I've been sitting on this post for a couple weeks. I made this while Daniel was up in Oregon one night for myself, the story is funny. I was going to have him taste test it but I forgot to make it again in the 2 days we had together before he flew back out for Rwanda.
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Why does this blog posting thing always seem to find me when I should be in bed. Ack, I've been fairly tired in the mornings lately too.... So I should be in bed but I'm just too excited about my tasty dinner tonight and I just have to share it with you all.
So I looked in the fridge and thought what the what am I going to eat for dinner.... hmm and this is what I came up with. I went a little overboard on the jalapeños so... I've toned it down for you a little bit here in this recipe. Even though it was scrumptious, it had quite the kick. Yours shouldn't have quite as much kick, and if you always want a little more, just up the anty! Watch falling pieces on the floor if you have house pets. My pup, I think, scooped up a tiny bite off the floor. I'm almost positive because he proceeded to drink 2 bowls of water before I cut him off.. WHOOPS! Serves: 6 Time: 10-15 minutes Effort: Uber Easy Ingredients: 1 head of cauliflower, organic of course 1/2 large red onion, organic of course 1-2 large roma tomatoes, organic- no surprise 1/2 jalapeño pepper (or go brave and go for the whole thing) 5 cloves of garlic, minced 1-2 cups cilantro, chopped 2-3 cups baby kale (I pulled this straight from the garden tonight!) 1/4-1/2 cup mint leaves 1 1/2 TBS olive oil 1 TBS red wine vinegar 1/2 TBS ume plum vinegar 1/2-1 tsp Himalayan sea salt juice from 1/2 lemon 1. Soak cauliflower in a large bowl of salt water, head upside down. While cauliflower is soaking chop up the following: red onion (great advice on how to chop here), and tomatoes. Mince the garlic cloves. Put in large bowl. 2. Throw the jalapeño (1/2), cilantro, mint, kale in a food processor and chop until fine. Scoop out and dump in large bowl with onion, tomato, and garlic. 3. Rinse off the cauliflower, cut off leaves/stem, then cut into chunks. Throw this in the food processor until fine. Toss it in the large bowl with the rest. 4. Stir in the olive oil, red wine vinegar, ume plum vinegar, sea salt, and juice from lemon. 5. Mix it up and shazam, there's your side dish! *note Ume Plum Vinegar has a lot of salt/sodium so you may just want to sprinkle salt to taste or skip the salt altogether.. You decide. I love the minerals from sea salt AND I used to have really really LOW blood pressure, so I salt it up, but really it is your preference!* August 5, 2014 Chia Energy Training Bites.... I found this new app, love it, OM writer. I have to admit, its kept me up too late at night the past few nights. So I’m getting a head start tonight a little earlier. This post is going to get to the recipe, just hang on. Somehow, I have to tie my thoughts into the recipes. As of the past year, I’ve lost myself in the kitchen. Daniel almost exclusively did the cooking the first five years of our relationship. I really didn’t know how to cook and didn’t want to learn (kind of like learning the nitty gritty of taking care of my bike). But when I found myself in the middle of nowhere last year, I found this respect for the earth and what it can provide. It actually sickens me how we take care of mother earth and mother nature now. So nonetheless, the kitchen, long walks, hikes, easy jogs, rising and falling sun beams over the horizon, and food (real food) helped me to find new hobbies, while taking control of my health (note folks, it wasn’t long work hours, climbing the corporate ladder, or winning a race that got me here-there isn't anything wrong with these but I was out of balance in all these areas). It was self-reflection. A lot of that reflection time, I found in the kitchen, preparing food that was going to nourish not only Daniel and I, but Buck too (yes, I went there, my dog often eats well). Buck developed a cancerous tumor, ironically the same summer I was dealing with post concussive syndrome and an out of whack thyroid.... Which only proves my point, we live in an inter-connected world with plants, animals, energy and each other. So with no further ado, on to my energy balls recipe.. As I started to prepare and cook meals from food that breathed, that worked in synchrony with us, I watched Daniel grab chemical sugar packages from the cupboard. I thought what the hell are we doing? Yes, it was that extreme. I once too said, "if I am going to eat this junk there is no better time than while training." Because right before, during, and right after training we are fuel burning machines...right? WRONG! Well maybe there is some truth to that. I’m not going to get into the science behind that because I have one premise here and that is not it.... If we are wearing our bodies down with training stress (yes, endurance training is a stress), sugar and chemicals will only further increase inflammation and damage. Now, not all sugar is created equal and there is a nice article here you can read about. However, in my mind - during high amounts of volume training we need to put the best food into our bodies, because frankly, bodies deserve the best of the best. There is a whole other agenda too. Money is energy, and well..... I’m not funding anything that could be more detrimental to our little ones' (your children or grandchildren) futures than we already have. So if I have to make a stance, I think its going to be the best spent in making the statement by not buying the bad goods (aka training junk that is on the market). And that my readers, is how I came to the Chia Energy Balls Recipe. Chia Almond Energy Balls 1/2 cup ground chia seeds 1/4 cup unsweetened organic shredded coconut 2-3 dates (soaked) 2 TBS raw honey (local if possible) 1 TBS Lucuma Powder (by navita naturals) 1 TBS coconut flour (optional) 1 TBS almond butter 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 tsp sea salt 1/4 tsp cinnamon 1 square ghiradelli unsweetened baking chocolate Paste: Mix honey, lucuma powder, vanilla and coconut flour in a food processor or by hand. I used the coconut flour on my first batch and not the second batch- both stuck together and seemed fine. I then add the dates, make sure they are well combined and not chunky. Dough: Add the ground chia seeds to the processor. I first ground the chia seeds by hand with a salt grinder, then D decided I could use his coffeee grinder which worked perfect and was much easier! The Stuff: Add the coconut flakes, baking cacoa, sea salt and cinnamon and process briefly. Once all combined, grab a spoon (or if you have a cookie dough baller use that), make small balls. I stuck to a tsp sized ball, roll them in the palm of your hands and place in a mini cupcake tray (or on wax paper on a cookie sheet); place in the freezer for 15 minutes and they are set to go. I recommend keeping them in the freezer or fridge until ride/run time :) I believe the ones I made make 12-15 from this recipe. My numbers differed a bit depending on the size I made (and how much I tasted out of the food processor while making them DOH)! *photo credit to Daniel Matheny*
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Heather Matheny,
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