cooking ala mel

Chocolate Chip Raisin Oat Cookies (Gluten Free)

July 3, 2012

Lately, I feel like my life has been revolving around fitness. This is mostly because working at GNC has me talking about Sports Nutrition about 85% of the time, and as a result, I’ve been a lot more focused on sticking with my workouts and being conscious about what I put into my body for those workouts (primarily the post workout). In addition to the protein that I add to my post workout smoothie (consisting of some combination of frozen berries, banana, kale/spinach, greek yogurt, and flax), I’ve started to add GNC’s unflavored creatine monohydrate.

I’m not one for using too many supplements, since most of them have little to no evidence of efficacy, but creatine is one of the few that actually has a whole lot of research to back it up. It’s used for maximizing power and performance in high intensity exercise by increasing your ATP stores (your energy source). This in turn will help you build more muscle, since you’ll be doing more work. The only thing that usually keeps women away from creatine is the fact that it causes some water retention; it pulls water into your muscle cells, causing you to look/feel bloated. So far, I haven’t seen any issues, but I’ll keep you updated if I see any changes! Since I’ve been doing Insanity: the Asylum, I figured I could use a bit of an energy boost for the tougher workouts. I’m in my last week, and I am definitely noticing my muscles getting leaner and more defined than just doing Insanity! Definitely recommend it.

Do you take any supplements for your workouts? I’d love to hear about it!

Since I’ve been working a good bit, and I usually don’t do my workout for the day until afterwards, I’ve been making sure to take some good, healthy snacks that keep me feeling full and energized through my workout. These cookies fit the bill, satisfying my sweet tooth without being too indulgent.

I love the combination of raisins and chocolate, so I threw both in these oat cookies. I also added sunflower seeds for added crunch. If you aren’t a fan of either raisins or chocolate in your oat cookies, just double the amount of whichever you like (or leave them out all together.. although that’s no fun, now is it?!). I used a little bit of coconut sugar just so Alex wouldn’t think they were totally healthy with only Truvia, but you can easily get away with leaving that out and using 14 packets of Truvia, instead (or use 1/2 cup sugar and no Truvia).

Chocolate Chip Raisin Oat Cookies (GF)
yields 2 dozen cookies
1 cup oat flour
1 t baking powder (make sure it’s GF if you require a GF diet)
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/4 cup coconut oil
2 T butter
1 egg
1 t vanilla
12 packets truvia
2 T coconut sugar
1 1/3 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
1/3 cup raw sunflower seeds, optional

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the truvia, coconut sugar, coconut oil, and butter. Stir in the egg and vanilla. In a small bowl, stir together the oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir the dry ingredients into wet ingredients, and mix until well incorporated. Stir in the rolled oats, and then fold in the chocolate chips, raisins, and sunflower seeds.
Drop by the tablespoon onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake at 350ºF for 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container.

Balsamic Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

June 28, 2012

I’ve seen lots of cherry tomato tarts cropping up on Pinterest, and it’s made me so in the mood for some good roasted tomatoes. With lots of homemade focaccia at my disposal, it was destined to be topped with some roasted cherry tomatoes for a yummy snack.

I’m was way too impatient when taking photos to top these correctly, but when we actually ate them, we sprinkled them with some dried basil and parmesan cheese. It complemented them perfectly.

I love in this photo how the red pretty much glows. The balsamic and olive oil mixture reduces a lot in the roasting time, and it’s so tasty soaked into the bread. With some of the leftover tomatoes, I made a sandwich with some artisan lettuce, sliced deli chicken breast, basil, and parmesan to take with me for dinner at work. It was a bit of a messy sandwich, but it was such a lovely break from unpacking boxes upon boxes from the shipment at GNC.

I know that because it’s summer, you may not want to turn your oven on for very long, but I promise that these tomatoes are SO worth the bit of heat they produce! And it only takes about 20 minutes! We roasted up some garlic in the process, too – so delicious.

Balsamic Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
serves 4
adapted from Real Simple

2 pints cherry tomatoes
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 T olive oil
1/2 t sea salt
1/4 t pepper
basil, parmesan, for sprinkling

In a medium bowl, stir together all of the ingredients (minus the basil & parmesan), until the tomatoes are well coated in the oil/balsamic mixture. Pour into a foil lined baking dish (for easy cleanup), and roast at 400ºF for 20 minutes, stirring every once in a while, until the tomatoes are bursting.
Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Whole Wheat Spanish-Style Focaccia

June 27, 2012

Alex has wanted to have mussels for quite some time – we got some frozen that are such a cinch to whip up, and they’re actually rather good – but I kept telling him no. I couldn’t get myself to be in the mood for them when he wanted them, so I just kept telling him we needed a good, crusty bread to go along with them. Every time I went to the store, then, he’d immediately ask if I purchased crusty bread. Of course, I never think of it when I’m out.. so I told him I’d make a nice focaccia. Then, of course, came the relentless questioning of when I would be making this focaccia. I finally got around to it yesterday.

Devo Olive Oil was kind enough to send me some of their Hojiblanca-Intenso Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and it seemed like such a perfect fit for this bread. Being a lovely, robust Spanish olive oil, I figured I ought to spice the focaccia with some traditional spices used in Spanish cuisine.

I chose garlic, chili peppers, thyme, oregano, salt, and pepper for the key flavors in this bread. Together, they made a lovely blend, very aromatic, with just the right amount of kick.

This bread is perfect for dipping in olive oil or paired with seafood. It was perfect with the mussels; it soaked up all of the juices, and the spices really went well with them.

This also went extremely well with roasted tomatoes, which I will be sharing later. The possibilities are endless for this bread! It’d probably make some brilliant sandwiches. Grilled cheese, anyone? Mm.

I promise this is so easy to make, too, even though it does need to rise twice. I put it out in the sun, and it rose in no time! There’s no reason not to make some fancy homemade bread – hands on time is only about 20 minutes, and your house will smell like it for hours.. mmm.

Whole Wheat Spanish-Style Focaccia

makes 3 oval loaves

2 cups lukewarm water

1 1/2 T active dry yeast

1 t honey

1/4 cup Spanish olive oil (I used Devo’s Hojiblanca-Intenso)

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 t chili pepper flakes

1/2 t dried thyme

1 t dried oregano

3 t sea salt

1/2 t pepper

5 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

for topping:

6 cloves garlic, sliced thinly

1 1/2 t chili pepper flakes

1 1/2 t dried oregano

3/4 t dried thyme

salt, pepper, to taste

olive oil, for brushing

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, stir together the warm water and the honey, until the honey is dissolved. Stir in the yeast, and allow to sit for about five minutes, until frothy. Stir in the olive oil.

In a medium bowl, stir together the minced garlic, chili pepper flakes, thyme, oregano, sea salt, and pepper. Slowly add the flour, stirring until well combined.

Mix together the spices for the topping, and set aside.

Slowly add the flour mixture into the yeast mixture, mixing on low speed. Once a dough begins to form, increase the speed, and knead until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Place the dough into an olive oil coated bowl, and cover with plastic wrap.

Allow to rise in a warm place, until doubled in size, about an hour. Once doubled, punch out the air from the dough, and allow to rise again, until doubled in size.

After the second rise, punch the dough down again to release the air. Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface, and cut into three equal pieces with a bench scraper. Form the three pieces into ovals about 1/2 inch thick. Place onto a baking stone (or baking sheet) sprinkled with corn meal to prevent sticking. Brush each loaf with olive oil, and sprinkle with the topping spices.

Bake at 425ºF for 15-18 minutes, until golden brown. Allow to cool completely before cutting. Store in an airtight container.

*You can store the bread in an airtight container/bag and freeze it for up to 2 months.