It's easy to be green...

When it tastes as good as this granola...
I have never had a homemade granola I liked, I always bought store granola because it was just always better.  Well I figured out how to create the same deliciousness at home.  You have to have the right ratio of liquids; 4:1 sugar:oil and use a sweet oil like coconut oil.  Sugar can be; raw honey, maple syrup, agave nectar, stevia, molasses, apple sauce (or fruit sauce/cranberry sauce). The point is you only need to stick to the skeleton ratio and you will be golden...or green =)
Note about sugar: I use to be against putting sugar and oil into granola because it just seems unhealthy - but once I started reading the labels of store bought granola I realized that the amount of sugar and oil I am using is nothing in comparison to the g whole foods use.  Also this way I get to control what kind of oil/sugar is used making it more healthy.

I basically just scavenged the kitchen for whatever looked delicious, here is what I used:

Green Granola

• 6 cups rolled gluten free oats
• 3 cups sugar; 1 cup apple sauce, 1/4 c raw honey, 1 3/4 c maple syrup
• 2 tbsp cinnamon
• 3/4 cup vanilla coconut oil
• 2 tbsp vanilla
• 1 cup mixed dried berries
• 1 scoop spirulina 
• 5 scoops hemp protein powder
• 1/4 c chia seeds
• 1/4 c shredded coconut
• 1/4 c coco nibs

mix all dry ingredients into 2 baking pans - so they cover the pans lightly
mix all wet ingredients (only 1 cup of the maple syrup, save 3/4 c for later) over a double boiler to melt down coconut oil
once melted pour over the dry ingredients and mix completely.
Our oven is not very good so I started baking off at too high a temp and all the berries ballooned out but I would recommend baking at your lowest setting 190-200 degrees for an hour
after the first hour pull the trays out and pour some more maple syrup on the granola, mix around and bake for another hour.
After 2 hours it may be pretty chewy and wet.  If it is still wet you can leave it in the oven (turned off) until it is dehydrated.  If it is starting to crisp up after 2 hours then pull it out - stir it around every hour while it sits out on the stove.  Note- to avoid burning the granola check it every 20-30 min and if it is browning stir the mix, depending on your oven this may or may not happen.

To make your life easier: make this on a non-stick sheet or wax paper, something it will peel off of because I made it in glass baking trays and it stuck like glue and I had to scrape off with a butter knife - so to avoid possibly loosing fingers use something non-stick.  If your mix is not sticking together in clumps add more sugar, if it is too clumpy add more dry ingredients and coconut oil.  This time the granola came out extra chunky and chewy, to make it less chunky/chewy just add more dry ingredients and less wet sugar ingredients.  If you want to make this recipe fat free you can sub out the oil for apple sauce ( you need at least 2 tbsp coconut/olive oil, but over 6 cups it is basically fat free).

Other ingredients that make it delicious:
-crushed cherios
-rice crispies
-soy crisps/whey crisps
-chopped nuts
-any dehydrated fruit
-flax seeds
-soak the chia seeds and mix with the liquids

If you want to turn these into granola bars add 1 cup of almond/peanut butter to the ratio - you can sub out liquid sugar ingredients for nut butters to make it more savory.


Green Coconut Bars

this recipe is amended from an amazing recipe Julie Spero gave me.  I kinda forgot the original but when we made it the first time it was so good, so I just followed my taste buds back to the original deliciousness with a new protein twist.

• 2 cups coconut butter (it has more of the coconut mass then oil - you could use oil, but the butter is ideal)
• 3/4 cup maple syrup (you could sub this out for any liquid sugar) or 1/8 c stevia (if you use stevia inc chia paste by 1/4 c)
• 1/4 cup chia seeds mixed with 3/4 cup lemon juice to make 1 cup of chia paste
• 1/2 c hemp protein powder
• 1 scoop spirullina 

over a double boiler melt the coconut butter, when melted, take the bowl off the boiling water and mix in maple syrup, chia seeds - mix through and then add the dry ingredients.  Pour onto wax paper in a baking tray and place in fridge until hard - then break into whatever size bars you want...P.S - these will melt in warm areas so keep them in ziplock bags and ideally in the fridge until you want to eat - this is also a really good addition to oatmeal if you want to melt in your oats for flavor and to increase nutritional value.

side note - I even got Load to try the granola and he approved and he NEVER eats anything green so I dare you to get your pickiest eaters to try these recipes.

Morning snack attack

Because I like challenges and I like to maximize life I have created a challenge which I believe is going to lead to some serious success in body composition and rowing power.  I am following a 5 meal a day plan and everything I eat should be 2 cups of food or less, with 3 hour intervals between meals.  This is because, as my mom says, your stomach is only so big (as big as your fist) - and if you stretch it out with every meal you over-eat at every meal and visa versa.  What I have realized is if I don't eat enough I don't have any energy and if I eat too much I am sluggish and have no energy.  The only way to find the perfect balance is to listen to your body and eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full.  That is a super big challenge however, when you are doing this after eating large meals, because when you shrink to small meals you are hungry all the time.  If you wait it out and just be patient through the hunger - I distract my stomach with liquids, like tea, coffee, water, emergen-c - 0 calorie beverages - your stomach will start to shrink and eating based on what you need will become second nature - the problem, especially in the holidays - one binge, one overeating, can stretch your stomach back out - so to avoid this here are some tips(don't worry I struggle with these too, they are hard to master):

-don't drink liquids when you eat (stretches out your stomach and leads to a dilution of stomach acid) - drink 2 (16oz) 5 min before your meal and sip on water after 30 min of digestion.  If you need supplemental liquids when you eat is can be because: you are use to drinking and eating, this is a habit and not a need and can be stopped - you are eating food that does not carry water (ie fruits and veggies have liquids - meat and starches are dehydrating to digest) remedy this by eating more fruits and veggies - you are dehydrated - remember this and focus on hydrating after you have digested for 30 min and until your next meal.

-eat slowly; chew every bite until you cannot help but swallow - after you bite food off your spoon/fork put your utensil down and do not think about the next bite until you are done with the one you are chewing on.  I found this not only allows me to feel full when I am full but I feel an immense amount of gratitude for the food I am eating when I eat slowly - hidden flavors come out and I have the time to think about what I am eating and how it is nourishing my body.

-Pre-plan meals; you don't have to be militant about it just have a general skeleton of how your eating for the day is going to go, think about what you are doing that day and how you can really fuel that activity/day.  It can be as general as a small salad for lunch - then when lunch rolls around and you are in a hunger craze you already know that you need salad and you will not be tempted by the carb cravings because of an energy crash - after you eat the salad, if you are still hungry then eat the bread or sweets - but allow yourself to be fed whole food first.   Also if you are going to workout then you earn that sweets/starchy carb and you can feel happy eating it after working your body and because you planned it you have a more positive experience.

I will sometimes post my food log so that you can see what sample days looks like.   Today looks like this:
5am wake up - banana with tbsp almond butter and 10 grapes.
6-7am run 7 mi
9am 20g whey in 12 oz sugar-free almond milk and below fruit salad (1 cup - diced grapefruit, black grapes, pomegranate) + tbsp maple syrup, cinnamon, pinch coconut shreds, pinch coco nibs, pinch chia seeds (tummy rumbling before eating, felt full after whey, waited 10 min and felt hungry again and ate fruit salad)

12 noon - small salad (about 2 cups total) mixed greens, chopped veggies, diced chicken breast.  Was "deliriously hungry" before eating, had been distracting myself with tea  -  but felt satisfied and light after eating - took some digestive enzymes to help with all the raw material.  I had also re-heated 1cup split pea soup but will eat that at 3pm.  

every hour I am doing 5 1 leg squats all day (5 on each leg).

pm will be weights and bike recover with 20 g whey +almond milk.   Dinner at 7:30pm of a veggie omelet with lox =).

Because I am in a recovery/"off season" phase this is the time to get my digestive system on track for excellence in the spring - if I train it now it will be habit by April =)

Brunch

Steam a head of broccoli (5 min) and boil 2 omega 3 eggs (10 min) and cook brown short rice (1/4 c shown)

-Eggs:

boil water and then add eggs once water is boiling - cook for 10 min then pull them out and rinse in cold water, tap the fullest part of the egg(bottom) on counter until cracked and then peel from there - sprinkle with pink salt and pepper.

-Broccoli

-steam until tender but not too soft - about 5 min after water is boiling.  Remove and sprinkle with salt/pepper/ nutritional yeast.

-We used a rice cooker for the rice and I added oregano, sage, salt, and red pepper flakes.

-We put some of Strauss’s yammies on there and some lox.

Enjoy!

Strauss's Yammies

Super delicious spicy yams which we put on top of broccoli and Tofu.  The Yams were made with:

2 diced yams

1 diced onion

2 jalapenos

2 cups of diced baby portobello mushrooms

4 tbsp olive oil

pink salt, pepper, paprika, and habanero powder ( to taste)

Sauted everything together until yams are soft.  This is a great base for any breakfast or brunch. 

Split Pea Soup

-Jar of diced garlic

-3 cups shredded carrots

-4 tbsp olive oil

-pink salt, pepper, oregano - tbsp each

-2 cups split peas

-1 cup lentils

-9 cups veggie broth/water

saute all ingredients besides the broth/water in a soup pot for a couple min and then add the liquid - let cook for a couple hours - about 3 until it is totally cooked through.  Puree in blender.

Enjoy!

Birthday wishes and snowy treats

Hey Everyone!
So my birthday is on December 10th and it is the holiday month - so if you are in the mood of generosity I came up with 4 things that would be great for my birthday (because I am turning 24)

       1. Donate to Cal Women's Crew (in a multiple of $24 - so $24, 48, 72 etc.)

2. Hug 24 people and smile all day on Dec 10th

3. Think about what creates bliss in your life and commit to doing those things more often and realizing that your attitude effects the attitudes of those around you, you can create a better world just by having a great attitude.

4. Donate to my buy Shay a Boat fund (any donations I receive will go directly into a boat fund I am saving for purchasing a training boat (about $10K) Any money I receive over 10K will go into a feed the starving rowers fund which is a small fund I am starting to give back the rowing community - more on that later.)

Now to the treats!!!

Here is a post-workout recovery treat  - adapted from my new fav site www.bodyrock.tv
2 tbsp almond butter
1 tbsp molasses or agave nectar or maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pink salt
1 scoop protein powder (I used vanilla whey but you could use whatever you like)
5 spoon chia paste (soak a tbsp of chia seeds in 1/2 cup water until they create a gelatin mass)
1tbsp shredded coconut
1 tsp cacao nibs or dried cranberries or raisins (optional)
mix all the ingredients together (except the shredded coconut) and roll into 2 balls then roll those balls into the shredded coconut - enjoy post workout or as a protein infused snack =)
Cheers!!!