Tasty Tuesday – Let’s Talk Guilt Free Desserts

Hey guys! Happy Tasty Tuesday! How is your week going?

I’m back with the traditional Tasty Tuesday post today. Don’t forget it is a link up party, too! Link up your tasty finds (or your own posts) below and remember to check out other links, too!

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What I have for you today is a selection of 5 guilt free desserts!

As you probably know, I am not supporting the fat free diet. I am a strong believer that our body needs all food groups and elements (including sugar and fat) – but I also believe those have to come in the right amounts and from the right sources.

Today I wanted to share with you 5 recipes I have recently discovered that use clean ingredients (entirely or mostly) and will leave you happy and guilt free.

Just to be clear – when I say “guilt free”, I don’t really mean the calories. I mean the ingredients (even though those two seem to come hand in hand in dessert recipes below). You will not feel guilty about eating these desserts, because they are better for you! Of course they won’t be guilt free if you overload on them 🙂 But if you apply the “everything in moderation” principle while eating these, you will be much better off than hitting your favorite ice cream place or grocery store for dessert.

You can click on the recipe title to get to the recipe on the author’s blog/website.

Here we go, let’s have some dessert!

{ONE} Frozen Yogurt Trail Mix Bars by the Lean Green Bean

Photo credit: the Lean Green Bean

Photo credit: the Lean Green Bean

I love this recipe for several reasons: it has simple ingredients, is very easy to make and makes a great meal prep item! You can make a batch that will last you a whole week and keep it in the fridge/freezer.

That is something I always admire about Lindsay’s recipes – simple ingredients and simple instructions.

Check out her blog for more recipes!

{TWO} 100 Calorie 2 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake by Eclectic Recipes

I love mug cakes – they make a great quick and satisfying dessert. You got 5 minutes – you got a great dessert! However, these babies are usually packed with empty calories ranging at 300-700 each and sometimes even more!

A healthy reasonably caloric mug cake is a rare find! and I just found one for you!

Photo credit: www.eclecticrecipes.com

Photo credit: www.eclecticrecipes.com

I found this recipe over at Angie’s blog – Eclectic Recipes.

I loved it because once again – the ingredient list is simple and contains no funky stuff.

Make sure to stop by and check out Angie’s fabulous recipe collection!

{THREE} Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Quinoa Snack Cake by Peanut Butter and Peppers

Peanut butter? Quinoa? Snack CAKE??? Count me in!!! 🙂

Photo credit: www.peanutbutterandpeppers.com

Photo credit: www.peanutbutterandpeppers.com

This one comes together in 30 minutes according tot he recipe and makes a great meal prep item as well (I am all about efficiency and productivity today 🙂 )

Now I don’t know about Truvia Baking Blend the recipe is calling for, I would probably just pass on that one – pretty sure the chocolate chips will do the job of making it sweet enough for me. I would probably also use avocado in place of all/half the butter the recipe is calling for. But other than that I just love this recipe! It is also simple and quick to make.

You have to check out the Peanut Butter and Peppers blog where Jennifer is sharing healthy living tips and recipes!

{FOUR} 100-Calorie Pumpkin Pie Tartlets

Photo credit: www.verybestbaking.com

Photo credit: www.verybestbaking.com

I love pumpkin. Even though this recipe is listed on the Very Best Baking under winter recipes, I could eat pumpkin every day all year round.

{FIVE} Greek Yogurt Peanut Butter Cups by The Falafelser

Can you believe these guys are 14 calories each? 🙂

Photo credit: http://thefalafelser.wordpress.com

Photo credit: http://thefalafelser.wordpress.com

No? Than you better head over here and grab the recipe!

Definitely check out The Falafelser for more recipes while you’re there. 😉

Now your turn! Tell me what delicious recipes/eats you have discovered lately! Link up below or just share in comments!

Have a tasty week, friends!

Lena


Foods and Moves – Last Week’s Recap

Hello friends! Happy hump day! I hope you’re having a great week so far! And while you are, I thought I’d share my last week’s exercise recap with you with some food highlights here and there to (maybe, just maybe) inspire you 🙂

Here we go!Continue Reading

A Hectic Week Recap – Eats and Exercises

Hey guys! Happy Hump Pump Day! 🙂

I’ve had a very hectic couple of weeks as you probably noticed by the lack of my “What’s on my plate” Wednesday and Motivation Monday posts this and last week… Well, guess what? I am making it all up to you today by combining the two 🙂

Not much was going on on the exercise front last week – between the sharp right shoulder/arm pain and busy schedule I managed to squeeze in just a few workouts/classes last week.

{MONDAY} Cycling and Chicken

Cycling class with Jim on Monday

Cycling class with Jim on Monday

I don’t like Mondays most of the time. I am excited about Monday being a new beginning and all, but by the end of the day I am beat. It is usually the busiest day of the week for me – at work, exercising after work, etc. etc.. What do I make for dinner when I am busy? That’s right – crockpot anything 🙂

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Last Monday it was chicken! I used to put it in the crockpot in the morning, set on Low and turn it off when I get home at 5 PM. It made the chicken a little overcooked to my liking…So what I’ve been doing lately is I would come home for lunch, and throw the chicken into the crock pot (Low) for 4-5 hours. That’s plenty of time to cook it and it comes out just perfectly juicy.

Hubby made wok veggies on Monday night – and we got a perfect dinner right there!

{TUESDAY} No Exercise and Lamb

Took a rest day on Tuesday night.

Foodie’s highlight of the day was lamb for dinner – grilled to perfection by my husband.

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and this fruit and veggie platter I had at work for my snack throughout the afternoon:

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{WEDNESDAY} Yoga and Pork Chops

I did make it to yoga on Wednesday but didn’t take any pictures so you’ll just have to trust me on that one 🙂

And then I got home and made rosemary pork chops and a salad for my tired husband.

Mmmmmm....

Mmmmmm….

{THURSDAY} Rest Day and Orange Salsa

Yeah, that was the day my shoulder and arm started acting up. It was that kind of muscle paralyzing pain that makes it hard to lift even a cup of coffee.

That did not prevent me from making an awesome orange salsa to go with tilapia and rice for dinner on Thursday evening, though 🙂

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{FRIDAY} Another rest day and Beet Root Salad

On Friday my shoulder/arm was hurting so much it would wake me up at night. So…another rest day for the Lena 🙁

The food highlights of the day included the beet root salad I made for lunch on Sunday during my meal prep.

Canned beet roots, lettuce, feta, roasted pepitas and purple onions

Canned beet roots, lettuce, feta, roasted pepitas and purple onions

{SATURDAY} Yoga and Big Family Breakfast

By Saturday I felt good enough to go get some gentle stretching done in a yoga class.

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Yoga was followed by a breakfast fest made by my husband!

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I also had a super-delicious lunch – leftover pasta with scallops from eating out the night before:

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YUM!!!

{SUNDAY} Food Prep

Well, that decision to go to yoga the day before was a little pre-mature. My shoulder and arm were not ready for any Sunday workout.

They were good for Sunday meal prep, so I went wild 🙂 I actually started on Saturday with this:

Apple-Cinnamon infused water, sweet potatoes and quinoa

Apple-Cinnamon infused water, sweet potatoes and quinoa

and then continued on Sunday by making lunches and snacks for the week days:

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No working out on Sunday either 🙁 Some nice kitchen time though 🙂 🙂 🙂

And that was my week of eating and non-exercising at a glance 🙂

Do share: How did you do last week? Anything fun? Anything delicious cooking?

Take care, friends, and stay fit!

Lena

Tasty Tuesday: Ham and Cheese Baked Egg Cups

Hey, guys! Happy Tasty Tuesday! How is your week going so far? Are you ready to see some tasty stuff? 🙂

Don’t forget this post is a link up party! Link your favorite tasty posts below so everyone can see what tasty foods you’re eating 🙂

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Are you a food blogger who wants to co-host this link up party with us every Tuesday? Contact me for details or leave a comment below!

Now down to business already 🙂

My post today is about a wonderful page – The Lemon Bowl. Liz is my go to resource for simple, healthy and delicious recipes!

Last week I stumbled upon her Ham and Cheese Baked Egg Cups and I knew I had to make those as part of my Sunday meal prep.

They come together in less than 10 minutes, bake for 25 and make a super delicious and nutritious breakfast. My husband called them “breakfast bombs” 🙂

Because I, believe it or not, couldn’t find Canadian bacon the recipe was calling for at our grocery store, I had to improvise with Liz’s recipe.

I also didn’t have enough eggs, so I used half the amounts on the recipe and also used mini muffins pan, so I still got 12 muffins with the ingredients below.

Before we get to the recipe, make sure you give Liz some love:

Ham and Cheese Baked Egg Cups

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INGREDIENTS:

  • 7 eggs
  • 1/3 cup 2% milk
  • 2 oz of Extra sharp cheddar (shredded)
  • 3-4 oz leftover lunch meat (I used chicken breast and ham)
  • 1/4 cup minced scallions
  • Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and spray a muffin pan with cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and milk until light and fluffy. Stir in the meat, scallions and salt/pepper to taste.

3. Divide egg mixture evenly between 12 muffin tins then sprinkle evenly with sharp cheddar.

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4. Bake until eggs are set, 25-30 minutes. Let cool slightly to ensure eggs are set before removing from pan to serve.

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Enjoy as a healthy breakfast, snack or even lunch!

Have a wonderful week, guys, and don’t forget to link up below 🙂


Tasty Tuesday – Latest Tasty Finds and a Linkup Party!

Hey guys! Happy Tasty Tuesday to you!

Before I start talking about all the tasty stuff, I wanted to bring your attention to the fact that starting from today, the Tasty Tuesday blog post is officially announced to be a Linkup Party!

Come here every Tuesday to add links to your favorite tasty recipes, restaurant reviews, meal prep tips, etc. etc.. – we are talking anything tasty!

And…since it is a party – once you add a link here, your links will also appear on the Tasty Tuesday blog post of the linkup co-hosts.

This week it is just me and Meranda over at Fairytales and Fitness. Be sure to check out her blog!

So. Down to business now – this Tasty Tuesday I am sharing recent Tasty Finds!

{ONE} Peanut Butter Pie Ball by Wishes and Dishes.

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To all of you, peanut butter lovers – you are welcome! 🙂

{TWO} Red Velvet Mug Cake by Kiss My Broccoli

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Heather, I just want to give you a hug for this one! I love red velvet anything 🙂

{THREE} Ham and Cheese Baked Egg Cups by the Lemon Bowl

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{FOUR} Banana Blueberry Cinnamon Bread by A Hungry Runner

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I have recently received a private message on Instagram with a video statement from my 11 year old daughter’s friends at school that this bread is super delicious. You gotta trust those girls! This bread is super awesome!

{FIVE} Lemony Cookie Bars by Lauren Kelly

Aren't the gorgeous?

Aren’t the gorgeous?

Stay fit, friends, and keep it tasty!

Don’t forget to link up your favorite tasty stuff below!

Lena


What’s on My Plate Wednesday

Hey guys! Happy hump day!!!

Oh, I am so very happy it is Wednesday!

So, how about taking a peak at what I ate in the past week? Yeah, I thought so. But I am posting anyway 🙂

For some reason I wasn’t feeling like taking a lot of pictures in the mornings this past week.

I can tell you that I ate a lot of oatmeal:

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why of course I have cinnamon chips on it!

And breakfast sandwiches with a fried egg, cream cheese and turkey breast on an English muffin:

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I ate my wonderful salads for lunch most of the days (those I prepped last weekend):

Salads




And then they tore out my kitchen last Tuesday… We live in an old house with horse hair plaster in the walls (yeah I know it is hard to imagine there were “before drywall times” now). When you have plaster in the walls and ceilings, this can happen:

yep, a hole in the ceiling

yep, a hole in the ceiling

So they tore my kitchen ceiling out completely.

like...entirely...as in no ceiling at all

like…entirely…as in no ceiling at all

Gives my kitchen kind of a rustic look, doesn’t it? 🙂

Did that effect my cooking schedule? Yeah…all that plaster dust took a while to get rid of, that’s why we had Chinese for dinner on Tuesday.

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But once I got all that dust cleaned off, we were back on track with dinners!

Yeah, lots of grilling and crockpot action!

Yeah, lots of grilling and crockpot action!




Lemon-shrimp pasta, crockpot beef with wok veggies, steak and mashed potatoes, crockpot pork and wok veggies, chicken wings.

And, I did do my usual meal prep this Sunday! I did some nice lunch prep (salads with baby romaine lettuce, avocado, bell peppers, sweet potatoes, quinoa, green onions, goat cheese, chicken breast and hardboiled eggs + a sandwich)  including snacks (apples, celery, carrots, snack cheese).

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And right after that – this happened!

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Well…what can I say? “All work and no play” would make Lena a one boring personality – gotta break the rules sometimes 🙂

Eat well, my friends, and have a great week!

Lena

Tasty Tuesday: Peanut Butter Banana Blueberry Protein Smoothie

Hello guys, and happy Tasty Tuesday!

I have another guest post in store for you today. Please, welcome Nicole @ Fitful Focus who is here to share one of her most favorite power breakfast recipes with you today!

Nicole

Nicole is a young professional living in NYC. Back in January 2012, she challenged herself to live a healthier life. Since then, she’s lost 20 pounds, competed in a half marathon, become a vegetarian, a Greatist Ambassador, a Sweat Pink Ambassador, and a Girl Gone Sporty Ambassador. Now, she’s trying to maintain that lifestyle, learn even more about health and fitness, and share her adventures with you.

Don’t forget to take a moment and show Nicole some love on her blog and social media pages:

Instagram: @fitfulfocus
Twitter: @fitfulfocus
I will let Nicole take the floor now.
Stay fit, my friends!
Lena
~~~~ Drumroll~~~~

Hi Lean Lena Fans! Nicole from Fitful Focus here. I’m super excited to be guest posting over here today. Big thanks to Lena for having me and you all for reading. I know Lena loves to share a lot of eats, treats, and recipes with you all, so I’m here to share one of my favorite recipes.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day for me. Without a good breakfast, I’d be sluggish and hangry, and no one likes a slug, especially not an angry one!  A healthy breakfast refuels me after an AM workout and gives me energy to power through the workday.

I like to switch things up with things like this Perfect Start Cereal or Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats, but my absolute favorite thing to have for breakfast is a smoothie!

I don’t think there is anything better than a good smoothie. I have a ton of smoothie recipes up my sleeve, but since being over here on Lean Lena is a special occasion, I don’t want to share just any smoothie recipe with you all; I want to share my absolute favorite recipe! Oh yea! Get excited, get pumped, and say hello to this Peanut Butter Banana Blueberry Protein Smoothie

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This smoothie is so delicious you’ll start loving your morning alarm for waking you up so you can go make it. Ok, ok, you’ll still hate your alarm. But you’ll be overwhelmed with happiness as soon as you take your first sip!

But for reals, it has everything you need to start your day off right. The peanut butter & protein powder give you a nice dose of protein to keep you full until lunch. The potassium in the bananas helps your muscles recover after a workout, and the blueberries give you a nice helping of antioxidants. Oh, and did I mention it’s gluten-free and vegan?!

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And I haven’t even gotten to the best part yet.

Are you ready for the best part?

Are you sure you’re ready?

Ok, I’ll tell you.

The best part is it’s a piece of cake to make. Just throw everything in a blender, turn it on, and you’re done! Bazinga!

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So go grab your ingredients, whip this up, and get ready for a morning of bliss!

PBBBP Smoothie

Thanks for having me, Lean Lena readers! Come swing by Fitful Focus any time you’d like. I’d love to have you!

xoxo,
Nicole

Recipe: Ham and Cheese Corn Muffins

Hello-hello! How are you today, guys?

I am sleepy and it is way too cold here! Also, they say we’re in for another winter storm this weekend with snow and ice coming down Sunday into Monday… Yuk!

So. If you’re going to be snowed/iced in – why not use that time to make something yummy? Something you can freeze and eat later, or just refrigerate and re-heat every morning for breakfast. How does that sound?

To me that sounded good last weekend, so I hade some of these breakfast muffins during my meal prep. As I promised here – I am sharing the recipe with you today.

The original recipe is by Maureen Callahan and was discovered in Cooking Light, I made a few modifications to it and here we go! Awesome muffins for breakfast.

HAM AND CHEESE CORN MUFFINS
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INGREDIENTS
  • 7 1/2 ounces whole wheat flour (about 1 2/3 cups)
  • 1 cup yellow cornmeal
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon  salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
  • 1 1/4 cups  low-fat buttermilk
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 tablespoons olive  oil
  • 3/4 cup (3 ounces) reduced-fat shredded sharp cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped green onions (about 1 bunch)
  • 1/2 cup frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed
  • 1/3 cup (2 ounces) diced extra lean ham
  •  Cooking spray
DIRECTIONS
  1. Preheat oven to 350°.
  2. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through pepper) in a medium bowl; stir with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture.
  3. Combine buttermilk, eggs, and oil; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.
  4. Fold in cheese, green onions, corn, and diced ham.
  5. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray.
  6. Bake at 350° for 23 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
  7. Remove muffins from pan; let cool on a wire rack.

These muffins are super good for breakfast! Just throw into the microwave, reheat and enjoy!

Stay fit and warm, my friends!

Lena

What’s on My Plate Wednesday – Weekly Eats

Hey guys! It’s hump day! Just 2 full work days left and then it is the weekend! Got anything special going on this weekend?

I will probably sleep a lot – I was not getting enough sleep this week. And when I don’t get enough sleep…well…you know…”don’t get body slammed by a low land gorilla” 🙂

It’s been a while since I shared my eats with you here, so here we go – “What’s on my plate Wednesday” post in store for you today. 🙂

B-1

Egg sandwich on an English muffin, corn muffin (recipe coming soon), oatmeal with cinnamon chips and sliced almonds, buckwheat with honey and butter, oatmeal with cinnamon chips and marshmallows. I’ve generally been pretty good with my breakfast choices as you can see.

L-1

Warm quinoa salad on a bed of spinach, pre-prepped salads, lentil soup (crockpot), salad/sandwich combo, Italian Grinder. Lunch…I am a Queen of Lunch Prep! So pretty good choices here too.

D-1

Pork loin with buckwheat, mushrooms and onions on the side; pork chops with buckwheat; salmon, rice, avocado and spaghetti squash; home made beef enchiladas; chicken roaster with veggies. Except when my hubby is making dinner (yes, enchiladas, I am talking to you), my dinners look pretty healthy. 🙂

S-1

Celery + homemade hummus, snapeas crisps, PB-banana smoothie, raspberry-banana smoothie, cuties. Yeah, this is my weakness. Can’t even begin to describe you what I snack on that doesn’t get to the social media in the form of pictures 🙂 Het, bare with me – I am working on it and it’s a journey!

What fun foods have you eaten lately?

Stay fit, folks!

Lena

 

Weekend Cooking Spree

Hey guys! How was your weekend?

Mine was busy!

The weather was just gorgeous here this weekend, but sadly, I didn’t get to do much outside.

On Saturday morning hubby and I headed out to the Y to take Jim’s indoor cycling class. It was so nice out that I decided to take my new Vibram Five Fingers for a walk.

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Love-love-love them!

Since my Spinning® instructor training I noticed that my workout attitude and the overall “feeling” at a cycling class has changed dramatically! For some reason I was always going for the speed – thinking that if I go faster, it will be better for me, I will burn more calories and all that crap. Well, that all has changed now. I am doing speed work, too but generally try to apply more resistance on the wheel than I used to and focus more on my heart rate rather than the RPM.

Taking the training also changed my entire perspective on what a bike set up should be – I have my saddle a lot higher now and I’ve noticed that it is making it much easier on my knees – a lot less cracking! 🙂

Anyway, with that in mind, I went pretty close to my usual distance on Saturday but burnt the number of calories I haven’t burnt in a cycling class in a long time.

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I did take a nice two-hour nap on Saturday after this class + yoga. I just had to! It was the best nap of my life 🙂

When I woke up from my nap, it turned out the youngest had gone for a sleepover, so suddenly me and hubby had the evening to ourselves. We headed out for dinner to a Chinese place, and then decided to do some wandering around TJ Maxx. Well, I never leave that store without a score (yep, I rhymed that on purpose!)

Got me some yoga socks :)

Got me some yoga socks 🙂

I’ve been eyeing those for a while, but they just cost some ridiculous money it seems like. These were $3.something a pair so I got them and will give them a try this Wednesday!

On Saturday I also managed to squeeze in some meal prep into my day somewhere between the two workouts and the nap.

Homemade hummus, quinoa, water infused with cucumber and frozen mint leaves

Homemade hummus, quinoa, water infused with cucumber and frozen mint leaves

Did you notice I got my water infusing water bottles that I mentioned here? 🙂 I just love the one with the orange cap except for one thing – it had a huge sticker on the front. Being an OCD driven woman, I took it off and now it’s sticky. Some Googone will have to be applied – and that’s just too many motions for something I want to get in the mail and simply enjoy. If you don’t have an OCD, you will do just that without Googone – enjoy 🙂

The one with the red lid and bottom – I haven’t quite figured it out yet – the infuser part comes out through the bottom, if you don’t put the bottom lid back on tightly – it leeks. It’ll take me a while to make friends with this one 🙂

Anyway! On Sunday morning we slept in and hubby made me an awesome brunch.

crispy bacon, poached eggs, potatoes and English muffin

crispy bacon, poached eggs, potatoes and English muffin

And then it started…My cooking bug was obviously up and full force this weekend. I just couldn’t stop cooking!

I did my lunch prep for the week:

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Cut up some bananas to freeze for my smoothies:

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Made some more infused water (oranges and tangerines):

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Made these super awesome breakfast corn muffins with cheese and ham:

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By the time I was done with my meal prep, it was time to make dinner. So I threw together this chicken with veggies.

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And yes, those are pecan bars you see in the background – I made them, too. What? The oven was warm anyway 🙂

Tell me: what fun stuff did you do this weekend?

And as always – stay fit!

Tasty Tuesday – Foodie’s Guide to Snacking

Hey, happy Tuesday! Tasty Tuesday! 🙂

Are you a snacker?

I am a “snacker”. Oh, I am such a “snacker”.

I am one of those people who needs to eat every couple hours. WHAT to eat is a big question here as you want to keep your body fueled, not overwhelmed by what you put in your month in between the meals.

I have been on the hunt for perfect snacks and sharing my finds with you today.

{ONE} Homemade Peanut Butter and Banana.

First of all, you can easily use store bought PB if you don’t feel like making your own. If you do feel like making your own, check out this recipe here that I used. I should have processed mine a little longer though – it is a little crumbly.

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{TWO} Smoothie

There is nothing like a good smoothie to keep me going until my next meal!

Usually I put all the ingredients for my morning smoothie in the blender cup the night before and put it in the fridge. Whirl it up in the morning after breakfast and take to work with me. This way I don’t reach for that candy in the break room at work but drink my delicious smoothie that keeps me going until lunch.

The flavor possibilities are endless and you are your own chef!

Smoothies

My “must include” ingredients are frozen fruit and cottage cheese/yogurt – they create the thick and creamy consistency that I like.

{THREE} Homemade Hummus

Love it! Try making it using this recipe and you will never buy hummus again! Have it with veggies or tortilla rounds.

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{FOUR} Fruit

Perfect snack! Sweet, juicy and good for you. Prep some the night before or on the weekend (rinse, peel, cut, pack in zip lock bags) and take to work.

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{FIVE} Nuts

If you love nuts as much as I do, it is probably very difficult for you to avoid buying and eating nut bars. Am I right?

Choose raw nuts over nut bars and spare yourself that extra added sugar. Don’t buy the “super-protein-and-fiber-packed” promises on the labels. Just eat raw nuts instead.

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{SIX} Homemade Granola

Is a super-snack! Make a batch on the weekend, pre-pack in zip lock bags or small plastic containers and enjoy during the week.

Here’s a recipe for you to play with – add/substitute the ingredients depending on what you like and keep it healthy!

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Add fruit and/or cottage cheese/yogurt to it and you got a perfect snack or breakfast!

{SEVEN} Baked Oatmeal

This is not only a GREAT breakfast, but also an awesome snack – one of my all-time favorites. Make a whole batch on the weekend and you have a ready snack/breakfast for the whole week.

One of the base recipes is right here for you – play with it as you like.

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Enjoy with yogurt, fruit and/or cottage cheese on top.

There you have it – 7 snack ideas for 7 days of the week.

To sum it up, here are some general guidelines when it comes to snacking:

  • Prep-prep-prep. Don’t be lazy to do your meal/snack prep on the weekend – you’ll be happy you did. Rinse and pack fruit and veggies, make a batch of baked oatmeal, granola or hummus and pre-pack for the weekdays. Cut up and freeze bananas and other fruit for your smoothies. Put all the ingredients in the blender cup the night before for your morning smoothie. You will thank yourself later.
  • Always carry a healthy snack in your purse. Never leave the house without one. What happens is – you are out and about – > you get hungry – > Les Big Mac. Don’t let it happen and have a healthy snack with you.
  • Make smart choices (choose raw nuts over sugar packed nut bars).
  • Before you buy, ask yourself – can I make it myself? If you can – make it!
  • Let fruit and veggies always be your number one choice when it comes to snacking.

Share: link up your favorite snack recipes below or share in comments: what is your favorite snack?

Stay fit!

Lena

MNB Challenge, Week 2 Recap – Nourish

Hey guys! It’s the weekend! YEY!

We are totally and completely snowed in this week!

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I needed a training plan to shovel all that! My back and arms are still sore…

Anyway, back to the business –  today I am going to tell you about Week 2 of the Move. Nourish. Believe Challenge that I am taking part in.

You can find the first week’s recap here if you missed it last Friday.

So, the second week was all about nourishing your body.

{MONDAY} Go Meatless

This week’s Monday was announced to be Meatless Monday by the challenge hosts Fit Approach and Lorna Jane Active.

The name speaks for itself – we had to go meatless.

Meatless Monday

I had oatmeal with honey and frozen raspberries for breakfast, pasta salad for lunch and Thai food (salmon, fried rice with veggies and tofu, and rice noodles) for dinner as it was Simon’s birthday and we went out to eat.

{TUESDAY} Bring your lunch to work

Tuesday was Bring Your Lunch to Work day. That one was easy for me – even though I didn’t get my usual massive food prep done last weekend (as I spent most of it in my Spinning Instructor Training), I still managed to prep salads for a couple of week day lunches and also took some leftover fried rice with veggies and tofu to work with me from the night before.

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{WEDNESDAY} Write it down!

On Wednesday the challenge was to journal our food and show what we ate (another easy one for me since I do it every day with MyFitnessPal).

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

{THURSDAY} Thirsty Thursday

On Thursday the challenge was to make a healthy smoothie. Another easy one for me! I usually make a smoothie every morning and take it to work with me to have as a morning snack as I have breakfast pretty early and usually get hungry by 10:30 am.

Carrot Cake Smoothie

So, the Thursday smoothie was:

1 carrot cake popsicle

1 frozen banana

2 tbsp. Activia Greek yogurt (vanilla)

1/2 cup almond milk

1 tsp agave nectar

1 tsp sliced almonds (to garnish)

3-4 frozen raspberries (to garnish)

1/4 tsp chia seeds (to garnish)

{FRIDAY} Go raw!

Now, that was a heard one for me… even though I love salads, fruit, veggies and smoothies.

I did some prep.work the day before:

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So all I had to do on Friday was stick to the plan! That made it a lot easier for sure.

Breakfast smoothie: spinach, kale, celery, avocado, frozen banana, almond milk

Breakfast smoothie: spinach, kale, celery, avocado, frozen banana, almond milk

Lunch was an all-veggie salad with spinach, avocado, cucumber, bell pepper, red onions, corn and pepitas.

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Dinner unfortunately was not raw…hubby took me out to eat for Valentine’s day, so my plan did not work 🙁

Now – on to Week 3 of the challenge – the Believe part! Stay tuned for the recap next weekend.

Question: have you ever tried raw eating? What did you think of that?

Stay fit, friends!

Lena

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

Hey guys! Happy Tasty Tuesday!

Just checking in today with a quick recipe that has been my “go to” breakfast lately. These cottage cheese pancakes are super delicious and come together in 15 minutes! Mix the ingredients the night before, make pancakes in the morning in 5 minutes and be happy. 🙂

You can also add some protein powder to this recipe for extra protein boost to your breakfast.

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 7 minutes

Cook Time: 7 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 1 serving

Serving Size: 2 pancakes

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

Ingredients

  • 2-3 tbsp. cottage cheese (I used 1% fat)
  • 2 tbsp. whole grain flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

  1. Mix all the ingredients until well combined. The mix may be lumpy because of the cottage cheese.
  2. Make pancakes.
  3. Enjoy!
https://leanlena.com/cottage-cheese-pancakes/

Food Highlights: Crockpot the Saviour, Salad-a-Day and more

Hey guys! Happy Hump Day!

It’s downhill from now on – Friday is almost here, so hang in there!

How about I tell you of my food highlights of the past couple week as part of my “What’s on my Plate Wednesday” blog series?

Here’s the deliciousness I’ve had!

Breakfast

I am still a big fan of oatmeal with my 1000 ideas of what to top it with. Remember my post about 15 ways to eat your oats? Well, I keep adding on to those ways pretty much every morning 🙂

Oatmeal with marshmallows, raisins and cinnamon chips

Oatmeal with marshmallows, raisins and cinnamon chips

Been a huge fan of oatmeal + marshmallows combination!

I also enjoyed some savory breakfasts with added protein and fats.

Hardboiled eggs, capers, wheat berries and a cheese cookie

Hardboiled eggs, ranch, capers, wheat berries and a cheese cookie

Egg sandwich with black forest ham and cheese on an English muffin

Egg sandwich with black forest ham and cheese on an English muffin

Lunches

I have committed to eating one salad a day! It is not a streak, or a challenge or any other group activity of any sorts – just my personal commitment 🙂 So I have been pretty much eating salads for lunch in the past couple weeks (with a few exceptions where leftovers from dinner were just too tempting).

Baby spinach, sweet potato, organic chicken breast meat, black beans, leeks, hardboiled eggs, quinoa

Baby spinach, sweet potato, organic chicken breast meat, black beans, leeks, hardboiled eggs, quinoa

Baby spinach, quinoa, sweet potato, avocado, hardboiled eggs

Baby spinach, quinoa, sweet potato, avocado, hardboiled eggs

Baby spinach, canned beets, feta, sliced almonds

Baby spinach, canned beets, feta, sliced almonds

Dinners

It’s been a very busy few weeks – both for me and Mr. H. – at home, at work, in life in general. Trying to eat healthy with a busy schedule can be quite difficult and with the general stress of this kind of schedule the failure to eat healthy is even more upsetting and discouraging.

That is exactly the moment where my crockpot comes into play making healthy and nutritious food while I am at work 🙂

My all-time favorite - crock pot split pea soup with smoked ham

My all-time favorite – crock pot split pea soup with smoked ham

Crockpot chicken with stir-fried veggies

Crockpot chicken with stir-fried veggies

If we have more time in the evening, we might throw something on the grill:

Like these pork chops with kale and quinoa salad on the side

Like these pork chops with kale and quinoa salad on the side

And…then, of course there are times where my best intentions collide with my husband’s appetite 🙂 Like last Friday, I made a wonderfully healthy pizza with whole grain crust, mushrooms, olives, meat and leaks…

Looks great, right?

Looks great, right?

and then Mister Husband made me dump half a bag of mozzarella on top of this goodness and we ended up eating this:

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Oh well, life happens 🙂 I just love my husband and mozzarella too much 🙂

That pretty much sums it up, guys!

What was the best food you ate lately?

Apple-Eggnog Baked Oatmeal

Hi guys! Tasty Tuesday here!

So, you have definitely noticed by now that I am a big fan of oatmeal 🙂 I love it and can think of 15 ways to eat my oats!

But I also keep coming up with new ways for you and me to enjoy oatmeal!

Last weekend I got inspired by the season and came up with a recipe of Apple-Eggnog baked oatmeal. It turned out so well my husband said it was the best yet! Give it a try while we still have fresh apples and eggnog on the store shelves at the same time.

For this recipe I didn’t use fresh apples, though – just because I still had leftover dehydrated apples that Noah sent me as part of the Foodie Penpals box exchange.

Apple-Eggnog Baked Oatmeal

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 60 minutes

Yield: 9 servings

Serving Size: 1 serving

Calories per serving: 189

4 g

Apple-Eggnog Baked Oatmeal

Ingredients

  • 3 cups dry oats (I used Giant old fashioned oats)
  • 1 cup eggnog
  • 1 very ripe banana, mashed
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 cup dehydrated or fresh apples, cubed

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F
  2. Mix dry ingredients until well combined.
  3. Combine liquid ingredients in a separate bowl.
  4. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry.
  5. Mix well.
  6. Spray a pan with a non-stick spray.
  7. Pour the mix into the pan.
  8. Bake for 45-60 minutes.
  9. Enjoy!
https://leanlena.com/apple-eggnog-baked-oatmeal/

Have a great rest of your week, guys and eat healthy!