Orange-Pineapple Bread

This is one of my favorite quick breads. It is unique because you use the ENTIRE orange in it and you don't have to use a zester! It have a wonderful citrus flavor and is moist and very delicious. I changed the original recipe to include whole wheat flour, cut the oil in half and substituted applesauce, and skipped the nuts. You can see the original recipe here. I did add 4 scoops of unflavored protein powder, since I will be having it for breakfast. I have added dried cranberries before, and that is very yummy too!

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.

 

Blueberry Buckle

I love a good summer fruit recipe. Actually, I love most any fruit recipe...this recipe is from a little cookbook called "Baking with Spelt" by Barb Waldron. It calls for spelt flour (great if you are allergic to wheat, but it is not gluten free). I'm sure you could make it with whole wheat flour and get the same yummy result. I usually use frozen blueberries and there is no need to thaw and drain - I just use them straight from the freezer.

I added a sliced nectarine on top of the fresh blueberries this time and it was delicious!

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.)

Brown Rice Pudding

When I was growing up, my mom used to make German Milchreis (white rice pudding) a lot and we would spread it out thinly over large plates and sprinkle it (heavily) with cinnamon sugar, and it was super yummy! (Also I used a fork to make rows the entire length of the plate and pretended it was a farm and I was going to plant it with seeds. And then I ate it. Good times!)

Teriyaki Chicken and Brown Rice

Cook some brown rice

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.

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!