Hey guys! Happy Monday. I am so sorry that I have been
slacking in the updates department again. It is so hard for me to find time to
type up everything and then I get a bunch of backlogged recipes where I have to
post a bunch in one post! I hope you all understand. I do work full time and go
to the gym after work and then once I go home I pretty much spend the rest of
the evening cooking and prepping for the next day. In total, I probably only
relax 2 hours a night with my boyfriend. But, I will still update when I have
time. I also need to update the recipe page pretty bad! Haha I am so behind!
Let’s start with my hearty fall-inspired Sweet Potato Protein Pancakes!
What you need:
1 small-medium sweet potato cooked and skin removed and
mashed
1-2 tablespoons of unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1 scoop vanilla whey protein
Ground cinnamon to taste, I used about ½ a teaspoon
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
3 egg whites
Combine wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately
before mixing them together. I added the mashed sweet potato in last and made
sure to really mix it well. Depending on the size of your sweet potato you may
need to add more or less unsweetened vanilla almond milk. Cook on a stovetop
with coconut oil or non-stick spray. My recipe made 4 delicious and filling
pancakes that I topped with Walden Farm’s zero calorie pancake syrup.
My second recipe for you guys was inspired by the lovely
@fitkitten on Instagram. Spicy Corn,
Black Bean, and Red Pepper Pulled Chicken
What you’ll need:
1 ½ lbs (I used 2 ½ breasts) boneless skinless chicken
breast
1 jar of Corn, Black Bean, And Red Pepper salsa from Desert
Pepper Trading Company
1-2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
¼ cup of water
Put all ingredients into a Crockpot set to high heat. Mix
all the ingredients well and let it cook for about 3-4 hours. I usually pull
the chicken apart at hour 3 and allow it to cook for another hour or so. Make
sure to periodically check on it and stir it around, if you need to add more
water for moisture do so! Don’t want dry chicken.
I love this recipe because you can leave it cook while you
prep other food and then you have a delicious side or main course to combine
with other meals. I like to use this chicken on tacos/burritos, on cauliflower
or brown rice, or you can even make a Mexican inspired pizza! Try with your
favorite jar of all natural salsa. I also made it with Newman’s Pineapple salsa
and it tastes amazing!
The third recipe is one that I am really proud of. It is
high in protein and carbs and great for a pre or post workout meal! Chocolate Protein Bread Pudding!
What you’ll need:
3 slices whole grain bread (I use Nature’s Own whole grain
and no sugar, 50 calories a slice)
4 large egg whites
1 whole egg
2 packets of raw stevia (add more if you want more
sweetness)
1 scoop chocolate whey protein
½ cup of unsweetened almond milk
Mix the eggs, stevia, protein, and almond milk together in a
bowl. Mix it well; we all know how protein can be fussy and chunk together,
especially with eggs. Rip up 3 slices of whole grain bread or bread of choice.
Allow the bread to soak in the liquid for about 10 minutes. Spread in a baking
pan greased with coconut oil or non-stick baking spray. Spread mixture evenly
into the pan and allow to bake for 15-25 minutes at 325 degrees. Check on it
periodically, I notice my oven seems to cook really quickly.
I made this the night before I needed it for a quick
breakfast and added chocolate PB2, banana slices, and some Walden Farm’s zero
cal pancake syrup. It was heavenly. I love desert for breakfast!
If you follow my Instagram, you may have noticed I have a
pretty mean sweet tooth. One night before bed I really was craving chocolate
cake but I also wanted my casein as well! So I created this Layered Chocolate Cookies and Cream Casein
Microwave Cake
What you’ll need:
For the cake:
½ a small banana mashed
1 egg white
¼ tsp baking powder
1 tablespoon Dark Chocolate Dream Peanut Butter from Peanut
Butter and Co
½ tbsp unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1 ½ tbsp coconut flour
About 1 tablespoon unsweetened almond milk
Mix all the above ingredients together in a mug and microwave
for about 2 minutes keeping an eye on it to be sure it doesn’t overflow. If It
need to cook further just add 30 second increments. Allow to cool for a few
minutes and remove from the mug. Cut it in half and fill with the following:
For the filling:
6 oz plain non-fat Chobani
½ a scoop of Cookies
and Cream Optimum Nutrition Casein
(If I was to make this again, I would include some xanthan
gum to thicken up the casein a bit)
Topped all of that with another dollop of Dark Chocolate
Dream. This was so delicious and really satisfied my craving for cake. The mug
cake was pretty delicious on its own too.
Another creation I whipped up and was really happy with was Mini Coconut Flour Muffins. I made
these one morning for breakfast when I wanted something filling, low carb, and
savory.
What you’ll need:
3 tablespoons coconut flour
1 tbsp unsweetened natural apple sauce
1 packet raw stevia
½ tsp baking powder
1 egg white
½ cup unsweetened almond milk
A couple drops of caramel flavoring essence
Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separate before
combining. In a baking pan greased with coconut oil or non-stick spray evenly
disperse the batter into the 6 compartments and allow to cook for 10-15 minutes
at 350 degrees. I topped these flaky savory mini-muffins with some peanut flour
butter. I loved these. They would even make a nice low-crab alternative to
dinner rolls.
One side I threw together and really enjoyed the outcome was
Cinnamon Stevia Chickpeas and Sweet
Potatoes. They are high in protein and healthy carbs!
What you’ll need:
1 medium sweet potato
1 can of low sodium chickpeas, rinsed
About 1 tbsp ground cinnamon (or more if you like)
4-6 packets of raw steiva
1 tablespoon coconut oil
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Open your can of chick
peas, drain and rinse. Throw them into a pot on the stovetop with a tablespoon
of coconut oil and allow them to cook for about 5-8 minutes. Stirring to make
sure all the chickpeas get covered in coconut oil as well as precooked evenly.
While those are cooking, chop up a medium sweet potato into small cubes. Grease
a baking sheet with coconut oil or non-stick spray. Add the sweet potato in
with the beans and stir them together allowing them to also get coated in some
coconut oil. Add cinnamon and stevia. Remove from heat and evenly spread the
mixture onto the greased baking sheet. I allowed them to cook for 10 minutes,
took them out and stirred it up, placed it back into the oven for another 5-10.
Super easy and delicious! I added some baked chicken breast for a post-workout
and it was an awesome combination of protein and carbs that had a nice
sweetness. Definitely will be making this again as a side, or even a main
course with the baked chicken breast. Again, my oven seemed to cook this really
quickly, so times may vary.
I also made some Low-Carb
Falafel Balls for snacking, sides, lunch, or a dinner if I choose. I love
falafel. I think the flavors are so delicious together, especially paired with
some Cucumber Sauce! I have been
craving falafel lately, but since I have really been keeping an eye on carb
intake, I was kind-of worried about the high carb amount. I got to thinking and
realized I had riced cauliflower in my fridge that I needed to use up. So I got
to creating.
What you’ll need:
1 can organic chickpeas/garbanzo beans (low sodium)
dash of sea salt
juice from ½ a lemon
1 cup of “riced” cauliflower
2 tablespoons coconut flour
4-5 sprigs of fresh parsley
3-4 cloves fresh garlic
½ a red onion
Fresh ground black pepper
2 egg whites
(I liked the way this recipe turned out, but it did end up a
bit drier than I would have liked due to the coconut flour and cauliflower. I
think when I make them again that I will add more egg and/or coconut oil to the
mixture to give it some more moisture.)
Open the can of chickpeas and rinse them well. Rinsing beans
is important because it helps to get excess salt off of them. Reducing sodium
is always something I try to think about since it causes me bloating. Throw the
beans into a food processor and blend until they are chopped up roughly. Remove
and place into a large bowl. Cut ½ a red onion, peel 3-4 cloves fresh garlic,
and your parsley and put that into the food processor next. Let it go until it
is fine. The boyfriend doesn’t like large chunks of onion so I am always sure
to make them diced up really well. Add that to the bowl with the ground
chickpeas. Next, cut a lemon in half and squeeze the juice from half into the
mixture. Next add a dash of sea salt and fresh ground black pepper. I already
had the cauliflower riced in the fridge, so I measured out a cup and added that
to the party. Next, add the 2 tablespoons of coconut flour and finally 2 whites
from large eggs. Mix all of the ingredients together well and form into balls.
My batch made 22 balls. I baked them for 10 minutes, then took them out and
flipped them; put them back in to bake for another 10-15. While they were
baking I made the cucumber sauce:
1/3 of a large cucumber
6 ounces of nonfat plain Chobani Greek yogurt
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
A dash of sea salt
1/2 tsp xanthan gum (to give it a little thickness)
Mix these ingredients well in the food processor (after you
cleaned it from making the falafel).
For one ball, my nutritional facts came out to be: 26.3
calories, 0.2 g of fat, 56.7 mg sodium, 4.1 g carbs, 1.3 g dietary fiber, 1.5 g
protein
For dinner tonight I made some amazing Eggplant Chicken Parm:
What you'll need:
1 small eggplant
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1 egg white
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 a pre-cooked chicken breast
1/4 cup organic traditional tomato sauce
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cut up your eggplant into slices that are about 1 inch in thickness. Combine the coconut flour and red pepper flakes together and put the egg white in a separate bowl for dipping. Dip the eggplant first into the egg, then into the flour and red pepper mixture. I didn't want a really thick breading, but if you do you can use more egg and coconut flour. Put the breaded slices onto a baking sheet with coconut oil or non-stick cooking spay. Put into the oven for 15 minutes, then take out the eggplant, flip them, turn off the oven and put them back in for about 10 minutes. Allow enough time for both sides of the eggplant to brown a little bit. Top the eggplant with chicken breast that has already been baked. I finished off the dish with 1/4 cup organic traditional tomato sauce, italian spices, and a bit more crushed red pepper flakes. Then, chow down! I love this recipe so much and it is low-carb!
PHEW! That was a lot of recipes! I really should keep up so
that I don’t have to do these massive posts. Haha. I hope you guys enjoy and
please let me know if you decide to use any and how they turned out. As always,
I am megameows on Instagram, so tag me and let me see what your lovely
creations are! <3 x
What you'll need:
Another awesome purchase of mine this week was from Target. I finally was able to find tea that I have been looking quite some time for! Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride by Celestial Seasonings! You probably are thinking, there is no way that a tea can taste like sugar cookies.. WRONG! This tea is so fantastic it is even boyfriend approved. With just some stevia and a little bit ok unsweetened almond milk to bring out the flavor, it tastes like a liquid cookie. Very good for soothing sweet tooth cravings like I get so badly! I also bought some French Vanilla coffee that was on sale and like most vanilla flavored things it is delicious. I gotta have a caffeine, one of my vices!
