almond meal — Blog — Fit Foodie Le

finally started a little Christmas shopping!

for myself :lol: . i found these guys yesterday at Hobby Lobby for half price and i can't wait to make healthy sugar cookies with Chiso. here's a tip that you may or may not have known- you can just pull up the featured Hobby Lobby coupon right on your mobile device and show it to the cashier, no printer or hard copy needed. i found that out while in line yesterday cause the lady in front of me did it. i logged onto www.hobbylobby.com super fast before my turn and immediately clicked on Coupon; it was for 40% off one regular priced item. SCORE.

we might leave these out for Santa this year, try'em!

clean, dairy-free, gluten-free, vanilla and chocolate sugar cookies

the stuff:

1 1/2 cups almond meal / flour
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1/4 cup honey or agave nectar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla OR almond extract (either works)
dash of sea salt

--->for the chocolate cookies, make 1/4th of the almond meal unsweetened cocoa powder (which leaves 1 1/4 cups almond meal left, right? right.)<---

do this:

mix your batter well.
place bowl in the fridge for 20 minutes. **i know you want to skip that step but don't!** it determines the texture of your cookies.
press dough out on flat surface and use cookie cutters, or roll dough into 22 balls.
bake for 7-9 minutes on 350 degrees or until golden brown.

makes 22 cookies! per cookie: 44 cals, 3g fat, 4g carbs, 3g sugar.

Q: :shock: Christmas shopping....... have you started!?

after a fantastic early morning church service that concentrated on faithfulness to your spouse, i got crackin' on meal prep right away. i roasted some asparagus (seasoned with Weber Zesty Lemon blend) and some red bell peppers (seasoned with Weber Smoky Mesquite) in the oven on 400 degrees for 17-20 minutes or so. for our protein, i made something i will be making more often, especially for Chiso since he loves'em.

the coating for this recipe stemmed from the Fit Sticks recipe in my first ebook! anytime Chiso eats and asks for more of something homemade i have to shout it from the roof tops!

healthy, whole wheat, tender, baked, HOMEMADE CHICKEN NUGGETS!

i went a lil' crazy and made them 3 ways: baked nuggets, and pan seared & grilled strips.

the coating can easily be gluten-free if you use gluten-free bread to make your breadcrumbs. i used toasted Sara Lee 45 Calories & Delicious multigrain wheat bread. a few pulses in the food processor and that's it!

healthy homemade chicken nuggets

the stuff:

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 + 2 tbsp cup almond meal
1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1 heaping tbsp of your fave no-salt seasoning (lemon pepper, cajun, bbq, etc)
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp parsley
sea salt & cracked black pepper to taste

do this:

set oven to 450 degrees.
cut chicken into desired shapes and coat with olive oil.
spread a layer of foil across a large baking pan and coat it with no-stick cooking spray.
add all dry ingredients into a medium mixing bowl; blend well.
in a large tupperware container with a lid, add in a few raw chicken pieces with a few spoonfuls of breading and SHAKE! (or you could spread out some breading on a plate and dredge the chicken pieces until fully coated but this way was easier and not as messy AND Chiso had fun doing all the shaking :lol: )
space the nuggets out across your baking sheet and bake for 17-20 minutes. (high heat & 4-5 min on each side if grilling, and 7-10 min on each side if pan searing or until done in the center.)
let them cool, then whip out the dipping sauces! we used honey mustard, Weber all natural Buzz'n Honey bbq sauce, and dijon mustard.

i know i cut strips with some of my chicken, but i used 4 large breasts total. you can cut at least 40 nuggets alone from 4 breasts though. stats per nugget (using 40 ct):