Healthy Bread Pudding: Apple Cinnamon Pecan & Cinnamon Raisin Blueberry



I’m just going to get straight to the point. The following is a base recipe. Any desired fruit can be added, pecans can be substituted for other nuts. This recipe can be baked in a 8×8 dish or in small ramequins for variety like I did above. Hope you enjoy! 

 
INGREDIENTS 

 
Filling:

• 1/2 c. Coconut sugar
• 1 egg, beaten, plus 2 Tbsp. Egg Whites
• 1 Tbsp. Pure Maple Syrup
• 2/3 c. Almond Milk
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
• 1 1/2 c. Cinnamon Raisin Ezekiel Bread, lightly toasted & cubed (about 3 slices)
• Fruit to taste: Apples, bananas, blueberries [ you pick 🙂 ]

Topping:

• 2 Tbsp. Coconut Sugar
• 1/4 c. Almond Butter
• 1 Tbsp Egg Whites
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
• 1 c. Chopped Pecans

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
• Combine sugar, egg mixture, maple syrup & milk until well blended
• Mix in vanilla
• Add bread cubes and let soak for at least 10 min.
• In a separate bowl, mix together topping ingredients
• Line bottom of greased baking dish of choice with your selected fruit
• Add a layer of filling, then another layer of fruit, then another layer of filling (you will notice there is some extra liquid-save it)
• Top with topping. Pour extra liquid from filling over top.
• Bake for 25-45 min (25 min for ramiquins, 35-45 min for baking dish)
• Allow to cool for 10 min

If you feel like being fancy, add a garnish of your choice. Serve hot. 🙂

Gluten-Free, Basically clean, Mocha Cheesecake

I think it’s about time I acknowledge that I have a problem. An “unnecessary baking” problem. This weekend my roommates went on a couples retreat with their boyfriends, leaving me with an empty apartment. And, while I do relish the rare solitude, I also found myself with absolutely nothing to do.. Solution: I baked vegan cinnamon rolls AND gluten-free cheesecake purely for the sake of occupying my time. That, and I happened to have some cream cheese left over from making cream cheese icing.

Gluten-Free Vegan Cinnamon Rolls

But, this is not where the problem lies. The problem is, I didn’t have anyone to share them with. Granted, the vegan cinnamon rolls were a little too strange for me to consider sharing.. I like eggs in my pastry dough, thank you. Though, I give major props to the baker who invented the recipe. On the other hand, my cheesecake came out much more delectable, in my humble opinion, and I would have been happy to share the love. I guess sharing the recipe will just have to do! As always, I made this recipe up as I went along so, these measurements are approximate. I recommend tasting the batter before baking.. Here are the details:

GLUTEN FREE, BASICALLY CLEAN, MOCHA CHEESECAKE:

Crust:

1 1/2c. Gluten free oats, ground

1/4c. Brown sugar (or stevia with 1/2-1 Tsp molasses)

1/4c. Stevia

1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon

5 Tbsp. Coconut Oil

Filling:

8oz. Tofutti Mock Cream Cheese

8oz Neufchael Cheese

1/3 c. Stevia

2 Tbsp. Agave

2 Eggs

1c. Fat-Free Greek Yogurt

2 Tbsp. Espresso Grounds

1 Tbsp. Coco Powder (add more if you want it to be more chocolaty)

Directions:

1) Mix crust ingredients in a bowl and press into a 10-inch springform pan

2) Bake at 350 F for about 7 min. Allow to cool while mixing filling. Keep oven at 350F.

3) In a large bowl, mix together cheeses, stevia & agave until creamy.

4) Beat in eggs one at a time.

5) Stir in Greek yogurt, espresso grounds & coco powder until blended well. This is the part where you taste test! :d

6) Pour batter over the cooked crust and shake pan to spread evenly.

7) Bake for 20-25 min. or until center jiggles slightly

8) Let cool for about 20 min then store in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Makes 8-10 servings.

10 Healthy Baking Tips & Tricks

Being my stubborn self, I have to try everything on my own before accepting it as fact. Whilst experimenting with healthy recipes, this attribute has lead me to make numerous mistakes and a few discoveries, most which could have been avoided if I did my research first.. and actually believed the subjective opinions of others on the internet. Anywho- I have decided to put together a quick “Tips & Tricks” list, from my personal experiences, for anyone who has a desire to give healthy baking a try 🙂

1. Density Matters: When using gluten-free substitutes for flour it is important to know the difference between almond meal, gluten-free oats, coconut flour, and your typical gluten free flour blend (usually some combination of rice and tapioca flour) as each has it’s own density, which can make or break your recipe:
   1. Gluten-Free Flour Blend: This is probably the lightest of the bunch & most closely resembles all-purpose flour. It is great for making cookies and pastries and pretty much anything else you dream up; however, it has the least nutritional value, in my opinion.
   2. Gluten-Free Oats: Second to lightest, this flour substitute is great for really flavorful cookies like peanut butter or pumpkin spice cookies (i.e. not chocolate chip cookies or sugar cookies), pie crusts, and pancakes/waffles. Of course, gluten free oats have somewhat of a “wholesome” taste to them so the less flavor in your recipe, the more wholesome your food will taste.
   3. Almond Meal / Coconut Flour: I am lumping these two together because they are both very dense flours and are, therefore, both suitable for super dense cakes. I have used almond meal for pie crusts before and found it to be quite tasty. These flours absorb a lot of moisture. So far, I have only found this attribute to be useful for the crumb topping of my apple pie…
2. BEWARE BAKED PROTEIN: Especially baked casein. It tastes terrible. While it is possible to get away with adding some to pancake batter- some brands are better than others- it should, as stated, be added, not “instead off”. Otherwise just save it for your “room temp or colder” recipes.
3. Identify your main ingredient: Healthy recipes are more likely to be successful if you can actually use the main ingredient or have a very close substitute. This is why you don’t see many healthy recipes for sugar cookies, butter cookies or pastries; and you are up to your ears in banana pancake & peanut butter cookie recipes.
4. Coconut Sugar is not for baking: I have used coconut sugar in some of my recent baked experiments and they all have one thing in common: they are slightly tacky in texture. I don’t know what the chemical process is that causes it, but it is not cool. While I consider it tolerable in some circumstances, I’m sure others do not. I think it would be good in a gluten-free granola bar recipe though..
5. THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR BROWN SUGAR: I’m sorry, I said it. I don’t care what your co-worker’s super fit friend’s blog says, if your recipe depends on the amazing flavor that is brown sugar, you’re S.O.L.
6. BEST BUTTER SUBSTITUTES: I find it best to go half “solid” half liquid
   1. Almond Butter & Coconut Oil
   2. Avocado & Coconut Oil
7. Bake in small batches: There’s a lot of “hit and miss” when it comes to healthy baking, so naturally one would want to limit the amount of waste.. Or you’re like me and pinching pennies so you eat it no matter what. I tried to make protein cinnamon banana oatmeal this morning. Kids, refer back to #2 and do not try it at home.. And, yes, I ate it all……..ew.
8. Better N’ Peanut Butter should never be baked: It ends up having the same tacky texture as coconut sugar. If you are trying to reduce fat cals for your peanut butter orgasm recipe, try PB2 first; however, refer back to #3 before deciding to use all PB2.
9. When using butter substitute, press cookies down with a fork before baking : I’m not sure why this always happens, but even if I use all coconut oil as my substitute, my cookies always end up needing to be pressed down like a peanut butter cookie. What is that about ??
10. Always write your recipes down: Even though you think you will still remember after you try your new creation, you won’t.

~Rummy

Banana Bread Pancakes: The Recipe

Due to the increased number of requests on Instagram and Facebook, I now present the detailed recipe for my gluten-free, dairy-free Banana Bread Pancakes. Preface: I literally just threw some ingredients in a bowl, so these measurements are more “guesti-ments” than anything. I have added some “what if” advice below, but honestly, how hard is it to mess up pancake batter??

Ingredients:

3/4c. Ground Gluten-Free Oats

1/3c Almond Milk

3 Tbsp Egg Whites or 1 egg

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Tbsp Coconut Oil, extra for cooking

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

2 Tbsp Stevia

1-2 Super Ripe Bananas, mashed or sliced

1/2c. Chopped Walnuts

“What If Tip”: If batter is too thick, add more almond milk. If batter is too thin, add more GF oats.

Directions:

1) In a large bowl mix gluten-free oats, almond milk, egg/egg whites, vanilla & coconut oil until well blended. Add baking powder, salt & Stevia. Fold in banana and walnuts.

2) Heat 2 Tbsp of coconut oil in a frying pan or skillet over medium heat.

3) Pour batter into pan to form pancakes of a size to your liking. Once the pancakes begin to bubble, flip and cook for a few more minutes until golden brown.

Personally, I think these pancakes taste great on their own, but if you really want to go above and beyond, here are some add-ons:

Add Ons:

1. Can’t have enough banana walnut? Slice a banana and/or sprinkle extra walnuts on top.
2. Super sweet tooth? Pile some vanilla almond-based ice cream on top
3. Chocolate cravings? Add some dark chocolate chips to the batter OR make your own chocolate sauce with almond milk, coco powder, stevia & coconut oil.
4. My personal favorite? Vanilla almond-based ice cream with bananas fosters (rum, coconut oil & banana), drizzled with homemade chocolate sauce. Go big or go home, right?

Enjoy! 🙂

What happened to week 5? -Wait pie!?

Oops.. If it’s any consolation, I did in fact complete my 5 week Muay Thai challenge and have continued training four times a week since. My updates are below.

Now, onto more exciting news…. PIE🙂 🙂

Being the start of fall aka pie season, I thought it only fitting to make a gluten-free, butter-free almond plum pie with an almond butter crust. And when I say butter I mean the nut butter- not almonds and butter.

Ingredients include the following:

Crust: crunchy salted almond butter, coconut oil, stevia, egg whites & gluten-free flour blend, vanilla extract

Filling: Plums, chopped almonds, crunchy salted almond butter, egg whites, coconut sugar, cinnamon

One thing I love about pie is that it is incredibly easy to make healthy/clean -and it’s fun to eat :p So, you can expect to see a plethora of sweet and savory pie recipes in the weeks to follow. “Excited” doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel right now 😝

~~~

Muay Thai result analysis:

Pros:
– My punches and kicks are stronger
– My obliques are as well
– My muscular endurance has improved
– The people I train with are awesome

Cons:
– My abs are not as strong as they used to be
– I’ve lost mass in my shoulders, despite gain in strength
– Though still fit, I’m not as lean as I used to be

In the end of the day, I love training Muay Thai. Period. Since that’s not going to change, I want to bring back some weight training into my weekly routine. So here’s the plan:

Monday: Boxing
Tuesday: Muay Thai
Wednesday: Weights: upper body
Thursday: Muay Thai
Friday: Rest Day
Saturday: Muay Thai
Sunday: Weights- lower body

Give me two weeks for trial and I’ll get back to you.

Until next time!

-Red Rumson

“Healthy” Reese’s Mounds

As promised.. A RECIPE!

What are these delectable, orgasm-in-your-mouth treats? I call them Reese’s Mounds Aesthetically, they aren’t perfect, but hey- perfect is sooo last season.

I wouldn’t necessarily consider these treats to be super healthy, but they are certainly better for you than store-bought (assuming you can resist eating the remaining jar of peanut butter).

On to the good stuff…

Ingredients:
– 1/2c Natural Peanut Butter or PB2 or Better n’ Peanut Butter
– 1/4c stevia or other sugar substitute
– 1/4c Coconut sugar
– Dash of salt
– 2 Tbsp Coco Powder
– 2 Tbsp Coconut oil
– 2 Tbsp Agave

Directions:
1) Mix together PB, stevia, coconut sugar and salt
2) Roll dough into 1″ balls
3) Freeze for at least 45 min
4) Melt coconut oil in saucepan
5) Turn off flame and stir in coco powder and agave
6) Dip frozen balls in chocolate sauce and replace in freezer for at least 10 min

I poured the excess chocolate sauce over the mounds- hence sloppiness- because it’s that good.

And that’s it! Prepare your tastebuds because you have probably never had anything so close to a real Reese’s Cup before 🙂

Enjoy!

– Red Rumson

Oh my! A recipe: Healthy Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes

I have struck gold- according to my taste buds at least. Saturdays I have Muay Thai training @11am, so it is no surprise I found myself in need of some serious sustenance this beautiful afternoon. Protein? Yes.. Peanut Butter? A must.. Let’s make it chewable.. Pancakes? YES.

Now, I’m not going to be one of those bloggers that writes a novel before you get to the good stuff so here it is:

Heathy Banana Peanut Butter Protein Pancakes:

• 1c. Gluten Free Oatmeal, ground (or other GF flour)
• 4 Tbsp Egg Whites
• 1 Tbsp Almond Butter (or Peanut butter if your want to get really PB crazy)
• 1 Banana, sliced
• 1/4 tsp Vanilla
• 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 – 1 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
• Stevia to taste
• Almond Milk to consistency
• Low sodium Better N’ Peanut Butter or Natural Peanut Butter

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients, except almond butter and PB together. You can choose to leave your bananas chunky or puree them.
2. Slowly add almond butter until batter has a soup-like consistency
3. Heat 1-2 Tbsp olive oil in a frying pan. Once hot, turn to medium heat
4. Pour batter into pan to make roughly 5″ diameter pancakes
5. When pancakes start to bubble, flip and let cook for 2-3 more min
6. Top with peanut butter. I used an icing bag, but for those who are without, a knife will do.
7. Serve with a Peanut Butter Mocha Protein Shake and your life will be complete 🙂

Enjoy!

Here we go…

It’s officially cutting season and when I say ‘cutting’ I mean getting ripped. The good news is, there’s not much I need to change about my diet and exercise, as it’s already part of my lifestyle. This is how I plan on transitioning from bulking to cutting:

1) Switch from high weight, low rep to low weight, high rep
2) Cardio three days a week post workout. This could be a one mile sprint, 5k run, or jumping rope for 10 min
3) Egg whites instead of eggs. I will certainly miss eggs, but I’ve got some awesome egg white recipes that I’m super excited to try 🙂
4) No desserts (weddings, birthdays, etc are exempt)
5) Only 2 drinks per week. I’m not much of a drinker so this shouldn’t be an issue.
6) All meals must be consumed before 8pm.

—–

Muay Thai and weight training have helped me discover what my body is truly capable of. It’s an incredible feeling. Making these activities and healthy eating a part of my lifestyle has improved many parts of my life, physique aside, which is why I am so dedicated to what I do.

I don’t want to get cut because I feel like I have to. I want to get cut because I want to challenge myself, push myself to be stronger. If I didn’t , what’s the point?

Dieting- the biggest scam to date.

Something I have never really understood is dieting. I get the “omg I ate so much unhealthy food over the holidays I need to detox for a week” type of diet, but the purpose of mystery pills and magic teas constantly eludes me.

I will say this: I am 5’9″ and have never weighed over 140lbs, so I have never had to deal with the battle of obesity. I have; however, experienced the pressures of weight loss, dieting and a negative body image.

~~~

I constantly hear friends and family punish themselves for what they eat and declare for the 56th time that they are going on a diet. There are a couple of things wrong with this:

1) Most of the time the blame is placed on outside forces rather than their own lack of self control.

“It’s too expensive to eat healthy”
“I have to cook what my kids want”
“I have a fat gene”

Everyone has obstacles- if you want it bad enough, you’ll work around them.

2) “Diet” is a temporary fix. It implies a time limit.

People say they want to lose X amount of weight so they go on a crazy strict diet plan to reach their goal. Once it is reached, they stop. Guess what- you’re body won’t stay like that forever.

3) This cycle, when used repetitively, make people feel exponentially worse about themselves.

Think about it: you want to lose 10lbs so you limit your diet to spinach and egg whites and do some intense cardio until your goal is reached. Proud of your accomplishment, you then start going back to your old habits. The weight comes back. Naturally, you will feel even worse then you did before as all your hard work has been flushed down the toilet and your back to where you started.

“But, Rummy, I’ve been taking diet pills and haven’t changed my eating habits and the weight still came back!”

Biology 101: Our bodies naturally adapt. Nobody came out of the womb needing 10 cups of coffee, 2 packs of cigarettes a day, or 4 aspirins instead of the regular 2. Just like bacteria adjusts its molecular structure to fight antibiotics, our bodies adjust to the effects of diet pills.

Moral of the story: Being healthy is a lifestyle, not a trend. We are in control of our decisions and actions. In 2012, I made the choice to live a healthy lifestyle. Today, the results are unparalleled to those of any “diet”.

People ask me if I feel like I’m missing out and to them I say, “On what?”

-Rummy