Lunch Today

Insanely Easy Chicken Salad (one 5 oz. can chicken plus 1 tbsp lite southwest ranch dressing) on sandwich thins, 6 oz. baby carrots, and 1 oz. honey roasted peanuts.

 

Easy Pudding Protein Bars

And the quest for portable protein-y breakfast continues...these bars don't look that appetizing, but they do taste good! They can be made really quickly in the evening and then they just refrigerate overnight and await you eating them in the morning.

They have a hefty 23 grams of protein and only 260 calories each. The only downside, which is not that big of a deal, is you have to eat these with a fork. They are pretty sticky and gloppy and would be impossible to eat by hand. I really like the consistency though; it is kind of like pudding and the oats get really soft so it's not hard to chew. And I guess the Jello pudding isn't exactly health food, but hey, you can't win on every count every time...

Vegan Whole Wheat Blueberry Bran Muffins

I'm not vegan. Or vegetarian. Nor will I ever be either. But I do find it interesting to make (usually bake) things using "different" ingredients and see how they turn out. I do not have a problem with weird ingredients - I just want the results to be decent and not taste like pig slop (is that offensive to pigs? It's what they eat, right?).

I was looking for a healthy whole grain blueberry muffin recipe and I found one on food.com that happened to also be a vegan recipe. I added protein powder and specified oat bran because it is yummy. I thought it would be fun to take a break from the norm of eggs/milk/other non-vegan things in muffindom and give this a try. (When we visit Portland and go to Voodoo Doughnuts, I always see the vegan doughnut selection and wonder if they are any good...haven't tried one yet, though.)

Easy Baked Salmon Fillets

This weekend I found some gorgeous Wild Caught Alaskan King Salmon Fillets on manager's special at Fred Meyer. I am slowly starting to get into eating more fish, since I previously have not eaten much seafood and didn't really like it. I usually go for the white fish (cod, sole, etc.), but I know salmon is very healthy and has lots of good Omega 3s and essential fatty acids, so I gave it another try. I found a super easy recipe from foodnetwork.com and cooked it up last night for dinner.

Spinach Smoothie II

One should never mess with success. My first spinach smoothie was a success, so I made another one a little different and this one a lot different. Not so good...the main problem was I got this stuff called Amazing Grass superfood powder (because it has lots of good-for-you stuff in it, so I could put it in smoothies and stuff) and it is NASTY! I thought protein powder was bad, but you can't hide this stuff! It smells like very pungent earthy lawn clippings and tastes awful. I thought a smoothie would hide it but it did not. Otherwise, I think this version of a spinach smoothie would be good. 

I used one yogurt, a banana, one scoop protein powder, frozen strawberries, and 4 cups spinach. Add water and enjoy (you won't have to plug your nose and drink it like I am...haha).

Whole Wheat Protein Pancakes

Breakfast for Dinner? I say yes! These pancakes are good for you and will leave you feeling full. Whole wheat flour and protein powder combine their forces for good...who could resist? You can also omit the protein powder if you don't have any; I'm sure they would still be filling. They are yummy too - firm from the egg but not too heavy. They would hold up well to any toppings you might come up with (be creative)! For example: peanut butter and banana, any fruit pie filling and whipped cream, butter and syrup, applesauce, etc.

Crock Pot Pork Country-Style Ribs

Mmm, so meaty!

Sometimes you just need a super-simple dinner that is ready when you get home and is warm and fills you up. That said, I am not usually much of a dinner-maker. My husband and I have cereal (or oatmeal for me) several nights a week. We both get up early (4:30 and 5 am), so we try to go to bed by 8:30 or 9 pm. I usually get home from work around 5:30 pm, so that doesn't leave a lot of time for preparing and eating a meal before bedtime. So, we eat easy-to-fix things. I sometimes make a pasta casserole or homemade pizza ahead of time, and then we have leftovers for a few lunches. But generally, we go for fast and easy on the weeknights- which this recipe is! It cooks all day while I'm at work.

No Bake Cookie Protein Bars

Breakfast today!

Yes, these have butter and sugar in them. Don't kill me yet. And yes, they are the best protein bars I have ever had to date. My own ingenious mixture of everyone's favorite no-bake cookie recipe and a healthy protein bar recipe. And they have 14 grams of protein per serving!

Oatmeal Raisin Protein Cookies

I have been on the quest to find a decent-tasting, somewhat healthy protein bar/breakfast cookie sort of thing I can make, that is easy to grab for breakfast. I have tried several that were super crumbly or just tasted like...sawdust. Not really how I want to start my day!

I just made these yesterday, and I tried one, and they are much better than any other ones I have made so far. They are a bit weird-shaped, becasue the liquid kind of drained to the bottom of each cookie and made a little lip at the bottom. I found the recipe on food.com (as I usually do) and modified it a little (as I usually do). You can see the original recipe here.

[Putrid] Protein Powder

The not-so-delicioso duo

I learned my lesson! Plain vanilla protein powder with just milk = gross. I will definitely make a fruit smoothie or something next time to mask the nastiness. I advise you to do the same.

Breakfast of Champions

After I got home from hot yoga this morning, we had a power breakfast! Jeff made the egg scramble and I added the strawberries and yogurt because I was very hungry.

Egg Scramble

Egg Scramble = 4 eggs, a splash of milk, 4 ounces of taco-seasoned ground meat, and 1/4 cup of Mexican cheese sprinkled on at the end. Sooo good!

Strawberries and Yogurt

Let me know if you can't figure out the recipe for this one...