Coach Mike's Quick Muesli

Ingredients

1/2 cup Quaker 1-Minute Oats

1/2 cup Kirkland Organic Vanilla Soy Milk (skim, almond, other milk is fine)

1/2 cup Chobani Greek Nonfat Plain Yogurt

1 serving fresh fruit (half an apple + 1/2 banana or whole fruit or different combination--have fun and experiment!)

1/4 cup dried fruit (craisins, raisins, chopped dried apricots, etc.)

5-6 chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans, pistachios, other)

1 tsp cinnamon

Simply mix all ingredients together and let stand if you like or just eat right away. Today I made a version with 1/2 of a granny smith apple and a few organic strawberries, diced small. I used about 4 dried apricots, chopped, and some pecans, chopped, and that was today's variation. Awesome stuff. Usually I use apple, banana, almonds, and craisins, and that's great, too. Have fun with it. This is a great meal because you get whole grains, fruit, probiotics and killer protein from the greek yogurt, and this is between 350-450 calories, depending. You can obviously omit some stuff, and if you need it sweeter, use a touch of agave nectar or some honey and that will do you right. Any way you dice it (lol) this is a great way to start your day, and you'll be able to power through without grease or even making a mess. There's no excuse not to have breakfast!

Weekly Batch Tabbouleh

Ok...after a few tweaks and modifications, here's the recipe for this. I still really don't measure my ingredients officially, but these will come pretty close. Feel free to adjust and be creative! This is a dynamic recipe that creates a gallon-bag of a great salad that has it all! Protein, whole grains, carbohydrates, good fats, antioxidants, and vitamins! Eat love for lunch every day, and don't waste your money on junk!

INGREDIENTS

-2 cups Bob's Quick-Cooking Bulgar (located in the healthy section of your grocery store)
-1-2 Jalapenos, finely chopped, with seeds
-1/2 Red Onion, finely chopped
-1/4 cup garlic, minced
-2-3 fresh radishes, minced
-1-2 bell peppers (different colors if desired)
-1 cup carrots, finely chopped
-1 cup celery, finely chopped
-1/3 cup sundried tomatoes, finely chopped (I use "packed in olive oil" sundried tomatoes)
-1/2 can black olives, drained and finely chopped
-1 can or approximately 2 cups prepared chick peas
-1 cup fresh curly parsley, finely chopped
-1-2 cups other herbs, finely chopped (I use a combination of dill, mint, cilantro, and basil but use what you like!)

SEASONINGS
-1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
-1/4 cup white wine vinegar
-1/4 cup lemon juice
-2 tbsp cumin seeds
-2 tbsp fresh black pepper
-2 tbsp cup fresh ground sea salt

I recommend you make this the day before you plan to start using it as all of the flavors will have a better chance to combine. First, combine bulgar with 3 cups cold, clean water in a bowl or container and set aside for 3 hours, or until bulgar has soaked up most of water and is soft and tender.  After you have set the bulgar aside, prep and combine other ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add seasonings and toss with a rubber spatula, mixing well to coat evenly. Your mix should look colorful and be nice and fragrant. Put in a gallon Ziploc freezer bag and put in refrigerator to chill and allow Ingredients to absorb flavors. Once bulgar is tender, combine with veggie mix. (You may have to put in 2 bags as batch may be pretty large). Place bag(s) back in refrigerator and chill for at least another hour and/or put in single-serving containers for lunches for the next day! Enjoy! Please comment on this recipe and feel free to notate any quantity or other ingredient adjustments you made! Thanks for eating healthy and savoring the best flavors of life!

Coach Mike's Banana Nut Pancakes

 

Prep Time:
5 minutes

Cook Time:
10-20 minutes

Servings  

10  
Original Recipe Yield 35-40 pancakes

Ingredients

• DRY INGREDIENTS
• 2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 cup Flaxseed Meal
• 6 tbsp turbinado sugar (sugar in the raw)
• 2 tsp salt
• 3 1/2 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup chopped almonds
• LIQUID INGREDIENTS
• 4 overripe bananas, mashed
• 3 cups organic vanilla soy milk (or sub skim)
• 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup Real Eggs or Egg Beaters (liquid egg product)
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• DRIZZLE PANCAKES WITH
• Organic Blue Agave Nectar or sugar-free syrup or top with fresh berries or natural fruit spread or just eat plain!

Directions

1. Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, mix the liquid ingredients together until well blended. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix all together quickly, until it is a lovely batter! Heat large skillet or griddle on medium-high heat. When pan is hot, coat with Pam and drop 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Wait until you see several bubbles on top of pancake, and flip to brown pancakes on both sides. Reapeat process until batter is gone and you have a plate full of pancakes!
2. COOKING TIP
3. -you may want to use a high-temperature spray otherwise you will have a little smoke, but it's nothing to worry about.

Potato & Pinto Salad

What can I say...I love creating fresh and delicious salads! Here's one I came up with that is a great way to get protein, carbs, nutrients, and oh yeah, flavor!

Ingredients:
Approx 8-10 medium-sized red or yukon gold potatoes
2 cans pinto beans, drained
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper,chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped (use more/less seeds for desired heat)
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1/2 cup of fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup of fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup of fresh dill, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
EVOO & white wine or champagne vinegar, to taste
1/2 tsp cumin seeds

Peel potatoes and boil until tender. Strain water and place potatoes in large bowl filled with ice water to stop cooking and cool. Let sit in ice water for at least 10-15 minutes, or until potatoes are chilled thoroughly. Drain and cut into small cubes. Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl with rubber spatula, taking care not to break up potatoes too much. Adjust seasonings to taste and serve or store in fridge until ready to eat. Enjoy!

Panzanella Caprese

This dish is inspired by Italian freshness, at least my interpretation of what that is because I've never been there! This salad is simple and delicious. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
6-8 roma or plum tomatoes, diced
1 cup fresh basil, chopped
3 cups baby spinach, chopped
1 can black olives, drained and sliced
1 lb fresh mozzerella, cut into small cubes
1/2 of a red onion, thinly sliced
loaf of whole grain bakery bread, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
EVOO & White wine or champagne vinegar, to taste
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Place the cubes of whole grain bread onto a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for around 10 minutes, or until desired level of toastiness is reached. Remove and set aside.

Mix all of the other ingredients in a large bowl and stir to coat with oil and vinegar. Taste and adjust salt and pepper accordingly. If serving family style, mix cubed bread into salad and serve. Otherwise, store salad and bread separately and mix per serving when ready to eat. Enjoy!

Heart-ichoke Spinach Dip

This is something I came up with for our New Year's Eve celebration. It's easy, nutritious, and delicious!

You will need:

1 package Fat-Free Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1/2 cup mozzerella cheese
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped green or red bell pepper
1 cup fresh baby spinach
ground sea salt
ground black pepper
-optional ingredients-
1 tube "Hooray Puree" broccoli puree
1 tube "Hooray Puree" Cauliflower puree

Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl, then move mixture to a 8x8 or similar size pyrex baking dish and bake at a preheated 350 degree oven for approximately 30 minutes. Time may vary but the dip is done when the top becomes golden brown and begins to bubble. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5-10 mins. serve with celery and carrot sticks and whole-grain artisan bread or toast. Enjoy!

Tabbou-Tabbou-Leh

Simple and Delicious. Here's a great, healthy meal and/or side dish that has it all-whole grains, raw vegetables, protein, good fats. Yesterday I made tabbouleh, a Mediterranean dish and it turned out great. I started with "Bob's Red Mill" Quick-cooking Bulgar, which is 100% whole grain wheat. I actually used the recipe on the bag, which is quite simple and requires no cooking at all. To begin, I combined 2 cups of water with 2 cups of bulgar and put it aside to soak for an hour. Then, I finely minced a bunch of parsley, chopped about 1/4 cup of mint, sliced 3 green onions, seeded and diced 2 tomatoes and combined these ingredients in a bowl with salt, pepper, cumin, and lemon juice and stirred them together lightly. I then placed that mixture in the fridge for an hour. When it was done, I combined the bulgar and the vegetable/herb mix with olive oil and placed it on top of romaine leaves and cucumber slices (shown in picture). I tasted the mix and though it was okay, I had to put my spin on it. When we were ready to eat, I took the tabbouleh mixture and put it back in a bowl and added a can of chick peas, rinsed, chopped red onion, more black pepper and salt to taste, and took the cucumbers and romaine, chopped and added them. Then I stirred up the entire mixture, and it definitely was kicked up a few notches and served as an awesome, wholesome, healthy dinner. You can find bulgar in your local supermarket. I got this particular brand at Jewel, and I will definitely make this again. Here's a tip: Be innovative: Add chilled, grilled meats such as chicken breast and salmon fillets and/or other veggies such as broccoli, carrots, chopped almonds (oooooh I'm doin that next time), kalamata or black olives, etc. What I did here since I never made this is followed the recipe (thus duplicating success), and then when I learned the jist of it I tweaked it and made it my own. That's the main idea here. Please post your comments and variations of this dish and/or other salads--I'd love to try them out! Thanks for reading and have a great night!