Cantaloupe banana smoothie

My daughter got another "fat" lecture from her doctor.

The junk will be removed from our house. Part of this is my fault, as my daughter loves carrots, cucumbers & peppers yet I don't keep enough of these foods in the house.

Breakfast:

In the blender

For 2

- 3 slices cantaloupe

- 2 bananas 

- 1 cup milk

- 1 serving green vegan protein powder

- 1 serving EAS vanilla whey 

Only Oatmeal (Raisin) Protein muffins

This is another of my experiments. The family is complaining there is nothing for breakfast. Well, I researched oatmeal protein muffins and developed this. Should have 7-8 grams protein per muffin, low fat, about 150 calories. I haven't finished baking them yet but they smell delightful.

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare muffin pans for about two dozen muffins.

In a small bowl, combine about 1 cup grape nuts and one-half cup skim milk. Stir and set aside.

In a large bowl mix:

- 1 cup homemade unsweetened applesauce, now I used pear sauce because that's what I had

- 3 eggs

- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

- 1 tablespoon honey

- 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses 

- 5 cups old fashioned oats

- at least 1 tablespoon cinnamon 

- 1 tablespoon baking powder

- 3 scoops protein powder (I used vanilla whey)

- 3 cups skim milk

- 1 cup raisins (I don't pack them as raisins are super dense in sugar)

- add the grape nuts

- mix and add 1 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt

Bake about 30 minutes for small muffins, 40 for large

The flavor is more plain than I expected and the mouth feel is a tad chewy. Not bad but the kid may require jelly on them.

Protein shakes & PB2

Because I've gone from lightly active (and sometimes sedentary) to active and since I walk a lot at my job, I often have a hard time meeting my protein goals. 

This summer, I experimented with protein powder. Found a vanilla whey powder I like at Target, some vegan green powders at the health food store and also had success with Spirutein. 

We also go through a ridiculous amount of peanut butter in this house. Not that I eat that much of it because the macro balance of fat:protein does not suit my current nutritional needs. But my daughter and husband probably slather peanut butter on something at least twice a week.

I caved and bought PB2. I have no intention of reconstituting it with water and using it as peanut butter. If I want that, I'll have peanut butter.

I'm actually thinking as an add in to banana smoothies, which can already be calorie dense. With plain yogurt & honey. In hot cereal. On a decadent day, in ice cream. In strawberry yogurt, would it make peanut butter and jelly?

Tonight I mixed water, skim milk, Spirutein in the chocolate chip cookie dough flavor and PB2 with chocolate. That was heavenly. And smelled heavenly.

Green ginger smoothie

This should be awesome:

- 6 ounces water

- 4 ounces Naked boosted green machine juice smoothie 

- 1 banana

- 1/4 nonfat plain yogurt

- 1 packet instant ginger honey crystals

- 1 scoop vanilla cream Pure Protein whey

Strawberry cheesecake smoothie

- about 2 ounces cranberry pomegranate juice

- about 1 1/2 cups frozen strawberries

- a tablespoon cream cheese

- a tablespoon chia seeds

- a scoop vanilla cream whey protein powder

- enough water to lubricate it

New banana protein smoothie

While smoothies and protein powder certainly shouldn't be the mainstay of the family diet, I need the supplements right now because the amount if protein I consume doesn't get close to what the guidelines suggest for a person trying to build muscle.

I bought Pure Protein vanilla cream whey powder at Target. Certainly not as wholesome as the products I've been trying from the natural food store but economical. I started blending it with skim milk and a banana, in part because I bought real cow milk to play with my matcha powder I got for Christmas.

I also started putting honey ginger crystals in my smoothie for some zing. 

Today I tried this:

- 1 cup (maybe 1 1/4, not sure) skim milk

- 1 banana 

- 1 scoop protein powder

- 1/2 serving Prince of Peace honey ginger crystals

- 1 heaping tablespoon matcha

The ginger level was almost perfect, maybe a tiny bit strong, and in my opinion the matcha could have been doubled but I love matcha.

Green Vegan Protein Breakfast

I can't say I'd do this again. But it was edible and at times even good.

I heated some soy milk with a half a scoop of each of my protein powders (the Pure Green protein vanilla and the Biochem sports vegan vanilla). I tossed about a cup of yesterday's cream of wheat in there with a small apple (chopped of course) and lots of cinnamon. I topped it with mixed raw nuts.

More protein powder

So, after doing research online and in my local health/ natural food stores regarding price and ingredients in various protein powders, I decided to walk over to Essence of Health to buy a larger container of protein powder.

I figured I'd compare the prices to online, but the reality is that I only have a few more days of my experiment samples and I'd like to have something in the house.

They were having a sale. I picked up a vanilla vegan powder from Biochem Sports because it dissolved well and tasted like a milkshake. It's sweetened with stevia, which I have mixed feelings about.

I also wanted cookie dough spiru-tein. They had the larger canisters of cookies and cream (which I didn't care for) but not the cookie dough. I liked the spiru-tein because it also replaces my multi-vitamin. Less protein than Biochem Sports but additional vitamins and minerals.

I noticed the cookie flavors pack extra sugar and extra calories (duh-- I should have realized that earlier). They had an unsweetened vanilla that sounded right up my alley but it turns out that was $2 more expensive than the flavors. So I grabbed cappuccino. 

Today we had Plant Fusion Cookies and Créme. Too chocolately for me.

Plant Fusion

I bought two flavors of Plant Fusion protein powder. Today I tried chocolate raspberry. These powders (except for the rice protein) taste amazingly similar and most sweeten with stevia. This one tasted fine, had the same clumps of most everyone else and packed 21 g of protein.

I drank a few gulps, determined it to be like most of its peer and mixed a cup of cold coffee into it. 

Vega plant-based tropical tango smoothie

I expect today to be one of my less active days. I work less than six hours as a closer tonight (probably yield walking about 4 miles). I'm doing laundry and studying for my GREs. A week from today! 

I might even consider skipping today's protein shake sample and review... But yesterday was fairly intense exercise-wise, doing c25k in the morning, then weights and then working 1 to 9:30 p.m. at the store. I burned about 900 extra calories doing all that so needless to say, I ate four meals instead of three yesterday: breakfast, protein shake, lunch, early dinner and late dinner (with dessert). 

My main plans for today are laundry, a lunch date and taking daughter to Girl Scouts. I decided to have one of the lighter protein shakes today because 1. According to my calorie counter I had a deficit of 12 grams protein yesterday so while my activity level may not require it today, I will assume my body is still recovering.

2. A mid morning protein shake is a better choice than something like french fries at the diner today.

3. I was really anxious to try this one.

Now, the ingredients scare me a little. So many vegetables... What will this taste like?

It wouldn't dissolve well no matter how hard I shook. But even the lumps tasted fine.

Yup. This one definitely could be a nice addition to a fruit smoothie.

Biochem Sports Vegan Protein

Today, I doubled my previous reps on my weight training circuit after eating a burger, chips, beer and shots of fireball whiskey at 10 p.m. last night. Good news is it's 11 a.m. and that extra 1,000 calories I consumed last night still has me full. But, after the workout, I needed something and since I'm testing protein powders anyway...

Today I picked Biochem Sports 100% vegan protein in vanilla. I "test" all the powders the same: shaken in 8 ounces vanilla soy milk. 

This one has a nasty smell, but dissolves the best of any contestants thus far. It really seemed tasteless, the vanilla blending into the soy milk I suppose. The result also had the best mouth feel so far. 

It's not a nutritional protein shake and had a moderate price. (all the samples I picked were single serving portions between $1.79 and $3.79). This sample was $2.79 at my local Nature's Way market, which, for protein powder was comparable to Wegmans.

The protein blend contains pea protein, organic hemp seed protein and cranberry protein. Also contains medium chain triglycerides from coconut oil.

Protein powder

Well, it's come to this. I keep losing weight. And I don't want to anymore. I've lost 30 pounds. I don't want to cut back on my work-outs because I'm trying to strengthen my legs and upper body to combat various health issues.

So I need to eat more.

Except I'm not a fruit eater. I love veggies but they don't have much of a calorie count. Processed carbs? Chips? Cakes? Candy? Yes, I love ALL of them. But I want to eat cleaner than that.

I need protein. And I'm not a big meat eater. Most days my calorie counter says I run a protein deficit and despite working to remedy this, I just don't have enough protein foods that I enjoy that are healthy. Chicken and fish? Blech. Peanut butter and cheese, absolutely but then I overload on fat.

So I checked out the protein powders at Target today. We have some BIG cans. I don't want to invest quite that much into this experiment. 

I went to Nature's Way. Got these sample sized packets. One serving.

I tried good old fashioned whey powder after my weight training today. I liked it. I mixed it with Very Vanilla soy milk. My daughter says it tasted like a milkshake. A lumpy milkshake, in my view.

I loaded it into my calorie counter-- I STILL have a protein deficit. Le Sigh.

Naughty. lazy mommy!

I should go into the kitchen and make myself a nice scrambled egg with some sort of toast. I have about an hour before I leave for class. I vacuumed. I did the dishes and even made some iced tea.

But I don't want to make a nice breakfast with real food. I want one of those special K protein bars that I bought at the warehouse club. I mentioned last week that they taste like rice krispie treats covered with chocolate. And I'll wash it down with very vanilla Silk soy milk.

Now I believe the per unit cost of these bars were 43 cents each. Each one has 180 calories, 6 grams fat (3.5 saturated, which is a lot), no cholesterol, 230 mg sodium (again, a lot in my mind), 5 gram fiber (that's good), 15 gram sugar (lower than I expected), 10 grams protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, iron, vitamin D (4%), Vitamin E, Thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folic acid, Vitamin B12, and zinc.

Homemade Hummus

My daughter had another huge bowl of cream of wheat for breakfast, followed with some of my homemade granola at 9 a.m. We stopped by her daddy's office and got invited to share the leftover covered dish items from the luncheon yesterday, which included my spinach dip. Primarily, my family enjoyed ham and spinach dip (though I didn't touch the ham). My daughter ate at least a cup, if not two, of spinach without dipping it in anything.

My original plan for lunch had been peanut butter and jelly on the potato wheat bread my father-in-law gave us last week and carrot sticks with blue cheese dressing and fruit juice to drink. But the surprise lunch out got me thinking... I want hummus for dinner.

My husband bought sesame bagels over the weekend at the grocery store so hummus would be perfect. The carrot sticks will also go well. And the green pepper I bought a while ago will be a nice addition.

I discovered my hummus recipe online about ten or so years ago. A guy had made a chart of hummus and its variations. The basic recipe is as follows:

In the food processor, blend:

Three cloves garlic, minced;
16 ounces chick peas;
1/2 cup lemon juice or juice of 1/2 a lemon (I used all);
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds (fry briefly in skillet until aromatic) and/or tahini (I forgot the exact volume of tahini but I would say at least a tablespoon or two);
1 teaspoon salt;
1 teaspoon olive oil;
1/4 teaspoon cayenne;
cumin if desired;
parsley if desired.

Chill thoroughly before serving to allow flavors to blend.

Slacker food day: Rotini with pine nuts and creamy buttered veggies

So, my husband honored my daughter's request for a sandwich for breakfast in a totally different way that I would have. He made an egg sandwich with cheese and bacon on a deli bagel. We each got half a bagel. He took the leftover sausage and peppers for lunch. I got peanut butter on graham crackers and some homemade granola. My daughter stayed with her grandparents today, so she had grilled cheese, peanut butter and jelly, pickles and chips. I am not a proponent of the sandwich, pickles and chips lunch but... Because of the sheer volume of cheese we've had recently, I have vetoed cheese as an ingredient in tonight's dinner. My husband is whipping up some sort of whole wheat pasta and vegetables... and if I ever get my shoe off I will help him and toast some pine nuts... I know whatever he puts in dinner won't be enough protein for me. Especially since I'm starved.

Once I got into the kitchen, I mixed up some olive oil, butter, half and half, milk, basil, four colors of pepper, garlic pepper, It's a dilly (The perfect herb mix for cucumber sandwiches... Mmmmm), in the skillet and tossed in the california blend vegetables. When that was good and hot, I mixed in some italian breadcrumbs to change the texture. I served with the last of the fresh pineapple.