Posts tagged ‘breakfast’

March 5th, 2013

What’s Up Doc?

by Tiff

As promised, today I bring you muffins!  These are so carrot-packed, they remind me of this guy.  (Does that make them kid-friendly?)

bugsThese muffins are also super healthy, making them a perfect way to start your morning… or break up your afternoon and end your evening if you’re my husband.  He ate three on Sunday.

Yes, this would be the same hubby who doesn’t like sweets, so keep in mind that these are not super sweet bakery-style muffins.  They’re just plain good.

muffins

As you’ll notice, they also have an extra punch of protein and healthy fats.  Told ya they were healthy…

Carrot Raisin Muffins

Ingredients

  • runny chia or flax egg (1 TBS chia seeds & 3 TBS water)
  • 2 cups flour (I used 1 regular whole wheat and 1 whole wheat pastry flour.)
  • 2 scoops vanilla protein powder (I used Sunwarrior.)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger (heaping)
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 2 cups freshly grated carrots (fresh matters)
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1/4 cup walnuts (or more if desired)
  • 1 cup milk (I used skim dairy, but almond would have been great too.)
  • 4 oz unsweetened applesauce
  • 2 TBS maple syrup
  • 1 TBS apple cider vinegar

Directions ~ makes 12 muffins

  1. In a medium bowl, make your runny chia egg and set aside.  Grate your carrots.  Preheat oven to 350 F.
  2. In a second large bowl, mix the dry ingredients.  (flour through pumpkin pie spice)
  3. Return to the medium bowl, and add the remaining ingredients.  Mix gently.
  4. Add wet to dry, and stir until mixed.  Fill a greased muffin tin with the mixture.
  5. Bake at 350 F approximately 18-20 minutes, checking with a toothpick.
  6. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan about 10-15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

muffins

I hope you like them as much as I do!  According to my best estimation, they’re about 156 calories per muffin.

  • Baked anything good lately?  Would you eat a carrot muffin?
February 27th, 2013

Hey Baby, What Did You Eat Wednesday?

by Tiff

“Hey Baby” is right!  Did you all hear the news?  Jenn, the lovely WIAW party host, just announced this week that she is expecting a little one.  Congrats to her and her family!

It’s the last WIAW of February.  Can you believe it?  Time flies, eh?  I wasn’t loving my workout or my eats yesterday, so lets skip back to Monday’s instead.  Mkay?  (I actually just didn’t have photos of most of yesterday’s eats anyway.  Bad blogger, bad!)

First Breakfast: rice cake with peanut butter (followed by a 3-mile run with a warm up, incline intervals, and cool down plus a new back/biceps workout I hope to share soon)

treadmill

Second Breakfast: protein oats with berries (this never gets old)

oats

Snack: 10 raw almonds

Lunch: cabbage soup (this should last about 4 days)

soup

Snack: 1 egg and 1 pink lady apple (fiber + protein + delicious)

Dinner: 1/2 baked pork chop, baked sweet potato, and nature’s candy (aka – roast Brussels sprouts)

sprouts

Snack: olive tapenade hummuz crispz (if you’re wondering, yes… it bugged the heck out of me to intentionally misspell both “hummus” and “crisps”)

hummuz

  • Brussels, yay or nay?
  • Best thing you ate so far this week?
August 22nd, 2012

WIAW: Keeping the doctor away… and the dentist

by Tiff

Lately, I have learned that readers aren’t crazy about travel posts. Frankly, I don’t blame you, especially when there’s food to gawk at instead. Oh – and baubles too. I’m still gawking over this bauble necklace Kevin got me a month ago. Love it!

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Anyway… back to the food. I wanted to run as soon as I got up yesterday, but my rumbling belly said food was more important. When da’ belly speaks, I listen. The run was postponed until after work.

Breakfast: vanilla protein oats with a dash of pumpkin pie spice and 1 tsp chia seeds

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Second Breakfast: apple (found this beauty in the break room) & another apple I had already brought for snack (If one apple keeps away the doc, I’ve got the dentist covered too, right?)

WIAW 038  WIAW 040

Lunch: organic hummus, spinach salad with 1 TBS Annie’s Shitake dressing, and Reduced Fat Triscuits (fancy-schmancy organic crackers weren’t in the cards this week at the grocery store) – Apparently I snapped this a bit late.

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Snack: edamame at work & a heaping spoonful of PB Crave when I got home (pb = run fuel)

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Dinner: leftover chicken thrown in with mystery carb*, soy sauce, cauliflower, and broccoli

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*I bought this grain/seed in the bulk bin at the health food store, but I forgot to label it.  I thought I was cooking quinoa, but since it didn’t get those little spirals when cooked, I think it was actually millet.  I learned the hubs & I like millet.

Snack: a bit of dark chocolate (serious love for TJ’s Dark Chocolate Lover’s Dark Chocolate Bar)

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So there ya’ have it. Be sure to check out the other WIAW entries at Peas & Crayons!

 

What’s your workout fuel?

March 2nd, 2012

Prep n’ Pep

by Tiff

Although I am very pepped that today’s Friday, that’s not what I meant by “prep n’ pep.” See, I’ve been a huge prep lately. My LiveFit workouts haven’t taken as long as my old workouts, which gives me a few extra minutes in the morning to sleep prep. I had time to prep breakfast before packing it up to take to the gym.

prep

Worth it. (cooked onions and peppers, scrambled egg, and added salsa) Speaking of peppers, I’m about to turn into a pepper.  Willy Wonka’s Violet the Blueberry ain’t got nothing on me. (Though I hope I turn into an orange one – green isn’t my color.)

At the grocery store Sunday, I purchased 5 bell peppers for Kevin and I to polish off before Friday. Seriously. 5.  A couple went into this pretty little dish you see here.

peppers

Greek Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

  • 3 servings quinoa
  • 2 bell peppers, tops removed and cavities emptied*
  • ½ medium onion, diced
  • 1 tomato, chopped
  • 1-2 handfuls baby spinach
  • ½ cup crumbled FULL FAT feta (seriously, it’s worth the fatty splurge)
  • 10 kalamata olives, pitted and diced
  • 1 TBS dried oregano (optional, fresh basil would also be good)

*I diced the tops as best as I could before scrapping the rest. I added them with my diced onion.

peppers

Directions:

  1. Cook quinoa according to package directions in water. In the mean time, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place peppers in the pot and cover with lid. The entire pepper does not need to be submerged; the rest will steam itself.
  2. Spray pan with cooking spray (or add olive oil), and cook onion with oregano. After a 5 minutes, add tomato to the pan. Continue stirring on medium-high heat.
  3. When quinoa is done or almost done, remove peppers from water and set aside. Add spinach to quinoa, stir. Add onion mixture to quinoa, stir. Lastly, when quinoa is finished cooking, add feta and olives. Feta should melt quickly.
  4. Stuff your peppers. Add extra feta and olives if you have my husband’s metabolism. Take photos. Then destruct.

demolish

  • Are you a non-fat, low-fat, or full-fat cheese kind of person? 
  • Got plans tonight?
 

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February 17th, 2012

Tree-Hugger Smoothie

by Tiff

Here is the recipe I teased you with on Wednesday for my hearty tree-hugger smoothie.  It’s loaded with fiber and antioxidants.  It also has a little protein to keep you full until lunch.  Most importantly, it’s thick and creamy.

 

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Ingredients

  • A handful or two of baby spinach
  • 1 banana, frozen in chunks
  • 1 cup unsweetened soymilk (or other milk of choice)
  • 2 TBS hemp protein (for Trader Joe’s brand, this is half a serving)
  • 1/2 cup frozen berries (*I used berry mix with cherries)

Whip It

Throw it all in your food processor.  I layer it with the spinach on the bottom, and the hemp next.  The heavier ingredients weigh these two down, thus allowing you to not just whip it, but to whip it good.

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***I used an entire banana to get the creamy texture.  For a more smoothie-like texture, use 1 cup of berries and half a banana.  In the smoothie picture you saw on Wednesday, I also used 1 banana and 1 full cup of berries.  It was too much!  You can also add ground flaxseed, which I almost did, but that makes cleanup slightly more intense.

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You may (or may not) be wondering what’s so tree-hugging about this.  In case you missed it, there’s hemp in there.  Hemp = Hippie Fuel  It’s also vegan, and we all know how vegan diets are great for conservation. 

I’ve had one of these almost every day this week.  Should you see a drum circle forming in your living room, I suggest you decrease your consumption.

 

  • What are your favorite smoothie add-ins?