Homemade Popsicles

Can I just start this post off by saying how on earth is it already July?!?!?! Where has 2014 gone? It's like I blinked and BOOM we're already halfway through the year. Cray-cray!

Anyway, I'm coming at you today with a super duper easy peasy delicious and HEALTHY popsicle recipe for you. I figured since the Fourth of July is right around the corner, it'd be the perfect time to whip out my popsicle molds and do some "cooking." The word cooking use lightly, considering these are frozen. lol Anywhoooo, this popsicle recipe is just basically my go-to pre-workout smoothie frozen into a popsicle form.

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 banana
• 5 strawberries
• 1 handful of blueberries
• 1 tsp Chia Seeds
• 1/2 C orange juice
• 1/2 C vanilla Greek yogurt

Place all of your ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. If you want to leave a few chunks in there for texture, that's totally fine too. Once you've done that, take out your popsicle molds and pour in the mixture to the fill line. With my molds, I can make four and still have about a quarter of the smoothie/mixture left. So I just drink the rest! Place your lids/sticks in the molds and then pop into the freezer for about 4-24 hours or until they reach the consistency you like.

Tada! Super easy. The best part is that each little popsicle only has about 60 calories and it's 100% natural. Pretty sweet, right?

Healthy Brownie in a Mug Recipe

The other night I was craving something chocolate but didn't want to completely undo my day or splurge on a "yolo" snack (I was particularly proud of myself this day on the way I was eating). I knew brownies in a mug were quick & easy and we had enough ingredients for me to throw something together. First I tried a recipe on YouTube that  all of three ingredients and literally cooked for just 50 seconds. While it was tasty, I felt like it was missing something so I decided to tweak it a little and came up with this! It has one extra ingredient, but is still healthy and just as easy. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 eggs

2 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder

1 TBS agave nectar

1 TBS almond milk (I used original sweetened)

Mix everything in a mug, place in the microwave for 30 seconds. Once done, take out of the microwave and check it out. Mix it up and place back in the microwave for about 20 more seconds. It should create a nice cake-like consistency and you're done!

Strawberry Protein Pancakes

Today I tried my hand at making strawberry protein pancakes again to see if they would turn out any better. Guess what? They did! This time around I actually had the psyllium husk that the recipe called for (which, by the way, if you're looking for it, I found at Fruitful Yield). The pancakes themselves tasted like egg. I probably didn't have enough strawberry chunks in them, so I topped them with whipped cream and gobbled them up! They didn't take too long to make and were a nice treat in the morning that was more than just a smoothie. If you're interested in making them, the recipe is below.

Here is what you'll need:

1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder (I used Trader Joe's brand)

1 Tbs Psyllium Husk

1 whole egg

3 strawberries chopped

1/2 cup water (or milk if you like them creamier)

Mix everything together in a bowl (including the strawberries). Spray a pan with non-stick spray and pour the batter onto it. I decided to make bigger pancakes, so I had enough batter to make three bigger ones. Otherwise it should make about 6 smaller pancakes. Cook them until they start to bubble, then slip and wait until they're a golden brown.



Recipe borrowed from Blogilates (surprise, surprise. lol).

Apple Cinnamon Protein Pancakes

Good morning! Since my return home from vacation, I've been working to get back into the swing of things during the week. I wanted something more clean and healthy for breakfast that was more than a smoothie, so I searched through Cassey's recipes on Blogilates and rediscovered the Apple Cinnamon Protein Pancakes she shared on her blog. This is my second time trying them and let me tell you, they turned out much better! The first time I was a little NutriBullet crazy and used that to "mix" everything together. However, what I ended up doing was pulverizing the binding ingredient/thickening agent (oatmeal) into dust, thus leaving me with a runny mess of a pancake batter. So my end result was apple cinnamon protein crepes. I put peanut butter on mine...OH. MY. GOSH. Amazinggggg. The pancakes taste nice and appley so if you like apples, these are for you!

Here's what you'll need:

• 1/4 cup oatmeal
• 1 whole egg
• 3-4 egg whites
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I used Trader Joe's whey protein)
• Half a chopped apple
• Dash of cinnamon

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl until it has a batter-like consistency. Pour onto a coated frying pan (so it won't stick) and cook on medium heat until you start to see bubbles. Flip and cook until done.

That's it! Easy peasy and delicious!

Calories: 342

Protein: 39g

Carbs: 28g

Fats: 7g

Easiest Pancakes EVER!!

Goooood morning everyone! I have found yet another extremely easy recipe from Miss Cassey Ho over at Blogilates that I'm sure you will love. This recipe is not only simple, but it's gluten free, dairy free, and low-calorie! That's not even the best part! There are two ingredients! That's right, just two!


Here's all you'll need:
1 banana
2 eggs

I used my Nutribullet and all I did was break up the banana, crack the two eggs, put everything into a large cup, and blend until frothy. If you're using a mixing bowl and whisk, do the same, but be sure mash up your banana real good before pouring the batter onto your pan. Once everything is mixed and mashed, coat your pan with something to keep the pancakes from sticking (they will stick, even if it's a nonstick pan. I had that problem this past weekend) and cook just like regular pancakes.

I was looking through the comments on Cassey's post and someone said she added a dash of cinnamon and a few drops of vanilla. I don't know about you, but that sounds delicious. These pancakes do taste heavily of banana, so just a heads up there, but that's so minor compared to the ease of this recipe and the lack of calories. Maybe try topping them with some fruit or dare I say, Nutella?

Just 250 calories for an entire batch of pancakes with about 14g of protein! I can get my batter to make 6 small pancakes. Cheers to that!

I really enjoy making this recipe and I hope you do too. Let me know how you liked it and definitely head on over to Cassey's blog to check out some of her other recipes. I know I'll be doing that very soon!

Healthy Enchiladas?

So I just recently discovered Blogilates and let me tell you, I am in love. It's an excellent source for meal plans, workouts, recipes, inspiration, and soooo much more. Cassey has a recipe for clean, healthy quesadillas that have only 319.5 calories for the entire thing! Whaaaat? That's insane. If you decide to quarter it, it's about 80 calories. And it is delicious.

Ingredients:

Tortillas

6 - TBS egg whites

2 - TBS water

2 - TBS Coconut Flour

1/8 - tsp Baking Powder

Meat Filling:

1/4 lb - 99% fat free Ground Turkey

3 - Celery Stalks

1/4 - cup Light Mozzarella Cheese

Mrs. Dash seasoning (optional)

What to do (do these at the same time):

Tortillas

1. Mix egg whites, water, coconut flour, and baking powder together.
2. Coat a pan with non-stick spray and heat.
3. Pour half of the batter into the pan and move around to coat entire bottom of the pan.
4. Cook until bubbles appear in the batter and slightly brown.
5. Slip tortilla onto plate and repeat with the rest of the batter.

Meat Filling

1. Cut celery stalks into small chunks.
2. Coat different pan with non-stick spray and heat.
3. Toss celery into the pan and stir until golden brown.
4. Once celery is golden, add ground turkey to the pan and stir until the turkey is brown.

Once they filling is done, pour onto one of the tortillas, top with the mozzarella cheese, and place the second tortilla on top. Cassey also shows you how to make her fresh pico de gallo in the video, but I didn't bother making that since I'm not a fan. However, you can watch the video here.

And that's it! Super easy, super yummy, and healthy for you! Big, HUGE thanks to blogilates for the recipe! I, in no way take any credit for this recipe. This was all Cassey and I just wanted to share it. (: