Protein Pancakes!

I’ve seen numerous recipes for protein pancakes in the blog world, and I’ve been wanting to try them. I love pancakes, but rarely ever eat them. I don’t like the idea of eating pure carbs for breakfast. But throw some protein powder in there and I’m all for them!

I decided to make my first-ever batch of protein pancakes a couple days ago before work. Into a mixing bowl went the following:

• 1/3 cup of Hodgson Mills Instabake Mix
• 1/3 cup of soymilk
• 1/2 cup of egg whites
• 1 tbs of Nutribiotic vanilla rice protein powder
• cinnamon

This resulted in some super thin batter. To thicken it up a bit, I added another tbs of protein powder and a couple tbs of oats. The result: a perfect pile of protein pancakes!

drizzled with sugar-free syrup

These were dense and chewy, with a very nice vanilla and cinnamon flavor. My batter yielded about 5 pancakes, all for about 300 calories. Sweet! You better believe I ate all 5 too! I will definitely be making these again.

Have you ever experimented with adding protein powder to recipes?

PB is Key!

Hey everyone! Sorry to have been MIA for a whole week. Totally unintentional. I wish I could say that I’ve been up to something exciting…

It’s been no secret on this blog that Mama has a BIG appetite! Especially when it comes to breakfast. I’m notorious for slamming 500+ calories in the morning and still being hungry a couple hours later. I think I have finally found the key to staying full through the morning – PB!! Adding peanut butter to my oats in the morning keeps me full for hours – which is great for extremely busy workdays when there isn’t much time to eat.

This morning, I had the most amazing bowl of oat bran:

• 1/3 cup of oat bran
• 1 cup of water
• 1 mashed banana
• vanilla
• cinnamon
• raisins
• 1 tbs of PB

Check out that amazing PB drizzle!!

Trader Joe’s PB is the best for drizzling!

Per usual, this ginormous bowl of oats was eaten along side a plate of eggs (1/2 cup of egg whites + 1 whole egg). Holy full tummy!!

I didn’t dig into my lunch bag until about noon time today. That’s 6 hours of fullness. Incredible!

I neglected to photograph my packed work lunch… Throughout the afternoon, I had the following:

• protein shake (1/2 cup of unsweetened soy milk + 2 tbs of Nutribiotic vanilla rice protein powder)
• deli chicken wrap with light mayo
• teeny, tiny apple
• a few almonds
• plain Chobani mixed with stevia and cocoa powder

I also packed some Trader Joe’s low sodium minestrone, but I never got around to eating it.

When I got home from work, though, the hunger started to set in. I munched on some mushrooms and roasted garlic hummus while I prepped dinner.

baked tofu, peppers, onions, and mushrooms all coated with Trader Joe's sesame soy ginger vinaigrette

Tonight’s exercise was Biggest Loser Last Chance Workout. Have you bought this video yet??? You should! It’s the most kick-butt at-home workout I’ve ever done. You definitely get some bang for your buck!

I wish I had taken a picture of my evening, post-exercise snack. It was delish!! 1/2 cup of non-fat yogurt mixed with cocoa powder and stevia (I’m hooked on chocolatey yogurt!!), and about 1/2 cup of frozen cherries. I will definitely be having this again in the near future!

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Have you checked out my Opensky Store yet?? I recently added apple pie Larabars! YUMMY!

Sneak Peek…

Remember that exciting new blog addition I’ve mentioned a couple times?? Well, here’s your sneak peek…

Introducing Healthy Fit Mama Shop!!

I’ve partnered with the wonderful folks at Open Sky to create my very own store of some of my favorite products. Open Sky is a great community of shopkeepers, suppliers, and shoppers. Each shopkeeper, or expert, chooses products that they love for their store. And the best part is that each shopkeeper writes their own product descriptions – and even shares personal stories about the products. Shoppers get a much more personal experience.

So what products did I select for my shop? You’ll have to take a peek…

I will tell you though that I’m excited to have in my shop one of my favorite fitness products – the BOSU Balance Trainer! Commonly referred to as a BOSU ball, this product is one of the most versatile pieces of fitness equipment. You can stand on it, jump over it, do crunches on it, and even turn it upside down and do push ups with it! It makes a wonderful addition to any home gym.

Be sure to check out the rest of the products in my shop! I’ll be adding products regularly, so check back often for cool new items!!

Chocolate for Breakfast!

Hey everyone! I don’t have a particularly interesting topic today… Just a run down of the day’s eats and exercise.

So who says you can’t have chocolate for breakfast?! I started my day in a sweet way with this beautiful bowl:

plain Chobani mixed with stevia and cocoa powder, with banana and peanut butter

I promptly stirred this all together and it was AMAZING! Mmmmm! I need to have my greek yogurt at breakfast more often.

To make my breakfast even more protein packed, I also had a side of eggs – 1/2 cup of egg whites + 1 whole egg to be exact.

Since I’m still fairly new at my job, I feel weird about taking pictures of my lunch and snacks during the day. So I photographed everything together this morning before I left the house.

Friday’s have become my almond butter and jelly day. I look forward to it all week! Today’s sandwich was almond butter with Trader Joe’s cranberry apple butter on a whole wheat sandwich thin. Awww yeah!

Dinner was pretty simple. Typical end of the week meal…not too many ingredients left in the kitchen.

grilled chicken and microwaved sweet potato

I got a little impatient, so the sweet potato was quite cooked enough. Oh well – still tasted good!

Tonight’s exercise was Biggest Loser Last Chance Workout. I have never loved and hated a workout so much in my life! 55 minutes of Jillian is tough. She gets results though!

Speaking of Jillian Michaels, have you heard of her new line of diet pills?? I must admit I have lost some respect for her as a health and fitness professional. How can you advocate a healthy lifestyle and hawk diet pills at the same time??

What are your thoughts on Jillian Michaels selling weight loss supplements??

Take Time to Stretch

Lately I’ve been really stiff and achy…which definitely takes a toll on my motivation to exercise. Yesterday in particular, my hips were killing me! It was supposed to be my night to ride my Spinning bike, but I just couldn’t do it. It’s my own fault – I hardly ever take time to stretch after I work out.  

Rather than taking the night off from exercise though, I decided to try some yoga. I went to my new go-to exercise video source – ExerciseTV. I pulled up the Yoga Fitness Fusion video, turned off the lights (using only the light of my computer screen to see what the heck I was doing), and got down to business. 

I was pleasantly surprised to find that this video was both challenging (hello quads!) and relaxing. I was able to get some great toning exercises in, and more importantly, stretch out all my tight muscles - namely, my hip flexors. 

I felt amazing after my 45 minutes of yoga! What a great reminder of the importance of stretching after a workout. I plan to incorporate more stretching into my exercise routine – and do a yoga video at least once a week. 

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I’m still working on my exciting blog addition… Hopefully I’ll have that up in the next few days. 

In the meantime, here are some of my eats from today. Warning: I totally failed at taking pictures today. I mean, I took pictures, but they are crazy blurry. I need to slow down a bit and steady my hand before I shoot! 

Breakfast: 

pumpkin oat bran with raisins and walnuts, with 1/2 cup of egg whites + 1 whole egg

 

Lunch & Snacks: 

apple, banana, Chobani, protein shake, turkey wrap

 

Dinner: 

ground turkey seasoned with garlic salt and pepper, zucchini, onion, and Trader Joe's marinara

 

I used frozen, crinkle cut zucchini for this dish. So quick and easy! You can get just about anything frozen. Super convenient and super cheap! 

Exercise: 

45 minutes on the Spinning bike 

Question of the day: Do you use frozen fruits/vegetables? Why or Why not?

1 Year Gym-Free

At the end of this month, it will be one full year since the last time I set foot in a gym. So hard to believe. The gym used to be my second home!

When I was 32 weeks pregnant, I was told I couldn’t work out anymore. That was the end of my gym going days.

After my daughter was born last March – and after I was given the go-ahead to workout again – I quickly discovered that I didn’t have time to get to the gym. I had to make due with whatever time I had at home. This is something I wrote about a few months back.

While I’ve been able to get back in shape and stay in shape at home, there have been some challenges – the biggest being boredom! I’m finding I have to be more and more creative these days to keep myself motivated to workout in the evening.

Here are some of the ways I’m keeping things fresh:

• Recycling routines. I had been buying a new workout DVD every 6-8 weeks to beat boredom. Now that I have a good collection of videos, I’m cycling back to the ones I did several months ago.
• Surf the web. There are some great sites out there offering free workout videos and exercise plans. My new favorite is ExerciseTV. You can mix and match shorter videos to create a great workout!
• Read magazines. There are so many health and fitness magazines out there that have handy tear-out cards and pages with quick and effective strength and cardio plans. I like: Shape, Self, and Fitness.
• Alternate. I never do the same thing 2 days in a row. In fact, lately I’ve been trying not to do the same routine more than 3 days a week. I’m much more motivated when I’m trying new things.

What’s your favorite outside-the-gym workout?

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It’s been quite a busy week, hence the lack of posting this week. You can rest assured though that I’ve been eating delicious, nutritious food and gettin’ my sweat on!

1/3 cup of oat bran, 1 small banana, vanilla, cinnamon, raisins, and PB

I was definitely a late adopter on the oats and PB mix, but now that I finally tried it, I’m hooked!

1/2 cup of egg whites + 1 whole egg

Apple, Chobani, Z Bar, chicken salad, and TJ's minestrone

I’m not usually a soup person (especially not canned soup) but I LOVE this Trader Joe’s low-sodium minestrone!! It’s loaded with veggies and they’re not overly mushy, like many other soups. It tastes homemade!

grilled chicken with roasted balsamic carrots

This is one of my new favorite ways to cook carrots. I cut baby carrots length wise and lay them out on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. I sprayed a little more cooking spray over the carrots too and sprinkled on some salt and pepper. I roasted the carrots for about 30 minutes, drizzling the balsamic vinegar over them about 5 minutes before I took them out.

My exercise tonight was more Biggest Loser Last Chance Workout. I have a love/hate relationship with this video. It’s 55 minutes of Jillian Michaels. Yowsa!

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I’m working on an exciting new addition to the blog. I’m hoping to have it up by the end of the weekend. Stay tuned!!

Sesame Soy Ginger Tofu

Tonight I actually tried something different for dinner for a change! I tend to make the same things over and over again because it’s easy and I don’t have to think too much about it.

I picked up some Nasoya lite firm tofu at the grocery store yesterday – something I don’t usually buy, but it was on sale for $2. I’m a sucker for cheap, healthy foods!

I’ve never been fully satisfied with the different ways I’ve cooked tofu before. So I decided to try marinating it before baking it this time. I used another new item I picked up this weekend – sesame soy ginger vinaigrette from Trader Joe’s.

This dressing has a little more sugar per serving than I would typically go for (8g), but it sounded too yummy to pass up. And it was!! Mmmm!

I pressed most of the water out of my tofu block and sliced it into 10 thin slices. I marinated the slices in vinaigrette in the fridge for a couple hours. Then I baked the tofu at about 375 for 40 minutes.

To go with my tofu, I cooked up 1/2 a bag of frozen bell pepper strips (one of my new favorite bargain foods) and one sliced onion with some more of the vinaigrette. The result was a delicious, out-of-the-ordinary meal – and one that involved very little prep!

Eating Cheap – and Healthy!

It’s no secret that times are tough for many people these days – myself included. But just because you’re on a tight budget doesn’t mean you have to give up your healthy diet. Don’t get me wrong – there are tons of specialty health foods that I love that are pretty darn pricey, and have been eliminated from my budget. But with a little planning, I’ve been able to slash my grocery bill quite a bit.

Here are some tips for healthy eating on the cheap:

• Shop the freezer section. No, I’m not talking about frozen entrees! Instead of buying all fresh produce, stock up on store-brand frozen vegetables and fruit. They’re often just $1 or $2 a bag and are just as healthy (if not more so) than fresh produce. Frozen veggies and fruits are frozen immediately after being picked, preserving those oh-so-important nutrients.

 

• Be a bargain hunter. Every Saturday, my husband and hit 2 grocery stores – Trader Joe’s and Stop & Shop. While I do love Trader Joe’s because of its variety of natural foods, I also love it because there are many things I buy on a regular basis that are actually cheaper than the regular supermarket. Some examples: eggs (just $1.49/dozen!), soymilk ($2.99/gallon), almond butter ($4.99/jar), liquid egg whites ($1.99/carton), and peanut butter ($1.79/jar), just to name a few…

• Stock up! I used to be hesitant to stock up on things when they were on sale. I’d think, “Well, I don’t need [name of item] this week.” Umm, if I’m going to need it next week, why not buy it now while it’s cheaper?!
• “Clip” coupons. There are some great coupon websites out there that allow you to browse and select coupons without having to buy up all the Sunday papers. Sites like coupons.com allow you to print coupons right from your computer. But if you’re like me and don’t always (or ever!) have ink in your printer, you might favor The Coupon Master. This is my new favorite coupon source. You can search for and select coupons, and have then sent right to your home. You do pay a small handling fee for each coupon (8-10 cents), but when you’re saving $1.00 or more on some of your favorite items that you’d buy anyway, it’s totally worth it. Net savings of 90 cents!

Unfortunately they're sold out of these now! I think I bought them all.

• Buy in bulk. Bulk items are definitely cost-effective! If you have the storage space, buy things like nuts and oatmeal in larger containers. You may shell out more in the short term, but overall, you pay less per serving.

Hopefully these tips will help you save a buck or two…and stay healthy at the same time!

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I’m having a hard time getting back into the groove of photographing every meal… So I don’t have pictures from each of the last few days. But here are today’s eats:

Breakfast

1/2 cup of oatmeal,1 banana, vanilla, cinnamon, raisins, and PB

1/2 cup of egg whites + 1 whole egg

This bowl of oatmeal was amazing! The PB mixed with the sweetness of a super-ripe banana tasted like a peanut butter cookie!

Lunch and Snacks

protein shake, greek yogurt, apple, turkey and hummus on a whole wheat sandwich thin

Dinner

It was a fend-for-yourself night since the fridge was getting pretty bare…

greek yogurt mixed with cocoa powder and stevia, banana, and almond butter

Dinner of champions for sure…

Fitness

Tonight I did my Biggest Loser Last Chance Workout DVD. This video just came out last month, and I made sure I pre-ordered it! It is 50 minutes of pure, kick-ass Jillian Michaels. So intense! If you watch the show, you know that the last chance workout is no joke! I highly recommend this one if you workout at home, like me.

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I hope you all are enjoying my more focused blogging. I’d love to hear feedback! Also, if there are topics you’d like to read about, let me know!

Baby Food Making 101

Hey bloggies! I’ve been thinking a little more about my blog since I revived it this past weekend and I think for 2010 I’m going to be a little more focused in my posts. Part of the reason I let my blogging fall by the wayside is that it got too tedious – too much detail about my every move and every meal.

Going forward, I’m going to try to have a specific topic in mind for each post, and then highlight some of my latest and greatest eats, as well as my exercise at the end.

Hope you enjoy the new concept!

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Ever since my daughter started eating solid foods, I’ve been making her baby food myself (with the exception of meats – I can’t get into pureeing chicken breasts!). I want to raise her to favor whole, natural foods over processed, “fake” foods.

I was not raised on the most nutritious foods (sorry mom!), so I always chose Pepsi over water, Snickers over fruit, and Pop Tarts over oatmeal. It was a struggle for me to change my eating habits. I want to make healthy eating natural for my little girl.

When I first started making baby food, I used all fresh produce. Now that I’m on a tighter budget, though, I’ve discovered that I can make baby food that is just as nutritious using frozen fruits and vegetables. The only thing I buy fresh now is apples.

Which brings me to my baby food making how-to!

Making applesauce for babies is no different than making regular applesauce. I simply peel, core, and slice 1 bag (about 3 lbs) of apples, toss them in a saucepan with about 1/4 cup of water, and cook over medium heat until soft.

When my daughter was a little younger, I used to puree her apples in my Magic Bullet. Now that she’s almost a year old, I just mash them.

Once mashed, I fill up ice cube trays with the applesauce and freeze it. It’s easy to store and easy to use! I simply pop a few cubes in the microwave for a minute and voila!

I do the same with frozen veggies, like peas, carrots, corn, squash, and broccoli.

butternut squash

My freezer is full of bags like this:

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FOOD

I haven’t been great at photographing my food lately, but here are some of the highlights of my eats for the last couple of days:

banana and almond butter on a whole wheat sandwich thin with 1/2 cup of egg whites + 1 whole egg, scrambled

 

1/2 cup of oatmeal, 1 medium banana, vanilla, cinnamon, 1 tbs ground flaxseed, raisins, and 1 tbs of drizzly PB

Work Lunch - protein shake, turkey and light mayo on a whole wheat sandwich thin, apple, Z Bar, Greek yogurt

FITNESS

Monday – I was due for a day off so I took it on Monday. It felt great to relax my sore muscles!

Tuesday – 45 minutes on my Spinning bike

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As I mentioned above, I wasn’t exactly raised on healthy food. Our house was always stocked with Pepsi, Chips Ahoy cookies, chocolate ice cream, and more. What about you? What kind of foods were you raised on?

POM Review and Sunday Yummies

Happy Sunday! (Or perhaps Not-So-Happy Sunday if you have to go back to work tomorrow…like me!)

As promised, here’s my long overdue POM review:

A few weeks ago (well I guess at this point it was actually a couple months ago!), Kristen from POM Wonderful sent me a box of these little beauties:

100% pure pomegranate juice

Now, I don’t typically like to drink my calories, unless it’s in the form of a protein shake. But after reading so much about POM on other blogs, I was eager to give this a try.

So I cracked one open and took a sip. It was slightly tart and slightly sweet, and reminded me a lot of cranberry juice. Very tasty! And I have to admit, one of my first thoughts was, “I could make a great cocktail with this!” Haha!

I gave it to the hubby to try and he really enjoyed it. For about a week straight, POM replaced his morning OJ with his breakfast.

In addition to its great taste, POM Wonderful pomegranate juice also has some amazing health benefits. It’s extremely high in antioxidants! Read more about the health benefits here.

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Onto the Sunday Yummies…

Just because I took a break from the blog due to my busy schedule, doesn’t mean I took a break from my healthy habits! Today’s eats are pretty typical of what I’ve been eating on a regular basis:

Breakfast - 1/3 cup of oat bran, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, 1/2 cup of canned pumpkin, 1 tbs of ground flaxseed, raisins, and walnuts, alongside 1/2 cup of egg whites + 1 whole egg scrambled

Lunch - Protein shake made with 1 cup of unsweetened soymilk, 2 tbs of Nutribiotic vanilla rice protein powder, 1 medium banana, and ice; and a chocolate brownie Z bar

Snacks – plain Chobani (mixed with cocoa powder and stevia, of course!) and some mushrooms and roasted garlic hummus that went undocumented

(Greek yogurt and I are currently “on” again, mostly because I have a TON of $1.00 off coupons! It’s inevitable that my tummy will end up hating me though, and then I’ll be completely dairy free again. )

Dinner – ground turkey fajita salads

I used frozen bell peppers for my fajita veggies tonight. Super convenient (no chopping necessary!) and super cheap! I’m on a tight budget these days so I’m buying more frozen veggies than ever. I spiced up my peppers and onions and my ground turkey meat with a combination of chili powder, cumin, paprika, and a dash of garlic salt. I topped the whole she-bang with some Pace Picante Sauce that I received in the mail a couple weeks ago, courtesy of Foodbuzz. Spicy stuff! Runny nose kind of spicy! And that was the Medium variety. I can only imagine what Hot is like!!

Fitness

After baby was all snuggled in her crib, it was time for mama to exercise! Tonight was my circuit training night. I alternate every other day with circuit training and Spinning (on my bike at home). I did 2 20-minute videos from Exercise TV. This is a new find for me! I love the variety. I can mix and match, and keep myself from getting bored.

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Just for fun, here’s a recent picture of me and my baby girl!

Well, it’s 9:19…time for a shower and then it’s off to bed! I’ll be back soon with my baby food making how-to post!