Chick-less Nuggets + Sweet ‘n Spicy Mustard Sauce

August 14, 2012 By Laura

Nuggets of gold, I tell you.

Who needs Chick-fil-a?! These tasty vegan treats all the flavor and finger food deliciousness of the fast food treat, but without the MSG, high fructose corn syrup, ammonium sulfate, yellow 5, blue 1, etc. (I only wish I were kidding about that ingredient list.)

Maybe they missed the memo:

Isn’t this awesome? I ordered this tee from Callie @ Rawxy. Her cookies are good too, IMHO. 😉

Growing up I thought my mom was so mean because we were rarely allowed to stop for fast food. I wanted a toy with dinner! Looking back I am grateful – to this day I have never eaten a fast food hamburger!

However, I did enjoy the occasional chicken nugget from a certain Southern chain. Today I wouldn’t dream of buying them, especially when there are clean alternatives like these:

My chick-less nuggets are TVP-based and are vegetarian/vegan.

After a quick pulse in the blender, mix in some chickpea flour and an egg (a flax egg works here) to bind them. This creates a nugget-like texture that… well… tastes like chicken.

You can make the bites any flavor you’d like, but I went for the classic blend of paprika, red pepper, onion, and garlic. Lay off the red pepper and these would be ideal for kid meals! Sorry, toy not included.

Dunked in a healthy, quick sweet ‘n spicy mustard sauce, you’d almost swear these were from a drive-thru… a thought you’ll quickly push aside because these clean bites are better.

Chick-less Nuggets

1 C water
1 no-meat chicken bullion cube
1 C Texturized Vegetable Protein (TVP)
2 T chickpea flour
1 egg (flax egg or the “real” thing)
1 tsp spice blend (I used a mix of paprika, red pepper, onion, garlic)

Preheat oven to 500 degrees, or 475 convection.

Heat water in medium bowl and stir in bouillon until dissolved. Add TVP, stir, and allow to stand for 5 mins.

Pulse soaked TVP in food processor; you want larger pieces broken up, but not a puree. Add egg and flour and mix well. Season with your favorite spice blend.

Form “nuggets” with the TVP mix (heaping 2T per nugget). Drop balls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Place in oven and bake for 10 mins, until golden. Flip nuggets and bake for an additional 5 mins. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Makes 10 nuggets.

Note: Use a flax egg to make vegan.

Approx Nutritionals (per nugget): 47 calories, 0.8g fat, 20.7g sodium, 3.7g carbohydrates, 1.7g fiber, 1.4g sugar, 5.8g protein

Sweet and Spicy Mustard Sauce

1 T nutritional yeast
1 tsp mustard
2 T water
2 drops lemon liquid stevia (or sweetener or choice)
Tabasco sauce, to taste

Mix together and dip away!

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I added a mini “about” section to my side bar with a pic, but am unsure about it… too much?

Do/did you ever like fast food?

What is your favorite dipping sauce?

Boycotts and Friday Finds

July 20, 2012 By Laura

Please excuse my soap box.

If you live in the South (a.k.a.: the land of Chick-fil-a), then you have probably heard the Chick-fil-a COO made a statement that Chick-fil-a supports anti-gay causes. This isn’t a political blog, but I was outraged that I felt the need to speak up.

One of the great things about this country is our freedom of speech. However… it’s hard for me to believe that in 2012 any company would waste their breath with such discriminatory sentiments. Grow up, Chick-fil-a.

Yes, they have a right to do whatever they please with their influence and their money. So do I. That’s why I signed HRC’s pledge to let Chick-fil-a know that I don’t support discrimination. And I can live without your waffle fries dipped in Polynesian sauce.

*steps off box*

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Now for some positive reporting! It’s FRIDAY!!! In honor of my favorite day, here are some of my favorite recent “finds.”

Products, recipes, and blogs I’ve been loving lately:

1. New Flavors

Cake Batter. Sizzlin’ Bacon. Double Chocolate. Caramel.

My favorite is the Cake Batter. The others were ok, but the Bacon was a little disappointing. It’s basically like liquid smoke.

These were ordered online thru Capella… the Heather @ Kiss My Broccoli hipped me to the fact that they are even cheaper here.

2. Peach Protein Powder

The guys at my local nutrition store gave me a sample packet of this Peach Sensation protein powder made my Allmax Nutrition. I wasn’t familiar with the company before, but I will be now! This stuff was really good. The ingredients are pretty clean, and it’s low in sodium and carbs, and contains no sugar.

I blended it with cinnamon, ginger, and a little water to make a spiced peach protein smoothie.

3. Runny Eggs, Protein Bagels, and Roasted Cauliflower

Ok, that’s 3 things… but they are all so good! I got permission from my trainer to have an egg yolk! this is big news because I am obsessed with runny eggs. It goes perfectly atop my other new obsession – P28 Protein Bagels. Just 1/2 a bagel has 14g of protein. Egg + Bagel = 20g protein

I also am on a cauliflower bender. Today’s was cheesy chocolate. I kid you not. 1/2 tsp cocoa powder, 1 T nutritional yeast, 1 T rice vinegar, 2 drops lemon stevia. Roast. Devour.

4. Surprises in the Mail

I came home last night to a package from the far away land of Canada.

Meg @ A Dash of Meg sent me a bag of her favorite ginger-flavored David’s Tea! If you don’t know Meg, you should. This is literally the sweetest girl I’ve ever “met.” And we have discovered we’re food twins. And this tea smells like heaven.

5. Green Spiced Protein Pancakes

I have made some pretty bad pancakes in my day. This was not one of those days.

When I saw this green pancake recipe by Sara @ Stories and Sweet Potatoes (isn’t that the best blog name?), I knew I had to give them a whirl. My tweaks were:

Add nutmeg
Subbed 2 T of coconut flour for quinoa flour
Left out yogurt

I made the batter the night before and let it rest in the fridge overnight. In the morning I dumped it in a well-greased (PAM) pan and made one tasty, gigantic pancake. Note: Don’t skimp on the spices – go big in order to give the monster some flavor.

Topped with cinnamon, apple, and sugar-free maple syrup.

Bonus: Cold Soup

Ok, this is a little self-promoting, but I really have been loving cold soup in the hot weather. So much so that when rockstar athlete and foodie Lauren @ Oatmeal After Spinning asked me to write a guest post for her, I decided that would be the ~~soup~~ topic du jour.

Click here to check out my Peach-Cucumber Chilled Soup guest post, and say hi the the vacationing Lauren!

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Quote from Trainer Abdul yesterday during a particularly fun set of leg presses:

Don’t cheat yourself, treat yourself.

What is your favorite “find” as of late?

Is there a quote or saying that gets you through “just one more” in workout or situation?

Chilly Weather Eats + WIAW

September 7, 2011 By Laura

Wednesday comes quickly on short weeks!

Short weeks are good and bad. I love the extra weekend time… but I was at work until 8p last night paying for it.

It’s chilly and drizzling rain here, so I had planned to go to kickboxing for a good, mindless workout. The last class starts at 730p.

On the bright side, I hit the gym in my building and tried out a new back/bicep workout that I’ll be sharing soon. 🙂

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On such a short week I nearly forgot to take pics for WIAW!

I did remember nearly everything in the nick of time. Mas importante because I had a special treat for breakfast.

Breakfast:

I pre-gamed breakfast with some cantaloupe because it was going to take a minute before I picked up the main show.

FREE Chick-fil-A!!! It is free breakfast entrée week (with a reservation). I was pumped to try out their new oatmeal.

I came prepared with my own peanut butter (I never said I was normal). They provided brown sugar, nuts, and dried fruit as toppings, but I’m not a dried fruit fan and the nuts were all sugar-coated. Too much sugar in the morning!

The oatmeal itself was pretty good. The fact that it’s multi-grain gave it a good texture. It was cooked well – not watery, which I generally find to be the problem. Only 120 calories and 5g of sugar, but I liked that it had 3g of fiber and 4g of protein. That said, the serving was fairly small and I was really glad for the peanut butter!

Lunch:

Inspired by the cool, rainy weather I made a delicious Indian Eggplant Lentil Stew Monday night and thoroughly enjoyed the leftovers for lunch today.

Side note: Tech wont their first game against Western Carolina ~~Girl’s School~~ Saturday!!!

Lentils have many benefits. They are:

High in protein an fiber = filling
Good source of iron and magnesium
Take on virtually any flavor from other foods/seasonings
Low-cost
Good left-over!

This recipe will be up tomorrow!!!

Snacks:

Not pictured, but I am pretty ~~predictable~~ consistent:

Chocolate-Toffee Think Thin bar
Nuts – I caved and ate the Chick-fil-A sugar-coated. They were good. 🙂
Kombucha Green Tea
Broccoli and carrot sticks dipped in my new find: Spinach-Artichoke Hummus

This hummus is a new Whole Foods find by Nature’s Healthy Gourmet. You really get the good artichoke flavor in it!

Nature’s Healthy Gourmet is a small company based out of Florida that specializes in vegetarian and Kosher foods. Nature’s hummus is also dairy- and gluten-free. If you can find it, this hummus is worth a try!

Dinner:

Since I got home from work so late I opted for a lighter dinner. A salad with raw french green beans, sprouts, and mission figs.

Did you really think that’s all I ate? Bwhahahaha!

That salad was protein’d up with sriracha-marinated tempeh and hummus dressing (the aforementioned hummus mixed with a bit of apple cider vinaigrette).

I finally learned how to spell sriracha!!! Gotta celebrate the small victories. 😉

For a more delicious eats, check out the round up at Peas and Crayons!

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Please excuse the grainy iPhone pics for the next few days… my camera is broken!

It seems that every fast food place offers oatmeal now – do you ever purchase it in a crunch?

Is is getting cooler where you are? Bring on the fall weather!

Free Chick-fil-A Breakfast!

September 5, 2011 By Laura

I was going to take the entire long weekend off from blogging…

…but THIS I had to share.

This week (8/6-8/10) Chick-fil-A will be giving away a FREE BREAKFAST entree to those with reservations.

Don’t eat fried chicken before noon? No worries – you have options:

Spicy Chicken Biscuit
Sausage Biscuit
Chick-n-Minis
Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Biscuit
Chicken, Egg, and Cheese on a Sunflower Multigrain Bagel
Multigrain Oatmeal

To make a reservation, click here.

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Since I’m posting… here’s the weekly recap. I was in 5 cities in 5 days this week and managed to workout every day (except Friday, which was a planned rest). It wasn’t easy, but it can be done!

Workout Recap (8/29-9/4)

Monday – Biceps/Back, 2 mile walk, 100 push-ups
Tuesday – 45 mins elliptical, 6 min plank sequence, 100 push-ups
Wednesday – 4 mile run, 30 mins legs, Ab Ripper X, 100 push-ups
Thursday – Tris/Chest, 6 min plank sequence, 100 push-ups
Friday – Rest
Saturday – 4 mile run, short swim, 100 push-ups
Sunday – Tennis, Ab Ripper X, 100 push-ups

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If I have to go back to work tomorrow, at least there’s free breakfast! So. Excited.

What was the best part of your long weekend?

Have you tried Chick-fil-A’s oatmeal yet?

Free Chick-fil-A

December 6, 2010 By Laura

On December 27th, Christmas will be making a return.

Go to this website on Monday, December 27th to reserve your FREE Chick-fil-A Spicy Chicken Biscuit.

The chicken biscuits will given away to those with a reservation from January 3 – 8th.

Make a reservation early! When they did this promo with the Spicy Chicken Sandwich (it is GOOD), they ran out.