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!