Dairy free,no added sugar pumpkin pie recipe

Don't let the title fool ya', this pumpkin pie is extremely tasty. I am by no means on a dairy free or sugar free diet, but I am all about trying healthy versions of my favorite desserts. While doing some recipe blog searches I found a few recipes that weren’t using condensed milk which is loaded with sugar, but still added up to 1 1/2 cups of added sugar. So instead, I went with 1/2 cup of Stevia (all natural sweetener made from plants, I used the Truvia brand) and almond milk (dairy free). I took the recipe one step further and went with a frozen spelt pie crust  because I like the texture a lot. It doesn’t seem to crumble as much as regular wheat crusts. So there you have it, a desert that satisfies two food allergies, zero added sugar, and somehow still tastes amazing.

Filling:

1 can pure pumpkin (1 pound size – the “one-pie” size)
4 large eggs (more eggs needed because no condensed milk)
½ cup Truvia
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½  teaspoons cinnamon
½  teaspoon ground ginger
½  teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼  teaspoon allspice
¼  teaspoon ground cloves
1 ½ cups almond milk

Mix it all up and pour into your uncooked  9" spelt pie shell. Put it in a preheated oven at 425 for 12-15 min then turn it down to 350 degrees for another 30-40min. It may take a little longer depending on your oven. This guilt free delight has less than 200 kcal per serving if you can get 12 pieces out of your pie. Enjoy!

Get moving. Keep moving.

Ian

BlakeFit’s super wicked awesome fish tacos

I was recently on a trip in California and a good buddy of mine was kind enough to cook up some fish tacos. All of the ingredients were super fresh with veggies from the local farmer’s market, handmade tortillas and regional pacific cod. The food was amazing and not all that unhealthy, but as I was watching my man prepare the wonderful meal the wheels were spinning in my head. How can I cut out some of the unnecessary calories while maintaining the flavor? What can I add to make this a more balanced meal? Well, mission accomplished. Check out the recipe for my take on fish tacos with kale slaw and let me know what you think.

 

(photo courtesy of Tessa Blake Photography)

Ingredients

Little less than 1lb of fresh white fish (cod works great)

2 Limes juiced

1tsp salt

2tsp black pepper

½ tsp. chili powder

2tbsp olive oil

½ large onion diced

2 cloves fresh garlic (minced, diced)

4 cups diced kale (my favorite is dinosaur kale)

½ frozen corn (thawed)

3-4 tbsp. of fat free plain yogurt

2tbsp of white vinegar

Corn tortillas

Directions

While cooking everything pre-heat your oven to 350, you will only use the oven for steaming the tortillas later. Combine lime juice, garlic, onion, salt, 1tsp of black pepper and fish and store in a deep tray on the counter to marinate for 15 minutes. If you have time, leave out the lime juice and let the fish marinate for 1hr, and add lime juice during cooking. While the fish is marinating you can start on the kale slaw topping. To make the kale slaw dressing combine chili powder, yogurt, vinegar and 1tsp of black pepper in a small mixing bowl. In a larger mixing bowl combine corn and kale, then add the dressing and shake, toss, whatever it takes to cover the slaw and let stand so the kale can soak up the dressing. Next, heat a large pan on medium heat on the stove top with olive oil. Pour the fish and marinade into the pan, cover and cook for 10-12 minutes.  Just before you take the fish off of the stove, wrap the corn tortillas in damp hand towel and place in the oven for 3 minutes. This will give you warm and soft tortillas that won’t tear when you are eating them. Finally put some fish on those tortillas and throw some kale slaw on top and go to town. If you happen to have some cilantro make its way on the taco than you my friend are winning.

Hope you enjoy, let me know what you think.

Get moving. Keep moving.

Ian

Marathon training update

Here is a quick update as to what Gertrude has been up to workout wise. For the past two weeks we have focused on improving her general run fitness by running no more than four times a week and no longer than 45 minutes. Also, we haven’t run more than two days in a row and often have days of no running to allow time for Gertrude to go to her favorite yoga, indoor cycling and group fitness classes.

 The reason why I want her to train this way initially is to let the body adjust to running. Pounding pavement puts incredible amounts of stress on our joints, tendons and muscles so it is important to let our bodies get used to the stress of running.  Also, time is on our side. The Wrightsville Beach Marathon isn’t until March 18^th so we don’t need to hit the panic button just yet. However, it should be known that Gertrude was already in very good shape before we started working together and has played sports at the division one collegiate level and there isn’t a need to improve her general health. If Gertrude was in average health with no prior exercise experience I would suggest starting out with walking and strength training with a personal trainer. Below is what a typical training week had looked like for Gertrude.

Monday- 30 min easy run

Tuesday – Hot Yoga

Wednesday- 40min easy run

Thursday- 30min easy run on treadmill

Friday- off day

Saturday – Indoor Cycling Class

Sunday- 40 min easy run

 Training Tip

Notice there is an off day in there, it is important to let our bodies rest. Sure, you can run seven days a week and feel fine, but eventually you will need some rest. Make sure to give yourself a break and don’t sweat it. When you allow your body to rest you will be able to train at a much higher intensity and keep yourself injury free.

As always, pass along any questions or comments and be on the lookout for a super fantastical fish taco recipe. It is uber healthy and tastes amazing.

Get moving. Keep moving.

Ian