You know what is a total buzzkill? Fitting triumphantly into your skinniest pre-pregnancy skinny jeans one week and the next having someone ask you if you're pregnant again. You know, because of your belly?
Zing!
Yes! (I mean Yes! that happened. Not Yes! I'm pregnant.)
Urgh.
It's okay, I've mostly gotten over it and I do think this friend is far more mortified (still) than I was. Also, I'm still nursing and my belly was never my best feature, let's be honest, and yadda yadda yadda, I have a beautiful baby boy in exchange, so who really cares, right? Except of course that one does care even if one is sort of amazed at how much less one cares now than one would have before one became a mother. Oh, self! You contain multitudes.
Luckily for me, I can identify pretty clearly the factors standing between me and Rock! Hard! Abs!, or, you know, Abs That Do Not Look Like They Are Encasing A Fetus. And those factors would be 1. Total and absolute sedentariness (is that a word?) and 2. My afternoon cookie-cake-whatever-as-long-as-it-is-sweet-and-delicious break that I've been doing religiously since Hugo's birth.
Since daily exercise is really limited only to what I can do at home during Hugo's naptime, it's the afternoon cookie break that I'm training my eyes on. It needs serious reforming and Sara Forte's The Sprouted Kitchen cookbook is currently my reform master.
Specifically, her recipe for Sesame Date Yogurt Cups, which jumped out at me last year when I was reviewing the pages for a blurb (full disclosure!) and hadn't left my mind since. They're so simple – just dates mashed with sesame seeds and then layered with yogurt that's been flavored with a pinch of cinnamon and crisped brown rice – but so much more than the sum of the parts. I mean, flavoring yogurt with cinnamon? So good. Pairing dates and sesame seeds? Of course! Putting them together with crisped rice on top for texture? Lady, you are so smart. These lovely little treats are as satisfying as they are virtuous. I really love them.
(If salt is your vice, not sugar, may I direct you to the recipe for nori popcorn on page 161? You're welcome.)
Sara's cookbook is full of little gems like that; healthy ingredients matched up in inspired ways that would have never occurred to me and that taste so, so good. Sara's idea of enlivening that old standby pesto with lemon zest and lemon juice to serve with lentil meatballs is so easy and yet I'd never tried it before. I usually ignore pesto, but now I plan on using this combination as a dressing for grain salads and cooked beans, anything, really, that needs a little kick. I loved her zucchini roll-ups, in which za'atar and Greek yogurt give grilled zucchini slices new style. And I cannot wait to try what sounds like breakfast cereal nirvana: pearled barley cooked in coconut mik and cardamom, then topped with toasted coconut, pomegranate seeds and a drizzle of pomegranate molasses. Yes?
YES FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.
Happily, I have an extra copy of this lovely book for a giveaway! So for a chance to win a copy of The Sprouted Kitchen, please leave a comment below and I'll pick a winner at random tomorrow. Good luck!
Update: Erin is the winner and has been emailed! Thank you all for participating – comments are now closed.
Sara Forte's Sesame Date Yogurt Cups
Adapted from The Sprouted Kitchen
Serves 4
7 Medjool dates, pitted
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds, plus more for sprinkling
Sea salt, optional
2 cups whole-milk plain yogurt (or Greek or goat's milk)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup crisped brown rice
1. Soak the dates in warm water for 10 minutes to soften. If the dates are soft enough, skip the soaking. Put the dates in a bowl with the sesame seeds and a pinch of salt, if using. Mash together to create a chunky paste. Press a fourth of the date mixture into the bottom of four small glasses.
2. In a bowl, stir together the yogurt and cinnamon, then spoon 1/2 cup of the yogurt into each jar. Sprinkle a few sesame seeds and a couple of spoonfuls of the crisped rice on top. Eat immediately.
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325 responses to “Monday Giveaway!”
I am so in need of some healthy eating inspiration! Too many cookies these past few months. Looks like a wonderful cookbook.
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Some healthy inspiration here is much needed here also.
Thank you for such a wonderful blog!
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That looks yummy and healthy at the same time! Would love to try out some of the other recipes as well. Thanks for a post that made me smile.
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I look so forward to seeing a post by you pop up in my news feed! Thank you so much for such a wonderful read 🙂
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Hooray, healthy inspiration! I love following you through the joys and sorrows both of a pretty tough time in your life. Keep writing, and thanks.
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I just had a baby too and a personal trainer friend of mine recommended Tupler technique to get rid of that post-baby belly. Apparently the problem is more than just our sweet tooth.
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been eyeing this book at the bookstore … love the photography and the healthy delicious recipes!
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What a fantastic layering of flavors!!! Thank you for sharing this recipe and cookbook with us!
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Normally I am not one to participate in giveaways, but this book looks wonderful, so I am totally making an exception 🙂
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Ooh looks totally delicious!
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I’m sorry about the “Are you pregnant?” comment. That’s just not a nice feeling. But good for you for being so positive about it!
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I’ve been eying this book for a while. 😉 We eat yogurt for breakfast everyday, and this recipe sounds like a great way to spruce up our breakfast routine without disrupting it. I might have to switch the dates for something else, since my partner isn’t too found of them. But then again, who knows, she might start liking dates after trying this recipe!
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Pick me! Picke me! Just kidding.
Today I went out to buy some Dubai appropriate clothing and it was baaad. The belly looks fine, until you bisect it with a rubber band, a size 12 rubber band on a skirt and then it goes bloob bloob.
And I’m going to be 40…
In 3 years…
Then the meltdown will really begin…. : )
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Yes please……
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These look like just the kind of things I would enjoy eating to avoid feeling deprived!
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This looks absolutely amazing. Thanks for offering such a wonderful treat!
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I read the Sprouted Kitchen blog regularly. Everything always looks and sounds delectable. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
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I’m with you– I need my daily cookie or something delicious sweet and baked every afternoon and I have the belly to show for it. But the sesame date yogurt cup sounds really wonderful! And if I have it for breakfast, I could still have my afternoon sweet. Oh wait, that is not the point is it… darn.
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Dear Luisa,
my belly was never my best feature too. It is still not. And no baby in exchange!
And as long as I keep on reading food blogs, it will be difficult to get better…altough Sarah Forte and you are the ones that help me finding the ealthy way to cook..
she insipred me with chards cooked with milk and mustard and your lentil soup (the one you first cook onion and carrots in the oven then altoghter in the pan, you know…) are staples in my daily cuisine…
Moreover your post “Leap and the net will appear” pushed me a lot and it’s the reminder I want to tattoo on my wrist one day…
Wish me luck with this giveaway
Ciao ciao
Sara
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Oooh! That cereal sounds amazing.
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Sweets are not my vice, but this recipe seems like such an improvement on my current plastic-cup-of-yogurt-for-breakfast routine. And what a beautiful, calm, delicious cookbook!
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Ooooh yeah. Put me down for that book! I meant to comment on your post the other day about babies – baby led weaning (BLW) seems to be the thing in the UK at the moment and my pal’s baby has (at the age of about 8 months) had venison, catfish, veal, pak choi, asparagus etc etc etc because the baby just kind of holds it and gums what it wants. Other stuff too, of course, pureed to death, but lots of gumming what the parents are eating. Oh, and she is photographing it so that if picky child says it doesn’t like it…ZING! Proof to the contrary, kiddo.
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I’ve wanted to try this book but haven’t yet picked it up! Thanks for the giveaway!
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Oh yes, please. I love her blog!
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Healthy and delicious? Yessss! Not something I hear often when talking about diet, but exaclty my aim when actually doing it. Thanx!
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Looks like a lovely way to be virtuous, or a bit more virtuous than I have been being lately, without being painful.
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Sounds like a lovely book!
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My daughter is now 4 months old, and I’m still perfecting the art of covering my belly bulge.
My pathetic guilty pleasure has been filling a espresso cup full of dark chocolate chips and nibbling on them throughout the day.
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My salt-y tooth is so intrigued by the idea of nori popcorn.. and that breakfast sounds divine! I’d love to cook from the Sprouted Kitchen cookbook!
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I would love some more healthy recipe ideas, this book sounds great!
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That cookbook sounds wonderful. Definitely needed in our household. Thanks for the giveaway and you look great no matter the belly situation. 🙂
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Sounds delicious!
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This book looks wonderful
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The book looks lovely. Thanks!
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My 7.5 month old and I would love this book 🙂
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Gulp and yum! This date yoghurt cup looks amazing. I’ll definitely try!
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“Oh, self! You contain multitudes.”
So true. Thanks, Luisa!
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Looks lovely! I am a huge fan of dates, and a recipe with so few ingredients, all of which are whole, simple, and delicious is worth a try. And you look fab, Luisa! Yes, she is surely more mortified than you 🙂
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Fabulous book! I need to eat healthier, it will be a help for sure!
Thanks for the giveaway!
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Would love to win this book!
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This looks great!
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I think I need that meatball recipe…it sounds wonderful! Anything with pesto….Thank you for thinking of us!
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Oh! I’ve had my eye on that cookbook.
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Thanks for the giveaway! I really enjoy reading your blog!
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I love the combination of dates and sesame. To create a dessert with yoghurt and cinnamon is just divine.
Don’t worry about people assuming pregnancy. I get asked frequently “when is it due?” …and I’m a man!
Surely this dessert won’t help. Oh well…
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looks great
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Fabulous giveaway! I need to lose about 10 pounds….let me know what works!
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Yes, please.
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Oh, goodness! Those yogurt cups look delicious. I’m always looking for new sweet treats.
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That is such a unique recipe. I’d love to receive the extra book!
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