A New, and Better Polenta!

Because I am not longer eating wheat, due to my fructose malabsorption, I have been exploring many new flours and grains. I recently made my first polenta from scratch, using cornmeal (not a whole grain, unfortunately). It was very tasty, but I wanted to try a new recipe that maybe had a little more "pizazz". Astra Libris posted this recipe on her blog a few weeks ago, which I immediately wanted to try! I finally made it this week, and I was not disappointed.

Polenta, "Food For Laughter" Style

As I do with just about all recipes, I made some slight modifications to Astra's recipe. I don't have the money to go out and buy ingredients that I will most likely never use again, so I had to substitute some ingredients. To see her original recipe, click here.

Ingredients
(makes 2 large servings)

1/2 cup cornmeal
1.5 cups Almond milk (yes, I said almond milk!)
3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp pepper

Tomato "Sauce" Topper

1 can fire roasted tomatoes, seasoned with garlic
2 T plain Greek yogurt

Directions

Combine the first three ingredients into a saucepan and heat on medium. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Heat until polenta starts to thicken (make sure you really work out the chunks of cornmeal at the beginning). Add the spices.

Once the polenta gets thick enough (basically once it gets to the point where there is no extra liquid, and it's thick to your liking), grab a small saucepan to start making the tomato "sauce" topper. Add a can of tomatoes to the saucepan. Heat the tomatoes on medium heat until they reach a simmer. Add the yogurt, and stir. Meanwhile, be sure to continue watching and occasionally stirring the polenta.


** Astra suggests blending the tomato "sauce" topper (tomatoes and yogurt) with an emulsion blender or other blender, but I didn't not do this. **

Pour the polenta into a shallow bowl and then add a heaping scoop of the tomato "sauce" topper.

Nutrition Facts
(Recipes makes 2 servings, this is for 1 serving)

It scored an "A" in nutrition, and an "A" in taste! Even Nick liked it :) The sodium was 20% of the DV, which is not good, but hey, it could be much worse!

Urban Active Fitness

Recently my colleague, Kyle, and I embarked on a new business venture. While our workplace wellness side of the business has been sort of slow, we decided to take advantage of the clientele at some local gyms. We are starting at Urban Active Fitness. Here are some pictures of this amazing facility:

Our advertisement table: Starting March 29th we will provide dietary classes for moms, the older generations, and to the general groups (general advice). We will also provide one-on-one dietary consults. Visit our website at www.imagination2burn.com.

This place is huge. There are televisions everywhere. You sure feel "Urban" when you are in this place.


Basketball courts with scary man coming after me....

A track that goes around the entire facility!

Coming Up

Tonight Nick and I are signing the papers to make an offer on our house. Am I nervous? HECK YEAH! Am I excited? VERY. I will update you later in the weekend. I will also be posting the answer to a question I received a while ago, regarding Agave Nectar and Carob chips vs. dark chocolate.

Thanks for reading everyone! Have a great weekend.