Pizza Please!

 

Hi Lifters!

Hope you are all well! I thought you’d be interested that I saw the dietician today… she opened my eyes to a few things. Basically, I have a lot to change about my diet haha. It was great talking to her about some of the things that I’ve ‘learnt’ from the fitness industry. Some of the things that I learnt:

• Smaller is not better
• Restricting foods is not sustainable
• Our bodies are too clever – if we deprive them of calories they learnt to adapt and slow metabolism
• It is essential to not have black vs white/’good vs bad’/‘all vs nothing’ attitude towards food
• Do not avoid certain food groups
• Carbohydrates are essential as an energy source – the brain is unable to utilise any other fuel!!
• Burning carbohydrates kick-starts burning fat
• Your body will break down muscle (not fat!) for energy if carbohydrates aren’t present
• In order to gain weight, you need to eat 2000 calories more than normal for longer than 2 weeks! One meal seriously doesn’t make a difference
• You will weigh more after a binge (e.g. Christmas dinner) because there’s more food in your bowel, not because you’re ‘fatter’ (obvious, but I hadn’t really thought about it that way)
• If a weight-loss product seems too good to be true, it probably is
• Your metabolism is active 24/7 – it only slows down by ~10% whilst you sleep because you are inactive
• 80% of your metabolism is your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) (things that you’re not even aware of e.g. breaking down food, beating heart, hair growing)

I hope some of the points above teach you something too! It was really interesting to chat to her and it’s great to know that I’m on track to get my metabolism back on track. I’m slowly introducing more low GI carbohydrates and increasing my calories. To give you some idea of the changes:

Meal 1: my favourite pancakes PLUS 1 serve of fruit

Meal 2: TWO protein bars

Meal 3: 100g meat + vegetables PLUS 1 serve of carbohydrates e.g. ½ cup cooked rice, ½ cup cooked quinoa

Meal 4: TWO protein bars

Meal 5: unchanged

Meal 6: unchanged

I want to share this information with you because I want to bring awareness to ‘normal’ eating. Unfortunately our society has created the illusion that ‘less is more’, ‘quicker is better’, and ‘skinny is attractive’. I do not, in any way, want to encourage people to starve themselves or promote eating disorders. I’m trying to fight this and want to educate you that eating the way that I am now is not sustainable. It will result in reduced metabolism, weight plateau, fatigue, unhealthy attitude towards food, and unhappiness with body image. Please, please, please take on board what I’m telling you and don’t use it to manipulate your diet and lifestyle for the worse. I want to fight society’s unhealthy attitude towards food and weight. 🙂

On another note, here’s a new delicious recipe!!

Gourmet Mediterranean Vegetable Protein Pizza

Ingredients:

Serves 2

Base:

½ cup almond meal

½ -3/4 cup oat flour

1 egg – beaten

1 garlic clove – crushed

1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley and/or basil

½ tablespoon lemon juice

½ tablespoon coconut oil (melted if hard)

Good pinch of salt

Topping:

Capsicum

Zucchini

Mushroom

Olives

Feta

Pine nuts

Fresh basil

 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius

2. Mix ingredients for the base

3. Cover a pizza tray with baking paper and spread base out evenly

4. Bake for 10 minutes

5. Chop up zucchini and capsicum, and cook for 5-10 minutes

6. Once the base is complete, layer with toppings and bake for another 5 minutes

7. Relish with joy ❤

 

Learn constantly, Love your body, Lift yourself higher x

 

Pie Face

Hi Lifters!

Another week = another post. So far so good 😉

Hope all is well wherever you are in the world. Did you know, in the last 12 months people from 142 countries have checked out my blog!!! Spread the healthy living and self-acceptance!! J Speaking of which, I received a few message from people this week commenting on how good it is to focus on self-acceptance rather than self-critique and self-improvement – I’m glad you are able to see the importance of what I’m trying to do.

PIE!!! Oh. My. Goodness. I love pie. Ever had a really good Aussie meat pie? Many of you living overseas probably haven’t. When I went to Europe it was one thing that I really truly missed and found no food that was a sufficient substitute. Unfortunately the traditional meat pie isn’t exactly healthy – quite the opposite in fact.

I had a huge craving for pie the other night so put together a healthy version of shepherd’s pie and it tasted JUST LIKE traditional meat pie!!! I can’t even stress to you how excited I was haha. Want to know what an Aussie meat pie tastes like, minus the excess calories and carbs? Give this a try.

Sweet Potato and Mushroom Gravy Pie

Ingredients:

Filling

500g extra lean beef mince

¼ cup onion, diced

½ cup frozen peas

½ cup capsicum, diced

4 mushrooms, sliced

½ cup carrots, diced

1 tsp garlic, minced

4 Tbsp gravy mix

½ cup hot water

½ Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Topping

1 ½ sweet potato (or 1 sweet potato + ½ cup pumpkin)

Dash of oil

Splash of milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Put frying pan on medium-high heat, add garlic, parsley, and onion and cook until onion is translucent
2. Add mince, capsicum, mushroom, carrot, and peas
3. Cook until mince is brown
4. Add gravy mix and hot water
5. Simmer for 5-10 minutes
6. Meanwhile, peel and chop sweet potato, put in a microwave-safe container with ~1/2 cup water, and microwave on High for 8-10 minutes or until soft
7. Drain water from sweet potato, mash, and add oil, milk, salt and pepper to taste
8. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius
9. Find a casserole dish and fill with meat mixture
10. Top with thick layer of sweet potato mash
11. Put in the oven for 10 minutes
12. Scoop out a spoonful and serve with a sprinkle of fresh parsley +/- tomato sauce (aka ketchup)

PS I will start posting nutritional information again, I just need to calculate the last couple of recipes.

 

Learn constantly, Love your body, Lift yourself higher x

Return from Summer

Hi Lifters!! My sincerest apologies for being so absent from this page – those who follow me on Facebook may have seen my big apologetic ranch that I posted the other day and I have made the promise to post each and EVERY Friday. Cross my heart!

Well, so where to start – is it too late to say Happy New Year? For those of you who made New Year resolutions I hope you’re sticking to them and haven’t given up. Persistence is key! Did you know only 64% of resolutions last longer than 1 month?

I’m taking this year off medical school and spending my time doing things I enjoy, learning more about myself, and adding to my resume. So no real excuse for missing my blogging ;). I’ve been taking time off my usual resistance training as I was advised by a shoulder specialist that 2 months was necessary to help my shoulder heal. I’ve been continuing the cardio but can’t wait to get back into the weight room!! I’m seeing a psychiatrist and learning to love myself more – not in an arrogant way but in an appreciation/respect/acceptance way. So many people, especially women, tend to loathe their appearance and lack self-acceptance. We, as a society, need to change this ❤

Hope you are all well, and I’d love to hear about things you’ve done that you are proud of; goals you have achieved, recipes that you’ve created, stepping outside your comfort zone etc.

Motivation: I’ve decided to stop using photos of people as motivational pictures on my blog. I think it is important that we focus more on eating well and exercising, rather than targeting a specific appearance or body shape. The beautiful body will follow – and you’re attitude towards yourself and food will be so much healthier. However, I’ll still be putting photos up on my Facebook page for the time being.

Have you ever had quinoa? Pronounced “keen-wah”, it’s known as a superfood – high protein, low GI, gluten-free, and has a delicious nutty flavour. I really love it but it needs to be cooked just right. The method that has worked best for me is a 1:2½ ratio (quinoa:water). See below for cooking instructions.

Organic Quinoa with Moroccan Lamb, Fresh Mint and Greek Yoghurt

Ingredients:

½ cup capsicum, chopped

¼ cup frozen peas

¼ cup frozen corn

¼ cup onion

Moroccan spices

Lamb (lean cut e.g. loin chop, leg)

¼ cup olives, sliced

½ cup mushroom, sliced

3x cherry tomatoes

Greek yoghurt

Fresh mint

Quinoa

½ cup quinoa, well rinsed and drained

¾ cup water

Method:

1. Combine rinsed quinoa with water and bring to a boil in an uncovered saucepan
2. When it starts to boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until the water is absorbed and quinoa is light and fluffy
3. Meanwhile, sprinkle raw lamb with Moroccan spices
4. Place a frying pan on medium-high heat and cook lamb as desired (I prefer on the medium-rare side)
5. Once cooked you may remove the lamb and slice it into desired size
6. Put lamb back in the frying pan with onion, mushroom, and capsicum
7. Cook until onion is translucent then throw in cooked quinoa along with the peas, corn, olives, tomatoes, and more Moroccan spice
8. Stir until warmed through, then serve with fresh mint and Greek yoghurt

Catching Babies

I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry; I know I promised to post more often but I’ve been flat out since starting on obs and gynae!!! I’m managing to find the time to cook my healthy meals and go to the gym, but obviously struggling to type up blog entries unfortunately.

O&G is good but there is a LOT of waiting around, and I’ve been very unlucky with catching babies. Ah well, I’ll keep persisting!!

Motivation:

 

Have you ever eaten from Salsas Fresh Mex Grill? When getting takeaway I love their bowls – and it’s pretty good for you!! I tend to avoid the rice and corn chips though ;). Anyway I love their Chicken and Veg Bowl so I decided to make my own (clean) version of it! And it is delicious!!!

Chicken and Veg Fresh Mex

Serves 6

1 kg chicken breast – diced

2 capsicums – diced

1 brown onion – diced

1 broccoli – chopped

1 packet of taco seasoning (or you can make your own – e.g. http://www.familyfreshmeals.com/2013/05/diy-homemade-taco-seasoning.html)

Fat free Greek yoghurt

Reduced fat grated cheese (I used Kraft Live Free grated cheese)

 

Mix chicken breast with taco seasoning and cook in a lightly sprayed frying pan

Add onion to chicken

Cook until chicken is no longer pink in the middle and the onion is translucent

Meanwhile, steam broccoli and capsicum (~3-5 minutes, depends on how you like your veggies)

Once cooked, stir veggies in with the chicken mix

Serve with a dollop of yoghurt and a sprinkle of cheese

 

Nutritional info: per serve

Calories: 216

Total fat: 2.2g (0.8g sat)

Total carbs: 6.2g

Sugar: 3g

Protein: 44.7g!

 

Only 3 more weeks left on O&G (including this week) so fingers crossed I get to catch some babies!! Looks like I’m going to have to do more night shifts haha. Hope all is well, weights are being frequently lifted, and so are your forks 🙂 x

 

Selfie Update

I have been flat chat – assignments, study, uni hurdle tasks, moving house etc etc – and unfortunately this blog has been neglected :S. I think that instead of making false promises and attempt to create big weekly/fortnightly/monthly posts, I’m going to post 1 recipe per week. I think this will make it a lot more consistent and easier for me. I hate that I’ve left this post so long, so I want to apologise to you all!!

 

Update on where I’m at:

– Just finished my 1st semester of 4th year medicine/surgery, which for me was a long GP rotation – now have 2 weeks of holiday!!!

– A little over 2 years with my man ❤

– Starting an IDEA CEC online course on Women and Weights

– Still promoting the IDEA World Fitness Convention!! As Australian Representative I’m trying to bring awareness to Australia about this amazing fitness and nutrition event in Los Angeles

– Chosen to receive a part sponsorship from Enduro Supplements!!! (Didn’t receive a full sponsorship as I’m not an elite sports person haha) (endurowhey.com.au)

– Entered Oxygen Australia covergirl competition! I haven’t taken the photo that people can vote on yet, but when I will I’ll let you know and I’d love your support

– Organising to potentially do a BMedSci year with CORE (Centre of Obesity Research and Education) in which I will research the long term effectiveness of lap band surgery on decreasing cardiovascular risk factors and diabetes management

– Article published on www.drjoe.net.au

– Recipes soon to be published on ultimateyou.com.au/magazine

– Received 300 likes on learnlovelift facebook page

– Volunteering with RSPCA

– Just started Ashley Conrad’s 21-day Clutch Cut program (www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ashley-conrads-21-day-clutch-cut.html)

– Ordered Protein Pow’s e-book (can’t wait for it to arrive)

– Eating clean and training mean (always!! <3)

– And yes, I pledge that I will be posting on this blog more frequently!

So that’s me. Keeping busy!! I feel like I’m finally making some slow progress 🙂

 

Motivation: Jennifer Nicole Lee

 

Chili Chicken Stir Fry

I had this for lunch today and it’s really good. I chose to have it just with SlimPasta noodles, but feel free to have it with rice/soba noodles/or on it’s own!

Serves 3

Sesame or peanut oil

500g chicken breast – diced

2 tsp crushed garlic

3cm piece of ginger – peeled and finely grated

4 spring onions – chopped into 3cm pieces

1 red chili – diced

1 bunch choy sum or bok choy (I’ve made it with both) – trimmed

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1/2 cup unsalted cashews

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves

Heat wok over high heat until hot, then drizzle in some of the oil. Cook the chicken until browned (may need to cook in 2 batches, depending how big your wok is)

Put chicken in a bowl to the side

Drizzle a little more oil in the wok and stir-fry the garlic, ginger, spring onions and chili for 30 seconds

Add choy sum/bok choy and stir-fry for another minute

Throw the cooked chicken back in the wok along with the 2 tbsp of oyster sauce

Stir-fry for another minute

Stir in the cashews and basil leaves, then serve!

 

Nutritional info: per serve

Calories: 303

Total fat: 10.3 (2g sat)

Total carbs: 8.5g

Sugar: 4g

Total protein: 44.9g

 

Set yourself some goals and live your life!! Do not fear failure, fear not trying. x

Third World Problems

No internet. This is a HUGE issue I’m having at the moment – one that is such a third world problem but unfortunately it affects so much of my daily function. We haven’t had internet connection at our uni accommodation for weeks now and it is horrendous! What makes it worse is the fact that the library, with free wifi, is only open limited hours (the pros of living rurally). It’s shocking how reliant I have become on internet… and is one of the reasons why I haven’t posted here for a longgg time.

Anyway, back into the swing of things (now that I’ve figured out how to connect to the internet for brief periods of time through my iPhone…).

Motivation: the gorgeous Courtney Prather

 

Goji+Carrot Cake adapted from proteincupcakes.net – this is my favourite snack right now! It is SO YUM!

Serves 12

2 cups carrot (roughly 2 carrots) – grated

1&1/3 cup oat flour

1/3 cup almond meal

2 scoops vanilla whey

1 tbsp LSA/ground flaxseed

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla essence

4 egg whites

1&1/2 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

12 serves of Stevia

¾ cup unsweetened almond milk

½ cup unsweetened applesauce

25g almonds – chopped (you can sub with any nuts – walnuts or pecans would be nice)

30g goji berries (you can sub with sultanas/raisins)

30g carob/dark chocolate – chopped

Icing:

100g low fat cream cheese

2 serves of Stevia

1 tsp vanilla essence

Preheat oven to 180^oC

Mix all dry ingredients in a big bowl (excluding nuts, goji berries, and chocolate/carob)

Mix wet ingredients in a medium bowl separately

Combine wet to dry, then fold in the nuts, berries, and choc/carob

Line a cake pan with baking paper

Pour mixture in, then bake for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean

For the icing, mix it all together and spread over the cake once it has COOLED

YUM! Try not to eat it all at once (seriously… freeze it)

Nutritional info: per serve (including the icing)

Calories: 148.4

Total fat: 5.8g (1.6g sat)

Total carbs: 14.7g

Sugar: 4.0g

Protein: 9.1g

 

Warm Prawn & Mango Salad, created by my boyfriend’s dad 🙂 this is so yummy

Serves 4

1kg raw prawns – washed, butterflied (optional) (run knife down the back of the prawn to open it up slightly)

1 red chili – finely sliced

1 mango – diced

1 avocado – diced

3 cloves garlic – crushed

25g low fat fetta – crumbled

Rocket (as much as you’d like)

Splash of white wine (to taste)

Juice of 1 lime

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Big bunch of coriander

Heat a large frying pan on high

Cook chili and garlic for a few seconds, until fragrant, then remove from heat and set aside

Cook prawns on the high heat (you may need to cook half of the prawns at a time)

Once cooked, add the chili and garlic mixture back in, then add a splash of wine and coriander

Prepare all rocket, avocado, mango, and fetta

Dress salad ingredients with lime and olive oil

When ready to serve, briefly toss the prawns in and serve immediately

Nutritional info: per serve

Calories: 396.7

Total fat: 12.6g (4.3g sat)

Total carbs: 10.4g

Sugar: 4.2g

Protein: 61.7g!!!!!

 

Kung Pao Chicken from simplyrecipes.com

Serves 4

500g chicken breast – chopped

2&1/2 tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp Szechwan peppercorns (optional – I left out)

1 red chili (add more or less depending on your chili tolerance)

3 cloves garlic

1 tbsp ginger – freshly grated

6 spring onion – chopped

2/3 cup roasted, unsalted peanuts

Marinade:

2 tsp soy sauce (I used Bragg’s aminos)

1&1/2 tsp white wine

1 tbsp water

2 tsp arrowroot powder

Sauce:

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

2 tsp soy sauce/Bragg’s aminos

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp water

3 serves of Stevia

1 tsp arrowroot powder

Mix together the marinade ingredients and toss with the chopped chicken. Set aside

Combine all ingredients for sauce, whisking well to ensure arrowroot is fully incorporated. Set aside

Place 2&1/2 tbsp sesame oil in a wok or large sauté pan and place over medium-high heat

Stir-fry chilies and peppercorns until fragrant

Add the chicken, and as soon as the pieces start to separate, add the ginger, garlic, and spring onions

Stir-fry for a few minutes until chicken is no longer pink in the middle

Add the sauce and toss

When the sauce becomes thick, toss the peanuts in, and serve

Nutritional info: per serve

Calories: 286.9

Total fat: 16.5g (3.2g sat)

Total carbs: 4.8g

Sugar: 0.0g

Protein: 29.3g

 

Hazelnut Biscotti from chocolatechillimango.com

Serves: 10 (40 biscotti)

110g hazelnuts (you can substitute other nuts/chocolate/dried fruit)

3 large eggs

15 serves of Stevia

1 tsp vanilla essence

35g unsweetened cocoa powder

90g oat flour

60g casein protein

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp bicarb soda

Preheat oven to 180oC

Line a large baking tray with baking paper and set aside

Place the hazelnuts on a second lined tray and spread them out evently

Toast in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until lightly roasted and starting to colour

Remove nuts from the oven and use a tea-towel to rub off as much of the skins as possible (I made a huge mess…). Set aside

Whisk together the eggs, sweetener, and vanilla until the sweetener is dissolved and the mixture is light

In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa, oat flour, casein, salt, and bicarb soda

Add the dry ingredient mixture to the egg mixture and mix until the dough comes together

Fold in the COOLED hazelnuts

Divide the dough in half and form each half into a log measuring about 1 cm in thickness, 3.5cm wide, and about 26cm long

Lay the logs on the prepared baking tray, leaving room between them for spreading

Bake the logs for 30-35 minutes

Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly (about 10 minutes)

Lower the temperature of the oven to 125oC

Use a serrated knife to slice each log into about 20 slices, about 1 cm thick, on a 45 degree angle. For consistency it’s easier if you slice each log in half with a diagonal cut, then in half again, and then cut each piece into 5 even diagonal slices

Place the slices in upright rows on the baking tray and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes. If you wish to make the biscotti as hard rusks, you can leave them in there for up to 20 minutes. They will crisp up even more once they cool

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack

The biscotti will keep for several weeks if stored in an airtight container, at room temperature

Nutritional info: per serve

Calories: 159.6

Total fat: 9.9g (1.6g sat)

Total carbs: 8.0g

Sugar: 1.0g

Protein: 9.7g

 

I’ve been pretty overloaded with things lately – study, organising the premier event of a new Victorian organisation (Red Party, raising awareness for HIV/AIDS and sexual health), my own mental instability, volunteering with the RSPCA, exercise, food prep… it seems likes everything’s going on!! I just have to take a deep breath, make a list or two, and keep my priorities right!

Eat clean and train dirty 🙂 x

 

It Must Be Love

My man has stuck with me for two whole years… it must be love!! I can’t believe he’s put up with me even when I’ve been carb-craving-crazy; whinging about muscle pain; hangry due to being 15 minutes late for a meal; sulking about missing a gym sesh; talking him out of pizza for dinner…. if that doesn’t scare him off, then nothing can haha.

Motivation: Emily Skye

 

 

Paleo Shrimp Scampi from paleocupboard.com – I made this for my boyfriend and we absolutely loved it!!

Serves 4

1/2 cup arrowroot powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

1/2 cup coconut oil (I replaced this with just coconut oil spray because it seemed like excessive oil)

1kg shrimp/prawns – shelled, deveined, tails removed

3 cloves of garlic

1 spring onion – finely chopped

1/2 cup fresh parsley – finely chopped

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/3 cup chicken stock

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp lemon zest

Sea salt and ground black pepper to taste

Lemon wedges (optional, for serving)

Rinse the shrimp and pat dry with paper towels. Set aside

Combine arrowroot, sea salt, black pepper, parika, and cayenne pepper in a large mixing bowl and  break apart any clumps

Add shrimp to the bowl and toss to thoroughly coat in the mixture

Place a large frying pan over medium-high heat and add coconut oil

When oil is heated, add shrimp and saute for 4-5 minutes, turning often

Transfer the shrimp to a serving plate with tongs/slotted spoon, leaving the oil in the pain

Add garlic, shallots, oregano and parsley to the pan and stir constantly for about 2 minutes

Add chicken stock and lemon juice and boil for 1 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan to remove any browned bits

Add lemon zest and stir to combine, then season with salt and pepper

Remove the pan from the heat and add the shrimp to the pan, tossing to combine with the sauce

Serve with additional chopped parsley and lemon wedges

Nutritional info: per serve

Calories: 284.3

Total fat: 1.3g

Total carbs: 16.2g 

Sugar: 0.9g

Protein: 51.6g!!!!!!

 

Berry (Cherry) Protein Bars from chocolatechillimango.com

Serves 12

3 large egg whites (not from the packet)

15 serves Stevia

12g coconut butter

1tsp vanilla essence

10g chia seeds

50g whey protein

120g quinoa or coconut flour or almond meal (or a combination) – I used 1/2 almond meal, 1/2 coconut flour

3 tsp baking powder

165mL unsweetened almond milk

50g frozen blueberries (the original recipe used 120g fresh/frozen pitted cherries)

100g dark chocolate

10g coconut butter

Preheat oven to 180 degrees

Line a brownie pan (18cm x 28cm) with baking paper and set aside

Beat the egg whites and sweetener until frothy

Add all other ingredients, except the berries, and mix well until smooth

Stir in the cherries

Pour the batter in the pan and bake for 15 minutes

Remove and set on a wire rack to cool

Melt the dark chocolate and coconut butter together

Pour over the cool berry bar slab and spread evenly

Cut into 12 bars

Allow the chocolate to set at room temperature

Nutritional info: per serve

Calories: 141.3

Total fat: 8.8g (4.4g sat)

Total carbs: 8.3g

Sugar: 3.6g

Protein: 7.3g

 

15-Minute Chicken and Pea Sauce from www.theironyou.com – this may sound really simple and boring, but it’s really nice!! The thyme really shines

Serves 6 (next time I’ll divide the mixture into 4 serves I think)

200g chicken mince

1/2 cup frozen green peas

1 small carrot – finely chopped

1 celery strip – finely chopped

1/2 onion – finely chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup white wine (or stock – I used salt-reduced chicken stock)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tbsp fresh thyme

Black pepper to taste

Warm oil over medium heat in a frying pan

Add onion, carrot and celery, and saute for 2 minutes or until everything is fragrant

Stir in the chicken mince

When the chicken is almost completely brown, pour in the white wine/stock and add salt

Lower the heat, cover with a lid, and cook for 6 minutes

If it looks dry, add some broth one spoonful at a time

Remove from the heat, season with pepper and sprinkle with thyme

Nutritional info: per serve

Calories: 86.5

Total fat: 4.4g (1.0g sat)

Total carbs: 3.8g

Sugar: 2.1g

Protein: 7.8g

 

Constantly challenge yourself – it reminds us that we are alive 🙂

The other day I was talking to my mum about how stressed I was and she said “it means you’re pushing yourself honey – would you rather a boring life?” x

MFT28

I’m so sorry that my blogs are becoming less frequent!! I’ve been flat out with assignments and trying to keep on top of study (a never-ending struggle) so unfortunately I haven’t had the time to dedicate an hour or so to writing blog posts!!

Motivation: Amanda Adams

I felt like I was in a bit of a rut with my training so I did a bit of searching and found this training program – Greg Plitt’s MFT28 (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/mft28-greg-plitts-4-week-military-fitness-trainer-by-met-rx.html). It is INTENSE!!! He is really enthusiastic and motivating though, and I find it really helpful to watch the videos. My boyfriend is doing it with me via long distance, which is nice :).

I have HEAPS of recipes to share with you!! I think it’ll be easiest if I break them up into a few per post though (don’t want to overwhelm you!!)

 

High Fibre Cinnamon Protein Pancakes (chocolatechillimango.com) – these are really yummy and really filling

Serves 1-2

100g egg whites

40g pea protein

10 grams psyllium husk

250mL unsweetened almond milk

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla whey protein powder

Stevia, to taste

Whisk together the ingredients

If necessary, add a little more milk or water if the batter is too thick

Cook the pancakes in a non-stick pan

Serve topped with whatever you like (I used flaxseed oil because I’m ADDICTED!)

Nutritional info: per serve (without toppings)

Calories: 146.7

Total fat: 2.2g (0.5g sat)

Total carbs: 5.5g (4.9g fibre!)

Sugar: 0.4g

Protein: 25.4g

 

Blueberry Almond Protein Muffins (chocolatechillimango.com) – I absolutely LOVE these!! Super fluffy, super tasty, super healthy!!! Awesome muffins 🙂

Serves 12

250g almond meal

20 serves Stevia (a lot, I know…)

3 tsp baking powder

150g blueberries (I used frozen)

200mL unsweetened almond milk

1 egg

1 tbsp vanilla essence

1/2 scoop vanilla whey powder

1/2 scoop vanilla casein powder

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius

Mix together dry ingredients

Whisk together the wet ingredients in a separate bowl

Add wet to dry, then mix lightly (do not overbeat)

Toss in the blueberries

Pour the batter into lined muffin tins

Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and toothpick comes out clean

Cool on a wire rack before turning out

Nutritional info: per 1 muffin

Calories: 151

Total fat: 11.4 (1.1g sat)

Total carbs: 7.9g

Sugar: 2.2g

Protein: 7.4g

 

Chicken with Cauliflower and Olives (www.elanaspantry.com) – pretty self explanatory haha and yum!

Serves 4

500g chicken breast

1 bunch fresh thyme sprigs

1/2 head cauliflower – cut into florets

1 spring onion – finely chopped

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

Zest of 1 lemon

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup kalamata olives – pitted

3 cloves garlic – minced

Spread thyme sprigs evenly in the bottom of a 7×11 baking dish

Place chicken over thyme and scatter cauliflower around chicken

In a small bowl, combine spring onion, oil, salt, pepper, lemon zest and juice, olives and garlic

Pour this mixture over the chicken and cauliflower

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour

Preheat oven to 200 degrees

Bake for 45-55 minutes, until chicken is cooked through

Nutritional info: per serve

Calories: 246.8

Total fat: 8.1g (2.0g sat)

Total carbs: 6.0g

Sugar: 1.5g

Protein: 37.5g

 

Dense Aduki Chocolate Cake (www.proteinpow.com) – this is super super dense!! I think next time I’ll add more sweetener because it was a bit too bitter for me

Serves 8

1 can aduki (or black) unsalted beans – cooked

1/2 cup liquid egg whites

1/2 cup chocolate whey protein powder

300g low-fat cottage cheese

12 cup cocoa powder

10 serves Stevia

3 tbsp coconut flour

1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 170 degrees

Blend everything together and pour into a greased cake pan

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean (don’t overbake!!)

Sprinkle some cocoa on top to serve!

Nutritional info: per serve

Calories: 149.7

Total fat: 3.2g (2.2g sat)

Total carbs: 11.0g

Sugar: 2.1g

Protein: 16.8g

 

Vanilla Cupcakes (www.dessertswithbenefits.com) – these are pretty scrumptious (though have nothing on the blueberry almond muffins above…)

Serves 11

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

3 tbsp unsweetened applesauce

3 tbsp coconut oil

3/4 cooking Stevia

2 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp almond essence (I left this out)

1/4 cup arrowroot starch

2 tbsp ground flaxseed

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup quinoa flour

1/3 cup almond flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp xanthan gum (I left this out)

1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line a cupcake tin with 11 paper liners

Whisk together almond milk, applesauce, oil, sweetener, vanilla and almond essence

Whisk on medium speed for about 1 minute

In a small bowl, whisk together the starch and flax

Slowly add this starch/flax mixture to the almond milk/applesauce mixture

Whisk on low for about 1 minute

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the brown rice flour, quinoa flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt

Slowly add to the almond milk/applesauce/flax mixture on low speed

When it is all incorporated, increase the mixer speed to high and whip for about 20 seconds

Scoop batter into cupcake liners

Bake for ~30minutes or until surface springs back when tapped

Remove cupcakes from tin and let cool on a wire rack

I decided to add my own person touch by pressing a raspberry into the centre of each muffin before I cooked them… don’t ask me why!! But it tasted awesome 🙂

Nutritional info: per serve (without raspberries)

Calories: 132.8

Total fat: 7.9g (4.8g sat)

Total carbs: 12.7g

Sugar: 0.8g

Protein: 2.3g

 

Oh and guess what? I’m now a Sweat Pink Ambassador 🙂 check us out at www.fitapproach.com

 

I haven’t been sticking to my eating and exercise plan super well lately (as those on my facebook page may know..) but the thing to keep in mind is to not give up – to keep on keeping on!! Tomorrow’s another day 🙂 x

Hot Hot Hot

It is sooooo hot in Australia right now!! Makes getting into the kitchen a bit less appealing haha. I’ve had a really good week in regards to staying on target with my eating, although I skipped leg day on Wednesday because I was so exhausted – my brain has been feeling really drained from being used so much. I’m going to make up my missed day on the weekend though!!

Motivation:

 

My recipes are really piling up now so I need to start putting more into my posts!! Sorry if this is an overload :S

 

Roo Meatball Casserole – I think these are really yum!! My boyfriend refuses to eat kangaroo but I love it haha

Serves 6

Meatballs:

500g kangaroo mince

1 clove garlic – minced

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp oregano

1/3 cup egg whites

1 cup oat flour

Casserole:

370g passata

2 tomatoes – diced

3 mushrooms – sliced

Handful of fresh basil

Tiny bit of low fat cheese

Make the meatballs first. Preheat oven to 180 degrees

Combine all of the meatball ingredients and mix well (I found it easier with my hands)

Roll mixture into small balls (I made about 20 but totally up to you) and place meatball on a baking tray (covered in baking paper)

Bake for 15-20 minutes, shake tray occasionally

Once cooked, remove meatballs from oven and place into a casserole dish

Pour over the passata, tomatoes, mushrooms, and basil, and gently stir through

Sprinkle some cheese over top, then put back in the oven to cook for 15 minutes

Nutritional info: per serve

Calories: 179.1

Total fat: 3.4g (1.0g sat)

Total carbs: 12.8g

Sugar: 4.0g

Protein: 22.2g

 

Low Carb Protein Pizza Base from proteinpow.com

Serves 1-2

1 cup liquid egg whites

1/3 cup psyllium husks

1/2 cup pea protein powder

Herbs (rosemary, thyme, parsley)

Garlic salt and onion granules

Whisk all of the ingredients and you will get a sticky mixture

Dollop onto a hot hot hot nonstick frying pan and spread with a spoon to give it as flat a shape as possible

Once cooked on one side, flip it

Remove from the pan and place on a grill/baking tray

Top with whatever you want – I decided to break up some of my kangaroo meatballs and scatter them on top with a little bit of low fat cheese

Grill for 10-15 minutes (until cheese melts and sides are brown

NB to make it breadier (but higher carb) add oat flour

Nutritional info: per serve (just the base, without the toppings)

Calories: 192.7

Total fat: 0.5g

Total carbs: 10.4g (10.2g dietary fiber)

Sugar: 0g

Protein: 34.9g!!

 

Angel Food Cake from dessertswithbenefits.com

Serves 8

3/4 cup oat flour

1/4 cup arrowroot starch

1&1/2 cup egg whites (fresh, not from a carton)

1&1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond flavour (I decided to sub this for lemon extract because I don’t like almond extract..)

1&1/2 cups Stevia (not the concentrated stuff!!)

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees

In a small bowl, mix oat flour and arrowroot

In a large bowl, add egg whites, cream of tartar, salt and extracts. Whisk until stiff peaks form (~5 minutes)

Slowly add the sweetener whilst continuing to whisk on a low speed

Slowly and gently fold in the oat flour and arrowroot mixture, one scoop at a time – be careful not to deflate the egg whites

Scoop the batter in a cake pan and flatten the surface with a spoon

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the surface is golden brown and springs back when tapped

Cool the cake upside down so that the cake doesn’t deflate

Once cool, remove from the pan and serve! I chose to sprinkle with coconut milk flour 🙂

Nutritional info: per serve

Calories: 80.6

Total fat: 1.0g

Total carbs: 10.3g

Sugar: 0.3g

Protein: 6.1g

 

BBQ Chicken Bolognaise from No Cheating! Clean Recipes for Lean Bodies

Serves 8

1kg chicken mince

2 large onions – diced

3 medium zucchini – diced

1 broccoli – finely chopped

Barbeque sauce:

3 tbsp reduced salt tomato paste

1 tbsp smoked paprika

1 tbsp wholegrain mustard

3 tbsp worcestershire sauce

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 cup passata

Salt and pepper to taste

Add diced vegetables to a hot, non stick pot and cook until beginning to sweat and soften

Add chicken to the vegetables and stir occasionally until cooked through

Combine the sauce ingredients together before pouring over the chicken and vegetables, then add water until there is just enough to cover the mixture and mix well

Continue to cook on a low heat on the stove for up to 3 hours, or until the chicken mixture has caramlised and lost most of its moisture. If using a slow cooker you can leave for up to 6 hours on the lowest setting

Nutritional info: per serve

Calories: 219.3

Total fat: 7.9g (2.3g sat)

Total carbs: 11.2g

Sugar: 6.8g

Protein: 27.3g

Sodium: 258.6mg

 

Omega-3 Protein Bread from chcolatechillimango.com – YUM!

Serves 8 slices

2/3 cup quinoa flour (can substitute with basically any other flour)

2/3 cup ground flaxseed meal

2/3 cup pea protein (I used vanilla flavour because I don’t have plain..)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup egg whites

1/8 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/3 cup water

Preheat oven to 180 degrees

Grease a loaf tin lightly with olive oil spray/line with baking paper

Place the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl

Whisk together the egg whites, oil and water, then add to the dry mixture and mix until you get a sticky batter (may need to add a little extra water)

Pour the batter into the loaf tin

You can bake this freeform, but let the dough sit for 5 minutes before turning it out on the baking tray so that it will thicken up slightly

Bake for about 30 minutes until golden and rise

Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack before turning out of the tin

I chose to slice mine in big chunks, because I wanted to have ‘rolls’

Between two slices I had smoked salmon, avocado, and rocket 🙂 yum!!

Nutritional info: per slice

Calories: 151.5

Total fat: 7.9g (0.9g sat)

Total carbs: 9.2g

Sugar: 0.2g

Protein: 11.4g

 

Hope you’re all having a great week, and for those in Australia, I hope you’re keeping cool!!! x

Introduction to General Practice

Last Monday I met the General Practice Clinic that I’ll be spend half of this year – and it’s great! The consultants are really enthusiastic and eager for me to become a part of the team. They’re really motivating and willing to help me :). I’m so excited for this year – I think it will be an amazing experience!! But unfortunately we’re going to be bombarded with assessments… so that’s something I won’t be looking forward to! Oh and I was concerned about finding a gym in the small town where I’m placed but turns out I have access to the hospital gym – $3 a week and it has plenty of weight and cardio equipment. Yay!! I can’t wait to get into the swing of things.

Motivation: Jessica King

 

I’ve got a bunch of awesome recipes to share with you 🙂

 

Lemon Protein Slice from www.proteinpow.com – YUM!! Love these!

 

Serves 6

For the crust:

1 tbsp coconut flour

6 tbsp oat flour

1/4 cup vanilla whey protein

1 tbsp pea protein (or vanilla casein)

1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

4 brazil nuts (could sub with almonds)

1 tbsp grated fresh lemon zest

1/2 a big lemon’s worth of lemon juice (20mL)

1 serve Stevia

For the filling:

2 tbsp fresh lemon zest

1 big lemon’s worth of lemon juice (40mL)

1/2 cup vanilla whey protein

3 tbsp coconut flour (or almond meal)

15 macadamia nuts (could sub with cashews)

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

Blend the crust ingredients together and press the doughy matter onto a cake pan

Bake at 190 degrees Celcius for about 10 minutes

Meanwhile, blend the filling ingredients together

When blended and crust is cooked, press the filling batter onto the crust and put back in the oven for no more than 20 minutes

I then sprinkled coconut powder on top but this is entirely optional 🙂

Nutritional info: per serve

Calories: 200.8

Total fat: 8.4g (2.2g sat)

Total carbs: 13.6g

Sugar: 2.0g

Protein: 17.7g

 

Bittersweet Chocolate Quinoa Cupcakes from dessertswithbenefits.com – these have an amazing texture; so soft! It took me a little while to love the taste because they weren’t as sweet as I’d hoped, but they’re still really yummy! Next time I think I’ll add more sweetener.

 

Serves 12

For the cupcakes:

1 cup quinoa flour

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tbsp ground flaxseed

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup + 1 tbsp fat free Greek yoghurt

1/2 tsp instant coffee 1 tsp vanilla extract

1 serve Stevia

1+1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

For the frosting:

2 tbsp coconut oil

1/3 cup light coconut milk

6 serves Stevia

2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

2 scoops chocolate whey protein

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line/spray a cupcake tin

In a small bowl, whisk together the quinoa flour, brown rice flour, cocoa powder, flax, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and Stevia

In a large bowl, whisk together the yoghurt, coffee, vanilla extract, then whisk in the milk

Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet

Whisk batter for ~20 seconds, or until batter is fluffy and even

Scoop the batter into the cupcake tins and bake for ~20 minutes, or until surface springs back when tapped

Take the cupcakes out of the pan immediately after removing from the oven, let cool on a wire cooling rack

In a medium-szed bowl, add the coconut oil and coconut milk, and (if coconut oil is solid) microwave at 30-second intervals, stirring between each one, until the coconut oil has melted

Stir in the Stevia, then the cocoa powder, then the protein powder

Frost the cooled cupcakes and serve!! I found that I needed to put the frosted cupcakes in the fridge before serving to help the frosting set

These aren’t very sweet, so feel free to up the Stevia in the cupcakes!

Nutritional info: per 1 muffin

Calories: 143.4

Total fat: 5.6g (3.2g sat)

Total carbs: 5.2g

Sugar: 1.6g

Protein: 7.4g (even without protein powder!)

 

Chicken Cashew from crunchymama.net – my boyfriend’s new favourite lunchtime bulk-cook recipe 🙂 super yummy!! Also, my boyfriend divides the recipe up into 4 serves instead of 6.

Serves 6

1 kg chicken – cut into chunks

1 cup roasted cashew nuts

1/2 red pepper – diced into same size as chicken

3 spring onions – cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 tbsp ginger – grated

For the marinade:

1 egg white

2 tbsp reduced salt soy sauce OR Bragg’s aminos

1 tbsp tapioca flour aka arrowroot

For the sauce:

4 tbsp reduced salt soy sauuce

2 tbsp cooking wine

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp honey

1 tsp tapioca flour/arrowroot

Combine marinade ingredients and mix chicken into marinade for at least 30 minutes

Combine sauce ingredients in a separate bowl and set aside

In a large non-stick pan, cook the chicken pieces for 2-4 minutes until just cooked

Drain chicken onto some paper towels

Saute the spring onion and ginger for a minute

Add capsicum and sauce. Cook until it is thick and bubbly

Add chicken back to the pan and stir until the chicken pieces are covered in suace

Throw in the cashews, stir, and serve

Nutritional info: per serve

Calories: 248.9

Total fat: 4.4g (1.0g sat)

Total carbs: 6.8g

Sugar: 2.7g

Protein: 42.0g

Sodium: 676.9mg (this would be reduced if you replace the soy sauce with Bragg’s aminos)

 

Casein Pancake

Serves 1

1/3 cup egg whites

1/2 scoop vanilla casein protein

1 tsp cinnamon

Mix the ingredients together

Pour into a hot non-stick pan and cook

I served this with sugar-free maple syrup 🙂

Nutritional info: per serve

Calories: 97.9

Total fat: 0.5g (0.2g sat)

Total carbs: 1.8g

Sugar: 0g 

Protein: 20.0g

 

 

Stop wishing for something – go out and do it!! 🙂 x