"Rice crispy" treats

One of my families favorite desserts is rice crispy treats. I think we could all eat an entire pan in one sitting. I decided to clean up our favorite treat and came up with these little healthy treats that taste delicious! 

Ingredients:

-2 cups puffed rice

-1 cup of whatever crushed raw nuts you'd like ( I used walnuts and sunflower seeds)

-1/2 cup brown rice syrup

-1/2 cup sunflower seed butter ( you could also use almond butter)

1. Mix the brown rice syrup and nut butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat.

2. While that's on the stove top mix together the puffed rice and nuts in a bowl.

3. Once the nut butter mixture starts to bubble pour it over the puffed rice and nuts and stir until well combined. 

4. Now you can either put the mixture in a small pan or like I did,

put it into muffin tins to make indivuidual treats. Make sure to spray the pan with non stick cooking spray! 

5. Pop in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes or until they're cool. Enjoy! 

Paleo lemon blueberry scones

I've been a little obsessed with scones lately and wanted to make some that were both gluten and dairy free. They didn't turn out half bad.... 

Ingredients 

-2 cups almond flour

-1 cup tapioca flour

-1 tsp baking soda

-pinch of sea salt

-zest of a lemon

-2 eggs

-2 TBSP pure maple syrup

-juice from a lemon

-3/4 cup blueberries

1. Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees

2. Mix together the almond flour, tapioca flour, baking soda, salt and lemon zest.

3. Add in the eggs, maple syrup and lemon juice and mix until well combined.

4. Gently stir in the blueberries.

5. Cover the baking sheet with parchment paper and place about 8 large spoonful of dough onto the sheet. 

6. Put in the oven for about 18-20 minutes of until the tops are golden brown. 

Protein Smoothie Bowl

I usually don't do smoothies a lot because I honestly hate cleaning out the food processor when I'm done... But I was craving something sweet for breakfast so fruit with almond and cocoa nibs sounded delightful. 

Ingredients

-1/3 cup frozen raspberries

-1/2 cup frozen peaches

-1/2 packet of egg white vanilla protein powder

-1 cup organic green juice

Toppings: more fruit, cocoa nibs, nuts, ect. 

1. Put everything in the food processor or blender and combine until smooth. I put mine in a bowl because I love my smoothies thick but you could add more juice and drink it out of a cup as well. Add toppings and enjoy! 

Kale Chips

I do not like the taste of kale at all... so when my friend had made kale chips i was very reluctant to try them. to my surprise i really liked them and the best part is there super easy to made and a great healthy replacement to regular chips. It's low in calories, high in iron and vitamin A, C, K and calcium. It's also full of powerful antioxidants and  is a great anti-inflammatory food. The benefits of this leaf are amazing!

Ingredients:
-one bunch of kale
-olive oil
-sea salt

1. clean and cut the stems from the leaf of the kale

2. dry off the kale and place on a baking sheet. i have an olive oil mister so i used that to cover the kale but if you don't have one just pour a little olive oil on the sheet and mix the kale until its completely covered. top with sea salt or any other spice you'd like.

3. place in the oven at 350 degree for 15-20 minutes or until the kale is crisp.

4.store in an airtight container.

Cinnamon Roll Baked Oatmeal

I LOVE oatmeal almost as much as i love coffee and ballet. when i became gluten- free i was relieved to know that they made gluten free oats but since id been so use to packets of oatmeal i had to find ways to create a yummy breakfast without the convenience of Quaker.

Ingredients:
-1/2 cup gluten free quick oats
-1/4 cup applesauce (you could also use 1/2 a ripe banana or 1/4 cup pumpkin)
-1/4 cup of almond milk
-1/2 tsp cinnamon
-1 1/2 TBSP brown sugar (or you could use coconut sugar, stevia or pure maple syrup)
-1/4 tsp of vanilla extract
-optional: raisins, walnuts, chocolate chips, ect...)

1. pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees

2. mix all the ingredients in a small bowl. grease a ramekin baking dish or a small loaf pan and pour the oatmeal into the dish.

3. bake for 15-20 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

4. top with almond butter, brown sugar, maple syrup or chocolate chips and enjoy!

Raw Cherry Brownies

I LOVE brownies! Well i love any dessert actually (except for cake... i don't like cake) and wanted to try a raw dessert recipe. this way I can have a delicious dessert and not feel guilty about it. 

Ingredients:

-1 cup raw almonds

-3 TBSP cocoa powder

-pinch of sea salt

-4 medjool dates 

-1/4 cup of dried cherries

-1 TBSP water

1. Put the almonds, cocoa powder and sea salt in a food processor and mix till finely ground. Do not over process because then you will have almond butter.

2. Cut and pit the dates and add them and the dried cherries to the food processor and process for about 60 seconds.

3. Add in the TBSP of water slowly and mix.

4. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes.

5. Roll out the dough on parchment paper about 1/2 inch thick and cut out shapes with little cookie cutters.

6. Keep the brownies in an air tight container and in the fridge.

Gluten Free Pancakes

These pancakes are absolutely DELICIOUS and super easy to make. Its basically just like oatmeal but in a pancake form.

Ingredients
-1/4 cup gluten free oats
-2 egg whites
-1/2 a very ripe banana
-1/4 tsp baking powder
-1 packet of sweetener
-pinch of salt
-1/4 tsp cinnamon
-1 TBSP almond milk

1. mash the banana and mix with all other ingredients

2. grease a pan and cook on medium heat.

3. the entire recipe should make about 3 small pancakes.

4. top with peanut butter, pure maple syrup or fruit

Chickpea, Barley and Zucchini Salad

I was a little hesitant about creating this recipe at first because I wasn't quite sure how well all the flavors would go together but when it was finished it was DELICIOUS!! (if i do say so myself). So here it is my gluten, dairy and meat free "pasta" salad.

Ingredients:
- 4 cups of vegetable broth
- 1 package of trader joes Barley
- 1 can of chickpeas
- 1 medium zucchini
- pinch of salt
- 3 TBSP olive oil
- 1/2 a lemon

1. bring the vegetable broth to a boil in a medium size pan and cook the barley for about 15-20 minutes or until almost all the broth has been absorbed into the barley.

2. while the barley is cooking cut the zucchini into strings or if you have a spiralizer (which i really really want) you can use that too. place in a bowl and sprinkle with salt. set aside for later.

3. open and drain the can of chickpeas and heat them over the stove.

4. while those are being warmed up in a small bowl mix together the olive oil and the lemon juice.

5. mix together the barley, chickpeas and the mixture of olive oil and lemon juice.

6. place in a bowl and top with the zucchini strings.

Ballerina Granola

Ingredients:
-1 cup raw pecans
-1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
-1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
-2 cups gluten free quick oats
-1/2 cup dried fruit (my favorite are dried cherries)
-3/4 cup pure maple syrup
-1 stick of cinnamon
-1 vanilla bean

1. pre-heat the oven to 370 degrees

2. put the maple syrup, cinnamon stick and vanilla bean in a small pot on the stove and heat on medium for about 5 minutes.

3. mix all the other ingredients in a large bowl and pour the maple syrup over the mixture, removing the cinnamon stick and vanilla bean.

4. spread the mixture on a baking sheet and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the oats are nicely toasted

5. remove from the hot pan immediately to stop the cooking so the granola doesn't burn.

Enjoy over coconut yogurt or a banana!

Change

Accept what you can't change... Change what you can't accept

Every person has something about themselves that they would love to change. For instance I would love to be shorter and skinnier but reality is I can't magically shrink and lose 30 lbs. So I must accept that but to be honest it's near impossible for me to accept that. I've been told numerous times that I'm just "to big" (those were the nice words) to be a ballerina. For a long time I was so determined to prove these haters wrong. I was going to prove that based off pure talent and passion I would make it as a ballerina. Recently though I've been told this so many times it's hard to stay positive. Of course I want to prove this person wrong who keeps telling me these things but at some point a person can only take so much. It's hard to get these negative thoughts out of my head and it's really been eating away at me. 

A few years ago I had many problems with food and self image. I would restrict my intake and workout a ton. I had rules on what I could eat and when I could eat. I knew these habits were terrible for me but once I started I couldn't stop. I was spiraling downward really quickly. I had told a friend about what was going on and connected me with a mutual friend who had been going through the same thing. Eventually I started to eat normal again and excercise less. I was content again, not necessarily happy but content. 

About a month later I started to get really sad, and I mean like lock myself in my room and cry for hours sad. There was not specific reason for being sad, it was just uncontrollable. I started to binge to comfort these feelings. Temporarily the food would mask the sadness but after the guilt was so unbearable that I would restrict the next day. It was an ongoing battle between me and food. At this point I had put on a few pounds from all the binge eating. Unhappy, sad, and bigger than I wanted to be.

So here I am today, wanting a change. Wanting to hadle my emotions and eating in a mature manner and get my life on a path of happiness. I am going to change what I can not accept about myself, But in a positive way by fueling my body with healthy, organic foods and treating myself when I'm craving it.  After much experimentation with food I found that I do best without dairy, gluten, and limited meat (only fish and a little chicken). Many of you probably think I have a mental problem if I'm cutting out this many food groups from my diet but this time I'm cutting out these food groups cause it makes me feel better, not because my ED told me I could not have these food groups. I am slowly coming to peace with myself. I know the journey will be long but it will be worth it. Being healthy and happy is something everyone craves as a human being.