Author: Lindsay Ingalls

Recipe: Sweet Cinnamon Risotto with Strawberries

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When you say risotto most people think of something warm, creamy and savory but did you know it’s always delicious for dessert? Similar to your traditional rice pudding this version is made even creamier with the starchy risotto and the silky creamy PureAlmond almond milk.
Lindsay Ingalls - Running With Tongs - Sweet Cinnamon Risotto With Strawberries
Now this is a pretty heavy dessert that really is wonderful for special occasions or after a light meal.  The vanilla and cinnamon are warming and the strawberries add a nice bit of sweetness. The Silk PureAlmond Unsweetened Vanilla makes this dish even richer without adding a ton of calories (only 230 calories per serving!) The best part is this dessert is quick and easy but is also super impressive.  The perfect dessert to impress your friends or serve at a holiday party.

Sweet Cinnamon Risotto with Strawberries

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup Arborio rice
  • 2 cup Silk PureAlmond Unsweetened Vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 t cinnamon
  • 2 T honey

Directions

  • Bring the milk to a gentle boil and stir in the rice.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until rice is fully cooked, stirring occasionally; make sure the rice does not boil over.
  • Once the rice is cooked stir in the lemon zest,  cinnamon and honey.

For the Strawberries

  • 10 oz frozen strawberries
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 1/4 cup honey

Directions

  • In a small pot over medium heat add the strawberries, lemon and honey.  Cook on medium for 10 minutes until mixture has thickened up.

Assemble

  • Add the strawberries to the risotto and mix to combine.  Spoon into serving dishes and enjoy!

*Nutrition (per serving): 230 calories. 1.4g fat. 0mg cholesterol. 78mg sodium. 53.2g carbohydrates. 2g dietary fiber. 30.6 sugars. 2.2g protein.

Calories saved per serving by using Silk PureAlmond Unsweetened Vanilla instead of skim milk: 24 calories

*From Calorie Count Recipe Analysis (http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php)

FitFluential LLC compensated me for this Campaign. All opinions are my own.

Becoming My Own Client: Update

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Since I finally posted a postpartum update Wednesday I figured it was finally time to do another Becoming My Own Client goals update.  I haven’t really been focusing in on my goals the past month so this will be good for me to refresh and refocus on them.  So lets review the goals:

Goal #1: Lose Weight. I’d like to be back to my pre-pregnancy weight by October 2013. As I said in Wednesdays post I haven’t weighed myself in a few months so I am not sure what my weight is and how far off it is from my pre-pregnancy weight but by the way I look and how clothes fit I feel like I am (slowly) losing the weight.

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Goal #2: Increase my Energy. and Goal #3: Break my sugar craving. and Goal #5 eat less gluten. and Goal #7 eat more fresh fruits, vegetables and raw meals. I have done very well with all of these goals, but of course there is always room for improvement. I just completed a 10-day cleanse and I have to say it was just what I needed to break my sugar cravings and my energy has definitely started to increase.BokChoywithTahiniSauce2

Goal #4 Improve sleep. I haven’t been doing as great in this department.  Edith has taken to staying up later and is a busy body all day long so I am making up work time at night which means I’m not going to bed until 10/10:30 which I know for many of you is early but for me it is super late.  On the flip side Edith has been sleeping better at night so that means less wake ups for me.

Goal #6 is to increase the intensity of my workouts. While things have improved in the consistency of my workouts I am still working on increasing the intensity.  Any suggestions?

How are you doing with your goals?

Postpartum Update: Seven Months

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Can you believe it’s been over FIVE MONTHS since my last postpartum update? I know I completely dropped the ball with this and to be honest a big part of why I didn’t update was because there wasn’t too much to talk about and then life got crazy with moving.  Now that we’re settling in I am planning to post monthly updates until Edith is at least 12 months.

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How I Am Healing: I now 100% healed so this will be my last update in this department.

Activity: I have been more and more active every month and I am feeling good.  I am back to consistent running and Edith and I go for at least one walk per day, some days a long walk and others a short one but we get out.  To top it off we now live on a third floor walk up so I get a lot of stair stepping in while carrying a baby.

Weight: I haven’t weighed myself in a few months so I have no idea how much I weigh right now. I do know I gained a little bit of weight back in Nov/Dec but I am feeling good and seeing a loss now. I am still way off from my pre-pregnancy weight but I’ll get there (someday).

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Breastfeeding: Edith nurses a billion times per day, some for nourishment and some for comfort and I’m okay with it for now. I am hoping that over the next few months she might cut down a bit but I plan to nurse until she is at least two or until she weans herself. Overall it is going well however we do have our ups and downs like having a low milk supply, not being able to pump much, having a frozen stash I couldn’t use and not being able to cut back on calories (for weight loss).

If you haven’t stop over to our family blog, Naturally Family, then head over now and Meet The Family.  What’s been posted lately: our trip to the PDX Children’s Museum, Neil’s first dad group experience,  Edith’s 6 month Munchkin meals, and Edith’s mastering the art of crawling. You can also check us out on  Facebook and Twitter.

Silk Pure Almond: Date in Bombay Smoothie

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I love to travel and I don’t get to do it enough so instead I let my taste buds take the trip. Food is an amazing thing, it can take you anywhere in the world without even leaving the comfort of your own kitchen.  With each sip of this creamy smoothie you’ll be transported to India.

The garam masala and the ginger are warming, while the dates give it a nice sweetness and the Pure Almond makes it nice and creamy.  You might be thinking creamy? It just be high in fat and calories as well but with only 191 calories and 1.4 grams of fat per serving it is a wonderful healthy treat.

Date in Bombay Smoothie

Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 1 medium banana
  • 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2 Medjool dates, pitted
  • 1 cup Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened Vanilla
  • 1 cup ice

Directions

Place everything in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve in your favorite glass wear.

 

*Nutrition (per serving): 191 calories. 1.4g fat. 0mg cholesterol. 80mg sodium. 55.1g carbohydrates. 5.1g dietary fiber. 36.2g sugar. 2.2g protein.

Calories saved per serving by using Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened Vanilla versus skim milk: 24 calories

*From Calorie Count Recipe Analysis (http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php)

Disclosure: I was compensated by FitFluential LLC  for this campaign. All opinions are my own.

Cleanse Session 2 Meal Plan

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I apologize for the delay this should have been up a few days ago but alas I have a crazy crawling, climbing baby that is keeping me busier than ever.  For those of you who are participating in session 2 today is day two of your 10 day cleanse so make sure you refer back to the previously posted tasks to keep you on track.  If you haven’t signed up but want to take the challenge, which has a lovely prize box at the end, there are still two more sessions that you can sign up for here.

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For this sessions meal plan I decided to create a meal plan for those of you who really want to challenge yourself to eat fresh, clean and whole foods. The previous meal plan had a lot more cooked whole, clean meals while this one is more raw centric.

Every Morning

– Before you eat anything else enjoy a mug of warm water with a squeeze of lemon

Day 1.

Day 2.

Day 3.

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Day 4.

Day 5.

Snacks:

  • herbal teas
  • vegetable juices
  • whole fruit and vegetable smoothies
  • veggies with hummus
  • raw bars
  • fresh fruit
  • nuts
  • unsweetened or fruit sweetened dried fruit

See session 1 meal plan for more inspiration.

What cleansing recipes do you enjoy?

February Healthy Challenge Recap

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Over the past 10 days I have challenged my self to cut out all refined sugars, soy, wheat, gluten, caffeine and alcohol.  Let me tell you I am not sorry for this cleanse finally to be over. I miss tempeh and beer.

Although I am happy for this cleanse to be over I am so glad that I did it. Let me first off tell you that this was a bigger challenge than I thought it was going to be. I was like 10 days without the above, no big deal but then it came time to grocery shop and plan meals and most of my normal favorites seem to include one of the banned items above. However, this cleanse was totally worth the sacrifices. 

Cleanse Successes:

  • I reduced my sugar cravings. Since Edith arrived my sweet tooth has been out of control and the moving and the holidays came around and I became addicted.  The funny thing is before I was pregnant I would rather gorge on salty foods and then I got pregnant and started craving sweets which I kept in check until Edith was born.  My first night of the cleanse was HORRIBLE.  I had the worst migraine, so bad that I couldn’t even drive <– sugar withdrawal. I am happy to say no more cravings. Does this mean no more sugar? No it just means I can go back to my occasional small piece of chocolate or occasional (like every few weeks) dessert.
  • I feel better. My body overall feels much better. I feel lighter and no longer feel bloated.  I also feel more energetic, or at least as energetic as I possibly can with a now crawling baby who doesn’t want to nap.
  • I (may) have lost weight? I don’t have a scale so I didn’t weigh myself before or after but my clothes are fitting better and I feel like I look better. This alone is motivation to keep up with what I have been doing.

Other Thoughts:

I plan on keeping highly processed soy products to a minimum but will be enjoying tamari, shoyu, tempeh and miso.  I am going to continue to limit my gluten and wheat intake because I feel better when I don’t eat too much. I will not be giving it up completely because my brewer/baker husband brews amazing beer and bakes amazing bread. Although I will be enjoying beer and bread I will be limiting both to just enjoy occasionally. Lastly, I am going to switch to decaf and limit my coffee intake to no more than 12 ounces per day.

If you participated in challenge round 1 tell me about your experience.  If you haven’t participated yet you can still sign up! Email me for more details.