Healthy snacks Archives

KITCHEN SINK SMOOTHIE

December 27, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

KITCHEN SINK SMOOTHIE

I want to start off by letting you know how sincerely grateful I am to have all of you! I appreciate every single person who reached out to me with words of support whether it was in the comments, an email, through Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. That post is something I’ve wanted to share for months now and it feels good to have it off my chest! So again, if you reached out to me in some way yesterday, I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

In other news. I bought kale for the first time, but didn’t really know what to do with it so I stuck it in a smoothie…along with a whole bunch of other random stuff.

I couldn’t even taste the kale. I think that calls for a #winning. AND. Guess what I took this photo with? My new cam!

I bet you think I’m crazy because I just purchased the Nikon D5100 just a few months ago. Well, I’m not crazy, I’m being a realist (slash I am trying to justify this giant purchase in any way shape or form). When I went to upgrade my camera a few months back, I didn’t really upgrade my camera. I pretty much just purchased the newest version of the camera I already had. It only took me a few months to realize that and I was back to the drawing boards. After reading the first half of Minimalist Baker’s food photography e-course, I was sold on the D600- the same exact camera they use.

Thus. The new camera.

Speaking of new gadgets…my second device came last week for the Verizon Wireless Blogger Program I am part of! I was definitely crossing my fingers that it would be a tablet. I love it so far. I love it so much I went out and purchased a wireless keyboard and stand for it. Now it’s like a mini computer!

“Disclosure: I am participating in the Verizon Health and Fitness Voices program and have been provided with a wireless device and six months of service in exchange for my honest opinions about the product.”

I can already tell you that my favorite feature is going to be the fact that it has 4G LTE and a hotspot. I am a current Sprint consumer and throughout the past 4 months I have been monitoring the two services based on my personal phone and VZW Voices phone and Verizon has MUCH better service. It’s much faster and I have service in more places (ie: when I was in Montana/Wyoming, I was pretty much roaming the entire time on Sprint, but Verizon worked just fine).

Enough chit chat, let’s look at some more pretty photos.

I actually had this for dinner last night, but it would be divine as a post workout smoothie or breakfast!

That is all for now! I will report back once I use my new camera a bit more…same with the tablet. I can’t wait to share which apps I’ve already downloaded

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KITCHEN SINK SMOOTHIE

Author: Lee Hersh

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Ingredients

Scale

1/2 frozen banana
5 stalks of kale
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1/2 frozen peach
1/2 scoop Designer Whey Vanilla Protein Powder
1/2 Scoop Amazing Grass Chocolate Green Superfood Powder
1 cup vanilla almond milk, unsweetened

Instructions

Place all ingredients in a blender or Magic Bullet and blend until smooth.

HOW TO MAKE BAKED TORTILLA CHIPS

December 26, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

BAKED TORTILLA CHIPS

Three cheers for making your own [un-fried] corn tortilla chips that are crunchy as can be and perfectly salted.

Double three cheers for dipping (…scooping?) them in complete and utter deliciousness.

Don’t get too excited…I am saving that bad boy for tomorrow’s post. Today’s is all about the chip! I even made a super cool image for you to pin so you can remember exactly how to make them!

I got the idea to make my own tortilla chips after I saw Cassie from Back to Her Roots do a post on the Anytime Fitness Blog. It got my brain stirring with excitement! I’ve been really into eating these baby corn tortillas (literally made with corn flour, water, and a few other ingredients). I’ll slap some hummus on them, maybe some peanut butter, possibly make a turkey roll up. I eat them in all different forms!

Mission Yellow Corn Tortillas are gluten free, but they are not heavily promoted as so. They are also really inexpensive. Like only a few bucks for like 30 of them. I’ll take em!

These chips would seriously be good with anything. On top of salads, with hummus, with guac. You name it!

Cheers to chips and Wednesday!

Until tomorrow.

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HOW TO MAKE BAKED TORTILLA CHIPS

Author: Lee Hersh

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Ingredients

Scale

8–10 mini corn tortillas
nonstick cooking spray
garlic salt, to taste
salt, to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to Broil. Then, spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
Next, using a pizza cutter, slice mini tortillas into 6 different pieces each. Then, arrange them on 2. the baking sheet so that they are not touching.
3. Next, lightly spray chips with nonstick cooking spray and sprinkle on garlic salt and/or normal salt to your preference.
4. Broil the first side for about 2-3 minutes watching it very closely. Once it begins to turn brown, remove from oven, flip, and put back in for an additional 1.5 – 2 minutes. Again, make sure you keep a close eye on them so that they don’t burn!

GLUTEN-FREE BLUEBERRY COFFEE CAKE

December 26, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

GLUTEN-FREE BLUEBERRY COFFEE CAKE

Hello from Kansas! Cheers to writing posts in advance

Creating titles are hard, but they are important for SEO and for searching within FFF. In today’s recipe I wanted to express the fact that this is 1. coffee cake 2. the flavor of coffee cake is blueberry 3. gluten-free and 4. single-serve. Doesn’t Single-Serve Gluten-Free Blueberry Coffee Cake just sound like way too much of a mouthful?

I think so!

It was about 3 mouthfuls. I inhaled that thing lit it was my job!

I was actually planning on making a big coffee cake, I even bought a bunt cake pan and everything. Then I accidentally went to Home Goods and accidentally bought these really cute ramekins. That’s how the single serve recipe happened.

I am still trying to figure out this camera! In-the-kitchen photos are hard because I don’t have a window with natural lighting. I know…I think it should be illegal to build a kitchen without windows!

Speaking of titles. One of my blogger buds, mentors, and friends, Stephanie Meyer, who writes at Fresh Tart Steph (and many other publications), raised a really important question on her blog today.What do we (food bloggers/writers) do?

I get that question at least once a day. Lee, what do you do?

Like Stephanie, there is no single answer that I give. Lately I’ve been using, “I am a recipe creator, blogger, and food photographer,” but I feel like I do so much more than that. FFF is a lifestyle blog that focuses on nourishing recipes that are MOSTLY gluten free. I also talk about other things like fitness, fashioin, life, travel, mental illness, etc. Along with my 1 sentence elevator pitch, usually comes about a 20 minute explanation of what I really do. Then I whip out my phone, show them a recipe and begin to answer about 20 questions that get raised.

It would sure be nice to have some sort of title that explains what the hell I do, but in some sense I like the fact that it has to come with a 20 minute explanation. It helps me make a connection with that person that I probably wouldn’t have made if I would have just said teacher or doctor.

SO- FOOD BLOGGERS (WRITERS, RECIPE CREATORS, PHOTOGRAPHERS)…WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS SUBJECT?

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PROTEIN MUESLI BARS

December 26, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

PROTEIN MUESLI BARS

So yesterday was my first time Instagramming on behalf of Fitfluential. Yes, I am officially part of the Fitfluential Social Media team! WOOOHOO! They announced the big news last week and I shared a tid-bit on the FFF facebook page, but never officially announced it on the blog. I am thrilled to be part of the FF team (so many F’s!). I remember when I first heard of Fitfluential and wanted to be an ambassador so bad! I also remember the day I found out I was accepted to be part of the Ambassador team. I can’t believe that was almost 2 years ago!

The Fitfluential Community has definitely changed my life. It’s changed the way I view blogging. It’s changed the way I view a brand/blogger relationship. AND It’s changed my mindset of how I can make a living off of recipe creation and fitness, 2 things that I love and will never feel like a job. Fitfluential is the reason I have been able to participate in so many amazing campaigns such as Silk Milk, Under Armour, Lorna Jane, Designer Whey (of course!), and so many more.

What I am most excited about is to grow alongside Fitfluential. The organization is only a few years old, and if it’s changed my life so much in such a short period of time, I can’t wait to see how many others it impacts as well.

My latest Designer Whey recipe was posted yesterday! Protein Muesli Bars…a sister bar to my recent Chocolate Coconut Granola Bars. This recipe is actually made with my favorite, local Muesli…Seven Sundays…and of course has the addition of protein powder.

Seriously, these bars never get old. I’m already brewing up my next variation

WHAT ORGANIZATIONS HAVE CHANGED YOUR LIFE? MADE YOU THINK DIFFERENTLY? MORE STRATEGICALLY?

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PROTEIN MUESLI BARS

Author: Lee Hersh
Total Time: 18 minutes

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Ingredients

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1 cup muesli
1 cup rolled oats
⅓ cup dried cranberries
2 scoops Designer Whey French Vanilla Protein Powder
½ cup brown rice syrup

Instructions

First, preheat your oven to 375F and line a pan with parchment paper.
In a medium size bowl, mix together muesli, rolled oats, dried cranberries, and vanilla protein powder. Then, drizzle in ½ cup of brown rice syrup and mix with a wooden spoon. It may be easier to use your hands at this point.
Once things are thoroughly mixed together, everything should be pretty sticky. To form bars, wet hands and scoop a palm-sized amount of dough. Then shape into a bar, compressing the dough between your hands. Place on the baking sheet and repeat.
You should be able to make 9-10 bars. For garnish, add more coconut flakes (press into bars) and a pinch of sea salt.
Bake at 375 for about 8 minutes, just enough for the bars to begin to turn golden brown.
After the bars have slightly cooled, you can use your hands to compress the bars even more or leave them as is. Store in an air tight container.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes

Nutrition

Serving Size: 10 bars

4 INGREDIENT GLUTEN FREE PUMPKIN MUFFINS

December 26, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

4 INGREDIENT GLUTEN FREE PUMPKIN MUFFINS

To your favorite gluten-free muffin mix to make these delicious 4 INGREDIENT GLUTEN FREE PUMPKIN MUFFINS that the whole family will love!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve attempted a gluten free pumpkin muffin recipe this fall and failed miserably. All I want it a gluten free pumpkin muffin that’s not ugly and tastes delicious. Fail fail fail. I finally gave in a purchased a gluten free muffin mix (the King Arthur’s brand), so that I could make my own pumpkin version by adding only a few ingredients to the mix!

What I used was: the gluten free muffin mix, an egg, pumpkin puree, and a little almond milk. That was my base…4 main ingredients.

To get that lovely spicy fall flavor, I of course added some Pumpkin Pie Spice and for kicks…a handful of mini dark chocolate chips.

To your favorite gluten-free muffin mix to make these delicious 4 INGREDIENT GLUTEN FREE PUMPKIN MUFFINS that the whole family will love!

So really- it was more than 4 ingredients, but you get my jiff!

I am really happy with how they turned out. Extremely moist, fluffy, and not ugly! They also tasted good, which of course matters the most, right?

Because I am a chocolate lover, I added a chocolate/coconut oil drizzle to the top I simply mixed about 2 tablespoons of mini dark chocolate chips and about a teaspoon of coconut oil. I nuked it for about a minute and voila…you have the perfect chocolate sauce to top your muffins with.

I love how moist these ended up without ANY oil or butter! Thank you pumpkin puree.

#winning

I’m so sad this entire batch is already gone. sigh.

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4 INGREDIENT GLUTEN FREE PUMPKIN MUFFINS

Author: Lee Hersh
Total Time: 32 minutes

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Ingredients

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1 package of King Arthur’s Gluten Free Muffin Mix
1 cup pumpkin puree
3 eggs, large
1/2 cup almond milk, unsweetened
Optional add ins: 1t-2t pumpkin pie spice, ½ cup mini dark chocolate chips

Instructions

First, preheat oven to 375ºF and line a muffin tin with paper liners. Then, lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray (this will prevent the muffins from sticking to the paper liners).
In a medium size bowl, whisk eggs. After this,add in milk and pumpkin puree and mix again. Next, add in gluten free muffin mix and mix until there are no more lumps.
Add in optional ingredients such as pumpkin pie spice or chocolate chips.
Now Fill each muffin about ¾ of the way full.
Bake at 375ºF for 18-22 minutes or until you do the toothpick test and it comes out clean!

Notes

Option to add ½ cup chocolate chips!

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 22 minutes

Guess I’ll just have to make more!

ALLERGY FRIENDLY CHAI TEA LATTE

December 26, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

ALLERGY FRIENDLY CHAI TEA LATTE

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post through Sunrich Naturals. I was compensated, all opinions are my own.

I am excited to announce a new Fit Foodie Finds partnership with a local Minnesota Company called Sunrich Naturals. Sunrich Naturals is the in-house brand of Canadian company, Sun Opta, a leader in natural and organic ingredients, raw materials, and consumer products.

Sunrich has brought me on to help them grow their online presence of their nutrient rich, Sol Sunflower Beverage by building their recipe library and growing their blog.

I couldn’t be more excited to work for a local company who values non-GMO products, supports local farming, and focuses on allergy friendly products.

Sōl™ is the first of its kind – an all-natural beverage crafted using a care-filled selection of sunflower kernels roasted to perfection. Sunflower is a great alternative to soy and rice beverages, and appeals to those consumers that are looking for variety in their non-dairy beverage category

Yes, it’s gluten and dairy free

Today I’ve used Sol inside a winter favorite…a chai tea latte! This recipe tastes exactly like your classic chai latte, minus the allergens and calories!

Another reason why this latte screams perfection, is because the sunflower seeds used to create Sol are born and raised on Minnesota land, owned by family farmers. They’re organic and GMO free. #winning

Here’s what the Sol carton looks like. This will be changing soon to more advanced packaging, so watch for a new carton on the shelves!

If you live in Minnesota, you can find Sol at select stores such as Byerlys, Co-Ops, Lunds. Double check the locations HERE. Sol is available nationwide, so if you live outside of Minnesota, no fear. You can use their store finder to find a location near you!

CHEERS TO GREAT THINGS HAPPENING, AWESOME PARTNERSHIPS, AND BIRTHDAYS WITHOUT ICE CREAM.

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ALLERGY FRIENDLY CHAI TEA LATTE

Author: Lee Hersh
Total Time: 15 minutes

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Instructions

Stovetop: Place all ingredients in a small sauce pan and turn heat to medium/high. Using a whisk or spoon, heat mixture until it begins to simmer, stirring continuously in order to dissolve spices into milk. Remove tea bag and serve hot.
Microwave: Place all ingredients into a large coffee mug and stir for about 30 seconds. Then, place mug into microwave and cook on high for 2 minutes. Remove tea bag from cup and stir until spices are dissolved. Serve hot.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

Ingredients

salt, to taste

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SO- FOOD BLOGGERS (WRITERS, RECIPE CREATORS, PHOTOGRAPHERS)…WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS SUBJECT?

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Nutrition

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