crossfit cookout...paleo brownie bites

Last night, we had our inaugural fall cookout at CrossFit Addiction. James sported his UGA apron, and manned the grill in between eating, which was quite often.

Meat and testosterone were in abundance.

And someone had the nerve to bring buns--so I had to snap a picture for proof. Well aware of their faux pas, it looks as though they attempted to hide them in a grocery bag.

A lot of members, and even past members, showed up to eat meat and socialize.

I even managed to sneak in a burger, despite my role as paparazzi for the night.

And Canadian Annie's kids managed to find new ways to use our gym equipment.

I provided dessert for the evening, in the form of Paleo Brownie Bites. Mmmmm...

Paleo Brownie Bites

Ingredients

• 1 cup almond butter
• 1 cup sunflower seed butter
• 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp baking soda

1. First, add nut butters to mixing bowl. We all know what this looks like; no need to spell it out :)

 

2. Then add agave nectar, maple syrup, eggs and vanilla. And beat roughly two minutes, or until smooth.

3. Slowly beat in cocoa, salt and baking soda.

And right after this is when my camera died. I tried the batteries from our working sound system and our wireless keyboard. But apparently this camera requires so much energy that those batteries weren't enough.

5. Grease baking pan. I used a mini muffin tin. But feel free to use an 8x8 dish.

6. Bake mini muffins at 325 for 10 to 12 minutes. If you're using the 8x8 dish, check the brownies at 20 minutes to see how they're progressing.

chocolate banana paleo pancakes

Whether I eat it first thing in the morning, at lunchtime or at dinnertime, breakfast is one of my most favorite meals. My breakfast meals are typically easy, and always include elements of savory and sweet.

Many of you at Crossfit Addiction have asked for a Paleo Pancake recipe, so here's a strictly paleo version. Sometimes I blend in cottage cheese and shredded coconut, and skip the banana. But this recipe below is tried and true. Enjoy and have fun experimenting with variations!

Chocolate Banana Paleo Pancakes for Two

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1 ripe banana
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1.5 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup almond meal

1. Preheat griddle to 250 degrees and add eggs to blender.

2. Peel ripe or over-ripe banana, and add to blender.

3. Add in vanilla and cocoa powder.

4. Then add almond meal.

5. Blend mixture until smooth.

6. Pour on griddle. Makes 6 pancakes every time for me. If you don't have a griddle, just heat up a saute pan on your stove top.

7. Flip once bubbles rise through pancakes. Be gentle with them--I use an oversized flipper to avoid the pancakes splitting. But even if this happens, they taste just as great.

After a minute or two, they're done! Use maple syrup, raw honey, agave nectar, apple butter or fruit as a topping.

If you want to prepare these to take on the go, consider adding a little agave nectar to the blender. This give them a hint of sweetness and you don't have to worry about transporting anything syrupy and sticky with you.

get your fix, without the sugar

Chocolate. You know you want it. And if you're like me, you need want it every day.

Sure, you know it's chock full of sugar (the white kind!), but you once read that it's packed with antioxidants that help prevent cancer. Therefore, the more chocolate you eat, the more cancer you prevent, so why not eat the whole candy bar?

But I think I've found a better option to getting that fix. One with less sugar and numerous health benefits. Introducing, Chocolate Almond Spread. It's as tasty as Nutella, but has far less sugar, and if you're counting, less calories.

Nutella (2 tbsp)
200 calories
11g fat
21g sugar
3g protein

Homemade Chocolate Almond Spread (2 tbsp)
168 calories
12.8g fat
5.9g sugar
5.6g protein

Ingredients

• 3/4 c almond butter
• 2 tbsp raw honey
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• pinch of salt

1. First, locate a container with a lid. I had an extra 1/2 pint canning jar around the house, and thought it would make a great container.

Here is my attempt at an artistic picture--that didn't turn out so hot. Maybe with the hubby's nice camera, it would have (hint, hint!)

2. Place almond butter in jar. Since the butter is so sticky and messy, I filled my jar with 3/4 cup of water, memorized the imaginary fill line, then spooned in the butter up to that line. Much easier than putting the butter in a measuring cup then transferring it.

3. Stir in honey until smooth and creamy. This will really test your hand strength!

4. Slowly stir in cocoa and pinch of salt. Careful, if you stir too fast you'll experience a poof of cocoa powder.

5. This concoction may look like something slightly unappealing to the taste buds. But rest assured, once you eat a spoonful, it'll be hard to put down.

Enjoy by the spoonful, or along with a banana or apple.

watch out weight watchers

A few of my co-workers just joined Weight Watchers. From what I hear, it's a fairly successful program. I was astounded, and proud, of the weight they dropped their first week. So to celebrate their success, I offered to give them a break by cooking them a Weight Watchers breakfast (ranging from 4 to 6 points, of course).

When I started thinking about what to make, a tasty dish with eggs and bacon immediately came to mind. But when I looked up these items on the Weight Watchers scale, I realized that two plainly scrambled eggs and one piece of bacon maxed out my limit of 6 points.

So, back to the drawing board. What can I make that keeps these weight watchers on track, but steers clear of my personal shirking of gluten and white sugar?

Then it came to me! Chocolate Almond Stack with Cream Cheese Fruit Filling! It sounds like a mouthful--and it tastes like one, too.

Chocolate Almond Stack with Cream Cheese Fruit Filling
Makes 8 servings at 5 WW points each.

Ingredients

• 4 oz. almond flour
• 2 eggs
• 3 egg whites
• 2/3 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 4 tbsp raw honey
• 1 cup sliced strawberries
• 1 cup blueberries

1. Set out cream cheese so that it reaches room temperature and preheat griddle to 250 degrees. If you don't have a griddle, you can use a stovetop pan.

2. In mixer, blend almond flour, eggs, egg whites, coconut milk, shredded coconut, cocoa powder and vanilla.

3. Pour small circles on hot griddle.

4. Cook until you see bubbles rising, then flip and let cook 1 more minute.

5. Meanwhile, blend cream cheese and honey in small bowl.

6. Lay crepe in ramekin. Spread dollop of cream cheese mixture, then top with strawberries.

7. Repeat for second layer.

8. Lay third crepe and spread cream cheese mixture, then top with blueberries.

And just to make sure I use every last point, I cooked bacon to go along with their meal. I mean, who doesn't love bacon?! If you're counting, add 1 more WW point for a slice of bacon.