Back and Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting

I slept in today. It was wonderful, but left me feeling pressured for time. Considering how long my workouts have been lately.

So I shoveled in breakfast. No picture, but it was 40 grams oats, 1/2 cup egg whites, and 90 grams of apple, with splenda and cinnamon.

My workout this morning was not easy. Day 2 of week 1 is a back workout. Just like day 1, I do each exercise in the compound sets back to back with 1 minute rest in between each set, and I do 4 sets of each compound set.

Warm up: 5 minutes on the crosstrainer.

Compound Set 1:
Wide Grip Lat Pull Down: 50 pounds, 12 reps; 70 pounds, 12 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps
Seated Wide Grip Cable Row: 50 pounds 12; 70 pounds, 8; 60 pounds, 10, 9

Compound Set 2:
Reverse Cable Grip Pull Down: 70 pounds, 12; 80 pounds, 8, 8, 8
Neutral Grip Row: 60 pounds, 8, 7, 7, 7

Compound Set 3:
Neutral Pull Down: 80 pounds, 8, 6; 70 pounds, 10, 10
Underhand Row: 60 pounds, 8, 8, 8, 8

Compound Set 4:
Bent Over Barbell Row: 45 pounds, 8; 40 pounds, 10, 10, 10
Straight Arm Pull Down: 30 pounds, 10, 10, 10, 10

Compound Set 5:
Straight Leg Deadlift: 60 pounds, 12, 12, 12, 12
Shrugs: 60 pounds, 10, 10, 8, 8  

Cardio: 15 minutes on the stepmill at the end (this is all I had left in me, I would have liked to do 20 plus minutes, but I didn't have time for a second workout today).

My heart rate monitor wasn't working for the first 15 minutes and a few other shorter times throughout my workout, so these stats aren't accurate, but it gives you some sort of idea.

Time: 1:14: 04
Calories: 441
Max HR: 172
Average HR: 147

Post Workout Smoothie:

Same as always:

• 1 banana
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 5 grams glutamine
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• ice

About an hour later I ate some leftovers for lunch. 

• 4.5 ounces salmon with a dill yogurt sauce on top 
• 1/4 cup (measured uncooked) wild/brown rice
• 1 baby zucchini cooked with garlic and olive oil

I also made these Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting today.

I found this recipe somewhere online (I don't remember!), but tweaked it. 

Muffins:

Ingredients:

2 Eggs, beaten 1/2 cup pumpkin 1/2 cup almond breeze 1/4 cup applesauce 1 1/2 cup oat flour 2 scoops vanilla protein powder 1/3 cup splenda (could use more, if you like things sweet) 3 tsp baking powder 1 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp nutmeg

What to do:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Mix first four ingredients together, add splenda, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add flour and baking powder together 

Pour into greased muffin tins

Bake for 20 minutes

Cream Cheese Frosting (for two muffins):

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons light cream cheese

1 tsp splenda

1 tsp almond milk

What to do:

Mix the ingredients really well and spread them on top of the muffins. 

Stats for 2 muffins with the frosting: 214 calories, 8.3 grams fat, 32.6 grams carbs, 16.2 grams protein 

Shortly after I gobbled these two muffins up, it was time for dinner. 

 

Another chicken stir fry. I'm not going to post the ingredients, cause they are the same as always. 

After I ate this it was time for class. During my class I ate this. 

After class I had another one of April's protein cake:

I ate it with a serving of plain yogurt and 80 grams of strawberries. 

Well there you have it! I'm gonna finish watching the Bachelor (yes, I watch the Bachelor. I love it!), and call it a night. 

Turkey Meatballs

Another recipe!

Hello friends. It was a busy weekend... filled with morrrrre snow!

Anyways, before I go off on another tangent about our terrible weather, let me tell you about our dinner last night.

It was another tomato sauce based recipe. Turkey meatballs with tomato sauce.

For the meatballs:

• 32 ounces ground turkey breast
• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs 
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• basil, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder (all to your taste)

Mix all the ingredients together (with your hands works best), but don't over mix. Mix just until everything is combined. Form the mix into meatballs. I got 17 out of this recipe, and they were pretty big. Bake them on a greased baking sheet at 350 for 20-25 minutes. 

For the tomato sauce:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 an onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon ground basil
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano 
• big pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1 28 ounce can of tomatoes
•  1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 

Heat the olive oil on medium heat. Add the chopped onion and let cook until soft. Add the garlic and spices and cook for about a minute more. Then add the tomatoes and balsamic vinegar. Don't skip out on the vinegar! It adds a great depth of flavor. Again, the longer you cook the sauce, the better it will taste. If it gets too thick, just add a little water. 

You can serve this meal with spaghetti squash, pasta, or a salad like we had.

Here's what our backyard looks like with all the snow. They say we've had more snow this year than we've had in 20 years!

Makes me wanna cry looking at it.... 

Shrimp Soup Recipe

I love answering questions on my blog. One of the commenters from my last post, asked me if I could share my recipe for Shrimp Soup. 

It's the simplest recipe I can think of!

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• half an onion
• 6 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon ground basil (didn't have fresh, but it's better)
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano 
• 1 generous pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1 28 ounce can of tomatoes 
• 40 medium sized shrimp, cleaned and shelled

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil over medium heat, add the onions and cook until they are soft.
2. Add the garlic and spices. Cook them for a minute.
3. Add the tomatoes. The longer you cook these ingredients the more flavor will be developed. 
4. When you are about 5 minutes away from serving the soup, add the shrimp and cover the pot. Shrimp take hardly any time at all to cook. You'll know they're done when the curl up and turn pink.  

Nutritional Info: 286 calories, 27.8 grams protein, 18.1 grams carbs, 9.3 grams fat

If you make it, let me know what you think. I love it. It's one of my stand by recipes actually. We love shrimp, so I have it on hand always. 

Sloppy Joes Recipe

Hello everyone,
Hope the last few days have been good for you. I've been busy wrapping up the end of my semester and getting ready for Christmas. Needless to say, it's been a busy few weeks. 


I have a new recipe to share!


Sloppy Joes with or without the Bun
Nutritional stats: 257, 14.8 fat, 14.4 carbs, 15.9 protein 

(adapted from this recipe) 

1 pound extra lean ground beef

1 onion (chopped)

2 carrots (chopped)

2 celery stalks (chopped)

4 cloves garlic (chopped)

1/4 cup ketchup

2 cups tomato sauce

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon mustard

1 tablespoons hot sauce

1 tablespoon chili powder 

1 teaspoon cumin

salt and pepper to taste

1. Brown the ground beef in a large pan and set aside.
2. Add the spices. Cook them with the beef for about a minute. 
3. Add the onion, carrot and celery and saute until tender, about 10-15 minutes.
4. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
5. Add the ketchup, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, mustard, and hot sauce and simmer for a few minutes.

Serve with sweet potatoes, any bread you prefer, or just straight up! 

Number of Servings: 6

I made this tonight for dinner. I was craving ground beef, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes. Even though this meal is much higher in fat and in carbs than I would like for dinner,  it covered all of those bases! It has a great balance between sour and spicy flavors. I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as I did. 

Speaking of carbs... now I know why I don't eat them for dinner any more! I felt completely exhausted right after we were finished eating. Good thing I hardly ever have carbs past 3 p.m. any more. 

Have a great night everyone. 

Pumpkin Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Cookies

Something to cut the cravings!

Last night I made these cookies. They were by far the best "healthy cookie" I've made. 


Pumpkin Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Cookies
Nutritional stats per cookie: 128 calories, 7.7 fat, 11 carbs, 7.3 protein

1/4 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup oat flour (simply blend rolled oats in a food processor until they are a flour-like consistency) 

1 cup canned pumpkin 

1 scoop protein powder 

2/3 cup natural peanut butter 

1 cup liquid egg whites 

1/4 cup splenda 

1 tsp baking powder 

1/2 cup dark chocolate

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix all ingredients (the batter will seem too runny, but it's not). 
3. Spray two cookie sheets with Pam and scoop about a tablespoon and half unto the sheets until you've made 15 cookies. 
4. Bake for 10 minutes.

Makes 15 cookies

Not bad eh? Give them a try. They were awesome!  

Blogger Fail :(

Hello bloggers!

It's a beautifully sunny morning where I am. This makes me so happy because I'm going on a run outside today!! Yes, that's right. I can workout again! Yesterday was the last day of my no-working-out for a week plan. I feel great. I did some stretches before bed last night to make sure I'm all loose and ready for a hard workout.

I have to say, I'm sorry for not posting yesterday. I was planning to do one big post last night, but I COMPLETELY forgot to take pictures of my dinner party last night :( I realized it after all our plates were cleaned off, and the food was gone. I'm sorry - blogger fail.

I do have photos from all my other meals though.

For breakfast I had another breakfast cookie (courtesy of the Fitnessista).

(chocolate pumpkin breakfast cookie with plain yogurt and strawberries - stay tuned for the recipe)

Lunch was cottage cheese mixed with yogurt and a few blueberries, veggies, light laughing cow cheese (I'm addicted to these), and an oatmeal to go bar.

I packed it all up to take to class with me.

When I got home, I snacked on this tasty treat. Half and banana with half a tablespoon of peanut butter.

I haven't been eating bananas much lately. I'm watching how much sugar I'm eating, so I usually only eat fruit once a day, if I eat it at all.

Dinner was just what I told you guys it would be. Lemon chicken, yam fries, and a green salad with goat feta, cranberries, and pine nuts. It was so good! I just wish the lemon would have absorbed more into the chicken (I used this recipe, but I changed up the chicken things for chicken breast, and only cooked it for about 30 minutes at 375 degrees).

This morning I made the same thing as yesterday.

Pumpkin Chocolate Breast Cookie 

• 40 grams of oats
• 1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 2 T pumpkin puree (any more and the cookie is still soft the next morning)
• 1 T UVAB
• 1 T natural peanut butter

Throw all the ingredients in a bowl and mix. Once it's all combined, spread it evenly on a plate, and place it in the fridge over night.

The next morning I like to put plain yogurt and strawberries on top.

Please don't be scared of the combination of chocolate and pumpkin. It works, trust me!

Ok... enough blogging. I'm itching to get active and workout! See you all soon :)

Thankful

Hey gang,

You cannot even believe how happy it makes me to be blogging again. I really missed taking pictures of my food and documenting my day. Is that weird? Probably...

I ate lunch at 10:00 a.m! I know... ridiculously early. I was starving, and couldn't wait the extra hour (11:00 a.m. is usually when I eat my lunch).

Tuna wrap! 

• 1 can of water packed tuna
• capers 
• light mayo
• dill
• pepper 
• 1 whole wheat tortilla 
• 2 cups spinach

It really hit the spot! It wasn't till after I was finished stuffing my face that I realized I forgot the pickles! I love pickles in my tuna salad. 

Well, I think my final went pretty good this afternoon. Right before I started writing it, I ate an oatmeal to go bar. I didn't take a picture, but I'm sure you all know what those look like any ways.

I came home and chowed down this snack.

• 1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese
• 148 grams of strawberries 

Simple and scrumptious.

I spent my afternoon searching out recipes for tomorrow night. D and I are having my parents over for dinner. I'm thinking lemon chicken and yam fries with dill sauce. Mmmmmmm.... 

Dinner time came quickly. 

Tons of veggies and 5.7 ounces of tilapia.

Lemon Tilapia

• 1 tilapia fillet 
• 2 lemon slices
• dill 
• garlic powder
• salt and pepper
• 1 tsp coconut oil

Pile all of the ingredients on the fillet of fish and wrap it in foil. Bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees. Serve along side your favorite green veggies (mine are broccoli, asparagus, and brussels). 

It was a good dinner, but I'm still hungry. Hmmm.... what shall I eat? Yogurt maybe... 

I'll talk to you all tomorrow! Yay! Have a great night everyone. 

A Great Day

Morning!

I hope everyone's yesterdays were fantastic. Mine sure was! J and I went to our big mall in town and shopped till our hearts content. We both walked away with some fantastic purchases. Before the mall, we went to the gym. It was an awesome workout. I wish J lived here! She pushes me so hard. We did 30 minutes of cardio, and just under an hour of an arm and ab workout. Faaaantastic.

When we got back from the workout we ate this AMAZING lunch.

This was my plate.

I made the smoothie that's in that bowl.

• 1 cup berries
• 1 cup water
• 1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder
• 1 T cocoa powder

(serves 2)

It was so good! I've been making all my smoothies in the food processor lately; it makes them so frothy! I might never go back to a blender. 

J made the salad. 

• lots of spinach
• red bell pepper
• mushroom
• tomato
• cucumber 
• leftover turkey sausages from last night
• balsamic dressing

It was just as good as the smoothie! Such a great lunch. 

We hit up the mall till around 6 pm. We were starving by the time we left! We went and picked up take out for dinner. 

J and I got the same thing - chicken teriyaki with sauce on the side, no rice, and extra veg. We picked D up a beef and chicken dish (similar looking to this one), and california rolls. 

Now, to this morning. 

(sorry the pick is so dark)

Pumpkin Oat Bran with "Baked" Apples

Pumpkin Oat Bran

• 30 grams oat bran (about 1/4 cup)
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup pumpkin
• 2 egg whites
• cinnamon
• nutmeg
• cloves

Baked Apples 

• 92 grams (half an) apple
• cinnamon

Place the ingredients in a bowl and microwave for about 40 seconds. 

It was so yummy. It fixed my grumbling tummy problems. 

I have two classes today. One is Intro to Lit, the other is Intro to Rhetoric. I love rhetoric! 

I'll chat with you all soon :)

A Protein Packed Dessert

Good Afternoon,

It's time to recap some of my food. I didn't post last night's meal or sensational dessert.

Here was my dinner.

It was the same as the other night. I cut up about 1/3 of the veggie pancake and served it over a bed of sautéed cabbage with the spicy mayo sauce. It was so good. I can't get over how good cabbage is! 


Here was dessert.

The banana soft serve has been frequenting the blogosphere lately. I made one attempt at it months ago, and was less than impressed - the texture was off for my liking. It wasn't until I saw Angela's recipe that I knew I needed to make a second attempt.

Her recipe:

• 1 frozen banana
• 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
• splash of almond milk 

My addition:

• 1/4 scoop protein powder

Blend everything in a food processor or blender until it becomes the consistency you like. Easy peasy, right?

Now to today's eats. You already saw what I had for breaky in the post before this one. It was so yummy. I love apples in my oatmeal.

After church I came home and made this quesadilla.

I filled the quesadilla with one of my leftover black bean burgers and goat cheese. Twas scrumptious, and was devoured in about 30 seconds flat. I was pretty hungry.

















I forget if I told you all about my new coffee discovery. When I was at the grocery store a few days ago, I picked up vanilla cream flavored coffee. It's so good! I'm not sure if it's a good thing I discovered this coffee, since it has almost doubled how much coffee I drink! I figure that as long as I stay hydrated what's the harm? Or at least that's what I'm telling myself to ease the guilt ;)

An Awesome Bean Burger

Oh my lanta. I just had the best lunch! I love quesadillas, so when I saw that Heather made a black bean version of one, I had to try it!

 But before I unveil the quesadilla, let me tell you about my morning.

I dragged myself to the gym after breakfast. It was hard this morning, but once I was there I was happy I went. I ran 2 miles in 20 minutes (this 20 minutes included the 5 minute walking warm up I did at the beginning, so when I got running it was really fast, up to 8.5 mph).

Then I stretched out and drove home.

I made myself this.

• 1 cup unsweetened chocolate almond milk
• 2 cups spinach
• 1/2 banana
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries 
• 3/4 scoop vanilla whey powder
• two ice cubes 

It was awesome. 

A couple hours later, lunch time! 

Heather used this recipe. I changed it up a bit. 

• I cut all of the ingredients in half
• Used panco bread crumbs
• Used a fresh jalepeno

Great texture, and bold flavor. I'm happy I have three more in my fridge ;)

I've been sipping these all morning long. 

Chocolate chai tea with a little almond milk and stevia. D's cousin introduced me to these while she was staying with us. I can't get enough of them! I carry my travel mug around with me everywhere now. 

It's time to write an editorial, then I'm off to Bikram with a friend. YAY for hot yoga :)    

Can't Wait for Next Weekend

I'm ready for the next weekend to begin. I feel like I haven't got a break yet! Sheeeesh... I need a break.

Here were the snacks I promised I'd eat earlier.

1/4 cup 1% cottage cheese, 2 tbsp granola

My mom bought me this tea about a month ago. I didn't even know there was such a thing as chocolate tea! It's amazing. It smells like your actually breathing in a chocolate that's sitting right in front of you.

So yummy.

A few hours later came this bar.

Next up - dinner!

I made zucchini "fries", butternut squash casserole and another couldn't-be-simpler mixed green salad.

For the butternut squash casserole:

• I split in half the squash, scraped out all the seeds and baked it for about 40 minutes at 350 degrees.
• When I took it out of the oven, I let it cool and smashed it all up.
• I satued an onion and garlic with sage in a pan over medium heat. 
• Once the onions started to turn yellow I add them to the squash. 
• I stirred everything together, sprinkled some (I'm talkin like 1 tbsp) parm cheese over the top and baked it for about 40 minutes.

For the "fries":

• I took two zucchinis and sliced them into stick shapes. 
• Dried them off with a paper towel.
• Dipped them in a egg, then into a mixture of about 1/2 cup panko  bread crumbs and 1/3 cup parm cheese.
• I layed them skin-side down on a baking sheet and baked them for about 20 minutes at 425 degrees.

I loved the "fries" the best. We dipped them in marinara sauce I had made earlier in the day. It was an awesome dinner in my opinion. 

Then I hit the gym. I had planned on running 6 miles, but when I got to the gym I wasn't really feeling a slow run. I needed to do something intense. So I sprinted for about a mile, then did a shoulder workout. It was just what I needed. 

Now I'm snacking on this power-packed bowl of protein. 

• 1/2 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• splash of water
• 1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt
• 1/2 packet stevia
• 1 tsp cinnamon 

I love the texture chia seeds get when you leave them soak for a few minutes. 

Good night bloggy friends. Can't wait to catch up with you tomorrow :)

Curried Walnuts

It's been great day so far. I got my work out in, a short one - just 30 minutes on the treadmill. I wanted to run for at least three miles, but my right hip was giving me some grief. So I stopped running and just walked at 4.0 miles an hour for the rest of the time.

I came home and got to work on lunch. It didn't take much time, since it was my shrimp leftovers from the other night.

I know... white bread. Shame on me. French bread just goes so well with tomato sauces and shrimp. I don't even remember the last time I ate white bread. It's so fluffy!

D and I are going over to another couple's house to watch the hockey game tonight. They asked me to bring the salad. I decided to make a mixed green salad with apples and curried walnuts. One of my favorites! I have the second batch of walnuts cooking the oven as I write this post.

The first batch didn't work out so well...

Hence the second batch...

They came out beautifully! Probably due to the fact I didn't forget about them in the oven. ;)

Curried Walnuts:

• 1 cup raw walnuts
• 1 egg white
• 1 tbsp stevia/sugar 
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp hot curry powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp cinnamon 
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 

1. Preheat over to 250 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray
2. Pour egg white into a small bowl and whisk till frothy. Add the nuts and stir until they're coated with the egg white. 
3. In another small bowl mix the sugar, salt and spices. Dust this mixture over the nuts. Make sure all the nuts are equally coated. 
4. Lay them out on the  baking sheet and bake for about a half hour. 

They are so good on salad, especially with apples. The sweetness of the apples balances the heat of the spiced nuts. 

I'll chat with you all tomorrow! 

A Labor of Love

This morning it was time to pull out the steel-cut oats. Sometimes I just don't have the patience steel cut oats require. I mean we're talking 30-45 minutes plus on the cooking time of these things. That's a little much when my stomach is growling in the background! 

So I found a little trick to compensate for the cooking time. All I do is boil the oats for about two minutes the night before and leave them sit overnight. In my experience, this procedure cuts the cook time in half. This is what it looks like the next morning.

Here's what my oats looked like.

Pumpkin Steel Cut Oats with Coconut and Raisins

• 1/4 (40g) cup steel cut oats
• 1.5 cups water (could drop this down to 1 cup)
• 1/2 banana
• 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup cottage cheese
• cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg - all to taste
• 4 grams raisins
• sprinkling of coconut 

Here it is after I smothered it in natural peanut butter. 

It was creamy, and sweet - just the way I like my oatmeal. 

Breakfast for Dinner

Since I felt gipped by my breakfast this morning, I decided to have a some for dinner!

Words can hardly describe how good it was.

Probably the best pancakes I've ever crafted, and I've made a lot.

Want the recipe? Ok... if you insist.

Whole Wheat Pancakes with Cinammon Apples and a Nutty Topping

For the nutty topping:

• 1/4 cup of almond slices
• 1/4 cup of lightly chopped pecans
• enough maple syrup to coat nuts

At this point, you put all the ingredients in a saucepan and turn it unto medium heat. Stir

occasionally until the mixture has thickened.

For the cinnamon apples:

• 1 apple
• a light sprinkle of cinnamon

Coat the apples in the cinnamon, place the apples in a microwave safe bowl, and cover with saran wrap. Cook the apples in the microwave for about 2 minutes, or until they're soft.

For the pancakes:

• 3/4 cup of whole-wheat flour
• 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 3/4 cup of milk
• 2 teaspoons honey
• cooking spray

In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients until well combined. Mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl, once well combined, add the wet ingredients gradually into the dry ingredients. Stir together until just combined. It's alright if there are lumps in the batter.

Heat a non-stick pan on medium heat. Spoon 1/4 cup batter per pancake into the pan, cook for a few minutes - until you can see bubbles popping throughout the surface of the pancakes. Flip the pancakes and cook until golden brown - about another minute.

*****

Now for the rest of the night...

There will be a lot of this

(green tea)

and a lot of this

(water)

and this

(one of the books I'm studying for one of my papers)

and this.

(some of my notes for one of my papers)

I feel tired just talking about it! Now it's time to get cracking. A wonderful night!