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

Strawberry Pineapple and Pumpkin Protein shake?!

As you all know, I LOVE to add stuff into my protein shakes that add lots of nutrients, without a lot of calories.  Pumpkin is one of my FAVORITE things to add!  One reason it's great, in addition to all the health benefits it brings, is because it's relatively easy to cover up flavor wise, PLUS it makes the shakes thick and delicious!

The shake I made today is one of my new favorites!

1tbsp Polaner All Fruit Sugar Free w/Fiber - Strawberry Preserves

1/4 cup Pineapple chunks

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk (I use So Delicious)

1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I use Body Fortress)

1/4 cup canned 100% pumpkin (I use Libby's)

6-7 ice cubes

Combine all ingredients in a blender - and DIG IN!

And you're welcome! ;)  So delicious!  Here's the stats!

204 Calories

4g Fat

16g Carbs

6g Fiber

27g Protein

75mg Sodium

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!!**



No Bake Meal Replacement Bars

I keep looking for ways to keep more on the go foods in the house for my boyfriend to take to with him to work - it's the only way he'll take anything to eat.  It has to be easy.  But I don't like buying most packaged stuff (outside of yogurt and such) because there's so much crap in it..... These are super easy protein bars that are healthy, so tasty, and take hardly any time to make.  I found the recipe on proteinpowderrecipes.com and tweaked it just a bit, but it turned out so good!

3 cups quick oats

1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

8 tbsp Smuckers Natural Creamy Peanut Butter

4 scoops Chocolate Whey Protein Powder (I used Body Fortress)

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Because Natural peanut butter tends to be a bit dry, this is hard to mix well just with a spoon or fork - I ended up using my hands to mesh all the ingredients together well.  Spray 8x8 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.  Spread 'batter' evenly in pan -- a spoon does help with this part.  Optional: sprinkle a few packets of splenda evenly over the top.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.  Cut in the morning.   I wrapped each bar in saran wrap and stuck them in the door of the fridge.  Makes the perfect grab and go snack or meal!! This would be a perfect breakfast - OR pre/post workout snack!!

Makes 8 servings

288 Calories

12g Fat

27g Carbs

5g Fiber

20g Protein

104mg Sodium

Banana Chocolate Chip Baked Oatmeal

I've made a variation of this before.... But this time I tweaked it a bit.  Took out the berries .... added some protein powder.... and added some YUMMY dark chocolate chips.  Who wouldn't like this?  It's perfect if you want something sweet/pastry like for breakfast but don't want the guilt.  It's also a perfect snack -- and would make a great pre or post-workout snack!! 

1 medium banana - sliced

1 cup quick oats

dash salt (I used salt substitute for lower sodium)

1/2 tsp baking powder (I used Rumford low sodium)

1 egg

1 scoop vanilla protein

1 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1/2 tsp honey

3/4 tsp Truvia (or sweetener of choice)

1tsp vanilla extract

Cinnamon

1tbsp chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 375.  Spray 8x8 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.  Place banana slices on bottom of baking dish in single layer.  Sprinkle with some cinnamon, and some 1/4 tsp Truvia.  Cover dish with foil and bake for 15 minutes.  Combine dry ingredients (oatmeal, salt, baking powder, truvia, & cinnamon) in a dish.  In another dish, whisk together milk, honey, vanilla, & egg.   Pour oatmeal mixture over bananas.  Then pour milk mixture over oatmeal & bananas. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top.  Bake 30 minutes, until oatmeal is set.

Makes 6 servings.

125 Calories

4g Fat

17g Carbs

2g Fiber

7g Protein

50g Sodium

Strawberry Sorbet ~ Fruity Goodness!

I felt like something a little fruity today.... So this is what I came up with, and it was surprisingly tasty!!  Doesn't take long to prep (like 2 minutes?) just takes a while to freeze up -- so try to make this a bit ahead of time.  It is SUPER low in calories, and high in protein -- perfect snack if you ask me.  I made this with Strawberries, but you could use blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, banana (this would increase the calories a bit since they are a bit high in sugar), etc.... Mango would probably be good too!!

5 medium strawberries (I just chopped the top/stems off)

1 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder

about 4oz water

Combine all ingredients in blender.  Blend until smooth. Put in freezer.  Let sit for about 30 minutes - stir up again (it is starting to freeze over on top and on the sides/bottom at this point, but mix all that in with the more liquidy parts) -- Freeze for another 30-45 minutes.  Dig in!!

113 Calories

2g Fat

9g Carbs

2g Fiber

18g Protein

48mg Sodium

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

Spinach Wrap

Here's a simple tasty snack you can make in a just a couple minutes.... It's got fiber & protein, its low in calories - and there's a serving of veggies in there too!! 

Ole Xtreme Wellness High Fiber Low Carb Tortilla (1)

laughing cow light queso fresco & chipotle cheese (1 wedge)

flat leaf spinach (1 cup) 

Spread cheese on the tortilla - nuke for 20 seconds in microwave.  Place spinach on tortilla and roll up -- Enjoy!

114 Calories

4g Fat

20g Carbs

13g Fiber

11g Protein

528mg Sodium