Convention Prep Part 2... follow up

Well this is less of a prep post then a follow up.

I had prepared my foods and packed them. Now here are some things to consider.

Breakfast casserole was a great idea and it's still yummy cold. Ice was available at the hotel so no problem in keeping the cooler cool. I also had grilled Chicken. cherry tomatos, apples, measured out protein shakes, I brought my own coffee creamer and almond milk. I also had measured out Cashews and Lentil Chips.
My main foods were Salads in a Jar.

I made a couple of mistakes... first off I did not put the snacks in my back pack, sometimes during the convention things got hectic and I wasn't able to get back to the room and grab a bite. Also I did not get enough water, even thou I had my water bottle with me.

Also I definitely would pack more chicken.

But other then that I did well, I got a lot of walking done and I didn't bring much food home. All in all it was a very successful weekend.

This was all the food I packed, pre packed. 

Breakfast was egg casserole with a protein shake

My awesome picture with Jared.

Weekly Meal Plan #4

Friday:
Salsa Chicken

Saturday:
Trout with Pasta and Asparagus

Superbowl Sunday:
Having friends over, making Chilli, Buffalo Cauliflower, Hummus and cut up Veggies, Zucchini Brownies. Chips and Salsa

Monday:
Zucchini Boats

Tuesday:
Chicken Stir Fry

Wednesday:
Spaghetti

Thursday:
Egg Roll in a bowl

Here is a picture of the weekly grocery haul.

Weekly Mealplan...

Here what I am making this week :

Thursday:
Crockpot Chicken
Cause our week last week was a bit skewed I am repeating this meal.

Friday:
Vietnamese Vermicelli Bowl, 
Now I will use Zucchini noodles for myself.

Saturday:
Beef Stew

Sunday:
Creamy Lemon Chicken with Asparagus and Mushroom, served over Caulifower Rice

Monday:
Eggroll in a Bowl

Tuesday:
Lentil Soup

Wednesday:
Blackened Tilapia Taco Bowl
The linked recipe is the inspiration, I will def. Change a few things to fit better with my dietary needs.

Thursday:
Chicken Stir Fry

Peanutbutter Protein Pancakes

This makes Approx. 6 Pancakes, I ate them all for lunch yesterday.

Ingredients:
2 eggwhites or the equivalent of liquid eggwhites beaten stiff
2 tbsp PB2 prepared
1 scoop of Sun Warrior Vanilla Protein Powder ( love this protein, it's Vegan and it's low calorie and low sugar)
1/2 cup of Oatmeal grind to make flour
1/2 cup of fresh Blueberries

Beat the eggwhites to a stiff foam then add all the other ingredients and very gently mix and then cook like pancakes.

I use So Delicious cultured Coconut Milk Yogurt instead of butter and Syrup now. And it is really good.

Nutrition:
388 Calories, 6g fat, 45g Carbs, 10g sugar, 40g protein

Egg Roll in a Bowl

I  adapted this recipe to my families needs.
This made 6 servings

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons of olive oil or coconut oil
1lb. of ground turkey
1 med. head of Cabbage thinly sliced
2 big carrots peeled and shredded or julianne, makes about 1 cup
1 medium onion finely diced
3 gloves of carlic finely diced
1 tea spoon powdered Ginger (you can use fresh)
1/4 cup of Bragg's Amino
3 Green Onions
Salt and Pepper

I served this to my family with brown rice fettuccine.

Instructions:

Brown the turkey in a wok style pan until fully cooked.
Turn down heat to medium and add the onion and oil. Cook onions until slightly brown.
In a bowl mix the Aminos, garlic and ginger and add to pan.
Immediately add the cabbage, stir frequently. I put a lid on the pan and steamed the cabbage. Then add the carrots and cook for a couple of minutes.
Turn off the heat and add green onions, season with salt and pepper to taste, stir and serve.

It smells and tastes exactly like the inside of an eggroll. Delicious.

Nutrition:

168 Calories,  3g Fat, 11 Carbs, 4g Sugar, 22g Protein

Creamy Tuna Curry with Cauliflower

When I was a kid, we didn't have a lot of money and my sister and I used to go to a neighbor for lunch. And this neighbor used to make Tuna on a white sauce that had curry added and served it over rice. It became one of our favorite meals.
So sometimes, when I am homesick, or just a bit blue (well dealing with depression will do that) I cook comfort foods that remind me of home. But now with my new healthy eating habits, I have to change the recipes.
So yesterday, I was not feeling great, and there was not a lot in the pantry, as the groceries were delivered later in the evening. Steve said there is Tuna and a light bulb went on in my head. I had to try and make the Tuna Dish gluten and dairy free.
So here is the recipe, I hope you like it.

Ingridients:
makes 4 servings
2 cans of Tuna
1tbsp Coconut Oil
1tbsp brown rice flour.
one can of light coconut milk ( I had this in the fridge, so it was thick)
Curry Powder
Salt and Pepper


Heat up the Coconut oil and then add the rice flour. when it has soaked up all the oil add 2-3 tbsp of curry, depending on how hot/spicy you like your food. Then add the coconut milk and whisk out all the clumps. Simmer till it thickens.
I served this over steamed Cauliflower as I don't do starches in the evening, but you can serve it over rice.

En Guete!!! (as we say in Switzerland)

Nutrition:
200 calories, 11g fat, 9g carbs, 1g sugars, 19gr protein

Protein Pancakes Take 2...

I wasn't happy with the pancakes from 2 weeks ago, so I made another batch and these were super yummy and fluffy.

Ingriedients:

6 egg whites (you must you egg whites cause you want to beat them stiff and that doesn't work with egg beaters, or the "real" eggwhites in a carton)
1 cup of oatmeal, ground in a blender
1 scoop of Warrior Blend Protein Chocolate Flavor
1/2 cup of So Delicious Vanilla coconut yogurt

Beat the eggwhites until they are stiff, you should be able to turn your bowl upside down.
Then add all the other ingridients and fold them under.
Heat the griddle and make pancakes.
This makes aprox. 8-10 pancakes.

To save on sugar, I heated up some frozen blueberries with some water, and poured that over my stack and then put a dollup of Dairy free Vanilla Yogurt on top.

Nutrition for half of the batter:
352 Calories, 5g fat, 38g carbs, 8g fiber, 6 gr sugar, 25g protein

Brunch aka, gluten free, dairy free bread and Turkey Egg Casserole.

Today we were supposed to have brunch, but so many were sick it got cancelled.

But I still wanted brunch so I made a gluten free, dairy free bread and a Egg Casserole.

Gluten Free/Dairy Free Bread:

1 pack of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free homemade wonderful Breakd mix. (you can order it here)
Now on the package it uses milk and oil or butter. I substituted those items with Unsweetened Almond Milk and I used Coconut Oil. And the bread came out delicious.
This loaf makes 16slices.

Nutrition Facts are:
141 cals, 5g fat, 23g Carbs and 3g protein.

Gluten free and Dairy free Turkey Egg Casserole:

1lb of ground Turkey (I use 97/3) 

1Onion, 

1 glove garlic

1/2 red bell pepper

1/2 green bell pepper

1cup mushrooms sliced

1cup spinach

salt and pepper to taste

4 Eggs and 8 eggwhites

1/4 Cup of plain so delicious yogurt

Makes 8 servings

Preheat oven to 375F

Brown the Turkey meat until it is cooked all the way then add the onions and garlic, then add the bell peppers cook till softened a bit. Add the mushrooms, let them cook down a bit and then add the spinach and sautee. Fill into a glass pyrex pan mine is I think 9 by 9. Then in a bowl mix the eggs and eggwhites and add the yogurt. until smooth, season with whatever seasonings you desire, I used just salt and pepper.

Pour over the Turkey mix, put in the oven and bake for 45mins. or until you can tell that the eggs are no longer liquid. 

The leftovers can be stored in the fridge for 3-4 days

Nutrition info: 

155calories, 7g fat, 4g carbs, 20g protein

Chocolate Protein Pancakes...

I woke up this morning having a craving for Pancakes. So off to Pinterest I went and searched for Protein Pancakes. I found a recipe that sounded great. When I went to my fridge, I noticed my cottage cheese was not so fresh anymore, but I had unopened Ricotta in there so that is what I substituted. Also I reduced the eggwhites, cause the first batch was terrible and landed in the disposal. So here we go:

This makes 4 big pancakes:

2 egg whites
1/2 cup low fat Ricotta
1/2 cup oats
1/2 scoop of Protein powder (I used Cellu-Cor Molten Chocolate)

Put in blender and mix.

Then prepare like regular pancakes, medium heat. I put some cooking spray on my griddle.

Nutrtion:
385 Calories, 37 Carbs, 9 fat, 42 protein, 6 sugar

Cabbage with Ground Beef....

1 head of Cabbage
1lb of ground beef ( I buy all natural, but you can use turkey, lean, whatever your heart desires)
Salt
Pepper
thyme
1 glove chopped Garlic
1 Onion
and a bit of water
1 tbsp Olive oil

Heat the oil in a wok, then add the garlic and chopped onion, sautee for a couple of Minutes, then add the ground beef. Season with Salt and Pepper to taste. Once the ground beef is browned, add chopped Cabbage and stir. add a 2-3 tbsp of water and cover. Reduce heat and let it cook, stir every 5-10 minutes. Season to taste with Salt, Pepper and Thyme. Cook till Cabbage is tender. Serve and top with a bit of Parmesan Cheese.
You can serve this over pasta, but since I try to go low carb for dinner I don't.

My kids love this and so does my hubby and it's a quick and healthy meal.

Enjoy!!!

Chia Pudding...

Like today, I like a breakfast that I can just grab from the fridge and don't have to prep to much.
This Chia Pudding was something I found from the Instagram user hovkonditorn. She has ton's of vegan recipes.
I had never heard of Chia before, it's a seed and the texture of this dish reminds me of Tapioca. Since I love Tapioca I love this dish...
I make 4 at a time as they last in the fridge and my husband likes to eat them too.
One Serving:
2 1/2 Table spoons of Chia Seeds ( I buy the white ones)
3/4 Cup Vanilla Almond Milk (I don't like regular, so you can use plain if you like)
1/2 scoop Protein Powder (I use vanilla)
Mix, put in the fridge and after 30mins Stir. This is very IMPORTANT!!! other wise you pudding will clump.
When you ready to eat, top with fruit. I like Strawberries and Blueberries. But I wanna try other fruits as well.

Nutrition Facts:
1 serving
120 calories, 4.5g fat, 11.5 grams of carbs and 7.5g protein. This is vary with the protein powder you use. Also this is without the fruit.

Enjoy!!!

Sunday Breakfast Fritatta...

I love cooking and I love breakfast, so finding yummy healthy breakfast foods is always a plus. I found this recipe years ago when I lost weight the first time. Yeah, I've done the yo yo thing.

This is a family favorite at my house and it also great if you serve it at a brunch...

Fritatta Recipe:
8lg eggs (you can do this with egg whites)
2 ripe tomatoes
1/2 cup of Italian Cheese grated
fresh basil, salt & pepper to taste
1tbsp Avocado Oil
1tbsp of milk

Heat the Avocado oil in a frying pan that can go in the oven.
Crack the eggs, season with salt & pepper, mix in the milk and whisk. Slice the tomatoes and basil leaves.
Pour in half of the egg mix into the pan and then layer the tomatoes, basil and cheese, pour the rest of the eggs on top. Then turn on the broiler and put you pan in. A little higher than the middle rack. Leave it for 7mins. Take it out and slice it.

1/4 Fritatta Nutrition:
230 Calories, 17.1gr of fat, 5.5gr. sat fat, 3.7gr carbs, 16.7gr of protein.

On the side I served a bowl of berries, drizzled with raw honey and a dollop of Greek yogurt.

Bon Apetit

Easy yummy Breakfast for on the go...

I love being able to grab something really fast out of the fridge if I need to head out. So this Chia Pudding is amazing and yummy. I prep like 4 of them at a time, I got these awesome screw lid tupper wares and they are perfect for this.

Chia Breakfast Pudding:
2 1/2 Tablespoons Chia Seeds ( I got mine in the health food section)
3/4cup vanilla Almond milk
1/2 scoop of Protein Powder
Mix all put in fridge after 30mins mix again, so it doesn't clump and you get all the seeds from the bottom as well. This is IMPORTANT... if you don't do this it gets clumpy and just not really good.

Then close up an fridgerate. I put berries on top when I eat it.

Nutrition:
239 Calories, 9.3gr fat, 0.8gr sat. Fat, 23gr carbs, 15.1gr protein.

Enjoy!!!!