Non-Meat Protein

Yes I could say "Vegetarian Protein", but for some unknown reason the V-word seems to turn some people off. Not sure why - it's not like they're in jeopardy of turning into hippy-mountain-men that wear flower headbands or something... No offense to hippy-mountain-men that wear flower headbands.

Whether we want to face reality or not, non-meat protein is not only good for our bodies, the fact is it is EXTREMELY good for our environment. Still can't get out of my head one of the six documentaries I watched last month on my weekend mini-binge, "Cowspiracy." I already don't eat that much meat, but since watching that film it really made me want to go back to more plant foods again. Even if you don't care much about your health, or animals, or regular things like those that normally people can regularly brush off, you can't consider yourself friendly to the earth if you eat meat on a regular basis. I like to conserve water, energy, and I've always wanted to save trees. If things like that are important to me, I have to face the facts.

Anyway, it's time to eat healthy delicious food with protein that can both help you feel full and conserve (or help grow) muscles during weight loss and strength training.

 

All this talk about complete proteins that vegetables don't have, when there's actually a lot. Here's a little article with easy recipes too from Greatist: http://greatist.com/health/complete-vegetarian-proteins

21 Meals With Lots of Protein & No Meat  

Mint Chocolate Chip Protein Shake

It was 88 degrees in San Francisco today, about 30 degrees higher than normal this time of year. I'm nearing the end of my 10 week plan & there's a line outside Baskin Robbins I'm trying to ignore. I want to order a mint chocolate chip ice cream shape, but instead I go home & make this... And blow my own mind that I can't believe this 180 calorie delicious beverage tastes like it's 600 calories & is actually healthy for you. Seriously, mind blown. Made with 1 scoop Isoburn vanilla protein powder, 2 drops of dōTERRA peppermint oil, 1/2 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, & 1&1/2 squares of 80% cacao dark chocolate.

Enjoy! 

Meal Prepping this Week

Good ol Egg White Bites. Super convenient & can be eaten warm or cold. I like to make a big batch then eat them over the course of 3-5 days. You can check out the recipe here: http://naturalbeautyandbody.blogspot.com/2014/06/easy-egg-white-bite-recipe.html

I also picked up some ground turkey for my first time a couple weeks ago by the suggestion of one of my personal trainers. I'm not much of a meat eater & wasn't sure what to do with it exactly, but I decided to make ground turkey wraps:

I went to Trader Joe's and got 99% fat free lean ground turkey. Put the whole thing in a large pan sprayed with olive oil spray to coat, then a tablespoon of olive oil in the center. Added a couple sprinkles of chili flakes, fresh ground pepper, garlic, some basil, a splash of balsamic vinegar and two tablespoons of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce. 

Put that on a bed of romaine hearts, sprinkled some light shredded mozzarella cheese over, added a tablespoon of pineapple salsa and now have my new favorite mini meal!

Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Breakfast Protein Smoothie

Here is one of my newer experiments in breakfast smoothie land. One of my favorite flavors of ice cream is mint chocolate chip. I've also been getting into the habit of brewing tea the night before, adding protein powder and almond milk into my single serving blender, and leaving it in the fridge overnight so that all I have to do in the morning is add ice.

What you will need:

• 2 Mint Tea Bags (I use Yerba Mate Empower Mint tea. Organic with a little more caffeine.)
• 1/2 cup Non-Dairy Unsweetened Vanilla Milk (I often use almond milk)
• 1/2 Scoop Chocolate Protein Powder (Isopure Dutch Chocolate pictured)
• 1/2 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder (Isoburn Vanilla Ice Cream pictured)
• Blender & Ice
• Pinch of Stevia

 

What to do:

• Brew tea bags first, approx 10-15 minutes
• Add 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• Add 1/2 scoop chocolate & vanilla protein powder
• Add pinch of Stevia if desired. Leave in single serving blender cup in fridge overnight if not making immediately
• Add 4-6 ice cubes in the morning and blend

Total Calories: 134
Protein: 23g
Carbs: 6g
Fat: 2g
For a meal replacement, use full scoops of protein powder & full cup of almond milk.

Detox Water Recipes for the New Year!

Hello and happy 2015!

I hope you all enjoyed your holidays and vacations and what have you, and I celebrated another year of being 21 while away as well. Now that it's January (and spring semester starts next week) it's time to get back on track!

I'm sure most of you, like me, ate amazing awesome food this past month. Oh, the deliciousness. I'm also sure most of you, like me, saw the scale creep up a couple pounds. Not to worry! In fact, I plan for a 3-5lb gain from the end of December til the first week of January (when I visit Las Vegas for my birthday and eat at the best of the best with no regrets.)

Let's not do anything crazy now. Don't go jump into fad diets or crazy cleanses or the next popular pill hype. Let's do simple, easy things here and there that will produce positive changes along the way! Let's drinks more water!
And super charge it while we're at it!

Here are some ways you can get the most out of your h2o: 64 ounces a day is the goal!
Remember: When using fruit or herbs, it's best to let them marinate overnight in the water, or at least a few hours.

• Morning Detox: Green tea with honey, lemon, a dash of cinnamon & a pinch of cayenne

• Simple Detox: 8oz water, a shot of apple cider vinegar, and 1/2 a teaspoon of organic maple syrup 

• Spa Detox: Ice water with sliced cucumber and a squeeze of lime

• Afternoon Pick-Me-Up Detox: Water with green apple and cinnamon

• Better than Juice Detox: 2 cups water, 1 cup 100% cranberry juice, 1/4 cup lemon juice, sweeten naturally (honey, stevia, etc.)

• De-stress Detox: Berries & mint leaves in chilled water.

• Evening Detox: Hot ginger tea with 1/2 a shot of apple cider vinegar and honey

Dinner in Under 350 Calories!

I have a mini-vacation coming up in a few weeks which includes me wearing a bikini in public for a good majority of the time. Cue me keeping an even closer eye on what I eat & how much of it!

Dinner tonight in under 350 calories: 

Baked Teriyaki tofu, penne pasta with lemon garlic shrimp, tomatoes & Parmesan and sautéed spinach. 

 

Here's all that's in it (special thanks to MyFitnessPal as always for the detailed food database):

• 1/4 block organic firm tofu
• 1 TBS teriyaki Sauce
• 8 medium shrimp
• 1/3rd cup organic brown rice penne pasta
• 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
• 1/2tsp olive oil
• 2tsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 cups spinach
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1tbs crushed garlic
• 2tbs Parmesan cheese
• basil & ground pepper

Total: 335 Calories, 26g protein, 22g carbs, 12g fat, 2g of fiber & just 390mg of sodium.

*Please note: I eat about 5 times a day, with dinner usually being my largest as the rest are about 250-300 calories.  I do not support eating under a healthy amount.

Chocolate Sponge Protein Bar

Today's Blog Bonus:
Easy Ways to Boost Fiber - from SparkPeople
You're probably not getting the 30-35 grams of fiber per day that you probably need. And if you have an irrational fear of "carbs", I can almost guarantee you're not if you're not taking fiber supplements.

I couldn't find an easy protein bar recipe to make at home with the ingredients I had, so I decided to wing it tonight & see what happens.

Why not? I was using things I had an abundance of anyway: Chocolate protein powder, flaxseed, stevia, maple syrup... Sometimes we just gotta learn things on our own.

Anyway, like the title says, it came out like a sponge. A hard yet chocolate edible sponge. I'm not saying you should go try & make this, but I am sharing in my experience of trials & errors. It's not bad, but I'm going to alter it the next time I attempt this again. Maybe I didn't need to cook it so long...

I used:
8 scoops of chocolate protein powder (had a boatload of Gold Standard I got on sale at work)
4 or 5 tablespoons of whole flax seed I put in my blender before adding to the powder.
1/4 cup organic maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon stevia
4 tablespoons vanilla syrup
2 packets of Swiss Miss Diet (used as insurance for a chocolate-y flavor)
1 tablespoon organic coconut oil

Preheated oven to 350 degrees.
Coated with Earth Balance organic buttery spread
Baked for 15 minutes.

Thanks to MyFitnessPal's huge food database, I can tell you each of these 8 servings contains:
184 cals. 25g protein, 12g carbs, 4g fat, 1g fiber, 171mg of sodium

Savory Colorful Veggie Recipe

Hi all!

I wanted to share for my first recipe, one of the very first things I cooked when I 1) decided to venture out cooking something besides grilled cheese & Ramen (both which I made fabulously btw) and 2) when I wanted to start eating healthier.

I'm one of those people who didn't know how to cook pasta until her mid-twenties, used to eat Bacon Ultimate Cheeseburgers from Jack in the Box three times a week, and still on occasion messes up hard boiled eggs. Obviously I needed something easy & delicious to start with this whole healthy cooking thing. Hopefully it is easy & delicious for you too.

*Disclaimer: I will explain in detail for those of us that are not accustomed to cooking. For those of you that are, you could probably read this once & know how to cook it in 30 seconds. Bear with us.

What you will need:

- 6 oz carrots (regular or baby)
- 2 medium zucchini (or 1 zucchini & 1 yellow squash)
- 3 to 4 baby red potatoes (approx. 10oz.)
- Garlic (either 1/4 cupped pre-crushed or chopped, or a whole clove if you're feeling awesome)
- Olive Oil
- Balsamic vinegar
- Earth Balance Organic Buttery Spread (or regular butter if you must)
- Basil in a spice jar
- Rainbow or Black Pepper in a grinder
- Large pan & pan cover
* bonus: olive oil spray &/or cayenne pepper


What to do:

1 - Wash all veggies & cut into approx. 3/4 inch cubes. If you're being awesome with a whole clove of garlic, slice it all very thinly. That part may be a bit time consuming but totally worth it.You can cut veggies in order you will put them in to save time: Carrots & garlic first, then potatoes, then zucchini/ squash.

2 - If you have olive oil spray, spray it in your large pan. If you don't, THINLY coat your pan with olive oil. Throw a few drops of water in there to thin it out.

3 -  Put stove on medium/ low. For example, if it goes 1-10, put it on 4.

4 -  Throw in cut up carrots evenly in pan first, then sprinkle garlic over.

5 -  Get your spices. Start with a pinch of cayenne over the garlic if you have it. Do NOT use any more. Put a couple twists of your pepper grinder over it. Move your veggies around a minute.

6 -  Throw in cut up potatoes. Repeat step 5, minus the cayenne & this time add a few shakes of basil.

7 - Your pan should be wanting more things to coat it & the veggies now. Put in 2 teaspoons (or 1 tablespoon) of Organic Buttery Spread, about 1tbs of olive oil and 3tbs of balsamic vinegar. Move your veggies around a minute.

8 - Throw in zucchini squash. Repeat the couple twists of pepper grinder & a few shakes of basil one last time.

9 - Cover pan for a few minutes. Check to see you're not burning it, move it around, and cover it a couple more minutes. Take lid off to finish cooking a couple mins & turn off stove.

10 - Eat it! YUM!