I thought I’d try my hand at making my own protein bars!! This is my first attempt, so it may need some tweaking, but these were pretty tasty if I do say so myself.

Chocolate Almond Protein Bars

Ingredients:

1 cup oat flour

1 cup stevia

1 cup protein powder (any flavor)

1 cup ground or sliced almonds

2 cups almond butter

1 1/2 cups 60% cacao chocolate chips

3 eggs

1/3 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Directions:

Mix well in a stand mixer. Press into baking sheet or pan and bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until the knife comes out clean.

Nutrition:

Makes 30 bars: Calories: 232, Protein: 12g, Carbs: 14g, Fat: 16g.

Note: The mix was slightly dry so I added another cup of almond butter to make a total 2 cups. Next time I will omit the oat flour so the mix won’t be as dry and only use 1 cup almond butter in order to cut back on calories and fat. I only added the almond milk to make the mix more dough like.

Skinny Vanilla protein Frappacino! A coworker the other day was telling me that her favorite drink at Starbucks is over 410 calories!!!! Holy cow!!! Why not make something that’s good for you and taste good as well?

8 oz unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 tbsp lean vanilla bean ripped cream coffee creamer
1 tbsp SF FF vanilla pudding mix
Ice and stevia to taste.
Blend together and enjoy a healthy treat!!

I love it when I find healthy gems!! I picked up this strawberry protein pancake mix at my local Vitamin Shoppe store. The mix is low in net carbs, high in protein and fiber. Not to mention it is delicious!!

It’s perfect for a weekend morning breakfast!  They are delicious topped with fresh strawberries and sugar free pancake syrup! This recipe is hubby approved. 🙂

Looking for a delicious summertime treat or a post-workout shake? Then check out my recipe for a Double Strawberry Shake! It’s loaded with protein and is low in carbs. It’s a perfect way to beat a craving and stay on track for your goals.

Double strawberry protein shake

-1 cup fresh strawberries
– 1 cup ice
-1 scoop @questnutrition strawberries and cream protein powder
– 2 tsp SF FF cheesecake pudding mix
-1 tsp stevia
Add all ingredients with water (or unsweetend almond milk) and blend!

• 2-3 large green, orange, or yellow bell peppers
• 1 pound lean 93/7 ground beef or ground turkey
• 1 medium white onion, diced
• 1 large can of diced tomatoes
• Garlic salt, to taste
• 1 cup of shredded mexican blend cheese
• Pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Cut the tops off the peppers and remove all the seeds and white stuff on the inside. Simmer peppers in boiling water for 5 minutes
3. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Stir in onions, garlic and diced tomato and saute for about 3 minutes. Stir in ground beef. Cook the meat until it is no longer pink. Stir and cook until no juice remains.
4. Stuff the mixture into the hollowed-out peppers. Place stuffed peppers onto a cookie sheet
5. Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes.
6. Top with shredded cheese and bake for 5 additional minutes.
7. Allow to cool, they will be HOT! Enjoy!! 🙂

Zucchini Chips

A summertime, delicious treat that is a healthy low carb alternative!

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
• Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray
• Slice zucchini’s thin and place evenly on cookie sheet, spray again.
• Sprinkle with sea salt and seasoning
• Bake 20 minutes, flip and bake for another 20 minutes on the other side.
• Zucchini’s are done when light toasted brown color.
• Enjoy!

Last night, I was wondering just what to make for dinner. I had lots of random things in my pantry and fridge, but what could I do with them? I texted my good friend Amanda Mackowski about a dish that she had made. I just happened to have all the ingredients on hand! Yes!! I love it when that happens. So, I poured myself a nice glass of red moscato and got to work in creating something totally new and different. Btw, it’s hubby approved!!

Spaghetti Squash Pizza Casserole

Ingredients

• 1 large spaghetti squash
• 1 can of tomato sauce
• 1 can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 lb of ground lean turkey
• 1/2 package of turkey pepperoni’s
• 2 cups of shredded mexican cheese/ or mozzarella
• 1/2 tbsp garlic salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp pizza seasoning
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

• Cut squash in half lengthwise and place upside down on a cookie sheet. Cook for 40 minutes at 400 degrees in oven.
• While squash is cooking, brown ground turkey meat in a skillet on the stove.
• Once the turkey is browned, add the tomato sauced and crushed tomatoes to the skillet. Add the garlic salt, pepper, pizza seasoning and oregano to the mix. Stir well and allow the sauce to bubble. Once it’s bubbling, turn to simmer or off.
• When squash is done, allow to cool for a few minutes. Flip over and use a fork to shred the squash into noodle-like strands.
• Put the “noodles” into a large bowl and add; sauce mixture, Mexican/mozzarella cheese and 1/4 of the package of turkey pepperoni’s. Stir well.
• Spray a 9″ x 13″ glass pan with cooking spray and place mixture from large bowl into the pan.
• Spread mixture evenly into pan, place pepperoni’s on top and sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
• Enjoy!!

Macros for 1/6th of the pan: 379 calories, 20g fat, 24g carbs, 30g protein.

Do you ever get tired of hearing this age old question? I know I sure do.

When I was first married, I thought I was going to be a super-wife and prepare these amazing, delicious, gourmet meals for my husband. You know, like the ones you see in cookbooks and on pinterest.

Then reality set in.

I’m waaay to busy to be slaving over the stove. When getting home from work, the last thing I want to do is prepare a huge meal. And let’s face it, most women are; you’re tired and sometimes the easiest choice- grabbing something fast- isn’t the healthiest choice.

That’s why I am a big fan of easy, delicious, fat loss friendly recipes!

Check out what I had for dinner!!

Chicken Spinach Casserole:

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked chicken
10 oz frozen spinach, thawed and drained (or a bag of fresh spinach cooked till wilted)

1 or 1 1⁄2 cups plain Greek yogurt
1⁄2 tsp salt*
1⁄2 tsp garlic powder*                 *I used garlic salt because that’s what I had on hand
1⁄2 tsp onion powder

1 packet Knorr Vegetable mix
1⁄2 cup  parmesan cheese
1⁄2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese or mexican blend cheese

Directions:

1.  Season chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder and boil until cooked. (I used about 2 lbs of uncooked chicken)
2. While chicken is cooking, grease and 8×8 baking dish with cooking spray and preheat oven to 350.
3. Mix together yogurt and spices. Add in cheese and spinach.
4. Once chicken is cooked, take out and cut into cubes or shred, depending on how you like it. Add to mixture. *Time Saving Tip*: While the chicken is still hot, you can shred it by using an electric or stand mixer. It works AWESOME!
5. Spread into baking dish and sprinkle a LITTLE more shredded cheese on top. Bake for about 40 minutes or until top gets slightly brown.

My picky husband has been raving about my latest creation. I was experimenting with some ideas of dinner casserole types of foods that would make easy and delicious dinners. I have to admit that some experiments, turn out not so great….. But hubby was especially excited about this one 🙂 I call that a success!

Ingredients:

3 large chicken breasts, frozen or fresh

2 cups nonfat plain greek yogurt

2 flat-out wraps

1 packet of low sodium taco seasoning

1 1/2 cups salsa

2-3 slices of fresh onion, diced

2/3 cup green or red pepper

2 cups shredded mexican cheese

Directions:

1. Cook the chicken by placing in glass dish, covering with plastic wrap and microwaving until cooked thoroughly.

2. Place the cooked chicken, while it is still hot, into a stand mixer and mix until shredded. Or you can use an electric hand mixer!

3. Cut the flatout wraps into squares with a pizza cutter and bake on a cookie sheet at 350 for 8-10 minutes or until crispy. This will make a crispy strip topping.

4. Mix the salsa, greek yogurt, taco seasoning, onions, peppers and 1 cup of cheese in a large bowl.

5. Add the shredded chicken to the mixture.

6. Spray the bottom of a 9×13 pan with cooking spray.

7. Spread chicken mixture into pain and sprinkle tortilla strip squares on top.

8. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.

9. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

Macros for 1/6th of the pan: 337 calories, 11.3g of fat, 18.3g of carbs and 39.3g of protein.