Protein for Breakfast

I recently read a book called 'Potatoes not Prozac' which is all about sugar sensitive people (like me!) and how you can effectively control your blood sugar to help your mood, energy and to think more clearly. I love this book - it's well written and breaks down the chemistry of blood sugar in a way that your average joe can understand.

Anyways, one of the suggestions in this book is to take your body weight in pounds and divide that by 2 - thats the # of grams of protein you should have in a day. Then divide that number by 3 and that's the number of grams of protein you should have per meal. For your average person (120-180 lbs), that is 20-30 grams protein per meal. So, I am starting this with BREAKFAST and will work my way up to having this much protein at every meal. Here are my first two ideas (ang yes, they are gluten free & sugar free):

(1) QUINOA FLAKE PROTEIN BOWL (for 1 person)

Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup quinoa flakes (4g protein)
- 1 cup unsweetened vanilla coconut milk
- NuNaturals vanilla liquid stevia
- 1 scoop chocolate Sunwarrior brown rice protein powder (17g protein)
- 1 tbsp sunflower seed butter (3g protein)

Directions:
(1) On the stove top add the quinoa flakes coconut milk into a pan
(2) Cook on medium heat until quinoa flakes are done (about 5 minutes) & put them in a bowl
(3) Mix in 2-3 droppers full of the stevia (or 2 packets of powder stevia or your choice of other sweetner)
(4) Mix in the protein powder & the sunflower seed butter

Serves 1
TOTAL protein: 24 grams
TOTAL calories: 340

(2) BUTTERNUT SQUASH PROTEIN PANCAKES (for 2-4 people)

Ingredients:
- 4 cup butternut squash (8g protein)
- 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
- dash sea salt
- 4 eggs (24g protein)
- 1 scoop vanilla Sunwarrior warrior blend protein (15g protein)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- NuNaturals vanilla liquid stevia

Directions:
(1) Cube 4 cups butternut squash and place in skillet with splash of water and coconut oil over high heat
(2) Sauté the squash about 15-20 min (until soft - but not mushy) adding water as needed & add in your sprinkle of sea salt at some point
(3) Puree in food processor with the eggs, cinnamon, and 2 droppers of stevia
(4) Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and stir in the protein powder to thicken
(5) Coat a pan with coconut cooking spray and make like pancakes! Yum!

If 2 people are eating - per serving:
TOTAL protein: 23.5 grams
TOTAL calories: 370

Enjoy!!

Protein Coconut Cake Bars (GF, SF)

I credit this original recipe for coconut bars to Elana's Pantry and the sugar free twist to my best friend, Rachel.  So, despite this not being mine, I have to share these to die for treats with you!  These are gluten free and sugar free! 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Heat a pot of water on medium heat over the stove.  Put a glass bowl on top and add in:

- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp coconut oil

3. Let the oil melt and then add in:
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tbsp nunaturals vanilla liquid stevia
- 1 cup unsweetened vanilla coconut milk

4. Stir well and then add:
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- 1/4 tsp sea salt

5. Stir well and transfer to a 9" x 13" pyrex pan and spread out evenly

6. Bake in oven for 30 minutes

7. With 10 minutes left to bake, get another glass pan and put it over the heating water
- Add in 3 tbsp coconut oil and let melt
- Add in 2 tbsp cacao powder
- Add in 6 droppers of nunaturals vanilla liquid stevia

8. When you take the cake out of the oven, pour the liquid chocolate from step 7 over it and spread evenly 

9. Let the cake cook for about 15 minutes.  Then slice into 15 bars. 

NURITION: 200 calories per slice and 5g protein! :) 

Delicious Cake Balls! (GF, SF)

Another amazing recipe, tweaked of course, from PowerCakes is her amazing cake balls

Mix in a bowl:
- 1 tbsp melted coconut oil
- 2 scoops of sunwarrior vanilla protein powder
- 2 tbsp coconut flour
- 1 dropper stevia
- 1/3 cup water
- Place in fridge 1-2 hours

Mix and roll into 8 small balls. 40 calories each.

Mix n match variations:
- Add in 1 tbsp peanut butter
- Add in 1 tbsp almond butter
- Add in 1/2 tbsp cacao
- Add in 1-2 tbsp cacao nibs
- Add in rainbow sprinkles (looks like cake!)
- Add in a few drops of coffee extract (alcohol free)

Gluten free crepes

This weekend we experimented with making gluten free crepes and came up with this amazing recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
- 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
- 1 1/2 cups oat flour
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 2 droppers full of liquid stevia (or about 4 packets of powder)
- 1 cup water

DIRECTIONS:
1. Mix all ingredients
2. Spray a non-stick skillet w coconut oil (or other)
3. Make crepes! Makes about 4-6 large crepes depending on pan size

Serves 2-3 with endless possibilities for creativity!

We tried eating ours for lunch with a cup or so of steamed veggies inside.

We also ate them for breakfast spread w almond butter and a sprinkle of cacao ... cocoa hazelnut butter would have been amazing also. After we spread the nut butter on, we folded it into quarters.  Yum! 

They are also delicious plain!

Let us know if you come up with any delicious ideas :)

Spirulina Kale Chips & more!

I had some kale chips with spirulina a few months ago and have been trying to find a recipe since.  I finally found this recipe on PowerCakes - an amazing website: http://www.powercakes.net/  Of course I have made a few small changes, but none the less, the credit goes to PowerCakes :)

It's super easy and oven friendly!

Ingredients:

- 1 bunch kale, broken into bite sized pieces
- 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
- 1.5 tbsp spirulina
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 coconut oil spray

Directions:
(1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees

(2) In a small bowl mix the yeast, spirulina, paprika and sea salt

(3) Spray a baking sheet with coconut oil

(4) Spread out kale on baking sheet

(5) Spray the kale with the coconut oil

(6) Sprinkle powder on kale

(7) Bake for 10-15 minutes until crisp :)

So yummy. Low calorie.  Sugar free.  You can eat the whole batch! :)

.... Then I figured out if I make this mixture of nooch (nutrtional yeast), paprika, spirulina and sea salt it is a great flavoring for vegetables!  I love steaming any combination of broccoli, brussel sprouts and butternut squash and then sticking them in the oven pan with kale and/or chopped red pepper.  I spray them with coconut oil baking spray and then sprinkle on the powder mixture and bake at 400 about 20-30 minutes :) Yum!