Sunday, July 11, 2010

Cuckoo for Coconut

Ahh, lazy Sundays are amazing, aren't they? The rest of my week us usually so busy that my only real "day off" (and I use that term lightly) is Sunday. I've deemed it a no-pressure day. There's no pressure to wake up early, no pressure to workout, no pressure to clean or burden myself with other adult tasks. If I want to, that's fine. If I don't, even better. It's a chance to catch my breath and gather my frazzled thoughts for the rest of the week.

One thing I have been trying to commit to on these rest days is a stretching routine. I am notoriously bad abut slacking off in regards to stretching. I almost never do it, not even before or after a workout. Terrible, I know. I pay the price too; my hamstrings and hips are always super tight and I'm constantly getting aches in my lower back because of it. Yoga has helped a lot but I'm really trying to get better about stretching.

So because of that and because it's almost impossible for me to really sleep in these days, this morning I woke at 5 and enjoyed a slow brain warmup, letting myself come-to for about ten minutes before I actually got up. I love it when the house is still dark and quiet and still. I splashed some cold water on my face, changed into sweats, and popped in the X-Stretch DVD from the P90X series. So good!

A long hot shower later and then I wrapped myself in my papa's massive green terrycloth robe (my grandma gave it to me after he passed away a few years ago - is that weird?) and took my tea outside to watch the world arise.

Today is traditionally Pancake Sunday but no one was really feeling it this morning. I had mad cravings for protein so we did a fry-up with onion, mushrooms, eggs, and salmon cakes (and some fresh fruit so that I could count this as 'healthy'.) Really hit the spot!





I've been reading rave reviews in the blogosphere about Garlic Gold oil but have never been able to find it until today, when I nipped into the market in town. Snatched it up excitedly and decided to use it right away for lunch:






Tomatoes, broccoli, scallions, basil and smoked salmon drizzled with Garlic Gold:





Ohhh my goodness. This stuff is a-maz-ing! It's got a deep, buttery flavor, almost like liquid garlic bread. Totally addicted now. Also hurrah for my favorite magazine! I perused it slowly while we ate outside in the sunshine.

After lunch we all went our separate ways and then when the mid-afternoon munchies hit, we decided that we were ready for some Pancake Sunday action.

... waffle-shaped pancakes, that is.

The last time I was at the health food store I picked up some coconut flour. I'd been meaning to get some anyway and after reading through a paleo blog and stumbling across a recipe for coconut pancakes the deal was sealed. Seriously, I'm such a sucker for coconut anything that I'll try anything with it no matter what.


Coconut Waffles
(makes about 4 waffles)



4 eggs
1/4 cup coconut milk or other milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond; less fat)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
1 tbsp honey (I omitted this and just added a little extra milk to the batter, but for a sweeter, denser waffle you're going to want it.)
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 pinch nutmeg
1 pinch cinnamon

In a bowl, beat your eggs until they're frothy. Add in your other wet ingredients and mix. Stir in coconut flour and beat until batter is smooth. Pour into a hot, pre-greased waffle iron for five minutes. Voila!





I had set out berries sprinkled with stevia the night before to mascerate and then I pureed them with some fresh mint and stirred in a little Greek yogurt. Whooo boy, was it ever good. I could have eaten a whole bowl of just the topping (I settled for a few spoonfuls.) Plopped some grated coconut meat over top and served it with apples and cinnamon. These are really, really good waffles. Lighter than your average Belgian but still really satisfying.





In keeping with the theme, I got to try out one of my other new products, this time from my favorite oil company, Spectrum. Coconut oil in a spray can!





Also picked up this:





Which I'm going to go and sip on with my dinner salad. Happy end of weekend, everyone! Here's to a great Monday!




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