Breakfast smoothie bowl: add colour to your day

Bright magenta vegan smoothie bowl

I often see photos of colourful Acai or smoothie bowls trending all over Instagram. They're pretty easy to make, plus they're really Instagram-worthy as they look a little too good to eat! (Just look at those colours!)

The thing is, Acai isn't a fruit that is common to the Philippines, and although they are available in powdered form, fresh local fruit is a lot better since it even helps local farmers. These bright magenta dragonfruits (also known as pitaya) were plucked fresh and given by our wonderful neighbors. Organic, local, nutritious, and they add an amazing bright colour to your smoothie bowls!

What you need:

Smoothie base

• Dragonfruit 

• Apple

• Ice

• Coconut milk/cream

Toppings

• Banana

• Lychees

• Frozen berries: 

blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, 

blackcurrants, and redcurrants

• Cereal & granola

The best thing about smoothie bowls is that you can customize the fruits to your own liking (and macro/micro needs)! Using fresh, local fruits that are in season can even keep you in budget and benefit local farmers and local agriculture. If you have any overripe fruits lying around, the added sweetness makes them a great addition to the smoothie base. By the way, for all my vegan friends, this is a vegan recipe and is something easy to vegan-ize!

Personally, I like topping my smoothie bowl with cereal and granola for added crunch; I read somewhere that eating crunchy food helps signal satiety to your brain!

Note: Adding banana to your smoothie base adds a boost of sweetness and creaminess to the blend; I just prefer to have it in solid form as an average banana is around 100kcal.

Happy blending, and make sure you take a nice 

hipster-millenial-aerial-flatlay-shot for your Instagram! 😜

Plant-based recipe: Barbecue Jackfruit Sandwich

After coming across a video on Bosh, similar to the popular cooking video site Tasty (except they feature vegan recipes), I was inspired to recreate this meal, as jackfruit or langka is an affordable, easily purchased ingredient in the Philippines.

So while I was roaming the market in Bulacan, I made sure to grab some fresh jackfruit just to try out this recipe!

BBQ Pulled Jackfruit Burger

Posted by Bosh on Wednesday, June 22, 2016

What you need:

Pulled Jackfruit Sandwich

Jackfruit

Barbecue sauce (I used Mrs. Dash salt-free to control my sodium intake)

Spices: pepper, himalayan salt, onion powder

Sourdough bread* 

"Coleslaw"

Cabbage

Kewpie roasted sesame dressing

Optional

Balsamic vinegar & extra virgin olive oil (add truffle oil if you have some)

Button mushrooms

Onions

* For consistency/storage, I keep my sourdough in the freezer, making it last longer and be soft enough when toasted. I get my sourdough from Dean & Deluca Rockwell.

Method:

• Pull apart the jackfruit, or slice in shreds. It would be best if the jackfruit isn't too ripe and sweet.

• Marinade the jackfruit in the barbecue sauce and spices, cook in pan until the barbecue sauce caramelizes.

• Toast bread.

• For "coleslaw," shred cabbage, and add dressing.

• Saute mushrooms and onions.

• Assemble the sandwich by layering mushrooms, coleslaw, and pulled jackfruit barbecue.

And there you have it: as simple as that, and takes less than 30 minutes to whip the whole meal up! It's extremely filling, flavour balanced (coleslaw offsets the sweetness of the jackfruit and barbecue sauce), and nutritious! 

Who said vegetarian meals are boring?

Making a change: Going (more) plant-based

A few weeks ago, I made a choice to move towards a more plant-based, whole food lifestyle. 

As a formerly purely clean eater (with a "flexitarian" diet of fruits, veggies, chicken breast & salmon, and almost zero oil/spices), when I tried out flexible dieting, incorporating "junk" or processed food into my diet, it threw my body out of whack. This resulted in random post-eating episodes of extreme bloating (not the typical "I feel fat" bloat; more of a six-months-preggo belly) coupled with intense stomach cramps/pain. After seeing some doctors, and even lately an allergist, the hunch that I had all along could be true: I was quite possibly intolerant to some food/food groups.

Although I can't exactly pinpoint the cause of these episodes, I've noticed that meat, especially red meat, seems to upset my system. So lately, I've been dialing back on processed food and meat, and cooking with fresh market-bought produce. 

For breakfast, snacks, and other sweet treats, it's pretty easy to come up with food ideas but for savoury dishes, I find it much harder to find filling and flavourful food that's actually satisfying enough to count as a meal. (Veggies can be tricky sometimes!)

Note: This doesn't mean I'm going fully vegan/vegetarian as my doctor suggested against those for now (too much veggies/beans would build up too much gas and add to the bloating problem), so I'm meeting a happy medium with trying to make pescetarian choices, with occasional meat. This is only temporary though, for now, as ultimately, I want a healthy lifestyle that is actually sustainable for me.

I'll be posting a bunch of meal ideas and recipes soon, watch out for those! 

Low Carb Burritos

As a big fan of Latin food (Mexican, Colombian, Brazilian, etc), I'm not one to easily turn down a burrito or soft shell taco. However, the problem with most burritos or tacos is that they're loaded with carbs, fat, and sodium (here's looking at you, Taco Bell), and although for flexible dieters there's nothing wrong with that -- as long as it fits your macros -- if you're on poverty macros/calorie deficit mode, you're gonna need to make some cuts. 

But, as I always advocate, cutting back calories doesn't mean you have to cut back on flavour; and today, after coming across a recipe for low cal crepes, I had the sudden urge to hack the usual burrito wrap!

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1.) Wrap

       - Since the wrap is the most carb-loaded part of the burrito (sometimes even beyond 10g carb), I hacked it by simplifying the ingredients. All it takes is a medium sized nonstick pan (sprayed with coconut oil cooking spray), 2/3-1 cup egg whites, onion powder, and around 1tbsp Bob's Red Mill low carb baking mix and 1tsp soy flour. Cook both sides like you would a pancake and you end up with a low carb, high protein wrap.

2.) Chicken & Veggie Filling

      - Using the same nonstick pan, I cooked chicken breast cut into chunks, seasoned with onion powder, chili powder, Spanish paprika, and Mrs. Dash Taco Seasoning (no salt). In the same pan, I tossed in some easy to cook vegetables, such as (thawed) frozen baby carrots & romanesco broccoli, cabbage, and tomatoes. For an added kick, I squeezed some calamansi (PH local lime).

The seasonings make a world of a difference, making the filling have that Mexican/South American (correct me if I'm wrong), compared to bland chicken and veggie "bro food."

3.) Salsa

      - Most salsas are really low calorie at 10-15kcal for a 2tbsp serving size -- this makes it an excellent dip/sauce that adds a ton of kick-ass flavour to your dishes

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After letting the wraps/filling cool down, I assembled the burrito, complete with a spoonful of salsa.

I actually tried eating it as a wrapped burrito but since I lack proper tuck-and-roll skills, the whole thing became kinda messy to eat at first (and not-so aesthetically pleasing).

Actually ended up with a 2 serving portion but halfway through the first burrito, I was actually quite full already.

This is perfect for a pre/post workout meal since all the right proteins are there and it's a pretty lean meal as well (chicken breast, no fat; salsa, no fat; egg whites for the roll, no fat). 

For a soft-shell taco variation, you can just make the wraps smaller. For egg rolls, just add more egg whites and season the filling with soy sauce & rice vinegar.

See, sometimes compromise can be good! 

Vegetarian Cauliflower Crust Pizza (Version 1)

I've been on a mission attempting to move towards being a lacto-ovo vegetarian or at least a pescetarian, restricting my consumption of red meats (personal/health preference, I'm not advocating this for everyone). Personally, I find that clean eating (of home-cooked, flavourful food) is easier to sustain compared to meticulous macro counting, as consciously consuming more vegetables (being aware of the starchy ones) keeps your calories low yet keeps your palate still satisfied. 

I've seen countless recipes on cauliflower crust pizza online, mainly ones that involve just cauliflower and egg, and personally, I like my crust more dough-y, as my favourite restaurant pizza actually involves a sourdough crust (which I'll try to attempt to recreate in the future).

After picking up a few packets of active dry yeast from Healthy Options, I became curious on how to incorporate this to cauliflower crust pizza, but still using low carb flour.

For a homemade pizza, I had to create the 3 main components: the crust, the pizza sauce, and the toppings.

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Cauliflower Crust:

First, I activated a packet of Red Star active dry yeast in a mason jar, adding it to 1/4 cup warm water, then 1/2 tsp sugar (I only had brown), covered with a clean kitchen towel. I let it rise/activate(?) for around 10 minutes.

Then, add to:

• 2/3 low carb baking mix, 1/3 soy flour ratio

Set aside to let it rise

• 1-2 florets cauliflower

Using a food processor, blitz until it turns to rice-like consistency

Add a pinch of salt to bring out the water

Place the ground cauliflower in a cheesecloth (or in my case a clean, smooth towel)

Proceed to wring out all the water content, or else your crust won't form properly and will get all soggy

Add:

• 1 egg

• pinch salt

• herb seasoning (himalayan pink salt, pepper, onion powder, Mrs Dash's onion & herb, basil, etc as you please)

Add to dough

Let it rise for around 20-30 mins depends on how it looks

Cooked on a nonstick round cake pan, covered in parchment baking paper, brushed with olive oil/truffle oil

For 20 mins, 180 degrees C

Let cool a bit, add grated emmental-parmasean cheese, then pizza sauce, toppings, another layer of cheese, and bake again for 5-10 mins

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Pizza Sauce:

• 6 ripe tomatoes, seeds removed

• 1/4 red pepper

Puree until liquid consistency

Cook on low heat until excess water evaporates 

Add spanish paprika and chili powder to further redden the sauce

Add finely diced sundried tomatoes for flavour

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Toppings:

• shiitake mushrooms

• tomatoes

• zucchini

Grilled/pan seared, no moisture (or else it will make the crust soggy)

*Basically used available vegetables I had

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Customize it to your liking and you end up with a healthier version for your regular pizza!

Oreo Zucchini Waffles

Mainly what makes Oreos dark (compared to normal chocolate cookies) is the use of Dutch processed cocoa powder, which uses an alkalized process that turns the cocoa a couple of shades darker.

I had some lying around at home, but always thought that the macros were horrible (based on a bad MyFitnessPal search, tsk tsk to the person who put that there), but the macros are actually almost similar to that of normal cocoa powder (aka hello, fiber!). 

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Waffle base:

Dry ingredients:

2 tbsp Dutch cocoa

1/2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tsp Ghirardelli chocolate chips (optional)

1 tbsp FlapJacked pancake mix

1 tbsp Sunny Select pancake mix

pinch baking soda/powder (or both)

pinch salt

packet of stevia (optional)

Wet ingredients:

2-3 tbsp Fage 0% Greek Yogurt

100g shredded zucchini (squeeze out all water or else your waffles will be soggy)

2/3 cup egg whites

Cream Filling:

2-3 tbsp Fage 0% Greek Yogurt

1 tbsp marshmallow creme/fluff (not exactly "clean" but macros are better than frosting)

1 tbsp cream cheese

stevia/honey

*Note: rough estimations, adjust if necessary (I don't list down ingredients as I cook so..)

Method:

Waffle

Preheat waffle iron, spray with coconut cooking spray or butter flavoured Pam spray

Mix the dry ingredients

Add Greek yogurt, eggs, zucchini, chocolate chips

Cook on waffle iron for 5 mins or until fully cooked

Cream Filling

Mix all ingredients

Taste

Adjust if necessary

• Makes more than 4 waffles, depends on your waffle iron, mainly because the zucchini adds a lot of volume 

• I like my waffles crispy on the outside and soft on the inside so I make sure my iron is hot and oiled well

• After taking it out of the iron, I usually place it on large strainers (I don't have any cooling racks) to make sure the moisture doesn't make the waffles soggy

• Assembled/stacked together, with a generous layer of the Cream Filling in the middle and a dollop on top

• Sprinkled with Dutch and regular cocoa powder

Note: Adding zucchini to the mix is a great way of spiking your waffles with some micros, and adding volume and texture(?)

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Bonus!

Dutch cocoa hot chocolate:

• 1 packet Swiss Miss diet (25 cals pack)

• 1 tsp Dutch cocoa

• stevia packet

• Unsweetened nut milk (cashew is best, but for this I used an almond-coconut blend)

#Consistency: "Fail to plan, plan to fail"

"Consistency is key."

"Those who fail to plan, plan to fail."

Personally, I'm not a big fan of fast food chains, especially since I know that most of the food is calorie dense and fried (personal preference: I severely dislike oily fried food). 

However, since fast food chains serve food fast and conveniently, most road trips consist of a convenient trip to these chains for sustenance.

Which is why, like the title suggests, it pays to plan ahead. Meal prep/baon/packing food works wonders in helping you adhere to your diet healthy lifestyle and helps keep "hanger" at bay.

So, while the rest of my family/friends ate burgers (nothing wrong with that, except it's too calorie dense and not at all filling for me, personally), I packed some salmon and veggies which are a staple "bro meal" that contained the right high macros and nutritious micros to keep me fueled enough for the long trip ahead.

Stay consistent!