Month: February 2014

These little oat filled treats are great to have around the house if you’re a snacker in need of a healthier option. They are also jam packed with fiber so just one (or two) will keep you feeling satisfied till your next meal. I have to be honest, they are definitely more along the lines of a granola bar kinda deal than they a cookie. You’ve been warned! That said, they are still very delicious. I love having them as a breakfast on the go, I can just throw 2 or 3 in a little zip lock and eat them on my way in the morning.

Vegan Pumpkin Balls
3 cups gluten free oats
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (I use this liberally)
1 tbsp flax seed meal
1 cup of crushed cashews
1/2 cup vegan (or regular if you wish) dark chocolate chips

Mix it all together and then make baby balls and place them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Put them in the oven at 350 for about 5 minutes. You just want them to set a little bit, you don’t need them to “bake”. Let them cool and enjoy! Super easy snack and you can sub out the chocolate chips for raisins or craisins or add in dried cherries and really have some fun with it!

 

Nothing is better than a GOOD green smoothie to start your week off in the right direction or get you back on track mid week! I love this particular one when I really want to feel nourished and full. It has lots of good for you fats so you won’t start getting the ‘hungries’ around 11am. It’s also fulling enough to drink post work out if you’ve had a really intense sweat session. Totally inspired by Kris Carr’s one in Crazy, Sexy, Diet, a book that I highly recommend to anyone wanting to be more mindful of what they put in their body and take better care of their ‘god-pod’ (body) as she would call it! I hope you give it a whirl for breakfast one day this week, I know it might sound a little funky for a smoothie but you’ll have to take my word, it’s pretty yummy and it will start your day off right and set the stage for making healthy choices all day long!

Green Guru

4 leaves of Romaine
1/2 avocado
1 cucumber
1 banana
whooping tbsp of almond butter
1 cup of coconut milk

Blend it all together and enjoy!

It’s Valentine’s Day and what better day to address the issue of staying skinny (on track with your health and fitness goals) while in love! Dating or being in a relationship can make stay your slimmest pretty tough but with these FOUR tools you should be able to navigate the waters easily! Like, SHARE and please SUBSCRIBE for more recipes, tips and inspiration to live your healthiest, happiest life!

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and whether you are sharing it with your significant other or best friends, who doesn’t like to make a sweet little chocolately something?! These Vegan Chocolate “Caramel” Truffles will knock your socks off and more importantly, your guests socks off when they find out how healthy they actually are for them. Don’t be scared, they are super easy to make too!

Vegan Chocolate “Caramel” Truffles

13 oz container of dates (standard package)

1 bag of vegan chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life)

2 tables spoons of almond butter

1 tbsp of coconut oil

Optional: unsweetened coconut flakes or crushed cashews for topping

In a food processor, combine all your dates with 2 tablespoons of almond butter. Pulse till the dates are becoming one with the almond butter and you see that caramel consistency. Take your faux caramel out of the processor, pack it in a nice little chunk and put it in the freezer for 5 minutes. I usually clean the food processor while it’s chilling and by the time I’m done, they’re ready! So go get them out, and start rolling little baby balls and placing them on a plate or baking sheet with parchment paper. Put them back in the freezer when you’re all done, so they will stay firm while we’re getting the chocolate ready!

For the chocolate, in a small saucepan add approx. half the bag and tbsp of coconut oil.  You can stir this constantly on a very low heat or I prefer to double boil it, which just means that I put a small soup pan of boiling water on the stove and THEN place my saucepan with chocolate on top of that. This helps the chocolate melt properly without burning as easily as it does on the stove. Either way, stir that chocolate till it’s almost completely melted and turn off the burner. Let the final little chunks melt themselves.

Now the fun part! Go get your frozen balls out of the freezer and stick toothpicks in them so that you can easily dip them in your chocolate. I used really pretty festive ones for V-Day, so I kept mine in but you can always toss these after the chocolate hardens so don’t be afraid to use a normal toothpick. Dip your faux caramels in the chocolate and if you’ve decided on a topping, nows the time to sprinkle it on or roll your chocolates in it after they’ve been dipped. This particular batch I used unsweetened coconut flakes but you can get as creative as you want with it!

Once they’re all dipped, place them back in the freezer for 10-20 minutes for the chocolate to harden and leave them either there or in the refrigerator till you’re ready to serve! These babies are best enjoyed firm and cold!

Want to know the EASIEST way to start losing weight and keeping it off? Well it’s mindful eating! In this video I share with you my skinny secret for mindful eating and give you a couple different ways to start incorporating it in your life now!

If you want to really get into it and cause some serious changes in your health and happiness, join me in NYC (or order a recording if you can’t) this Sunday 2/16 for my HAPPIER, HEALTHIER LIFE NOW class where I will be teaching you 5 effective tools for eating more mindfully and 3 different meditations to keep your stress levels down and your energy up! tickets and details here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/happier-healthier-life-now-with-cassandra-bodzak-from-abcs-the-taste-tickets-9999515821

 

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, this is a great little recipe for a quick, festive treat that won’t have you laboring over the stove! You can also modify it depending on whether you want it to be vegan or not. I’ll give you both options!

strawberries + cream tarts
6-8 strawberries
1 package of philo dough shells

1 container of tofu cream cheese (vegan version)
1 cup powder sugar (optional how much you use)
1 container of mascarpone (if your are not doing the vegan version)

3 tsp of balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp of agave/stevia

First, defrost your little philo dough shells! These little babies are accidentally vegan most of the time but be sure to check the box because I’m sure there are all different brands. Just let them sit on a plate while you wash and slice your strawberries. Place your sliced strawberries in a bowl and add the balsamic and sweetener, mix it all up and let them sit. This will give them a sweet and  tangy taste and make them must more interesting to eat! Now, if you’re not going the vegan way, just pipe your mascarpone in to the little shells, the dollup should be about the size of a hershey’s kiss at most. For my lovely vegans, take your tofu cream cheese, put it in your mixer and slowly add the powdered sugar to taste. I said 1 cup but you really only need enough to turn the cream cheese taste into a slightly sweeter and more refined ‘cream’ taste! I use powdered sugar because no one wants their creamy filling to have little granules in it. Yuck!  Once all your baby shells are filled with cream filling, place three strawberry slices on top and you’re good to go!

Wasn’t that easy?! It’ll take you 15-20 mins TOPS – and the best part is that your guest will absolutely think they are the cutest, tastiest thing ever. Everybody wins!

 

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soul-cycle

              Can you believe I was scared to go to SOULCYCLE!? Well, not scared like something terrible was going to happen if I went but I felt a little intimidated and didn’t want to make a fool of myself. Literally, everyone and their mother had told me to go, that I would love it but I had ‘group fitness anxiety’. I’m a yogi and dancer by nature, I specialize is being uber flexible and memorizing routines. Pilates? I’m there, Hip hop? Count me in, Spinning?! Eh, no thank you! And while I do encourage you guys to find an activity you LOVE that you enjoy doing and stick to that to start getting you moving, sometimes it’s fun and exhilarating to step outside your  comfort zone and dive into the latest fitness craze. In honor of #FearlessFebruary, I did just that! I grabbed a girlfriend and went to SOULCYCLE and….

IT WAS FUN!!!

Seriously, I had the best time and would probably do it every day if it wasn’t so pricey! The music was great, the basic moves spoke to the dancer in me and made me feel at home. However, the best experience was when the lights were dim, the music was loud, our instructor told us to close are eyes and just give over to the music. It was a very different type of meditation than usual for me and I totally loved it. I felt sweaty but invigorated and alive afterward. Big thanks to my girl Alyssa for accompanying me and my client Lauren for telling me how obsessed she was and pushing me to go! You ladies rock and now you’ve got me addicted! 🙂

So what exactly is #FearlessFebruary? 

February is one of my favorite months! It’s my birthday (on the 24th) and Valentine’s Day – a double whamie of love and fun! I’ve also had an incredible start to 2014 and I’m ready to break some boundaries, bust through some blocks and start 27 fearless and fabulous! So this month I am pushing myself out of my comfort zone everyday! I have made a promise to myself (and my streaks app haha) to do something that scares me EVERY DAY this month. I’ll be sharing ones like this SOULCYCLE post, which I feel will particularly connect with you guys but feel free to tweet at me @cassandrabodzak and ask me what my #fearlessfebruary act was that day – I’d love to share! They have ranged so far from anything like putting myself out of my comfort zone physically by trying harder classes, to attending events solo and introducing myself to new people (always a scary task!) to contacting people who inspire and intimidate me. I’m SUPER EXCITED to share with you tomorrow my #FearlessFebruary Instagram Contest – be sure to follow me and look out for the announcement tomorrow morning!

               Yes, Shehu was the chef from Team Marcus that ended up staying while I got sent home on The Taste a few weeks ago but us New Yorkers stick together and I couldn’t have asked for anyone better to be in the bottom with. Shehu is a big sweetheart and it was such a pleasure cooking with him on the show and hanging out with him here in NYC. He was generous enough to share his absolutely delicious and VEGAN recipe for potato gnocchi with vegetables with me because he knew I’d just love it! Gnocchi is one of my absolute favorite comfort foods in this cold weather and I couldn’t think of a better thing to whip up this weekend to warm you up if you’re reading this from the east coast, like us! It’s also a great dinner party dish, simple to make and super impressive to guests! Give it a whirl, get creative and feel free to keep up with Shehu on facebook and instagram for more delicious food inspiration!

Sauté Potato Gnocchi with Vegetables and Tomato Sauce

1 med size Potato
2 cups AP Flour
1 sm Zucchini
1 sm Yellow Squash
1 sm Carrot
1 sm Onion
1 cup Broccoli Florets
1 cup Cauliflower Florets
2 cups Tomato Sauce
1 tbsp Shehu Fitzgerald Spice Blend # 14 ( or your own favorite spices!)
Salt and Pepper

Place Potato in a pot and cover with water 1 tbsp salt and boil till just tender. Remove from water let cool for 2 mins then peel off skin. Place into a bowl and mash ( try best not to have any lumps ) season with salt and pepper and add flour litter at time and mix to make dough ( sorry I always do this by eye ). Knead and roll into 1/2″ rope and cut into 1″ pieces.

On the stove have a pot of boiling water ready. In a small sauce pot warm tomato sauce. Drop gnocchi into the pot of boiling water and cook till they start to float, then sear them in a sauté pan over med high heat. Season with #14( your own favorite spices!) and cook till golden, then remove  from pan. While pan is still hot add veggies and cook till done.

Assemble the plate and serve 🙂

shehucooking

 

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                Treat yourself to some self-care at the end of Valentine’s Day weekend and join us for an hour and half of meditation and mindful eating that will have refreshed, re-energized and ready to give your health and wellness resolutions a one-two punch! I’ll take you through three meditations, a basic ‘everyday’ meditation to keep you on track with your health and fitness goals, one you can use in case of everyday stress-mergencies and finish with a more advanced meditation that will break through any mental clutter and leave you feeling refreshed to start your week! We will also go over 5 important strategies for more mindful eating that will transform the way you look at what you put in your mouth, help you slim down, have more energy and start loving your body. Best yet, you’ll start transforming your body without feeling deprived or restricted in any way. I’m excited! Are you!?

                      The event will take place in Midtown Manhattan – Sunday 2/16 at 7pm- 8:30pm However, if you are not a NYC local OR just can’t make it that day, I’m very excited to announce that for the first time EVER, we will be selling recordings of the event which will be emailed to you with in 24 hours of the event so you can watch it from the comfort of your own home! 

Click here to sign up now! 🙂