Ham, Egg, and Cheese Breakfast Cups

These little cups are really easy to make and taste great. We have a few of these for breakfast and some Ezekiel bread during the weekends. I use the leftover cups for breakfast during the week then. It's also a great recipe to add additional chopped veggies, herbs, or whatever you have laying around.

3 whole eggs
9 egg whites
1/2 c 2% milk
1/2 pound thinly sliced low-sodium ham (ask the deli for low-sodium, if they have it in maple, get it, it tastes great for breakfast meal)
1/2 c scallions
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 c 2% grated cheddar cheese
Salt and Pepper, to taste.

• Preheat oven to 400F and coat a muffin tin with cooking spray.
• Line each muffin tin with 1 slice of ham, forming cups.
• Combine eggs, egg whites, milk, scallions, and garlic powder in large bowl.
• Pour egg mixture into each of the formed cups in the muffin tin.
• Sprinkle each cup with grated cheddar cheese.
• Bake for 15 minutes or until the egg muffins look formed.
• Carefully remove from each tin. They can be messy, but worth the mess.

Optional: Top each muffin with additional cheese. I like to put some black bean salsa on top of my cups too. :)

'The Heat is On' Peanut Butter Chicken

This past March my dad and I went to visit my aunt and cousin in NYC for the Big East Basketball Tournament and in between games they were nice enough to take us around the 'big city'. Pops and I had a great time with them, but the one place I HAD to go to was the Peanut Butter Company. I was about 2 weeks out from the show and carrying around baggies of chicken and asparagus, so this place was going to be heaven like for me. Peanut Butter Company was a small, cute little sandwich shop on the side streets of NYC.  They had all the different kinds of Peanut Butter concoctions that you could imagine. For me, it was hard not to want to eat everything, but they had a contest diet friendly item on the menu (the sampler). I ordered it and quickly became obsessed with their peanut butter. I bought their Dark Chocolate Dreams and The Heat is On there for after the show. Needless to say, I ate the dark chocolate tub in two days (day of show and afterwards),  and now I'm finally breaking into the spicy 'The Heat is On' tub. FYI- Their website is: http://ilovepeanutbutter.com/index.php You can order directly from there, or hit their locator to find a store near you. I found it at our local Soergal's natural food store and inGiant Eagle's organic section. They may not have all the flavors there, but it's worth a try!

3 pounds diced uncooked chicken
1/2 c white wine vinegar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1/2 c diced scallions
1 tbsp olive oil
1 diced red pepper (green or yellow is fine too)
1/2 c The Heat is On Peanut Butter

• Take diced chicken and put into a large bowl, add in vinegar, lemon juice, and garlic. Mix together so chicken is coated.
• Heat up large skillet with 1 tbsp olive oil.
• Put the diced chicken into the skillet and cook covered for about 7-10 minutes on med-high heat.
• Take lid off and add in diced peppers and cook for 2 more minutes,uncovered, until peppers are slightly tender.
• Add in peanut butter and stire continously until chicken is evenly coated with the peanut butter. I did this for about 2 minutes and then added the scallions a few seconds before serving. Serve over brown rice or quinoa.

Quinoa and Flax Greek Yogurt Topping

I was reading the May Women's Health magazine with Jillian Michaels and she gave a recipe for this quinoa flax topping to use on Greek Yogurt. It looks super easy so I tried it and it turned out great. I added a little more flax because I have tons and it still turned out great. Can't wait to use it on top of my greek yogurt tomorrow.I am going to try it next time with oats, almonds, and whatever else I have laying around to make it into a granola for a quick snack.

1 c uncooked quinoa (put in a bowl first and rinse/drain very well)
1/2 whole flaxseed
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp olive oil

• Preheat oven to 375 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Mix together all the ingredients above.
• Spread mixture onto  the parchment paper.
• Bake for 10 mins or until golden brown.
• Let cool completely and crumble onto Greek Yogurt.

Raspberry - Orange Oat Scone

I wanted to attempt scones again. My first attempt at making scones wasn't so great, so I figured I would try something different. Nathan wanted orange in it somehow and I love raspberries so I used both in the recipe and it came out great. I made it more into a log and cut them into scones afterwards instead of making them into individual scones. Also, I made sure to find no sugar added jelly for the filling. I'm going to try a few more versions of this to cut back on the sugar/fat even more, but this first test batch was really good.

2 c whole wheat flour
1 c whole wheat graham flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup unsalted butter
2 c oats
zest of 1 orange
1/2 c buttermilk
1/2 c 2% milk
1/4 c turbinado sugar
1/2 c no sugar added raspberry jelly

• Preheat oven to 375.
• Combine flour, turbinado sugar, baking powder,  and baking soda in a food processor/blender.
• Add butter into the mixture and pulsate until the dough starts to look like sandy clumps.
• Transfer the dough to a bowl and stir in oats and zest.
• Stir in buttermilk and milk (I stirred everything in a bowl for awhile then just started to use my hands.) If the dough is still really crumbly, add more 2% milk, but add it slowly, because it will get sticky and runney quickly, which you don't want. This dough is suppose to be on the dryer side.
• Lay a piece of parchment paper out and transfer dough onto parchment paper.
• Roll out the dough with another piece of parchment paper on top to make into a rectangle like shape about the length of the baking sheet.
• Take the top parchment paper off, and begin to spoon in the jelly right down the middle of the dough. Try to spread as evenly as possible.
• Take the edge of the parchment paper and fold the one side of the dough and gently press down to hold, then do the same to the other side. Try to get the loaf as tight as possible so that it stays intact.
• Just pick up the parchment paper with the loaf in the middle and place on a baking sheet to bake.
• Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until golden brown on the edges. Make sure you let the loaf cool before cutting into scones.

Zucchini Bread

Nathan and I went to the local farmer's market this weekend and picked up tons of fresh fruits and veggies. The zucchini looked amazing, so of course, I found the largest one I could find so I could stuff it for dinner this week. (Mom, I need your recipe that you used to make!) I decided to take the zucchini and stuff it with whatever we had in fridge. This turned out to be some diced peppers, black beans, and ground beef. I topped it with some hot pepper cheese and baked it. It was a great, quick meal. Afterwards though, I ended up with alot of the 'insides' of the zucchini that looked great, but I just wasn't too sure what to do with all of it. Soooo... I decided to make zucchini bread!  I had some dark chocolate chips laying around too, so I threw them in too. :) The result has been me having to spend all night hiding it from Nathan so I can have a few pieces left over for the rest of the week. It's a pretty dense bread, so this would be great for a quick breakfast. I am going to try and make this bread again, but attempt to try it with carrots and raisins so it's more of a 'carrot cake' zucchini bread. I'll test it out and post results later!

1/2 c unsalted butter (melted)
1/2 c natural sugar cane (turbinado sugar)
1/4 c brown sugar Splenda
3 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3-4 cups zucchini (I used the leftovers and just diced them up and squeezed them out in papertowels, but most recipes call for the zucchini to be grated with skin on, whatever you prefer)
1 c whole wheat graham flour
2 c whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 c dark chocolate chips

Optional: Add 1/2 c chopped walnuts on top of the bread before you bake it.

• Line a loaf pan (5x9" loaf pan) with parchment paper so that it's easy to pull the bread right out.
• Preheat the oven to 350.
• In a mixer, put butter and sugars together and beat thoroughly until fluffy. Add eggs in slowly and continue to run the mixer on low, then proceed to add the vanilla and then the zucchini.
• In a seperate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice.
• Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients.
• Fold in the dark chocolate chips.
• Pour into the pans, line with parchment paper, and top with walnuts (optional).
• Bake loaf for about 45-55 minutes. Remove the hot loaf from the pan and let cool on wire rack.

Whole Wheat Crepes (Skinny Pancakes)

This morning I put together a whole wheat version of my favorite 'skinny pancakes'..aka 'crepes'. Instead of using pancake syrup, we filled our crepes with sugar-free, fat-free cool whip and diced up strawberries. So good and easy to make. Just throw everything in a blender.

1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 c water
1 c 2% milk
1 tbsp coconut oil (or olive oil if you don't have coconut oil)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 egg whites

• Put all ingredients in a blender and blend thoroughly.
• Warm up a large non-stick skillet. (medium to high heat)
• Spray with cooking spray and pour about 1/4 c of batter into skillet.
• Take skillet and rotate around off heat to spread out the batter into a thin layer.
• Let cook for about 1-2 minutes, you will see the ends of the crepes start to harden, then flip for about 15-20 seconds on the other side.

This batch will make about 6-8 depending on how large your skillet is. :)

Protein Pancakes (Base Recipe)

I make these pancakes alot on the weekends. You can also make a bunch during the weekend and freeze them, they are just as good tossed in the microwave in the mornings and topped with berries, honey, or Walden Farms Pancake Syrup. :) I make the pancakes with flour for some added carbs, but they can also be made without. Below are the nutritional breakdowns for the pancakes with and without flour. You can also add fruit (bananas, strawberries, blueberries, apples) or dark chocolate, whatever you like really to the pancakes. This is a great base recipe to build on, depending on what you like.

6 Servings

with flour:
158 Kcals
1.46g Fat
29.8g Carbs
3.46g Sugar
4.4g Fiber
15.4g Protein

without flour:
124 Kcals
1.26g Fat
22.5g Carbs
3.46g Sugar
3.2g Fiber
14.1g Protein

1 c Oats
1/2 c Flour (whole wheat)
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 scoop protein of choice
1 packet stevia (or 1 tsp)
1 c non-fat cottage cheese (don't worry, i HATE cottage cheese and cannot taste it or the texture in this recipe, just adds some good protein to it)
4 egg whites
1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
1/2 c water
1 tsp cinnamon
1tbsp vanilla extract

• Take all the above ingredients and put into a food processor or blender and blend thoroughly.
• Warm up large skillet on medium heat, spray with cooking spray, and pour the pancake mixture (about a 3/4 c amount) into skillet.
• Cover the skillet for about 2-3 minutes, make sure  the pancake starts to bubble and the bubbles start to burst, then flip for about 30 seconds on the other side.
• Make sure to spray skillet after each pancake so they don't stick to skillet or use a good non-stick pan.

Venison Sausage Burgers

So this recipe may not be 'low fat', but the fat content in deer (very low) combined with the fat content in a sausage (very high) evens this out pretty well and helps keep the burgers together. Just make sure to get a good  quality sausage from the meat counter, (pork, chorizo, italian), whatever you prefer and try to 'dab' out the meat with paper towels to get some of the additional fat out of the meat. Also, make sure the buns are whole wheat, not enriched flour. If you choose to add cheese, look for the lower fat versions.

1 pound of ground lean venison
1/2 lb sausage
1/4 cup green onions, chopped
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

6 Whole Wheat Buns
Additional toppings you like for a burger

Salt and pepper, to taste, but remember the sausage is already rather high in salt, so try not to add much more.

• Preheat grill on medium heat.
• Combine all the burger ingredients in a bowl. (I usually just use my hands for this.)
• Make into 4 equal portions and form into patties.
• Grill the burgers for about 4-5 minutes on each side.
• Take burgers off and toast buns (if you like) for about 1 minute.

Big Nate's Badass Chili

I did not pick the name of this recipe, you can guess who did, but it's a great meal. We make this weekly for our meals. It has everything you need in one meal, stays for a few days, and is easy to measure out. This would make enough for me for the whole week, but for a guy, this may only last 3 days. I usually take 1 cup of it as one serving. It's easy to add things to also, you can pretty much throw any vegetable you have in this chili recipe and it will turn out great. Sometimes we throw celery in it or hot peppers or anything we have left over from the weekend for our week day meals. The basics to always add though are the beans, meat, and diced tomatoes.

2 lbs. of lean ground beef (leanest you can find)
1 can of black beans (low or no sodium)
1 can diced tomatoes (low or no sodium)
2-3 red/green/yellow peppers, diced
1/2 vidalia onion, diced  (optional)
1 bag shredded carrots
2 tbsp Garlic Powder
1 tbsp red peppers flakes (add more if you like it spicier)
1 tsp cayenne
Salt and Pepper, to taste.

• Use a large skillet to brown the beef with a little olive oil. Once the beef is browned, drain the beef and all excess liquid. This helps get rid of additional fat that can be drained out in the beef.
• In a seperate skillet, combine the rest of the ingredients and cook for approximately 5 minutes on medium heat. You want the vegetables to be tender, not mushy.
• Pour the vegetable and spice skillet into the browned beef and let this cook, covered, for about 5 minutes on low heat. Stir occasionally.

Fiesta Salad

This is a great, easy summer salad. I will make a big batch of this salad and add it in with a protein (chicken, steak, fish) for my lunch/dinner meals during the week. Stays good for about 3-4 days in the fridge.

2 c cooked brown rice
1 8 oz. can of corn, rinsed (low -sodium)
1 red pepper, chopped
2-3 green onions, chopped
1 carrot, grated (i usually just buy those already grated bags and throw half in)
3 tbsp fresh parsley
1 clove of garlic
4 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 c olive oil
1/4 c pine nuts
1/4 c sunflower seeds

Salt and Pepper to taste.

• Chop everything up and mix all ingredients together into a large bowl and refrigerate!

Black Bean Brownies

I know these sound disgusting, but they are the best brownie I have ever tasted and A LOT better for you than the real thing. They are a little 'gooey' and fudgey compared to a harder, cake like brownie, but hold together great. I saw recipes for black bean brownies in alot of magazines recently and wanted to attempt it on my own. The recent bon apetit magazine added cayenne pepper to them, but I'm not THAT adventurous with my cooking. Kudos to you if you attempt it ( 1 tbsp per batch if you do!). P.S. Try and keep the brownies refrigerated, they stay much better when refrigerated.

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or sugar free chocolate chips if you have them)
1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups black beans (I used 1 and a 1/2 cans of beans, check the sodium content, shouldn't be more than 150mg. Giant Eagle's Natures Basket Brand of Organics has a good canned black bean)
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 c instant espresso powder or coffee powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
4 large eggs (2-whites, 2- whole)
1/2 c agave nectar
1/2 c turbinado sugar (natural sugar cane)

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line an 11 x18" rimmed baking pan with parchment paper and lightly spray with cooking spray. The parchment paper makes it alot easier to get the brownies out of the pan.
• Melt the chocolate and butter in a glass bowl in the microwave (about 1 min. 30 seconds on high). Then mix together to blend butter and chocolate.
• Put half of the chocolate and butter mixture into a blender or food processor. Add in beans and vanilla extract. Blend well. Set aside.
• In a seperate bowl (I tend just use a mixer for this), mix together walnuts, remaining chocolate/butter mixture, instant espresso/coffee, salt, eggs, agave nectar, and turbinado sugar. Mix well.
• Pour blender mixture (chocolate, butter, beans, and vanilla) into the mixing bowl mixture and blend all together very well.
• Pour the batter into the parchment lined baking pan and spread out with a spatula.
• Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the brownies are set. Let cool completely before cutting.

Sweet Potatoe Fries with Basil Salt and a Clean Buttermilk Ranch Dressing to Dip

Great on the grill! The Buttermilk Ranch Dressing is also great on salads. I'll make a huge tub of it and keep it in the fridge to use for these fries, salads, and wraps throughout the week.

Potatoes:
5 sweet potatoes, cut into discs
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp fresh chopped basil leaves
2 tsps sea salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

Buttermilk Ranch Dressing:
1/3 c non-fat, plain greek yogurt
1/3 c low-fat buttermilk
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp fresh chives, chopped
Sea Salt and pepper to taste

• Preheat oven to 400 or 'fire' up the grill.

• Place foil on baking sheet or on the grill for the potatoes.

• Take the potato discs and toss with the olive oil, basil, pepper, and salt in a large bowl.

• Place on grill or oven. Oven for about 30 minutes and grill on low heat for about 15-20 minutes. Cook until they seem tender or if you like them crispy, a little longer.
• For Ranch Dressing, mix all ingredients together until blended well (I throw everything in a blender).

Chicken Fingers

This recipe is a great alternative to breaded chicken fingers. I added the parmesan cheese, can be made without too, just gives it a little extra saltiness. This recipe maekes about 4-6 chicken fingers, so make sure to double or triple if needed. P.S. Make sure whoever you are serving this to isn't allergic to nuts! We almost had that happen to use when we made these for friends that were from out of town. :-)

2 skinless chicken breasts, raw
1/4 c egg whites
1/2 c oats
1/4 c sliced almonds, crushed
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tbsp. Parmesan shaker cheese
Salt and Pepper, to taste

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
• Cut chicken into strips (usually one breast, I make into 2-3 strips)
• Put chicken in large baggie and add egg whites, shake to coat them. Set aside.
• In a blender, combine oats, almonds, cheese, and seasoning.
• Take the blender mix and pour into the egg/chicken baggie. Shake it up to coat the chicken strips.
• Place strips on baking sheet.
• Bake for 20 minutes!

Nut Butter Chicken Stew

I found this recipe in an old Oxygen magazine, changed a few things, but a great dinner or something you can make a large pot of and seperate into servings for lunch during the week. Stays for a few days and tastes better after a few days. This recipe makes a large amount, so I usually seperate into servings of about 1 to 1 1/2 cups for my lunch or dinner meals.


Ingredients:

2 c chopped red onion
1 red pepper, sliced into strips
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
3 c low sodium chicken broth (check the label for the sodium content, it may SAY low-sodium, but may be only a few mg lower. I found that usually the organic chicken broths are the best at staying pretty low.)
1 lb. chicken breast, cubed
1/4 c fresh curly parsley, chopped
1 medium Granny Smith apple, cored and cubed
1 c frozen lima beans
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 c unsalted nut butter (when i say 'nut butter', i mean, you can pick what kind of 'nut' butter you want, such as almond, cashew, peanut butter, whatever you like. Make sure when you pick out a 'nut' butter that it is unsalted and look at the ingredients and make sure there are no articifical ingredients added (such as palm oil, etc., should basically only be the 'nut' of choice and sometimes a little salt may be added). I use Smuckers Natural Creamy Peanut Butter.

• In a large non stick pan, saute onions, pepper, and black pepper for a few minutes. (about 3 minutes on medium heat)
• Add broth, chicken, and parsley.
• Cover and bring to a boil.
• Simmer until chicken is cooked through.
• Add apple, lima beans, salt, and cayenne pepper to the broth.
• Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Uncover and whisk in 'nut' butter until well blended.

Zero Carb Flax Bread

I found this recipe on T-nation.com.  It's a great 'bread' alternative, especially when dieting for a show.


Ingredients:


2 cups ground/milled flax seed (Costco or Sam's has the big tubs of this for cheap)
5 egg whites
2 whole eggs
5 tbsps olive oil
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 c water
1 tbsp stevia
Optional: Add 1 tbsp of flavor (vanilla or any other flavor/cocoa powder/whatever you like, or just keep plain)

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Mix all dry ingredients together, then slowly add wet ingredients. Whisk everything together well.
• Bake for about 30 minutes. May take longer, will come out looking 'not done', but let cool and it will come together. Make sure to keep the remaining bread in fridge, keeps better this way.

Chocolate Espresso Cookie

This cookie is not a super sweet cookie, but I love them. I'm not a huge chocolate fan, but these are great.

Ingredients:


2 c whole wheat graham flour
1/2 c whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder (or instant coffee if you don't have espresso powder)
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 c cocoa powder
1 c unsalted butter
1/2 c Turbinado Sugar
2 egg whites
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4-1 cup dark chocolate chips

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Assemble dry ingredients. (flour, espresso, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder.) Whisk all together, set aside.
• Assemble wet ingredients. Beat the butter until fluffy, add Splenda and sugar, then add eggs and vanilla. Whisk all together.
• Mix dry and wet ingredients together. I just used a mixer and slowly added in the chocolate chips.
• Drop the cookies on a baking sheet. I made each about a tbsp and they were plenty big.
• Bake for 10 minutes.
• Made about 3 dozen.
• Tip: Do not overbake these cookies. They will get dry if you overbake them.

Maple Banana or Pumpkin Spice Protein Bars

I found this initial recipe on T-Nation and made a few variations. I made these bars with the pumpkin puree, topped with chopped pecans and they were amazing. They come out very moist and look 'not done', but they are. Just cut them up and pop them in the fridge to keep them together. Great as a mid-meal snack or cut larger to supplement for a quick meal.


 3 ripe bananas or 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
500 ml egg whites
2 whole eggs
2 cups High Protein Kellog's Cereal
2 packets sugar-free instant oatmeal, maple & brown sugar flavor (or cinnamon & spice flavor) (found really cheap and good instant packets at Wal*Mart)
2 scoops whey protein, vanilla ( I used BSN Vanilla, but just about any Vanilla Protein will do)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
4 pitted dates or 1/8 cup pecans or 1/4 cup raisins, chopped

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Set chopped dates or pecans aside.
• Pour egg whites and eggs into blender, followed by Corn Flakes.
• Let flakes sit in liquid for one or two minutes to soften, then blend for 30 seconds on medium.
• Add remaining ingredients (except dates or pecans) and blend for 2-3 minutes or until batter is smooth. If mixture is too thick, add more egg whites. If mixture is too runny, add more protein powder.
• Pour into a non-stick or Pam-sprayed 9 x 13" baking tin.
• Sprinkle chopped dates or pecans over the top, before placing in oven.
• Cook for 30 minutes or until cooked through the middle.
• Allow to cool and then cut into 20 bars.

Approximate Nutrition Info per Bar (depends on choices): 73 calories, 0.85 grams fat, 12.5 grams carbs, 5.3 grams protein