Guilt-free Ice Cream!

So, time to 'fess up. I have a serious weakness for sweets that seems to hit me primarily after dinner. Unfortunately, my kids and my husband share this weakness. I search for the "cleanest" sweets that I can find that will a) be acceptable to the whole family and b) actually satisfy the sweet tooth.  Might as well be searching for the Holy Grail!

I now have a board on Pinterest called "Clean Sweets" and I've tried a few things, but this one has been universally popular with the whole family, literally has NO sugar added, and is actually good for you!

This one is all over the healthy blogs, but I pulled my recipe from chocolatecoveredkatie.com.  She has the BEST healthy sweets, most of which are gluten and dairy free.

Check it out:

Would you believe this is frozen bananas?

Chocolate "Soft-Serve"

2 frozen bananas (or 1 per person)

2 T. unsweetened cocoa powder (or 1 T. per person)

1 packet Stevia (if, like my family, you like it a little sweeter; you could also use honey)

1/4 t. pure vanilla extract

1-2 T. milk or dairy alternative (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)

Put all of the above ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth and chunks of banana are gone.  This may take a few minutes, depending on your food processor.  Add a bit more milk if needed. When finished, it should literally look like soft-serve ice cream.

Serve immediately (my kids wanted sprinkles on theirs).  Be warned that this will not keep it's consistency if allowed to thaw; it just turns into a sticky mess. I haven't tried freezing it to serve later, not sure if that would work or not.

We tried to make vanilla soft serve by adding more vanilla and a bit of honey, but it just tasted like bananas. You can also make a peanut butter banana flavor by replacing the cocoa with PB2 or or peanut butter, or chocolate peanut butter by keeping the cocoa in there! You could also add other fruits into the mix, like strawberries. Enjoy!!

Pesto Chicken Salad...and a new plan

Ok, so obviously we are HORRIBLE at keeping this blog updated. But with all my "pinning" lately, I've become inspired to try and do better!

Speaking of pinning, my cooking lately has been composed entirely of dishes that I've found on or via Pinterest. There are some amazing healthy living blogs out there!  I'm not very good at developing my own recipes (despite being left-handed, I seem to lack the creativity gene), but I love to find other peoples' recipes and modify them to fit what I like or happen to have in my kitchen.

I also recently instituted a rule in my house that when I cook dinner (usually 3x/week), everybody eats it. I found that I was becoming a short-order cook -- I never got to sit down with my family for dinner and my kids were becoming increasingly picky! So they now have to at least try everything I make; if they don't like it, they eat PB&J sandwiches. No argument, end of discussion. I have also eliminated almost all processed foods from our house (there are some organic items that I let slide; I don't have the time to make homemade bread, tortilla chips, or crackers, and those Applegate Farms organic chicken tenders are just so darn convenient!). After church on Sundays, the rest of my day is spent chopping and cooking for the week ahead so that weeknights go more smoothly. My husband and I always bring our lunches to work, my son starts Kindergarten next week, and my daughter starts 2x/week pre-school the week after, so that's a lot of on-the-go meals to provide! Plus, if I don't get dinner on the table quickly once I get home from work, I have kids eating dinner in their pajamas. Ah, the challenges of a working mom ;)

In any case, I have a lot of recipes to share now! I need to remind myself to take pictures of everything I make so I can post the pictures along with the recipes. (Warning: my photography skills are nowhere near professional; my iPhone camera is the best one I have.)  And I will always give the blog where I got the recipe, or at least its inspiration. There are a lot of talented healthy recipe developers out there, so make sure you check them out.

Today's recipe is a replicate of one I found at pbfingers.com. Her recipes are healthy, yummy, and simple.  She also has some great workouts posted, so check her out! This is a pesto chicken salad; the only modification I made was using fresh baby spinach instead of the fresh basil she called for.  And I used a little less olive oil because I don't like the oily texture (yep, I'm weird. I've accepted it).

Pesto Chicken Salad

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 pound)
1 cup fresh baby spinach
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/4 cup raw walnuts
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 stalks celery, diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced

Boil the chicken breasts in water or chicken broth for about 30 minutes, or until fully cooked.  Remove from pan and shred with two forks. Set aside.

Combine spinach, sunflower seeds, walnuts, garlic, olive oil, and salt and pepper in your food processor.  Process until mixture becomes a paste or sauce (depending on what you prefer and how much oil you add).

Put chicken in a large bowl and toss with pesto, celery, and carrot. Enjoy!

The first night we had this, I ate my chicken salad plain and my husband had his in a pita.  When I ate it for dinner last night, I warmed it on top of some steamed spinach and then topped it with feta cheese, a couple of grape tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, and hot chili sauce. Yummy!!



Protein Banana Bread

So my family seems to have a love/hate relationship with bananas.  Some weeks I have to replenish them once or twice during the week; others, the ones I buy on my big Saturday shopping trip are still sitting in the fruit bowl at the end of the week and our kitchen is beginning to smell very banana-y.  This week has been one of the latter weeks, and I needed to get rid of some bananas.  My very favorite banana bread recipe is a Cooking Light recipe that has chocolate chips in it; this time, I was looking for a recipe that was cleaner and guilt-free.  And I came upon this one for Protein Banana Bread! I was a little nervous about the husband and kids liking it, but it earned a unanimous thumbs-up, especially from my husband who asked me to make it more often!

This is super easy and I had almost all of the ingredients on hand.  Those I didn't I was able to make easy substitutions for (I've noted the substitutions below).  Let me know what you think!

• 1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour (I used oat flour, just because I like it better)
• 1/2 cup Stevia or other sweetener of your choice (I used 1/4 c. Stevia and 1/4 c. organic brown sugar, to make it more husband-friendly!)
• 3 scoops vanilla whey protein powder (I was low on vanilla, so I used 1 scoop vanilla and 2 scoops chocolate)
• 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon (I never measure cinnamon--in my opinion you can never have too much!)
• 2 egg whites
• 1 cup mashed banana (2 large or 3 small bananas)
• 1/4 cup water (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
• snack size of unsweetened applesauce (I used 1/4 cup canned pumpkin)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix all ingredients together.  Pour into a 8"/4" loaf pan coated with cooking spray.  Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick can be stabbed into the middle and pulled out clean.

Enjoy!!

This week starts my "official" competition prep for my first figure show with Musclemania.
I have been using these past few weeks to put on more muscle and that is what I will continue to do for the next several weeks. My diet has been very clean whic is what I need to focus on right now. I've been eating a lot of eggs and egg whites. I have about 3 full eggs a day and then between 4-6 egg whites per day. I eat every 3-4 hours which is really important. My meals throughout the day consist of a lot of vegetables, lean meats and healthy fats. I am not eating any grains. I'm not doing the Paleo diet per say, I am actually eating more as an anti-yeast diet. Over the past couple of weeks I have had a very bad yeast infection and I am prone to get these. After much research online and talking to other health preofessionals, I found out that a diet that has any yeast or sugars in it will feed into a yeast infection. So, not yeast or fruit are included in my diet.
As for my workouts, I have been doing very little cardio, lower reps and higher sets. I'll focus on 2 or 3 body parts a day and do 3 or 4 circuits consisting of about 5 exercises hitting those body parts. Circuits keep you moving and work more muscle groups at a time which burns more calories. The reason I am doing low reps (8-10) is because the weights are heavier and I am doing at least 4 sets. I will start to do more actual steady-state cardio in a couple weeks in the morning on an empty stomach.
Lots and lots of water is very important! It keeps you hydrated, keeps your metabolism moving and makes you feel fuller longer.
I have posted a picture of the supplements that I am currently taking:

The whey protein is something I take either right after workout or as one of my meals. I don't take it every day as I am trying to stick with pure clean foods. I take the Amino energy before my workout along with a tsp. of glutamine. Right after the workout I take Cellmass (creatine) and another tsp. of glutamine. CLA pills are taken 3x a day and the Hyper Shred is taken 2x a day. Cellmass, CLA and glutamine are essential in muscle growth and recovery. Amino is for muscle repair before, during and after the workout, helps me lifts more, gives energy and supports Nitric Oxide Synthesis. The Hyper Shred is great for boosting metabolism and giving me a little extra energy.

So, that's what I have so far in my competition prep. My current weight is 142 and my body fat percentage is about 16-17%. That's an estimate as I don't have a way of getting my exact amount at the time. I'm happy with my progress so far and I'm feeling really motivated! I'll try to get picture up soon.



Chicken and Apple

So after a while of being boring, I've finally tried a few new recipes again.  This one is from a Paleo recipe site. It's really simple and very flavorful. My kids even liked it, which is saying a lot since neither of them (especially my 5-year-old) like to try new things.  I ate this plain but served it over brown rice for the rest of the fam. Warning, leftovers do not look appetizing because the apples turn a grayish color for some reason. But they still taste great!

(Serves 2, so mutiply ingredients as needed)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 t. salt
2 T. coconut oil
1 large apple
1/2 t. cinnamon and/or allspice (I love these spices, so I used both!)

Dice chicken breasts.  Season with salt and pepper and set aside. Heat a saute pan or skillet over medium-high heat.  Add oil when hot.  Add chicken and cook until slightly pink.  Grate apple into pan and add cinnamon/allspice.  Continue to cook until chicken is done and apple is tender.

Enjoy!

Italian Turkey Burgers

Here's another recipe courtesy of Jamie Eason! I just made these for the first time on Tuesday night and they are SOOO good. Even my red-meat eating, zucchini-hating husband was a fan. The shredded zucchini makes them really moist and they get so much flavor from the seasoning. I ate mine on a bed of spinach and topped it with some salsa. Enjoy! (I know you will!)

1 lb. ground extra lean turkey breast
2 medium zucchini, grated
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp black pepper

(*note: You can tweak the spices in any way you want. I didn't have any onion powder or dried basil and I don't like black pepper, so I put in some cayenne, poultry seasoning, and a little Worcestershire Sauce.)

Set broiler on high, arranging rack so that burgers will be about 2 inches from the heat.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients with hands, adding turkey last.  Mix well and scoop out into 4-5 portions.  Mixture will be really moist so for easier clean-up, use a foil-lined baking sheet, prepped with non-stick spray.

Place burgers in oven and broil for 7 minutes. Carefully flip each burger and continue to broil for another 7 minutes on the other side.  Serve warm.

Also makes great meatballs!

Nutrition Facts:
(if making 4 burgers)
Calories: 144
Fat: 1 g
Carbs: 3.5 g
Protein: 27.6 g

Musclemania Figure Competition

Back in Oct. 2011 I competed in my first physique competition. It was a huge commitment and a lot of hard work. However, even though I didn't place very well, I was very proud of my hard work and of what I had accomplished. Then, I did my competition in the bikini division. Bikini competitors have a feminine build, lean muscle and low body fat percentage. Judges aren't looking for too much muscle. Your stage presentation is also a big part of it. You have to be bubbly, confident, shake your booty and make it pop....all that crap that makes you feel like an idiot, basically. I did it all and had fun, but it just wasn't me. So, I have decided to challenge myself again and do another competition but in the figure division. Figure is more about leaness, muscle definition and body symmetry. Figure is more hard-core. Training is intense and a lot heavier than bikini. I am more of a figure girl. I have broad shoulders and can put on muscle pretty easily. Below I've posted pictures of the differences in the 2 categories. First is the bikini than figure below that.

The competition is Sept. 15, 2012. I will officially start my competition prep (diet, training routines) the first week of July. I want to use this blog to map my journey by posting my training splits and diet as well as the changes in my body. I have muscle to gain and body fat % to loose! I will need to get down to about 10% body fat 1 week out from the show. I would appreciate lots of encouragement to keep my motivation up!