The Cook & The Coach Blog

Pizza Lentils

10/29/2015

If I could eat pizza for every meal I'm pretty sure I would. It's just straight delicious. Now that I can no longer indulge in your standard gluten containing pizza crust I need to get creative in order to get my pizza consumption. I've tried cauliflower crust. I used to make my own dough with standard whole wheat flour and have since found a GF flour that works with that same recipe. I even just bought the domain, www.healthierpizza.com knowing that someday I will dedicate an entire site to pizza. So yeah I love it.

The problem with pizza and a being healthy is they don't exactly go hand in hand. It's usually pretty fatty and pretty carb heavy which is a bad combo if your goal is stay or get trim. This "version" of pizza was a random throw together that I did the other night and it turned out pretty good. I will say with the protein and fiber from the lentils this dish fares on the healthier side too.
In the dish I used a homemade pizza sauce. I have to apologize in that I have no idea what I added to it. I think I just googled "homemade pizza sauce" and semi followed a recipe. It's super simple especially if you start with a tomato sauce and not whole tomatoes. If you want to get really ambitious go for the whole tomatoes it will be worth it. Also the longer you can let it simmer the better but in a pinch 10 minutes will do. Just try to avoid adding sugar, there's no need!

I should also mention that I did this in our new Fagor pressure cooker. We love this addition to our kitchen and use it all the time for all sorts of dishes and foods. This could easily be done in a saucepan or deep skillet. I was able to saute in this then just add the lid and set the timer and walk away. Pretty slick!

One of the beauties of pizza is that you can pretty much make it however you want. My favorite combo is pepperoni, sausage, and mushrooms so I got as close to that as I could with the ingredients I had on hand, minus the mushrooms. Feel free to add whatever you like on your pizza to make this your own. Hope you enjoy!!!

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion diced
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 chicken sausage, chopped
1/2 cup pepperoni, chopped
1 cup lentils
1/2 cup pizza sauce, I might use more next time! I'm a sauce guy
1 1/2 cups water or broth
1/2 cup shredded cheese, pick your favorite. We used parmigiano reggiano
Fresh herbs (Basil or Oregano) for garnish

Directions

Over medium heat, add your olive oil to the pot and add onions and garlic. Cook for 3-4 minutes until slightly translucent.
Add the sausage and pepperoni and cook for another 5 minutes.
Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil if you are cooking on your stove top. Once boiling reduce to low and simmer for 20 minutes or until lentils are cooked through and most the liquid is absorbed.
Top with cheese and herbs and serve.

*A variation if you aren't looking for a GF dish would be to transfer to a baking dish after lentils are cooked, top with cheese and then top with some Italian bread crumbs.

Get to Know "The Coach" aka Laura

10/28/2015

Hey there friends and followers. I just wanted share this video message with you to let you know a little bit more about myself, my journey, and what I get to do everyday as a coach.

I sincerely appreciate you following our page and our blog. I would love to hear from you and get to know you a little bit better. What are your dreams? What is your passion? What is your purpose? I love helping people answer those questions and really dig deep down to find the answers.

You Have to Pay...

10/22/2015

Here's the thing friends. Health doesn't necessarily come easy in the society we live in today. We are constantly bombarded with temptations of food that will make you sick and fat. You likely go to a job that encourages you to sit in a chair for 8+ hours a day on top of sitting in a car both ways. You come home exhausted from poor food choices and lack of movement and that leads to more poor food choices, then it's taking care of the kids, then you are really wiped out, so you settle in front of the TV for the night. Then you get to do all that again the next day.

When it comes to health, YOU HAVE TO PAY!!! You have to do some tough things at some point. If you are under 50, those things might be:

Waking up early to exercise
Planning meals in advance
Ditching cable so you can afford a gym membership or workout program
Reading nutritional/fitness blogs on your lunch break instead of sports or gossip articles

If you are over 50 you might have to pay in other ways like:

Taking prescription medications
Paying higher premiums on health insurance
Not being able to do some the activities that you once were able to do
Chronic aches and pains and overall lethargy
Dying early... Yeah that's tough one but a reality

Fifty is just an arbitrary number depending on how much you took care of yourself in your teens, 20's and 30's. The problem with paying later is that you usually have to pay more. You have to make more sacrifices, the work is harder, progress is slower, and you usually need to have doctors involved.

So ask yourself how much sacrifice are you willing to make today so you don't have to deal with those things later in life?

If you've already made some of these sacrifices, we would love to hear what they were and how you created healthy habits around them. Your ideas will help others out, so we encourage you to share. Thanks friends!

New Beachbody Product Announcments

10/14/2015

Did your parents ever tease you with presents when you were younger? This wasn't the norm in our house but it did happen a few times. Or vacation??? Your parents tell you that in 6 months you will be heading to Disney World. That next 6 months is now torture. As a kid you get so excited and just can't wait.

Well... Beachbody dropped a similar bomb on us this past week. We found out about a few new programs and products that are coming out. I guess one of them is available right away but the other two we have to wait until next year. So if we have to wait in anticipation, we want you to suffer too!! Here are the three new programs and products that are or will be available.

Active Maternity

This series of workouts is available exclusively to Beachbody Club Members. As a club member one of the benefits is Beachbody On Demand which is the online streaming platform that Beachbdy recently released.

There are 4 total workouts:

1st Trimester: Get Stable (34 Minutes) - Workout Description: This first trimester workout can improve muscle tone, increase circulation and build endurance.
2nd Trimester: Get Strong (23 Minutes) - Workout Description: This second trimester workout can help battle fatigue, alleviate aches and pains, and give you a dose of mood enhancing endorphins.
3rd Trimester: Get Ready (26 Minutes) - Workout Description: This third trimester workout can create strength, getting you ready for the big day.
Post Natal: Get it Back (28 Minutes) - Workout Description: This postnatal workout will get you on the path back to fitness, increase your strength and endurance, and give you 30 minutes of time just for you.

All of these workouts do require dumbbells.

If you would like more info on these workouts or to try them for free for 30 days, reach out via EMAIL, or comment below.

22 Minute Hard Corps

If you're willing to step up and commit to spending 8 weeks with Tony Horton and 22 Minute Hard Corps™, you'll walk away Boot Camp Fit—even in the best shape of your life. It won't just give you a mission-ready physique—you're going to have to earn it—but Tony supplies you with all the tools and motivation you need to blow past the limits of what you thought you could do.

GET "BOOT CAMP FIT" FROM HEAD TO TOE WITH THE QUICK, MILITARY-INSPIRED, NO-NONSENSE WORKOUT.

Fitness doesn't get much simpler than this. 22 Minute Hard Corpsis a quick, no-nonsense, boot camp workout program. You just show up…keep up…and you will get in great shape. The training is basic, but the results are absolutely epic.

We would love to keep you up to date on the launch of this program. If it looks like you would want to try you can simply click on the link below. Also the first 15 people to respond will have first access to our Test Group that will start when the program comes out.

I'm Interested

Cafè Latte Shakeology

Café Latte flavor Shakeology is the newest flavor in the Shakeology family. It has an exclusive ingredient, Whole Coffee Fruit, which is the cherry-like fruit surrounding the coffee bean. Coffee fruit is used in Café Latte Shakeology because it not only adds great taste, it's a superfood. Café Latte Shakeology has the same protein blend and superfood profile as Chocolate, Vanilla, Strawberry, and Greenberry and the same superfood ingredients as all the other formulas as well.

Paleo Carrot Cake Muffins and Orange, Maple Keto Coffee

10/7/2015

Carrot cake is straight up my jam! Hands down, best cake! I love the sweet and spice! I would eat it all the time if it was available.

Given my new gluten free life, I have had to make some sacrifices and cake is one of them. Just this past weekend at my nephews birthday party I was forced to pass on the delicious Mickey Mouse cake. As hard as that was I was just glad I didn't have to say no to carrot cake. That would have just been tough. Avoidance has been my main course of action. Recently though I just had a craving for carrot cake. Maybe it was the fall weather but something made me think of it and that led to a google search... "Gluten free carrot cake recipe"

Low and behold I found a really good one and we had all the ingredients so I decided to do some baking. I usually don't bake, that is more Laura's area of expertise! Measuring is tough! I did it though and this muffins turned out awesome! The recipe that I found and tweaked was on a website, Primarily Inspired. Hats off to Kelly for the inspiration for this recipe! We just did the muffin/cupcake recipe but she has an icing that goes along with these too if you want it to be even more desserty, that's a word right???

The following morning Laura was scrolling her IG feed and stumbled across a pic from a local coffee shop and how they do a Orange, Maple Latte. She tried hard to convince me to drive 30 minutes to go get a coffee. I fought hard and told her I would just make her one instead. Since we don't really do dairy either we opted for a "keto coffee." Although given the maple syrup in it, we probably can't call it a "keto" coffee but oh well you get the idea, it has butter in it and other delicious things. This was super simple and super tasty. I have no idea how it compares the the coffee shop latte but we will do this again. It paired perfectly with the carrot muffins too. Pure breakfast bliss!

Paleo Carrot Cake Muffins

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups grated carrots (about 3-4 large carrots) - I used a little less than the original recipe and this was still a lot of carrot - Eat your veggies!!!
8-10 pitted medjool dates finely chopped by hand or in a food processor
4 eggs
¼ cup melted coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup coconut flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
pinch of salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grate the carrots using a food processor or box grater and set aside.
Chop the dates. If using food processor to "chop" the dates pulse 3-4 times, enough to chop but not too much that it turns into a giant date ball.
In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients (coconut flour, spices, baking powder, salt) and whisk to evenly incorporate the spices.
In a mixing separate bowl, add in your chopped dates, eggs, coconut oil and vanilla. Beat mixture well.
Add dry ingredients and stir until combined.
Fold in the grated carrots.
Fill muffin batter to the top of each muffin pan and bake for 25-28 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Orange, Maple Keto Coffee

Ingredients

1 large cup of coffee
1 tbsp grass fed butter
1 drop of orange essential oil
2 tsp real maple syrup

Directions

Add all of your ingredients to high powered blender. Blend on high for 15 seconds, making sure that the seal on the blender top is not super tight and you allow the steam to release. If you don't do this bad things happen. You've been warned.

Don't Let Your Past Define You

10/1/2015

Middle child. Shy. Insecure. Acne. Bean pole.

Sure...we're all awkward in our teen years but some of us have it worse than others.

I think back to my middle school/high school years and I don't really have a fondness for them. There is a lot of cruelty that happens at such a sensitive age...when all we want is to be accepted, loved and feel like we belong. Don't get me wrong, my family was incredible and I had the most amazing, loving and supportive parents...not to mention a few great friends who lifted me up and made me feel like all of those things. BUT, I can still feel the sting of rejection...the pain of hurt feelings and also cruel words.

These experiences have formed who I am today and how I relate to people and empathize. I realize you may not believe me...but having acne is a lot like being overweight in the sense you feel uncomfortable going out in public, you don't want anyone to look at you, nothing can cover it up, it can leave you scarred mentally and physically and you just do NOT feel comfortable in your own skin. Looking in mirrors is just miserable and don't even get me started on pictures. It was hard enough just looking through these old pictures and these weren't even when it was the worst!

My point to all of this...I could still be dwelling on the things that happened. The way I was treated. The things people said...and YES, it's been 18 years since I was in the middle of it (whoa..has it been that long??!)...but honestly what good would that do?? It would make ME miserable and it would have kept me stuck exactly where I was.

I want to encourage you to learn from your past and then GIVE IT UP. Give it to God. You can't do it alone.

Also stop allowing yourself to believe that your worth is wrapped up in any of it. It's not. Your worth comes from the ONE who created you. There is only one person that can free you from the hurt, the disappointments and the pain that human relationships can often cause...and His name is Jesus. He wants to do EXTRAORDINARY things in you...and through you! And the hope that he gives...oh yes...the HOPE he gives is one of the most amazing things.

Remember this:

"God is working in you something bigger than you, and He will carry, help, comfort, encourage, lead, lift, soothe, prod, refine, break, and build you back up to help you walk on His narrow path...if you follow Him." - Lara Casey

Pizza Lentils

Ingredients

Directions

Get to Know "The Coach" aka Laura

You Have to Pay...

New Beachbody Product Announcments

Active Maternity

22 Minute Hard Corps

Cafè Latte Shakeology

Paleo Carrot Cake Muffins and Orange, Maple Keto Coffee

Paleo Carrot Cake Muffins

Orange, Maple Keto Coffee

Don't Let Your Past Define You