Candy Cravings! Almond Joy Oats and Cake Batter Protein Pancakes

Hi everyone! It’s Sunday. Working another 8 hour shift of overtime today. Although my job is not very physically taxing and really is quite pleasant for the most part (who can complain about blogging, reading, texting, playing video games and watching films all while at work?), working 48 hour weeks is taking a toll on me. At least I am making money and getting closer to being able to sign up for the NASM personal training certification course. That is what is keeping me going: imagining my possible future that all of this extra time I am working will help me pay for. Have to work for what we want!

I’m sitting here typing this and sipping on some pumpkin spice coffee and trying to think of topics to discuss. Nothing is coming to me! I need you guys to give me some feedback on what types of things you would like to see me discuss on here. Leave me a comment and let me know some questions or things you would like me to talk about. Of course, remember that I am not an expert and anything I say on here is strictly personal experience and what works for me.

I have been trying to experiment with combinations of food. One of my favorite things to do is to take a bunch of different veggies with (or even without sometimes) a lean protein and mix them together.

I was in the mood for pineapple chicken quesadillas, so I made a big batch of pineapple, 

low sodium (also well rinsed) black beans, chicken breast, tomato, kale, red bell pepper, jalapeno, 

and sweet onion that I can use in burritos/quesadillas/eat as is! 

Sometimes if you have no idea what to eat is to look what you have, and just throw things together! 98% of the time I love the turn-out and then you know another meal you can make if you’re lacking in creativity or ideas on a particular day. We all have our creative slumps, with a clean eating lifestyle it is so important to keep things interesting and not eat the same things every day.

For breakfast the other morning I basically had a candy bar… No, not an actual candy bar, but it was delicious enough to be!! I was craving an Almond Joy so badly, so I made some Almond Joy Egg White Oats!

What you’ll need:

½ cup of whole grain rolled oats (cooked in 1 cup of water on medium heat)

2 large egg whites

2-3 packets of raw stevia (or more depending on how sweet you want your oats)

1 tablespoon of coconut manna (1/2 for in the oats, 1/2 for on top)

1 1/2 tsp of unsweetened natural cocoa powder

¼ cup unsweetened almond milk

1 tablespoon of shredded unsweetened coconut flakes (for on top)

6 almonds (for on top)

Cook your oats like normal in water, adding the cocoa powder, ½ tablespoon of coconut manna, and 2 egg whites about 1-2 minutes before the oats have finished cooking. Then mix in your stevia (or natural sweetener of choice) and a bit of unsweetened almond milk. Top with the second ½ tablespoon of coconut manna, coconut flakes, and almonds. I like to pour a bit of unsweetened almond milk around the edge of the bowl. This turned out so lovely and pretty that I had to share it with you guys! Definitely a nice pick-me-up.

At work I have been reading a book I recently purchased on me Acer Iconia Tab Tablet ($200, GameStop) written by Michael Pollan called The Omnivore’s Dilemma.  I was told that I should read Pollan’s books by a friend. The book is so interesting and informative. I never knew that the history of Corn was so fascinating and rooted in our society. I like it so much so far that I have ordered one of his other books from Amazon called In Defense of Food. If you are interested in food and nutrition, I highly recommend his books. His writing style is fantastic.

Since I am so interested in nutrition and health, I am trying to start reading more books about the subject so that I can be more informed (especially for when I become a personal trainer, and hopefully nutritionist). One of the best things you can do if you have a question about a topic or just want to be more educated in a realm of study is to do research! Understanding of a topic does not just happen. Seek to learn as much about a subject as you can so that you can make informed decisions! If you are new to a healthy lifestyle and feel lost and confused, look up some things! I frequent health, fitness, and bodybuilding blogs daily to help me learn more. There is an endless stream of information available to you right at your fingertips, so use it! Read some books and studies. We all started somewhere!

When I woke up this morning I thought about how I have not had protein pancakes in a while. I went to Wegman’s yesterday and picked up some new goodies to try out. One of the purchases was some gluten free yellow cake mix from Betty Crocker:

Although it may not be 100% “clean” it is one of the better cake mixes without a ridiculous list of ingredients. Thanks to Heather who has some recipes using this brand of cake mix, I picked it up after seeing it on her blog.

I made cake batter protein pancakes with banana frosting! These are the prettiest and most colorful pancakes I have ever made. They really cheered me up and got me ready for my shift today.

What you’ll need:

For the pancakes

½ scoop vanilla ice cream optimum nutrition whey protein

2 tablespoons oat bran

2 tablespoons coconut flour

2 tablespoons yellow Betty Crocker gluten free cake mix  

2 large egg whites

1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/8 tsp of baking soda and also cream of tartar

a bit of rainbow sprinkles (optional)

For the frosting

 1/3 of a mashed large banana

1 tablespoon of unsweetened almond milk

I mixed the dry ingredients and wet ingredients for the batter prior to combining. Mix well. Add the sprinkles last and don’t mix them in too much or all of the color will come off. White they are cooking on a non-stick sprayed pan, make the frosting. My recipe made 5 smaller pancakes. I topped the pancakes with my banana frosting and bit more sprinkles. It was so delicious! I love fun colorful food. Nothing wrong with some sprinkles once in a while. I hope you guys have and/or had a great day and enjoy your Sunday!

Meg x

Cookies and Cream Protein Bars

I am super excited about this recipe I had to type it up right away for you guys because I knew it was going to be a home run. I wanted something different with my nightly casein, so I started thinking. I really wanted a candy bar. I would not allow it! I made myself a compromise: Cookies and Cream Protein Bars!

What you'll need:

• 1 scoop (1/2 cup) Cookies and Cream Casein, or some other flavor of casein
• 4 tablespoons shredded unsweetened coconut
• 4 tablespoons of coconut flour
• 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk
• 3 packets of raw stevia
• 2 squares of 90% dark chocolate

Mix together the dry ingredients (coconut flakes, casein, coconut flour, 2 packets of stevia). Add the almond milk to the dry ingredients and mix well. Make it into a doughy consistency before removing it from the bowl (and having a little taste of the batter!). Shape it in to 3 bars. Melt the dark chocolate in a microwave safe bowl for about 45 seconds and mix in the final packet of stevia to sweeten it a bit. Drizzle the chocolate over the bars. Put the bars into the freezer to harden.  I left mine in for at least 45 minutes. I am taking one to work for a snack tomorrow!

Each bar has 10.6 g fat, 7.5 g saturated fat, 147 g of sodium, 11.4 g carbs, 6.1 g dietary fiber, 1.5 g sugar, 11.8 g protein

Chocolate Zucchini Protein Brownies

I had a ripe banana sitting around and decided to throw a few things together. I just love when something turns out just like I wanted. It's super satisfying. Today, it was Chocolate Zucchini Protein Brownies. Yes, Zucchini. Zucchinis are great for baking because they are a low carb vegetable, help keep things moist, and they blend very well with other flavors.

What you'll need:

• 1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder
• 1/3 grated zucchini, about 2/3 of a cup
• 2 egg whites
• 2 packets of raw stevia
• 1/2 a teaspoon baking powder
• 5 drops of chocolate SweetLeaf liquid stevia
• 2 tablespoons coconut flour
• 1 ripe banana, mashed

 First, I mashed up the banana in a bowl and thew in the grated zucchini. Then, I added the protein powder, stevia, and coconut flour. After it was well mixed I added the 2 egg whites and finally the liquid stevia.

Preheat oven to 370 degrees and pour batter into a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until you can stick a toothpick in the middle and have it come out clean.

I can not provide nutritional information, as this recipe may vary with your particular protein powder. 

Enjoy!

Apple Crumble Eggs, Dark Cocoa Peanut Spread, and More Goodies!

Hey there guys! Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. Been busy with life things as I am sure you all can relate to. I have been working on a couple of recipes for you guys, but I want to wait until I think they are perfect before posting them. These are my first recipes from scratch so I really want them to be amazing and knock the ball out of the park!

I am seriously dying for fall to get here. I can not wait for cool and dewy mornings, beautiful colored leaves, hoodies and jeans, and fall foods. I have been finding myself craving more apples and pumpkins and warm savory foods.

The day I had been inspired by Laura's (Sprint 2 the Table) photo on instagram which contained eggs and apples. I thought it looked fabulous and I had been wanting to try the whole egg and apple mixture. So, craving fall, I decided to make a slice of Apple Crumble Eggs.

What you will need for this easy recipe:

• 4 egg whites
• 1/2 a Macintosh apple
• Ground cinnamon
• 1/3 scoop of vanilla whey protein
• 2 tablespoons of unsweetened almond milk
• Walden Farms calorie-free syrup
• 2 tablespoons powdered peanut butter/peanut flour/PB2
• some natural sweetener to your taste

Coconut crumble on top:

• 2 tablespoons coconut flour
•  1-1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
• 1/2 a packet of raw stevia 
• a dash of ground cinnamon

First, crack and mix 4 egg whites with 1/3 scoop vanilla whey protein, 2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk, and some natural sweetener. Mix well and set to the side.

Cut up 1/2 your apple and put it into a skillet heated with non-stick spray or coconut oil. I had my stove set to medium-low. Start browning the eggs with some ground cinnamon. After I let them cook for a couple minutes, I poured on some Walden Farms calorie-free pancake syrup and let them cook in that for a bit. Then, I added the egg and protein mixture.

 

Let the eggs cook up while stirring occasionally. Basically, you are making scrambled eggs. While this is cooking, whip up your peanut butter mixture for on top. You can use regular peanut butter, too. I like to use powdered peanut butter/peanut flour because it is high in protein, low carb, and full of healthy fat. Your egg/apple mixture should eventually look like this:

 Add some more natural sweetener and ground cinnamon if you like. I plated my apple and egg mixture and then mixed up my crumble and added it on. Then, I topped mine with some more cinnamon and powdered peanut butter. This would also go great with some cottage cheese or Greek yogurt! This was awesome and very good for pre or post workout because it is high in protein and has carbs in the apple. Delicious.

I was super excited yesterday when I came home from work and my package from iHerb was on my step!

I love love love my new goodies. The almond flour is wonderful and the peanut flour is better than I expected. I like it because apparently it is just PB2/Powdered Peanut Butter. But, you can get a larger amount of it as peanut flour and it's cheaper that way! Both Almond and Peanut flour are better alternatives to flour. Low-carb and high protein, which is what I like to hear! I also ordered some Miracle Noodles to try. I already ordered 3 more bags of almond flour and also a smaller container of peanut flour. I want to make sure I am stocked up on these babies!

To try out my peanut flour yesterday I made a Dark Cocoa Peanut Spread. It turned out amazing!

I used 1 teaspoon of Dark Chocolate Dream from Peanut Butter & Co, 1 large tablespoon of peanut flour, 1/2 a tsp of natural unsweetened cocoa powder, raw stevia to taste, and 1 1/2 tablespoons of unsweetened almond milk. So light and yummy. Also, you get a good amount for about 90-100 calories. I smeared mine on a toasted high fiber low carb tortilla that I had toasted.


Last night I went to have my casein dessert, before bed and I remembered an awesome site that my friend Enid had shown me Chocolate Covered Katie's Funfetti Cookie Dough Balls. I didn't feel like baking them after making test runs of my new recipes, so I decided to alter it to make a basic cookie casein dough!

What you'll need:

• 2 tablespoons of coconut flour (almond flour also works awesome)
•  2 tablespoons unsweetened natural apple sauce
•  3 tablespoons cookies and cream casein (I use Optimum Nutrition)
• 1 packet of raw stevia
• 1/4 cup of unsweetened almond milk
•  
•  Mix well until a doughy consistency. Topped with some of the Dark Cocoa Peanut Spread from earlier and some rainbow sprinkles! Put in the freezer for a half an hour or so. Consume! 

I have been going crazy trying new recipes for the peanut flour. I wanted to make some more peanut chicken that I had made before, so I perfected the recipe a bit with peanut flour for dinner tonight!

The Peanut Sauce I used is pretty basic, but tastes amazing! 2 tablespoons of peanut flour mixed with 2 tablespoons of water. Add 1/3 packet of raw stevia, a little cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. I also tried mixing in a teaspoon of Sriracha in the sauce for my wrap tomorrow to make it more spicy!

The chicken is pre-cooked. I like to prep a good bit of chicken every 4 days or so to use for meals. Chicken is my favorite protein, so I keep a lot of it around for quick and easy meals. I put the chicken in a skillet with non-stick spray. I also cut up a green hot pepper and sauteed the chicken with the pepper. I added the peanut sauce on top after the chicken and pepper cooked a bit. Allowed it to cook over medium-low heat while I steamed 1 cup of broccoli. I saved a little bit of sauce to drizzle on top once plated.

With meals like this, I really see no point in going out and spending money on Chinese food that is probably loaded with grease and will make me feel sick. Simple, clean, and delicious. Few ingredients. Exactly how I like it!

I hope you guys enjoy these if you go to try them. I will work on perfecting these recipes I created so you guys can enjoy them as well.

xo Meg