories for a few of the pumpkin desserts mentioned can be high. They can also be loaded with tons of preservatives. 

As I was experimenting in the kitchen, I came up with a delicious recipe for a pumpkin cake. I love having this in the morning because it's not too sweet. It also has minimal ingredients. I also feel like each serving is perfectly portioned with 2TB of almond butter for plant fats, 1 egg for protein and when topped with fruit, you have a good portion of produce packed in there!

Try this recipe out for a healthy breakfast treat. 

Pumpkin Cake

Ingredients:

1c pumpkin purée

1/2c almond butter

4 eggs

1tsp vanilla extract

1tsp baking soda

1TB pumpkin pie spice

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients to a uniform batter. Grease or use a non stick spray to spray an 8x8 dish. Pour batter. Bake for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Servings: 4

***Note:  I did not use any sweetener in this recipe and found this to be delicious. If you would like a sweet version add 1/4c honey or agave to the batter. 

Recipe Alert: Coconut Lassi

This healthy lassi recipe was inspired from Beginners Bollywood. This week in class we are working on learning choreography to Lungi Dance from Chennai Express. One of my favorite lines in this song is " Coconut me lassi milake."  Oh yes, there's nothing like a cold, refreshing lassi to cool you down on a hot day. What's even better than lassi is adding coconut to your lassi. Yes, you read that correctly! If you can have mango lassi, why not coconut lassi?!?Don't worry, I got you covered on this. 

Lassi can be a great post workout treat. The yogurt provides protein and the coconut cream provides you with medium chain fatty acids and the water is great for rehydrating. This is especially awesome after you've taken a Beginners Bollywood class at Bollywood Axion. Not only will Pooja teach a great, fun class but she will also give you an awesome cardio workout! This lassi can be whipped up in a minute and keep you cool for a while! 

Now, without further delay, I present to you my recipe for a healthy and delicious lungi inspired, Coconut Lassi. 

Coconut Lassi

Ingredients:

1/2c non fat plain Greek yogurt

1/4c coconut cream

1 1/2c cold water

Optional:  1tsp. sugar OR 1tsp. salt

Ice cubes

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients, except ice cubes, in a blender (add sugar for a sweet lassi, add salt for a salty lassi).  Blend for 30 seconds. Put ice in a tall glass. Pour lassi over. 

Enjoy!

Recipe Alert: Chilled Summer Berry Soup

On a hot and humid summer morning, you don't want a bowl of steaming oatmeal. Instead, you may be looking for a healthy, cooling, refreshing treat. 

Enter my recipe for a Chilled Summer Berry

soup.  This recipe is loaded with fiber, protein,

and healthy fats!

Ingredients:

1 ripe banana

1c frozen mixed berries

1 serving of protein powder (I used Trader

 Joe's Hemp Protein Powder)

1TB. chia seeds

1c unsweetened almond milk

Splash of vanilla extract 

1TB. slivered almonds

Preparation:

Blend all ingredients except almonds. Pour 

in a bowl and top with almonds. Allow to sit 

for a couple of minutes before eating. Enjoy!

Serving:  1

30 Day Ab Challenge

Good Morning & Happy Thursday!

Yay...one more day till the weekend. Can you believe we are practically in mid August?!?!? This summer is flying by. The weather is also pretty fall like :-(. I miss hot and humid summer days! 

So even though summer is coming to an end I still need to keep up a gym routine and maintain healthy eating. I'm definitely getting back into the gym routine and with each meal I eat I try to make healthy choices. 

I've also started a 30 day ab challenge:

 I am currently on day 3:-p and I'm going to try my best to keep this up. Have you guys tried the 30 Day Ab Challenge?

My workouts have been looking a little like this: 20-25 minutes of cardio, ab challenge, push ups. Believe it or not... I get pretty schweaty at then end of this workout :-)

How have you guys been doing?

Weekend Round Up...

Good Morning and Happy Monday!

Whew... The weekend just flew by. I sure could have used a couple more hours of sleep this morning. Monday's are the worst!

My weekend was pretty easy going. Saturday morning I woke up and went to go see my little niece. As always, she was as adorable and fun as ever. Once I left my sisters place I headed to the happiest place on earth for me...Trader Joe's! OMG... I could spend HOURS at TJs. Stay tuned next week... I've got a whole post dedicated to this magnificent supermarket :-)

Anywho, we had a dinner party to go to that evening and I bought some bread and fruit for appetizers and dessert. My original use for the bread was to have with bruschetta. However, I forgot to bring the bruschetta so I made a quick pizza bites appetizer. I thought this was ok but must have been a hit since it was all gone!

For dessert, our wonderful hostess made delicious tiramisu (which I had boat loads of). Also, I brought a colorful fruit platter:

Yup, we got sliced mango, kiwi, strawberries and apple and non fat honey yogurt for dipping. Healthy and delicious!

The dinner party was great and I wish I had more pics of the food. All of it really was delicious. There was lasagna and Spanish omelets along with a variety of cheeses, crackers, olives, shrimp and mushrooms :-) All so delicious and so great!

The party was awesome and we had a great time talking and catching up with friends. 

The next day we woke up to such beautiful weather. Of course we made breakfast and ate on our little balcony. 

After that it was time to run errands! I went around town and to get things done which took me a few hours. 

I came home and this was waiting for me :-)

a delicious plate of channa masala and mustard greens with a roti on the side. Also, cut up veggies to have :-)

Dinner was probably the best butter chicken I've ever had. We used a masala packet which just had a bunch of spices, added the chicken, water and a little bit o butter. This meal tasted like it came from a restaurant. It was so good that we looked online to see how we could get more of these masala packets. Yum!

Also, on the side, a small salad straight from our patio garden :)

After dinner we plopped in front of the television and started a 24 marathon. OMG... This show is addictive and we've been watching it on Netflix. We are still in season 1. 

Well, that's a wrap for the weekend. I hope you guys had an enjoyable weekend. Now... off to start the work week...

Recipe Alert: Lentil Chili

Good Morning!

Boy, I woke up to a bit of a chill this morning. I checked the weather and saw this:

59 degrees!!! Are you kidding me?!?! It's June!! Anywho, as I was getting ready for work, I was thinking about what to make for dinner and all I can think about is having something warm, filling and of course healthy.  Then I thought about making Lentil Chili. A few weeks ago I modified a Whole Foods recipe for Lentil Chili and it turned out amazing. Yes, a big bowl of chili with a side of warm, crusty bread is certainly delicious!

Yes, this is a vegetarian chili but I promise you, you will not miss the meat. You definitely get more bang for your buck when using lentils. This chili is filled with protein, fiber and flavor.  Go ahead and make this. I guarantee you will not regret it!

Enjoy my recipe (modified from the Whole Foods app), for Lentil Chili!

Ingredients:

1TB Olive Oil

2 quarts vegetable stock

1 Onion, diced

1 Red Bell Pepper, diced

1 jalapeño, diced

3TB Garlic, chopped

2TB Chili Powder

2tsp Smokes Paprika

1 16oz package Brown Lentils

2 15oz cans of diced tomatoes

1 bag Baby Spinach 

Optional: chopped cilantro

Preparation:

Heat the oil in a heavy pot on medium heat. Add onion, bell pepper, garlic and jalapeño. Sauté for 10 minutes or until onions are slightly browned. Add the chili powder and smoked paprika. Stir for another minute. Add the diced tomatoes and stir for a minute. Add the vegetable stock and lentils. Bring this to a boil and simmer for 25 minutes. Add the spinach and cilantro. Once spinach is completely wilted, turn off heat. Chili is ready to serve!

Enjoy with a piece of warm bread and a little shredded cheese sprinkled on top. 

Servings: 8

Calories per serving: 160

Monday...

Oh Monday's...it's so hard to get up on a Monday morning. It's even harder when the weather is cold and rainy! Anywho, you do what you gotta do!

Well, on that note, I hope you guys all had a great weekend. I enjoyed the hot weather very much. I also took ads vantage of summer nights by going for walks along the river front. It's so beautiful at night and the weather is so nice and warm at night. My weekend was also filled with delicious food. 

Here's a weekend recap through pictures (since I'm lazy to write right now :-p):

And that was the weekend! More to come later!

A Wonderful Wednesday...

Good Morning!

I'm so excited about today because it's going to be a hot day :-). I really hope this summer weather is here to stay. The weather yesterday was not too bad either. It was suppose to rain and luckily it didn't. It was also a nice night to sleep with the windows open. 

I started off my day with coconut pancakes with cinnamon apples and banana. 

Boy, did I miss my pancakes! I made a batch the night before and heated these babies up the next morning. The cinnamon apples were delicious paired with pancakes. All I did was chop up an apple and sprinkle with cinnamon. When I warmed my pancakes and apples up the next morning it was like eating a warm apple pie. 

Luckily, this breakfast held me over for a few hours. I took my lunch break and headed over to the gym. I completed two sweaty miles on the treadmill. Not bad, but I'm trying to get to three miles at a decent pace (6.0?). 

Once I finished my workout I needed to eat my lunch. Enter my roast beef sandwich that I made the night before. Oh so delicious. Roast beef, cheese and mustard between two slices of ezekiel toast. Totally filling but lacking veggies :-(. 

My sandwich held me over for a few hours, then it was snack time! I had plain, non fat Greek yogurt with carrots. This little snack held me over till dinner time. 

An hour and a pedicure later, I was headed home.  We made a delicious Vera Cruz fish (thank you TJ's) and salad dinner. The best part... we ate out on our patio and had a blast. The evening weather was so nice! We lit up our citronella candle and stayed out on the patio for a while enjoying dinner, dessert and conversation :-) Nice night. 

For dessert I had a serving of my avocado ice cream. Delicious. 

I have to say my day was filled with eating right, getting exercise in and having a nice evening! Oh, also watching DVR episodes of the last season of The Office. 

Hope you all had a good day!

How to Prep For a WEEK of Healthy Eating...

We all like to have our indulgences on the weekend.  The key is to eat healthy through out the week.  With a little prep work it can be very easy to maintain healthy eating during the week!

Here are a few tips and tricks to help you keep a healthy lifestyle during the week:

• Plan out your meals -  Sit down for about an hour and plan out what you will be having for breakfasts, lunches and dinners.  Write everything down.  I usually plan three different dinners for the week and keep the leftovers for lunch the next day.  I also buy a few things to have on hand for breakfast.  For example, I keep a box of oats at my desk to make oatmeal in the morning or if I want something different, I make it the night before and bring it with me in the morning.  For example, sometimes I make a big batch of my coconut flour pancakes and have it during the week.
• Do your grocery shopping ahead of time - Once your meals are planned out, jot down all the ingredients you will need to make your meals.  Along with the ingredients for your meal, pick three different bunches of fruit to buy.  This will aide having a side for breakfasts and having snacks on hand.  Also, pick two snacks to have per day.  I like to pick non fat Greek yogurt, almonds or hard boiled eggs.  Also buy three different veggies to pair with your dinners for the week.  I usually buy one bag of lettuce, a bunch of asparagus and beans or brussels sprouts.
• Prep your fruits and veggies - Once you get your fruits and veggies go home and start chopping/dicing/slicing.  Do what you need to do so you can grab and go if needed
• Have snacks on hand - Again, buy things that you can grab and go.  If you buy almonds, portion them out and put them away.  Want hard boiled eggs? Boil a dozen up at once so you can grab and go.  A few other suggestions, string cheese and yogurt.

These are just a few tips that help me maintain a healthy lifestyle.  This may seem a lot at first but as soon as you get into the swing of things all of this can be done very quickly!

Getting My Food On...

Wow...already into Hump Day. This week is flying by! I hope you all had a great evening. 

Yesterday I completely forgot to make my breakfast and bring it to work. I definitely love to splurge on food, but on good food. Not on a bowl of oatmeal that I overly paid for, that I could have made myself! Anywho, so, I started my day off with a small bowl of steel cut oats with a banana mashed in. I got the oats from Pret A Mangier and they were delish!

Lunch was a chicken lime burger and a salad. All leftovers from the previous day. Sadly, no picture since I inhaled it :-p

A little while later I snacked on a Chobani non fat lemon yogurt. Mmm..mmm perfectly tart and sweet. Also, kept me full until dinner time :-)

Yesterday, was so cold and rainy. All I wanted for dinner was something warm and comforting. Thank goodness I had leftover lentil chili!! Oh yes, this totally hit the spot. I heated up a bowl of lentil chili and had a slice of ezekiel toast on the side. This was an awesome dinner followed by watching DVR episodes of The Mindy Project! Oh, I love Mindy! 

I also managed to make today's breakfast last night. Here's a sneak peek:  

:-) Enjoy your day!

Back To The Grind...

Good Morning!

Wow, the three day weekend flew by! None the less, it was a great weekend! I have to say though...yesterday was probably the coldest Memorial Day on record. 

Well, lets go over the shenanigans from the weekend, shall we?  Friday night was great. Had dinner with friends at The Beechwood in Jersey City. I had a delicious roasted veggie sandwich with a broccoli salad on the side. My sandwich was full of flavor and had a schmear of pesto on there.  Mmm...mmm good!

Saturday morning I prepped a delicious lunch. I made a lentil chili (recipe from the Whole Foods app). The chili was full of veggies, fiber and protein. I forgot to take a picture, but I do have leftovers and will take a pic tonight. I love the Whole foods app. I've never had a failed recipe when I follow recipes from this app. Anywho, the chili was served with a side of couscous, bread, grated cheese and sour cream. A healthy and delish meal! 

Oh, the other star of the meal was dessert. I made Nestle dark chocolate chocolate chip cookies. 

What was even more exciting was my sister, brother in law and my little munchkin were joining us for lunch. We love when everyone comes over and just chill out. That little one... I'm telling ya... I'm so lucky to have her in my life <3

The rest of Saturday was spent doing absolutely nothing. We did clean a little bit and went out for a bit, but really, that was it.  For dinner we made carna asada steak salads.  

Oh yes, another delicious and healthy meal!

Sunday we finally made it to the gym. I forgot, I have a 5K to run in June. I just started practicing :-p Eh, I'll be fine! The rest of Sunday was spent running errands, grocery shopping and walking around. 

Sunday morning breakfast:

Finally, we get to Monday! Monday started off with breakfast with fam at a diner. Followed by a fun filled, getting lost in woods hike! Really, it was fun, we had a great time and plan on doing it next weekend also. We also bought a map for next time. We went hiking in South Mountain Reservation (entrance conveniently located near the diner :-p ). We started off on the Lenape trail which was six miles. The Lenape trail was marked with yellow tags. Somehow lost yellow, ran into some white, throw a little blue and green in there and after some time wound up back in the parking lot from a totally different entrance! It was really fun though. I'm just glad we had eaten. We were already starving when we found our way back!

After the hike and some lunch, I went to work on our patio garden!!!  Ohhh, I'm so excited about this! This year we are growing:

Cucumbers

Cayenne peppers

Bell peppers

Okra

Mesculun

Tomatoes

Blueberries

Beans

The patio garden took a couple of hours but looks great!

Finally, dinner last night was had on the balcony. We made burgers and salads. We really did try to enjoy the weather and layered up with fleeces, but it was still chilly. I have to say... I am looking forward to more evening dinners on our little balcony... It's time well spent that we  enjoy!

So, that's my weekend in a nutshell. How was yours?  Now, back to the grind...

Healthy Memorial Day Weekend...

Hello and Happy FRIDAY!!!! Finally, the day has come and we can look forward to a THREE day weekend!

Any plans this weekend?  I plan on doing some grilling and working on the patio garden. I'm excited about the patio garden. There's just something about growing your own herbs and produce and using them in meals. More on this later. Ok, lets get to having a healthy three day weekend...

One of the things I like to do over long weekends is make sure I stay on a healthy eating track. Of course, there's always room for indulgences but the scale won't show this if you eat healthy most of the time and manage to get some exercise in. Here are some tips for staying on track during a weekend of BBQ's, parties and late nights out!

• Stay hydrated - water is your best bet here. For 0 calories, carbs and fat, water helps stabilize hunger and flush out toxins in your body. 
• Going to a few BBQ's? Bring a healthy side dish. This way you know there will be something you can enjoy guilt free. 
• Stick to lean meats and veggies from the grill. The great thing about grilling is some of the fat from the meat and marinades drip off while being cooked and you still have very flavorful meat and veggies. 
• Watch your portions. Try not to eat meat portions that looks like more than a deck of cards. Fill extra space on your plate with veggies. 
• If going to a dinner party DO NOT decide to eat nothing all day to save up in calories. If you do this you will be ravenous by the time the party comes around and over eat. Instead eat light before hand. Instead, munch on fruit and veggies during the day and have a light breakfast and lunch. 
• Go ahead and have some dessert but watch your portions and if you know you are going to indulge get a little extra exercise in during the day. You'll feel better about having dessert instead of over indulging and feeling guilty. 
• Try to get some exercise in. Go for a walk, bike ride or run. Really...just do something :-p

These are just a few tips that I have.  How do you guys stay healthy during a long weekend?

Recipe Alert: Avocado Ice Cream

The other day I was working on a healthy key like pie recipe. I tried this out yesterday and thought it tasted a lot like avocado ice cream! I'm still working on the key lime pie recipe and I think if I tweak it a bit more I will get it. In the mean time, I think this is a great recipe for avocado ice cream. This ice cream was so easy to make and is a great base, meaning, you can jazz it up with really anything... bananas, chocolate chips or berries. This ice cream alone is very delicious. 

Avocado ice cream may sound strange but I'm seeing it pop up more and more in local ice cream shops. I personally love avocado ice cream and I'm happy that I experimented and came up with this recipe. 

Here are the deets to this incredibly simple and delicious Avocado Ice Cream:

Ingredients:

2 ripe avocados, peeled and pitted

2 TB lime juice

1/4 cup agave syrup

1TB coconut oil

Splash vanilla extract

Sprinkle of cinnamon

Water as needed to get things moving in blender

Preparation:

Blend away until smooth. Pour into a container or muffin tins and freeze. Remove from freezer 10 minutes before serving. This allows the ice cream to soften a bit and easier to scoop out. 

Enjoy this healthy and delicious treat!

It's Smoothie Time!!!

Good Morning and Happy Thursday!!! The weekend is almost here!

I started my day off with the usual. A steaming cup of hot coffee. I also had half a banana. Shortly after I made myself a delicious Berry Breakfast Smoothie. I had this smoothie around 7am and I'm hoping it will keep me satiated until lunch time. In the blender went: 

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 cup of frozen berries (thank you Trader Joe's)

1/2 banana

1TB coconut oil

6oz nonfat yogurt

Then I blended it away and poured into my favorite Tervis :-) Delicious!

Now, I'm off to work...

What did you guys have for breakfast?

Happy Hump Day...

Wow... We are already into midweek! Another couple of days and we have a three day weekend to look forward to :-)

Yesterday I managed to get a twenty minute cardio workout in with the elliptical. Not bad, especially since it had been a couple of weeks since I worked out. Today I'm hoping for a similar workout. 

Yesterday was also a Trader Joes day for lunch and dinner. Lunch was leftovers from the night before. We made TJ's Garlic Chili Tilapia with a side of string beans. Delicious! Dinner was TJ's Roasted Vegetable Lasagna with a side of salad and balsamic asparagus. Guess what's for lunch today :-p...

Once again, this morning I woke up ravenous. I drank my coffee, had a banana and made my breakfast for the road. Two slices of Ezekiel toast with an omelet. Breakfast has already been devoured. 

Last night I worked on a healthy key lime pie filling. I plan on trying it out tonight. If it's good be sure to look out for the recipe. I did use a very healthy ingredient for this recipe. Any guesses?

Well, I hope your hump day goes quickly! 

And We're Back...

Good morning! I'm finally back after a two week break away! I'm also back to my regularly scheduled healthy lifestyle :-) 

This mornings breakfast was bright and early at 6am. I'm still jet lagged but I'm hoping to continue to wake up a bit early so I can ease into my morning. It's nice...waking up, having a cup if coffee and my breakfast while listening to the news in the background. 

The weather is finally getting warmer. It's so nice to be able to sleep with the windows open. Another plus...this weekend is Memorial Day weekend which means a three day weekend :-) you guys got any plans? I plan on starting my patio garden. I think this year I will plant spinach, basil, cilantro, mint, tomatoes and maybe string beans... Lets see. 

So, my breakfast this morning was very simple. I had a cup of black coffee with a dippy egg, slice of ezekiel toast and banana. Delicious and filling!

How have you guys been?

Recipe Alert: Raw Coconut Chocolate Cookies

Lately, I’ve been experimenting a lot with raw snacks. Especially since I love my Larabars so much, I thought it would probably be much cheaper to start making my own. I’m very close to perfecting a couple of the snack bars, but during this time I also came up with a few of my own concoctions. My recipe below is my raw version of chocolate cookies. Notice there is no added sugar in this recipe. The cookies are sweetened with the banana and dates. Enjoy my recipe below for Chocolate Cookies. These are pretty healthy and make for a great snack!

Ingredients:

1 1/2c of unsweetened, shredded coconut
1 banana cut in half
1/4c of cocoa powder or raw carob powder
Teaspoon of vanilla extract
4 dates, sliced
Preparation:

Place all ingredients in a food processor and process for a minute. Once combined, take ‘dough’ and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Take the chilled dough and with two tablespoons worth form into a ball and then lightly pat to shape a round cookie. Place on a plate and repeat with the remainder of the dough.

Tip: make a batch of these cookies and freeze them up for a quick treat anytime!

Recipe Alert: Coconut Apple Cake

Hey hey Peeps!

The other day I wanted to have cake for breakfast. Of course if I'm going to have cake for breakfast, a few conditions have to be met. For example: high fiber, low glycemic, nutritious and low sugar. You may ask...." But Kanwal.. How are you going to find a cake like this"? Well, first of all, I may not be able to find this cake BUT I will be able to make this cake and it will be quick!

This is exactly what I did. I made a healthy, nutritious, low glycemic/sugar apple coconut cake and it was extremely easy. So easy, that I feel bad taking credit for it :-p

I had this whole cake for breakfast and it was delicious. It was also so easy to make. I think next time I'm just going to make a big batch of this and make muffins out of them. I seriously suggest you try this recipe out. There is no added sugar and it has 10 grams of fiber!

Here are the deets:

Coconut Apple Cake
Ingredients:
1/2c unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2 egg whites
1tsp vanilla extract
1/4c coconut flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1tsp baking powder
1tsp cinnamon
1 small apple, diced

Preparation
Combine all ingredients except for apple. Lightly grease a small round baking pan (I used my Pyrex dish). Pour batter into dish, add apples on top. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Serving: 1

Jersey City Restaurant Review: Rajbhog Sweets

The other night we decided to go out for Indian food. It had been a while and we were both craving it. If you're in Jersey City, the place to go for Indian food is Newark Avenue, near the Journal Square Path Station. On Newark Avenue you will find all things Indian. Indian grocery stores and Indian restaurants. I've been going to Newark Avenue for the past 10 years. There are about 15 restaurants on Newark Avenue. Out of the 15 probably 5 have remained the same. I feel like every year a new restaurant opens but then closes with in a year.

One of these restaurants is called Rajbhog Sweets. Their sweets are AMAZING. I have never gotten a sweet I didn't like from here. Rajbhog Sweets also serves savory food plates. For $8 you get a huge thali(selection of indian food on a plate) of Indian food. This includes an appetizer AND DESSERT. The thali also comes with two rotis, two vegetarian dishes, rice and dhal. When you have this with the apps and dessert, it's a pretty big meal!

We decided to try Rajbhog and get the thali. My thali came with a samosa appetizer and a fried eggplant pattie. I also got a paneer(cheese) dish and channa(chickpeas) masala as my vegetarian dish. There was rice, dhal(lentils) and yogurt as well. Also, lets not forget... dessert was a gulab jammun (fried dough soaked in a sugar syrup). So, how was it? I loved the samosa, roti, channa and gulab jammun. I felt the panned was over cooked and was just to oily. The dhal...I've never had dhal that looked milky and tasted slightly sweet. I'm more used to Punjabi dhal which is a bit salty and has spice. Like I said the channa was delicious. The chickpeas were cooked perfectly and had a bit of spice to them. There are options to get smaller thali's and if I do eat here again I would get the thali with one vegetarian option.

The dessert was phenomenal! I love gulab jammun and these guys did a great job with that. I've gotten a few of their sweets in the past and have never been disappointed.

The verdict: Stick to Rajbhog Sweets for their sweets. The savory food can be hit or miss.

Rajbhog Sweets:
812 Newark Avenue
Jersey City, NJ