Protein Power Ups

Hey guys, long time no see. I've been a busy girl but I've been keeping up with all the recipes I've made along the way. Some of them are more Paleo than others but I'm going to work my hardest to get them posted.

So, what's going on in my life you ask? I have another figure competition approaching very quickly. Actually it's in two weeks! I've been playing around intermittent fasting. It seems like it is working so far because I'm not eating quite as strictly as I was the first time but I'm already leaner.

I know that protein powders are controversial in the Paleo world, as they should be. Many of them are made with less than optimal ingredients. I have chosen to include them in my life up to a certain point. I have a hard time eating enough protein without feeling like I'm going to blow out my stomach. I use Carnivor, which is a beef protein, and it actually tastes pretty good. I personally like chocolate the best and cooking with it is awesome!

The other day I ran across a website called Proteinpow.com and I was so excited that there are so many ways to bake and cook with protein powders. I'm not a huge fan of just putting them in a shaker bottle and drinking. That's boring. There was a recipe on the site for strawberry protein bars and I was intrigued. The only problem is that it called for strawberry whey protein, which I don't use, and chocolate, which I can't have during contest prep. So.... I made a verson that I can have! I made a few different flavors including pumpkin pie, chocolate peanut butter (my favorite), mocha, and orange cream (which was my least favorite). Keep in mind that this is not 100% Paleo.

"Chocolate Peanut Butter"

Ingredients:

• 2 scoops Carnivor chocolate protein powder
• 3 Tbsp coconut flour
• 2 Tbsp PB2 (can use almond butter, sunbutter, or other nut butter)
• 1/2 cup coconut milk (use less if you are using a regular nut butter, play with it until you get the right consistency)

Directions

1. Mix the dry ingredients together.
2. Start adding the coconut milk to the dry ingredients a little at a time while stirring. Once it has a dough consistency, stop adding the milk. You don't want it runny. 
3. Take a teaspoon and dip out a portion a little smaller than a golf ball.
4. Using your hands, roll the dough into little balls. There should be enough to make 10-12.
5. At this point you can get creative and roll the balls in shredded coconut, more PB2, or a mixture of unsweetened cocoa and stevia.

Coconut Butter

In a previous lifetime I was a huge peanut butter fanatic, I could sit and eat a whole jar in one sitting and be perfectly happy. Nowadays I would feel slightly guilty about that! I've gone through many nut butter phases but right now I'm on coconut butter kick. I love coconut butter plain, I love it with flavors mixed in, I could eat it with anything! Unfortunately there is a very large price tag that goes along with the little jars of heaven. What is a girl to do? Well, she makes her own for a quarter of the price of course! It's so easy too!

You can mix it in with mashed acorn squash, use it as a topping for paleo cupcakes or doughnuts, eat it with fruit, mix it in with creamy soups to add extra texture and flavor, melt it and dip frozen fruit pieces and stick back in the freezer to make a shell, use it as a topping on ice cream. The uses are endless!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups shredded coconut (or as much as you like, I like to use about 6-8 cups so I don't have to make it as often. Buy it in bulk at Whole Foods)
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil

Directions:

1. Place one cup of the shredded coconut in your food processor and turn on. Keep it running until it turns starts turning liquidy. Then add the rest of the coconut and continue blending until it is smooth all the way through, scraping down the sides several times. In the end it will look like thick milk. Don't try to scrape down the sides while the processor is running, you might lose your spatula...
2. If it doesn't blend all the way, add the coconut oil and continue blending until smooth. It will have a slightly grainy texture.

*I like to get creative and add flavors according to my mood, my favorite being what I call midnight mocha madness. After the coconut butter is done I add a Tablespoon of cocoa, a half teaspoon of instant coffee, and 1 tablespoon liquid Stevia, then continue blending until it is all incorporated.

Chocolate Sunbutter Swirl Cheesecake Bites

Life is funny sometimes. For months I was going full force at 110% with working out and accounting for every piece of food that I ate to make sure I was in top shape for my figure competition. After the competition I let myself have a few indulgences before I was ready to get right back to it for another show in June. Then a series of unfortunate circumstances set me back to a point that I haven't been able to work out for 3 weeks and might not be able to for another couple weeks. On one hand I am relieved that my body has been able to rest, but on the other I feel like I need to be going going going!

One good thing that has come out of my extra time is that I am able to write and test recipes! I have missed this so much!

My co-worker and friend, Megzilla, had a birthday recently so I decided to make her a little treat and this is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy them as much as she did :)

Ingredients:

For the crust

• 6 Sweet Potato Biscuits
• 4 Tbsp Stevia in the Raw
• 2 Tbsp grassfed butter, melted

For the filling

• 1 package cream cheese, softened
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup Stevia in the Raw
• 2 heaping Tbsp Sunbutter
• 2 heaping Tbsp unsweetened cocoa

Directions:

1. Prepare the sweet potato biscuits as normal (link is above).
2. Keep the oven on at 350F.
3. After biscuits are cooled, crumble 6 of them unto a bowl with the melted butter and stevia. Combine until thick and crumbly.
4. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners and ration the crust evenly (should make 12). Then press the crust firmly into the bottom of the liner with a spoon or shot glass.
5. Place the crust in the oven and bake for 20 minutes until it starts to brown on top.
6. While the crust is baking, cream the cream cheese with a hand mixer, then add in the yolks, coconut milk, vanilla, and stevia. Blend until very smooth, at least 2 minutes.
7. Scoop out 1/2 cup of the filling and place in a separate bowl.
8. In the original bowl, add the sunbutter and mix with the hand mixer until smooth.
9. In the other bowl, add the cocoa and mix until smooth.
10. Take the crust out of the oven when finished and let cool slightly but not all the way, about 5-10 minutes.
11. Divide the sunbutter filling evenly between the 12 cups and spread to cover the crust.
12. Dollop the chocolate filling on top of the sunbutter filling and create swirls with a butter knife.
13. Place back in the oven for 10 minutes.
14. Let cool before serving and store in the refrigerator.

Honey Dijon Mustard

Things are finally starting to settle down in my life again and the one thing that I have been missing the most is creating new and fun recipes. The same ole fish and kale was getting pretty boring. I have to say that I'm still not opposed to eating fish or kale, just not at every meal!  There are a few things that I would love to eat at every meal though, one of those being chocolate!!!

One thing that I hate is people that don't mind their own business. I live in an apartment and have two cats and a dog. No I didn't pay the pet deposit because it is an outrageous amount of money that you don't get back. I'm not saying that having animals in an apartment without telling is completely right, but when a maintenance man reports all the animals without ever coming in the apartment (to my knowledge) or knowing if I "registered" them is so annoying. Now I have to part ways with my animals for a while. I'm going to miss my cat Buffy. She is my snuggle buddy.

As for the recipe, I made this marinade/dressing/dipping sauce that you can basically put on anything from chicken to salads to dipping veggies in it. It tastes very similar to the honey mustard at Chick-Fil-A... Not that I should know that :-/

Ingredients

• 1 cup Coconut Cream (I used Trader Joe's)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3 Tbsp Dijon mustard

Directions

• Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
• Refrigerate until used; up to a week.

I tossed some chicken breasts with the dijon mustard for an instant main course.

I'm Cacao for Coffee

Anyone that knows me know that if I don't have my coffee fix at 5 am, they aren't going to get a peppy Sam. I walk into the gym with a blank stare on my face right past everyone straight to the coffee maker. I love anything that is coffee flavored, ice cream, cake, cookies, milk shakes... I have even gone so far as to put coffee in my sunbutter. I like my coffee hot in the morning and chilled in the afternoon, especially on a hot summer's day. Mmmmmmmm coffee....

Blended with ice

I started putting cacao in my coffee for flavor and antioxidants and came up with a delicious treat. I have been drinking Bulletproof coffee for a while and this is my version:

Ingredients

• 1 cup brewed coffee
• 1 tablespoon cacao
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• stevia to taste

Directions

1. Brew coffee as you normally do.
2. Add all ingredients to blender and blend on high speed for 30 seconds.
3. Pour into mug and enjoy or pour over ice for a cold treat.

Sunflower Seed Butter AKA Sunbutter

Since peanuts are a no go and aren't actually nuts, I had to turn to other means to quelch my cravings. One of them is sunflower seed butter, which is packed with healthy fats. Of course you can buy this in the stores but it is so expensive!!! I can make a huge jar for only $2 which is a quarter of the store price. That is totally worth it when you are on a tight budget. Another plus is this tastes so much better than store bought because it is fresh.

Ingredients:

• Roasted sunflower seeds (I used the 1 lb bag from Trader Joe's)
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil

Directions:

1. Pour the bag of seeds and the coconut oil into a high speed blender and blend until smooth. You may need to scrape down the sides a few times. Yes it is that easy!

* You can get super creative and add in stevia and cacao for an indulgent chocolate treat but beware, it is addictive!

My First Figure Competition

The moment I had been waiting so long for has now come and gone and what an experience it was! So many things go into training for a figure competition that you just many not think about from the way you eat to the way you train from week to week. I was eating a very limited Paleo diet that consisted of egg whites, tilapia, ground turkey, green veggies (spinach, kale and chard) some sweet potatoes and sunflower seed butter. Not a whole lot of recipes coming from that combo, just throw in a pan, cook, and eat.

I did mostly Crossfit style workouts consisting of heavy lifting and cardio. The heavy lifting trickled down to more light weight and high reps toward the last couple weeks, just enough to get a pump.

My life consisted of work, eat, workout, eat, and sleep for a couple months and it payed off because I placed third in class for my first ever competition! Not too shabby. I have decided to do another one in June because I'm not stopping until I place 1st overall, I'm stubborn like that :)

Here are some pictures from the show:

On stage doing one of my poses

Holding my 3rd place trophy

In the line up (I'm on the very right)

Me and the Ninja

Since most of my recipes are so simple I haven't taken the time to post any but along the way I discovered that a certain blend of spices really tickles my taste buds more than others so I thought I would share. I use this combination on my meats and in my egg whites to give them an extra kick. Everything I do is to taste so I don't have any exact measurements.

I take a pinch each of smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and salt and sprinkle it on my food while it is cooking. Today I had sliced turkey tenderloin and Power to the Greens from Trader Joe's all sauteed in a pan with my seasonings and it was awesome! Take a look!

Curried Cod

I know the posts about my upcoming figure competition are kind of taking over but I'm SOOO excited!! In 8 1/2 weeks I will be standing on a stage being judged on not only my figure but also my charisma and dedication to this sport. That's right I said it, sport... I will be a figure athlete!

I have been very strict with what I'm eating and sticking mostly to grilled chicken, fish, and eggs for my protein and kale or spinach as a veggie. I will throw in a protein shake with berries after I workout for some carbs but that is about the extent of it. With all the diet changes I have lost 7 pounds in two weeks (at least that's what it was the last time I weighed myself). I started at approximately 21% body fat and I'm now down to about 17%. Every week I get even more strict and it has been paying off! My coach said that I'm really tightening up which is exactly what I want so I'm on track for my May 5th date!

I was really wanting to make Red Curry from Everyday Paleo but unfortunately I didn't have the ingredients on hand so I improvised and wow, I don't know why I haven't thought of this before! It's awesome! The fish really soaks in the flavors of the curry and they make a great combination. Plus I've stayed true to form and created it with as few ingredients as possible. I made this for myself so it serves one but that is easily changed, just multiply by the number of people you have :)

Ingredients:

• 6-8 oz Wild Cod fillet
• 2 tablespoons coconut cream (from the top of the can)
• 1/2 teaspoon Massaman Thai Curry paste
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 1 cup chopped veggies (I used frozen fire roasted onions and peppers)

Directions:

1. If you are using fresh veggies, chop them then saute in a separate pan and set aside.
2. Heat your frying pan to high heat then put your coconut cream in and heat until it is bubbly, stirring frequently.
3. Mix in the curry and stir until bubbly and fragrant. Add the fish sauce and give a good stir.
4. Place the fish fillet in the sauce along with the veggies, cover and cook for about 5 minutes until the fish is done. 
5. Voila!

She Hulk Omelet

I have had so many life changes this month and I'm so excited about them. I have been working two jobs for over a year now and it has taken it's toll on me. My full time job as a personal banker just wasn't making me happy anymore so I decided to pursue a passion of mine and make my part time job full time. I will be working as a trainer in an awesome gym working with awesome people and I couldn't be more thrilled!! That also means I have more time to write and create recipes!!!!!!!!!!!!

I met with my posing coach and started learning all the poses required for the figure competition I'm going to do in May. I learned a lot about myself in that session, mostly that I have a few things to work on. Luckily, with my career change I will have more time to train. This is my first figure competition and I want to go in strong! This means my diet is going to change to strict Paleo, no cheat days. I'm talking Whole30 strict! Except this is going to last for 11 weeks. Anyone else want to take this challenge with me? Anyone??

I'll be posting progress pics as I go to show everyone just how much diet plays a part in how you look.

So... This recipe is delicious, easy, and completely clean. So make it, try it, and love it!

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 2 cups mixed greens (spinach, chard, kale)
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil

Directions:

1. Heat pan over medium heat and melt the coconut oil.
2. Saute the greens until tender.
3. Whisk the eggs, egg whites, and Dijon mustard together then pour over the greens.
4. Cook for 5 minutes or until the eggs are done.
5. Flip one side over the other to form an omelet and serve.

Nutrition Info:

Calories 207

Fat - 9.94 g

Net carbs - 5.27 g

Protein - 19.58 g

Scrambled Cheesecake

What the heck is that you ask? Well, it's my way of having dessert for breakfast and not feeling guilty about it. As you know, I've been experimenting with ways to eat eggs and not get bored with it so here is a sweeter side of eggs.

Pretty soon I won't be able to have cream cheese so I might as well enjoy it while I can, right?! It isn't extremely conducive to fat loss and I have two more weeks of bulking before I start cutting back and losing fat.

What does that mean for you? It means that the recipes will start getting much healthier and less complicated... Maybe a little more boring but in my experience, the boring ones will get the fat off of you faster.

I am getting excited about meeting with the figure coach and I'm hoping she tells me I can compete in the figure class but I will still be willing to do the bikini class if I didn't gain enough muscle the past few months. I will just need to strive for a little softer look than I was invisioning. There is always a next time :)

Makes 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon cream cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• Stevia to taste (I used about half a dropper full of the liquid Now brand)
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil for frying

Directions:

1. Melt coconut oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
2. In a bowl, whisk the eggs with the cinnamon and stevia then pour into the heated pan.
3. Cut the cream cheese into small pieces and stir in with the cooking eggs and stir until scrambled and the eggs are cooked through.
4. Serve!

Nutrition Information:
Calories- 265
Fat- 19.41 g
Net carbs- 1.66 g
Protein- 19.87 g

Eggs Italiano

Growing up I always felt sick after eating eggs but I never made the connection that I was allergic to them until a couple of years ago. I would feel very spacey and not myself for several hours to the point I just didn't want to eat them. I discovered that egg whites didn't make me feel that way which to me was weird. After I started eating Paleo, I discovered that chickens are often fed meal that contains soy. After a little experimentation, I found that eating local soy free eggs don't make me feel bad so eggs are now a large part of my diet.

With that being said, I have been eating eggs a lot lately and frankly I'm getting a little sick of them. I only like them when they are runny and for some reason I have been over cooking them. Not wanting them to go to waste I still gobble them down but I'm not terribly happy about it.

Eggs with spinach have been my easy healthy go-to breakfast for the past week but today I decided I wanted something different. Add some spaghetti sauce and badda bing, you have Italian eggs. I know it sounds way too simple but it's nice to change it up sometimes.

Ingredients:

• Eggs (as many as you need to eat, I ate 3)
• 2/3 cup Spaghetti sauce (I used Trader Joe's because it is soy free)
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil for frying

Directions:

1. Heat frying pan over medium and melt coconut oil.
2. Pour spaghetti sauce in the pan along with the spices and mix together until slightly bubbly.
3. Crack your eggs into the sauce keeping them intact.
4. Cover and cook until the whites are done and the yolks are still a little runny.

Super Woman Pancakes

Ahhh pancakes, usually your stomach and thighs worst enemy. But alas I have found a way to make them healthy and taste good too! I know I don't usually post recipes with dairy but I have found that cream cheese doesn't make me feel bad, so I'm going to go with it.

This is a very hearty recipe and fills you up fast, especially when you eat it with bacon, mmmm bacon. This is the closest I have come to mocking the taste and texture of wheat pancakes.

Makes 2 servings (Or you can be a piggy and eat the whole thing like I did, don't judge!)

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1 scoop Pro Whey protein powder, vanilla (32g)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup cream cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon coconut flour
• dash of salt
• Coconut oil for cooking

Directions:

1. Melt about a teaspoon coconut oil in a pan over medium heat.
2. Combine all ingredients (except coconut oil) in a blender and blend until smooth. (I know most people say to combine wet then dry then put them together, but I haven't noticed it makes a difference in a blender and I like to make things easy)
3. Pour half of the mixture into pan, cover with lid, and cook until little bubbles appear in the batter, then flip and cook another minute. 
4. Repeat step 3 for the remainder.
5. Top with some grass-fed butter and eat up!

Choco-nana Ice Cream

Some interesting things have been happening lately and one of them is I contacted a competition coach close to my house and I'm meeting with her in a little over a week. I'm so excited that I am starting to get everything in order. It is all starting to feel very real to me now. I will be more and more exciting the closer the date comes. Right now I'm 15 weeks out so I still have a few more weeks to work hard and gain as much as possible in a short amount of time. I'm going to go back to Paleo eating and get my carbs from sweet potatoes. This is what I should have done to begin with but you live and you learn. Next time I'm going to be a sweet potato eating machine! I'm seeing spaghetti with sweet potato noodles!!!

Anyways, I do have a recipe for you today. I had some bananas that were starting to get overly ripe so I stuck them in the freezer to make ice cream with them. Delicious! It comes out just like soft serve! There is no added sugar so the riper your bananas are, the sweeter your ice cream will be.

Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 frozen bananas
• 1 tablespoon coconut cream (the top portion of the canned coconut milk)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Peel and roughly chop your bananas and place in the freezer for a few hours until frozen or overnight. I had mine in the freezer almost 10 hours while I was at work and they were perfect.
2. Place all of the ingredients in your blender and blend until smooth. The times for this will vary depending on your blender but mine took about 30 seconds. 
3. Any uneaten ice cream can be stored in the freezer but it will become hard so let it thaw in the refrigerator an hour or so before eating. 

Hiatus

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and was able to enjoy all that goes along with it, including all the seasonal treats (in moderation of course).

I have taken a short break from blogging because I shamefully took a break from Paleo while trying to gain weight (bulk) for a figure competition. I figured that the standard American diet would help... It didn't. What it did do for me was make my skin break out, made me feel sluggish, and I got sick twice. I had to stay out of work two days. So needless to say the S.A.D. hurt my bottom line as well as made me feel crappy. Now I'm sticking to rice, steel cut oats, and potatoes for my starches. I already feel a little better and my skin is clearing up. I'm glad I went through the experience because now I know for sure that Paleo is the only way for me! I wasn't able to hit my goal weight but I'm still going to go ahead as planned and hope that the muscle that I gained was enough :)

While eating the S.A.D., I also lost my cooking bug for a while and had no desire to cook or be creative. Probably because of the sluggishness and being tired all the time. I'm not back 100% because of my work schedule but I promise that I will do better. Some of my recipes won't be original for a while but I will make sure to give proper acknowledgement to the recipe creators.

I was recently asked for a recipe that would be easy to make and eat on for the week. Something healthy, tasty, and reheats well. The first thing that came to mind was egg cupcakes. This is something that you can create to your own taste because you can put anything you want in them... Almost...

This recipe is from Paleo in a Pinch, I changed some of the measurements but this is not an original recipe of mine. I have made this recipe before and can attest that it is delicious!

Savory Sausage Egg Cakes

(Photo from Paleo in a Pinch)

Ingredients:

• 12 Eggs
• 1lb. Sausage
• 1 each Green & Red Pepper
• 1 cup Mushrooms
• 1 Onion
• 3-4 Green Onions
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup unsweetened Coconut Milk (Optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a fry pan, brown your Sausage on Med/High heat. Break up into small crumbles.
2. While Sausage is browning, chop all of your veggies.
3. Once Sausage is cooked, spoon out and add to the veggie bowl.
4. Add eggs and whisk together. If you are using Coconut Milk, add now
5. Line your cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Fill nearly to the top of the liner. Place in preheated oven and bake for 25-30 min.
6. Remove Egg Cakes from oven and let cool for 10-15min, before transferring to a cooling rack.
7. Serve or let cool to room temp and store in the fridge or freezer. Egg Cakes can be served warmed or chilled.