Food Edition #2

Saw these tasty breakfast/early morning snack ideas and had to share
Enjoy

 source:https://blog.myfitnesspal.com

Baked Oatmeal Cups

Ingredients

• 1 medium (120 grams) banana, mashed
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1 1/4 cups (100 grams) rolled oats (certified gluten-free if necessary)
• 1 large (30 grams) egg white 
• 1 1/2 cup (370 grams) plain Greek yogurt
• 1 1/2 cup (185 grams) fresh berries 

Directions

Preheat the oven to 320 degrees F (160 degrees C). Then, spray muffin tin cups with cooking spray. 

Mix the first four ingredients together until well-combined. Use a 1/4 cup measure to portion mixture into muffin tins. Press the mixture into muffin tin with the flat side of a spoon or with your fingers.

Bake the oatmeal cups for about 15 minutes or until the edges are brown. Allow to cool before handling. Serve with 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt and 1/2 cup fresh berries.

Nutrition Information

Serves: 6 | Serving Size: 1 muffin sized granola cup  + 1/4 cup plain yogurt + 1/4 cup fresh berries

Per serving: Calories: 160; Total Fat: 1g; Saturated Fat: 0g; Monounsaturated Fat: 0g; Cholesterol: 3mg; Sodium: 34mg; Carbohydrate: 31g; Dietary Fiber: 3g; Sugar: 18g; Protein: 9g

Nutrition Bonus: Potassium: 173mg; Iron: 5%; Vitamin A: 1%; Vitamin C: 9%; Calcium: 7%

Cheesy Cauliflower Biscuits

• 1 medium (590 grams) cauliflower head, leaves removed
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large (50 grams, each) eggs
• 2 large (30 grams, each) egg whites
• 1/3 cup (95 grams) nonfat Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup (60 grams) cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Steam cauliflower for about 10-12 minutes or until very tender, then transfer to a food processor. Add minced garlic and pulse several times until smooth and creamy.

Transfer mashed cauliflower into a large mixing bowl. Add in two whole eggs, cheddar cheese, nonfat Greek yogurt, salt and pepper and mix together.

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Then, slowly fold the egg whites into the cauliflower mixture.

Coat a mini muffin pan with cooking spray of your choice. Then fill the cups to the top with the cauliflower mixture. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.

Remove from the pan, and set on a cooling rack.

Nutrition Information

Serves: 12 |  Serving Size: 2 biscuits

Per serving: Calories: 52; Total Fat: 2g; Saturated Fat: 1g; Monounsaturated Fat: 0g; Cholesterol: 33mg; Sodium: 165mg; Carbohydrate: 4g; Dietary Fiber: 2g; Sugar: 2g; Protein: 5g

Nutrition Bonus: Potassium: 225mg; Iron: 2%; Vitamin A: 1%; Vitamin C: 55%; Calcium: 3% 

 source:https://blog.myfitnesspal.com

Egg & Bacon Mini Casseroles

Ingredients

• 1 (10-ounce or 280-gram) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 4 slices (35 grams per slice) 100% whole-wheat bread, cubed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup (110 grams) shredded cheddar cheese
• 3 green onion stalks (35 grams), chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Black pepper, to taste
• 4 slices (110 grams) cooked bacon, chopped
• 5 large (50 grams each) eggs
• 1 1/4 cups (305 grams) low-fat milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Spray one 12-well muffin tin (or two 6-well muffin tins) with cooking oil spray, and set aside.

Put thawed spinach into a mesh strainer, and squeeze out as much excess water as possible. Set spinach aside.

In a large mixing bowl, coat cubed bread with olive oil. Add spinach, cheese, green onions, garlic powder, salt, pepper and bacon. Toss the bread mixture until well combined. Divide the mixture evenly among the 12 muffin-tin wells.

In the same bowl, beat the eggs and stir in the milk. Pour the mixture over the bread in the muffin tin, trying your best to evenly divide the egg-and-milk mixture into each muffin well.

Bake the casseroles for 30–40 minutes, or until the bread on top is golden and crispy and the centers are set. Test by poking a skewer into one of the casseroles, and see if it comes out clean.

Allow casseroles to cool before serving.

Nutrition Information

Serves: 6 |  Serving Size: 2 mini casseroles (70 grams each)

Per serving: Calories: 300; Total Fat: 20g; Saturated Fat: 7g; Monounsaturated Fat: 8g; Cholesterol: 206mg; Sodium: 538mg; Carbohydrate: 14g; Dietary Fiber: 2g; Sugar: 4g; Protein: 17g

Nutrition Bonus: Potassium: 369mg; Iron: 11%; Vitamin A: 123%; Vitamin C: 22%; Calcium: 32% 

Review of the BB Performance line of supplements

My review of the Beach Body supplement line (3/5 of the line tried--see below or check out my Facebook page).

Right before December started I decided to try out the performance line of supplements that beach body released this past Summer. It was developed by Harvard trained scientists and the pre-workout claimed to be "different" then other pre-workouts. At first I thought, 'yeah sure, that's what everyone says' but decided to try it anyway.

On Sunday I mixed Energize, packed Hydrate for the gym, and was on my way. Both mix up as bright neon concotions, which admittedly was a bit weird at first, but the flavor made up for the odd appearance.

As prmised, the pre-workout kept me focused but did not have the usual negative effects (jittery, pins and needles, racing heart, and so on). While working out, I was surprised to find that Hydrate lived up to the name. It seemed almost 'wetter' than water, a strange observation I know but hard to explain unless you've tried it.

Following my workout I took Recover and it instructed me to mix with water. I was SO apprehensive to do that as any other protein I had mixed with water was TERRIBLE. But this was not that bad (reminded me of the old school chocolate slim fast). Not delicious by any stretch but definitely tolerable.

I did not try the Creatine because I'm not sure I will be incorporating that into my fitness routine. I also didn't try the Recover because I forgot to take it an hour before bed. Shucks!

Regardless of missing the sleep recovery powder, I woke up with NO soreness. I had done squats, upper body, back, and shoulders. This amazed me but I thought, maybe it'll come the next day? But the day came and went and still no soreness.

Some may argue, "well maybe you didn't work out hard enough" but from other reviews I've seen, many feel like i did. But time after time, use after use, they still had little to no delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).

Feel free to contact me to learn how you can get your hands on these supplements for your own trial.

Review of "You are a badass...' By Jen Sincero

To the left is a notebook I found with an amazing quote from the late great Teddy Roosevelt which reads "Believe you can and you're halfway there."

I feel that the notebook was "calling" to me while I walked down the isle that day looking for something to jot down notes in. It seemed to embody a message of hope for my fitness journey over all.

But, I digress. The real reason for this post is to review 'You are a badass, How to start doubting your greatness and start living an awesome life' by Jen Sincero. This book was recommended to me countless times. It appeared to be an easy read and although I normally do not finish books on personal growth, I was determined to complete this one.

Overall I enjoyed the context of this book.  I enjoyed the more light hearted way she goes about explaining things. I liked that she was not always socially, politically, or grammatically correct in EVERY aspect. I also enjoyed the various stories and perspectives she provided as the basis for some of her talking points. It allowed for further comprehension for the most part.

While it made the book shorter and was sometimes distracting---I did not mind the various page breaks, icons, and outlined text. As a matter of fact, some of these excerpts include some of my favorite quotations. As such, I thought for the most point it was with purpose.

What I did not care for so much was the reference to 'god' and the fact that this had almost its own chapter within such a small book. While she also indicates this can be considered or defined as 'source energy'---I personally just wanted to have something broad that I could apply to my life and really anyone's life. I think that had she kept with the idea of 'source energy' or 'universal energy'  without dropping the God bomb it would have been better for a broader, further reaching audience. Not everyone believes in god but everyone can use personal development.

I also did not care for the fact that a couple of times in the book she makes note of needing to meet deadlines to the book and not being done, or not being committed, etc. I thought that was honest but made me think in the back of my mind "was some of this content rushed?"

Some quotations/exerpts I enjoyed during my readings:

• "You have created your own unique reality and are living your life according to your own unique path. You are the only you that will ever be. You are kind of a big deal"
• "Comparison is the fastest way to take all of the fun out of life"
• "Screwing up is not your special skill, get over it"
• "Our fantasies are our realities in an excuse-free world"
• "Forgiveness is all about taking care of you, not the person you need to forgive. It's about putting your desire to feel good before your desire to be right"
• "You're the author of your own life [...] and the sooner you decide to write yourself a better script, the sooner you get to live a more awesome life"
• "Passion trumps fear"
• "Other people's needs can occupy several lifetimes' worth of our attention, and if you let them, they will"
• "...fear will always be there, poised and ready to wreak havoc, but we an choose whether we're going to engage with it or turn on the lights, drown it out, and crawl past it"

and last but not least

"Don't get so tangled up in the stupid little stuff that you miss out on enjoying the people who have part-ownership of your heart"

Feel free to buy the book and judge it for yourself.  It is an easy read with some great points and exercises (just don't mind the cursing and God speak and you'll be all set). You can find it almost  anywhere online OR if bookstores are still your thing, Barnes and Noble should carry it as well.

Happy reading :)