Yummy PB Breakfast!

 

This yummy breakfast (or it could be a snack) was inspired by another trainer at my gym!  This is super easy, tasty, and can be prepared the night before so it's ready to go in the morning.  You can throw it in your lunch bag as a snack, and it would also make the perfect post work out snack!!  

You'll need: 

1/8 cup oatmeal (I used Quaker Perfect Portions Oatmeal (no sugar added) - Cinnamon

dash Stevia

1/2 scoop Vanilla Protein (I used Body Fortress)

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt (nonfat)

1 tbsp natural Creamy Peanut Butter (I used Market Pantry)

Combine all ingredients in bowl (may need to add a few drops of water to help everything mix well).  Mix well.  Eat or refrigerate until breakfast or snack time! 

**Side note, you could also add a few dark chocolate chips to this for a decadent non-guilty treat!  

Stats (without chocolate chips!) 

285 Calories

10g Fat

20g Carbs

2g Fiber

33g Protein

208mg Sodium

Breakfast for dinner - check this out!

I love breakfast food, but I had been avoiding it for a long time - Until I discovered almond flour!!  Hot damn - it's amazing!

 

I already posted my recipe for pumpkin protein pancakes here, but I wanted you to see what my whole dinner looks like - and tonight I came up with something new and amazing!

 

So tonight, I had three slices of low sodium turkey bacon (25 calories a slice), 1/2 cup 100% liquid egg whites scrambled with 1 cup baby spinach and 3 medium mushrooms, and four pumpkin protein pancakes.  Oh I started making slightly smaller pancakes and got 9 out of tonight's batch (my previous recipe made 7) so now they are 91 calories and 11g protein each!

 

The topping for these pancakes is made of 1/4 cup canned pumpkin, dash vanilla extract, dash stevia, and 1/4 cup plain greek yogurt.  Mix it all up, and put it on top - and in between your pancakes if you so desire (that's what I did and it was like a cake!)

 

The stats for my dinner:

 

588 Calories

20g Fat

31g Carbs

8g Fiber

72g Protein

801mg Sodium

 

This is 588 calories of healthy good for you great tasting food - and breakfast for dinner?  Who doesn't like that?!  

Semi-home made Blackberry Greek Yogurt

I used to eat a lot of the different flavor varieties of Greek Yogurt.  While I still recommend this over regular yogurt, I have switched to just getting plain greek yogurt and sprucing it up however I deem necessary on any given day.  There are a few advantages to this.... Plain greek yogurt can be used in place of mayo, sour cream, etc in lots of savory dishes..... Plain greek yogurt also has a lot less sugars (so less carbs), less calories, and more protein than the flavor pumped varities.  I've heard a lot of people have trouble getting over the tangy taste of greek yogurt.  Well I've got news for ya.  Plain regular yogurt is tangy too.  Because yogurt, plain yogurt, isn't sweet by nature.  We sweeten it up - and that's why you're used to sweet yogurt.  Which is fine.  But don't automatically shy away from greek yogurt because it's tangy!  Sweeten it up!! 

Today I made Blackberry Greek Yogurt....

1/2 cup non-fat plain greek yogurt (I used Dannon Oikos - I also like Wegman's brand, Chobani, and Taste of Inspirations)

1.5tbsp Polaner Sugar Free w/Fiber Seedless Blackberry Preserves

1/4 tsp sweetener (I used Truvia)

dash vanilla protein powder (I used about 1/5 scoop Body Fortress)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl - Mix well.  Pretty simple.

Here's the stats:

Makes 1 serving.

103 Calories

0g Fat

15g Carbs

5g Fiber

16g Protein

54mg Sodium



Semi-HomeMade Key Lime Greek Yogurt!

If you read my blog at all you know two of the things I adore - Key Lime foods and greek Yogurt.  Lime is just plain delicious.  Greek Yogurt is preferred over regular yogurt because it has so much more protein.  Sure the calories tend to be a bit higher, but when you are eating healthy and living a well rounded lifestyle, calorie is not king.  It's all about balance.  So today I took a stab at making my own Key Lime Greek Yogurt - It was easy and turned out delish!! 

Dannon Oikos makes a really tasty Key Lime Greek Yogurt..... Nutrition information for one serving of that is as follows....

160 Calories

4.5g Fat

18g Carbs

0g Fiber

11g Protein

75mg Sodium

What I came up with today is as follows:

3/4 cup PLAIN Greek Yogurt (Non-Fat) - I used Taste of Inspirations (130 Calories/cup)

1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder - I used Body Fortress

squirt lemon juice

couple squirts lime juice

packet of Splenda

Combine all ingredients in a bowl (Lemon Juice - I really just used a very small squirt, Lime Juice - I probably used 1/2tsp - it doesn't take much - you can adjust to taste) -- Dig in and Enjoy! 

Here's how this stacks up -

Entire recipe makes 1 serving

157 Calories

1g Fat

10g Carbs

1g Fiber

28g Protein

88mg Sodium

This is a major WIN in my book!!

**This would also make a great frozen treat!!**



Chocolate Mousse Pie Fake-Out!

Again tonight, I wanted something sweet. This little concoction really hit the spot!!  Who doesn't love chocolate mousse?  Everyone should - but it's usually so bad for you that I try to avoid it.  Well this is my version, and I gave it a little 'crust' so it felt even more sinful, but is totally good for you!!  Dig in!! 

1 container Dannon Oikos Vanilla Greek Yogurt (Nonfat)

1/3 tbsp cocoa powder

2tbsp water

3tbsp lite whipped topping

3/4 scoop chocolate protein powder (I used Jillian Michael's Triple Chocolate)

1.5tbsp quick oats (dry)

In a bowl, combine yogurt, water, cocoa powder & protein powder.  Mix until well blended.  Then mix in whipped topping.  Mix until well blended.  In another bowl, place dry oats in the bottom and spread out so they cover the bottom of the bowl (this is your crust).  Spoon yogurt mixture into bowl on top of dry oats.  Freeze for 20-30 minutes.  Enjoy!! 

261 Calories

4g Fat

35g Carbs

3g Fiber

24g Protein

94mg Sodium

Strawberry Cream Pie - FakeOut!

Last night, I decided to make something a little different for my high protein evening snack.... This is light and creamy, and oh so delicious - you'll think you're eating something guilty but you're not!  This tastes sort of like a strawberry cream pie.

1 container Dannon Oikos Strawberry on Bottom Greek Yogurt

1/3 scoop vanilla protein powder

2tbsp Lite cool whip

1/8 cup quick oats (dry)

In a bowl, mix together yogurt, cool whip, & protein powder.  In a separate bowl, put quick oats in bottom of bowl.  Top with yogurt mixture and spread out to cover oats.  Freeze for 20-30 minutes.  Enjoy!  

227 Calories

3g Fat

31g Carbs

1g Fiber

22g Protein

70mg Sodium

Apple Pie Greek Yogurt?!

I wanted to do something a little different this morning.  The thought crept into my head yesterday.... Could you mix applesauce with greek yogurt?  Would that work? Well, my friends, it does work!  I was shocked that this tasted so good - because it's so simple - I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner!  I'm thinking you could use something like this as a pie filling, or make it frozen too!  

5.3oz Chobani Vanilla NonFat Greek Yogurt

1/4 cup no sugar added applesauce

1/3 scoop vanilla protein powder

Cinnamon (to taste)

1/5 cup dry quick oats

Combine all ingredients, mix thoroughly.  ENJOY!!

241 Calories

2g Fat

30g Carbs

3g Fiber

25g Protein

92mg Sodium

Blackberry Fro-Yo!

Anyone remember TCBY?  I think they're still around but they're not in my area... at any rate, I used to LOVE frozen yogurt..... Of course at some point I realized maybe that's not so good for you.... It seems it's often not any better for you than icecream, but they tout that it's 'frozen yogurt' which makes it sound so much better for you!?  How so - when it's loaded with calories, sugar, & empty carbs.... Just like icecream. 

The other day I picked up Polaner Sugar Free With Fiber Seedless Blackberry Preserves.  Where has this been hiding?!  Amazingly, it's only 10 sweet calories, has a few grams of fiber, and is packed with flavor!  Comes in a few different flavors, but I thought the Blackberry would be fun. 

Last night while making my normal protein packed evening snack, I decided to try something different, and it worked out so well!! 

2/3 - 3/4 cup NonFat Vanilla Greek Yogurt (I used Chobani)

2Tbsp Polaner Sugar Free w/Fiber Seedless Blackberry Preserves

1/3 scoop Vanilla protein powder

1-2 Tbsp Water

Combine all ingredients - Freeze for 30 min to an hour -- enjoy!!

192 Calories

1g Fat

28g Carbs

6g Fiber

23g Protein

125mg Sodium



Frozen Pumpkin Pie... or is it?

This is great for an evening snack -- It's sweet so it'll satisfy your sweet tooth, but not over the top, It's got a ton of protein, and it's low in calories -- even has some fiber in there for good measure! 

1 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder (I used Jillian Michael's Natural Whey Protein)

1/4 cup Canned Pumpkin

small squirt of honey (maybe 1/4Tbsp)

3/4 container Stonyfield Oikos Caramel Greek Yogurt

Pumpkin Pie Spice to taste

Topping: a few Tbsp Cool Whip Free

Combine all ingredients (minus topping) in a bowl -- freeze for an hour or two.  Top with Cool Whip Free - enjoy! 

240 Calories

1g Fat

30.5g Carbs

6g Fiber

108mg Sodium

23g Protein

Three Cheers for Greek Yogurt!

I'm a bit of a late comer to the Greek Yogurt craze..... In fact, I've tried it before but didn't like it.

However, it's so delicious to me now!  And there's good reason to eat it! 

High protein - 2x the protein in regular yogurt!

Lower Sodium - up to 50% less sodium than regular yogurt! 

Less Carbs - 40-50% less carbs than regular yogurt! 

Lactose intolerant?  Try Greek Yogurt - easier to digest than regular yogurt!

Rich, Creamy, Smooth Texture - It's much more filling than regular yogurt too, because it's creamy & thick!

For additional information, check out - http://www.livestrong.com/article/86488-benefits-greek-yogurt/

I've had Chobani Greek Yogurt for breakfast the past two mornings.... Yesterday, I tried the Pomegranate (YUM!) and today I tried the Pineapple (Double Yum!)

I also like to add dry oatmeal to my yogurt.  I just put a couple of tablespoons on top and mix it in.  It's so good - and a great way to get some oats in ya! 

Yogurt & Oats combined - 

207 Calories

30g Carbs

1g Fiber

4g Fat

15g Protein