#alittletoofluffy (+a healthy recipe!)

Remember how I made my word for the year "healthy"?
Well, I truly intend to focus on a holistic view of health... not just a diet.
BUT it was time for a pretty major diet overhaul as well!
I've struggled in the past, yo-yo-ing from much heavier than I am now to quite a bit less, but true-to-self I always seemed to be on one extreme or another.
Either I was eating anything & everything... or I was counting every tiny calorie obsessively.
I don't see either of these lifestyles as healthy.

When I cut gluten & dairy from my diet 4ish years ago, I lost weight and for the most part have maintained a healthy weight that I'm happy with.
No, I'm not teeny tiny, but it's a weight I feel really comfortable and confident in.
The problem? Up until the birth of Lily I worked out fairly regularly.
Ya'll she's EIGHTEEN MONTHS OLD.
That's a year & a half since I've had any kind of regular workout routine.
Yikes.
So... I hopped in on a friendly little contest hosted by Danielle & fittingly named "a little too fluffy".
Best part?
Everyone paid $10 so the winner gets 360 dolla bills!


I'm still not actually counting cals but we've cut waaaay back on the carbs around here.
We've amped up the protein intake & basically cut out sugar.
I've worked out every day but ONE in 2013 :)
And I feel amazing, but there's just this one thing...
I can't stop loving baked goods.
I love to make them & enjoy them & share them.
Enter my new best friend: almond flour.
Literally, it's just ground of almonds that you can make fabulous scones with.
How's that for a transition?
The recipe is from The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook by Elana Amsterdam.
Plus I tweaked it a bit to make it my own of course ;)

 

  

Chocolate Chip Almond Flour Scones

 

2 cups almond flour/meal
1/2 cup oat flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup grapeseed oil
1/4 agave nectar (or honey)
2 large eggs
1 cup coarsely chopped dark chocolate (or raisins, craisins, apples, blueberries, etc)

• preheat to 350 degrees F
• combine almond flour, oat flour, salt & baking soda
• whisk together oil, agave & eggs
• add wet ingredients to dry and mix it up!
• fold in the chocolate (or what-have-you)
• drop batter by heaping tablespoon onto baking sheet (2 inches apart- they spread)
• bake 12-15 minutes

 *Really the only change I made was to substitute the almond "meal" that you can buy a little cheaper/easier in the bulk section of Whole Foods for the "blanched almond flour" she calls for. If you mix in a bit of oat flour (which is whole grain, very high in fiber & lower in fat than almond meal) it balances out the coarser almond meal and bakes just beautifully!

 

 

Oh & my very favorite part of baking more nutritious baked goods? I get to give this little lady sweet treats & not feel guilty about putting refined flours & sugars into her precious body.
She's a big fan too.

Happy healthy living, friends.

Here's to a little less fluff!