Sunday, June 6, 2010

On the Road to Recovery

Well, all is good in the Cotter house today. the hubs raced the REV3 half ironman in Connecticut today and got 8th! Top 10 is always a plus for us. I cheered from home and was praying for a good race! Thank goodness it was.
Here's his post race ice bath. haha!


Anyway, the hubs will be home (if he makes all his flights) for two days this week before heading back out to Maryland for another Half Ironman next weekend. This week is crucial for recovery so I decided to make him some antioxidant/recovery snacks for when he gets home.

Two of my favorite high antioxidant foods are chia seeds and cherries. Put the two together and you got one great combo!

According to ChooseCherries.com ......
A growing body of science reveals tart cherries, enjoyed as either dried, frozen cherries or cherry juice, have among the highest levels of disease-fighting antioxidants, when compared to other fruits. They also contain other important nutrients such as beta carotene (19 times more than blueberries or strawberries) vitamin C, potassium, magnesium, iron, fiber and folate.

And according to HealthMad.....
•The chia seeds are great for athletes because they are highly hydrophilic. Being hydrophilic means it absorbs large amounts of water. Chia Seeds can absorb over 10 times their weight in water making them a great enhancer in hydrating our bodies. They absorb the water we drink holding it in our system longer.
Chia seeds provide antioxidant activity



That being said, here's my recipe for...........

Cherry Chia Nut Muffins (Gluten Free w/ extra protein)

Ingredients:
  • 1/2 c Buckwheat Flour
  • 1/2 c 12% light Peanut Flour
  • 16 grams Vanilla Protein Powder ( I used life basics)
  • 2-3 tbsp chia seeds (I used 3)
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 3 oz plain goats milk yogurt (about 1/3 cup)
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup chopped pitted cherries
  • 2 packets of stevia or preferred sweetener (optional)
  • 1 tbsp agave nectar (you can add more if you don't use a sweetener)
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or other preferred milk)
  • cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp water
Directions:
  • Preheat oven to 375F
  • meanwhile, mix dry ingredients together
  • slowly add in wet ingredients and folding in the egg
  • whisk until smooth
  • spoon into a greased muffin pan
  • top with the additional cherry pieces
  • bake for 20 minutes or so




YUMMMY!

Stats look pretty good too.

Nutrition Facts for 6 medium or 8 small chia cherry nut muffins :
Amount Per Serving
Calories 131
Total Fat 3.2 g
Saturated Fat 0.7 g
Carbohydrate 15.0 g
Dietary Fiber 4.4 g
Sugars 3.3 g
Protein 10 g

Just finished one myself, topped with a little sunbutter. Perfect end to a great weekend!
Cheers,
LC
 
P.S.
Congrats to Bre, Kelly, Terenzo, Frank, and all those who rocked it at REV3 this weekend.

17 comments:

Erin Helgerson said...

Hi Lindsay!
Congrats to your hubs for 8th! That's awesome!
And what yummy muffins...I'm staying in tonight myself and cooking/baking!
Hope you had a great weekend!
XO,
Erin

Chuck said...

Tell James congratulations- I would love some training advice from him!
Those muffins look great! I've read about cherries for recovery so I made a homemade granola and used dried cranberries in it a few weeks ago. Delicious.

Unknown said...

chuck,

Homemade granola is the best! You should make another batch with dried cherries and chia seed next time. I bet it would be awesome!

Lindsay @ http://pancakesnpajamas.blogspot.com/ said...

Congrats to your hubbs! Eighth is great! I can't wait to hear how the next race goes. The muffins look delicious!

Jamie said...

Hi Lindsay! Thanks so much for reaching out...I'm good but I've totally been slacking on my blogging and blog reading. I have to get back in the swing of things for sure. Hope everything is well with you also. Your muffins looks delish and usual and now I'm craving dried cherries!

Abby said...

Congrats to James! Forget Ironmon--he's superman!

Those muffins look YUMMO! I love cherries and chia seeds!

Anonymous said...

oh these look so good....what a great recipe and what a great wife to make them for her hubby :)great placing in his race too!

Anonymous said...

Congrats to him for getting 8th place!!! So impressive!

Averie @ Averie Cooks said...

peanut flour...way to rock that! i have seen it but have never worked w/ it. i cant do gluten so that would be great. wonder if i could make the whole thing w/ peanut flour or if it would be too heavy/dense.

GREAT recipe !!!!

Yum Yucky said...

Awww! You're such a good wife to take care of your hungry hubby and support his athletics! I hope he does extra awesome in his next event. :)

Mo said...

Congrats to your hubby for 8th place!

These muffins look magnificent! Do you think they would work without peanut flour? Would spelt flour work in these?

Unknown said...

Mo,

I think Spelt flour would work. If you have almond meal or coconut flour, that would be good too!
Let me know if you make them. :)

Alyson @ Nourished Fitness said...

Love this recipe, so creative and sounds delicious!

Joanna Sutter (Fitness & Spice) said...

SOLD! I've been reading about the benefits of cherries lately. While I haven't had cherries in forever, they might just reappear in my diet thanks to you!

Kristina said...

YUMMM!!

fitfunandfabulous said...

Congrats to him for getting 8th place!!! So impressive!

Lindsay @ http://pancakesnpaja said...

Congrats to your hubbs! Eighth is great! I can't wait to hear how the next race goes. The muffins look delicious!