What I Ate Wednesday

Ugh, my hatred for mornings is only made worse by the rain. And, today, it’s so wet, windy and cold. Really though, that should never come as a surprise. Of course it’s wet, windy and cold- it's Vancouver! However, even in the rain, Vancouver is full of beauty and colour.

 

 

 

The other good thing? It’s Wednesday! In the spirit of WIAW, here’s what was on the menu for me today:

 

 

I didn’t post my full meal plan for this week because it was so similar to last week’s plan, but here it is in full.

 

Meal	Menu Item	Notes
M1: Breakfast	Barley and buckwheat porridge.	Served with a spoonful of apple sauce.
M2: Snack	Tuna baked with egg whites and oats served on a salad of avocado and broccoli.	Spiced up with a hit of siracha sauce.
M3: Lunch	Yam and chickpea chicken curry.	This has been really tasty! Will be making again for sure.
M4: Snack	Scrambled egg whites with steamed veggies and hemp hearts.	My delicious afternoon staple.
M5: Pre-workout	Chocolate quinoa pudding.	Not pictured, and only consumed on weight training days.
M6: Post-workout/ dinner	Tilapia served over a bed of brown rice with a salad of raw veggies and a scoop of yogurt.	The Greek yogurt mixed with the warm rice and crunchy veggies is heavenly!
M7: Snack (optional- but let’s be honest, I eat it every night!)	Greek yogurt mixed with a half a scoop of casein and strawberries.	Since running out of vanilla casein I have been using chocolate and it is just as delightfulJ

 

Recipes for all these meals will be up soon :)

 

XOXO

Jen

Weekend Wrap Up and Protein Pancake Recipes

After a crazy busy long weekend last weekend (including a friend’s birthday dinner downtown, a bikini appointment, a massage therapy session, two Easter dinners, posing practice and a full day of food prep- on top on my regular training schedule), I was really looking forward to this weekend full of no plans J No plans = dreamy. No plans means I can sleep in, take my time at the gym, make my food when I want, and spend some time with the hubby.

Saturday went like this: Sleep in, eat, gym time (interspersed with eating), eat, Homeland marathon (interspersed with eating), bed.

Sunday went like this: Sleep in, eat, gym time (interspersed with eating), eat, Homeland, food prep, eat, final Homeland, bed.  

See a theme?

My weekend in pictures:

Vanilla and chocolate protein pancakes

At the gym refueling between workouts

My adorable husband- isn't he cute?

 

All my #favouritethings in life!

Both mornings (as all weekend mornings do) started with protein pancakes. I love me some protein pancakes, and this weekend both recipes were both soooo delicious. Each started with the same base (oats, protein powder, and egg whites), but different flavours, add-ins and toppings were used. There are soooo many protein pancake recipes out there, but these are the ones I have created to fit my nutritional requirements.

Zucchini Protein Pancake with Vanilla Icing

Ingredients (for 1 large pancake):
Pancake:

• 1/3 cup oats
• 20g vanilla whey protein powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon (or to taste)
• ¼ cup egg whites
• 46g shredded zucchini
• 2 TBSP skim milk
• 5g walnut pieces

Icing:

• 2 TBSP fat free Greek yogurt
• 5g vanilla protein powder
• 1 tsp coconut oil

 

Directions:

1. Mix the oats, protein powder and cinnamon together.
2. Add in egg whites and milk. Mix well. Add in zucchini and walnuts.
3. Pour into a pre-heated, sprayed frying pan. Cook for about 5 minutes, flip, and cook other side for 3 minutes (or until done).
4. To make the icing, stir together yogurt, coconut oil and protein powder.
5. Ice the protein pancake with the icing and serve warm.

Per serving: 386 cals; 11g fat; 34g carb; 38g protein

Super simple, but utterly delicious! This was sooo good. The yogurt based vanilla icing was almost like cream cheese icing and it even started melting into the warm pancake. In addition to the icing, I also topped with a spoonful of homemade chia jam. It was like eating cake... without the guilt.

That was Saturday morning. Sunday morning, I made something similar, but chocolate-ed it up!

 

Chocolate Zucchini Protein Pancake with Chocolate Icing

Ingredients (for 1 large pancake):
Pancake:

• 1/3 cup oats
• 20g chocolate whey protein powder
• 2 tsp cocoa (or to taste)
• ¼ cup egg whites
• 46g shredded zucchini
• 2 TBSP skim milk
• 5g walnut pieces

Icing:

• 2 TBSP fat free Greek yogurt
• 5g chocolate protein powder
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 1 tsp cocoa 

Directions:

1. Mix the oats, protein powder and cocoa together.
2. Add in egg whites and milk. Mix well. Add in zucchini and walnuts.
3. Pour into a pre-heated, sprayed frying pan. Cook for about 5 minutes, flip, and cook other side for 3 minutes (or until done).
4. To make the icing, stir together yogurt, protein powder, coconut oil and cocoa.
5. Ice the protein pancake with the icing and serve warm.

Per serving: 386 cals; 12g fat; 39.5g carb; 32.5 protein

Again, I ate this with chia jam on top (just to get in those chia seeds), but the icing mixes up so smooth and fudgy that it would be delicious without the jam.

I'm always looking for new ideas. Have any tried and true #proteinpancake recipes? What do you top your pancakes with? Please share!

XOXO
J

Good (ugh) Morning and Breakfast Recipe Review

I hate mornings. I hate, hate, HATE mornings. Getting up in the mornings has to be one of the lowest points of my day (on the flip side, getting into bed at night is usually one of the best parts of my day :)).  This morning was no exception. When my alarm went off at 5:40 am is was still dark out and I could hear the rain… if I can hear the rain, I know it’s bad. I live on the third floor of a four story building. If I can hear the rain, it’s coming down hard. Never the less, I know I have to get up, and pressing snooze to get those extra few minutes only prolongs the pain (I figured that out after years of trial and error and complaints from a husband who doesn’t have to get up as early J). Once I am up, I’m usually good (things can only go up from there). Today I was up, dressed and ready to go by 6:10 which was awesome, because I  knew I’d make it to work earlier than usual which would allow me to get more stuff done before the work day started at 8.

(Which, as a side note, this in my new MO- getting to work a half hour earlier than needed to have some quiet, dedicated time to organize my life. This includes scheduling my workouts for the week, planning the weekend, looking up new recipes, paying bills, etc. Anything that I can just get done and out of the way to help me stay on track and focus throughout the rest of the day. #keystosuccess).

Anyway, I was up and out and on the bus by 6:18. By 6:19, while passing the next stop, I realized I had forgotten my whole lunch bag (full of meals 1-4) at home. [Insert look of shock and horror here]. By 6:20 panic had struck (“OMG, what am I going to do??”), by 6:21 I flirted with the idea to not go get it (“Could I go a day without my pre-planned, prepped meals? The answer to that was a quick and firm “NO”), and by 6:22 I was frantically ringing the bell to get off the bus so I could walk all the way back, in the rain, (uphill and in bare feet- just kidding!) home to pick up my lunch- which was just sitting out on the counter all packed up and ready to go. How could I have forgotten it? (The coffee distracted me).

Once I had my lunch in hand, and order was restored to my world, I trudged back up to the bus stop (still in the pouring rain, but it was getting a little lighter out) and caught the 6:45 bus- so much for my earlier morning. As soon as I was settled on the bus, it was back to business as usual and I had my morning favs: coffee, music, news and celebrity gossip... I love me some Celebitchy!

These things make morning life much more tolerable. As does a stop at Starbucks for a second cup of coffee :)

So, finally at work, I was able to dig into my breakfast, which, I have really been enjoying this week. Made up of grains and grain-like seeds and cinnamon, this warm and yummy breakfast is full of some delicious starchy carbs that leave me feeling satiated for hours. The full recipe I used (adapted from here) and the nutritional information can be found here and on my Recipes page under Wheat and Bran Crockpot Porridge.

Wheat and Bran Crockpot Porridge

Ingredients (for 10 servings):

• ½ cup wheat bran
• 1 ½ cup (310g) barley
• ½ cup oat bran
• ½ cup (95g) buckwheat
• ¼ (45g) bulgar
• 6 ½ cups water
• 15 prunes
• 3 TBSP cinnamon (this may have been a little too much)
• 5 TBSP melted coconut oil
• 40g walnuts

Instructions:

1. Pour all ingredients into the crockpot. Mix together well to combine.
2. Place cover on crockpot and cook on high for 4 hours or until liquid absorbed and grains are tender.

Per serving: 300 calories; 11.25g fat; 47g carb; 8g protein

Easy peasy! I have been enjoying this every morning heated up with a 1/3 cup apple sauce stirred in to naturally sweeten, cut the excess of cinnamon and add a little creaminess to the mixture.

And, while it turned out great, I have a couple tweaks in mind for next time:

1. I don’t really smell or taste the added coconut oil. Next time, I think that I will omit that from the recipe and add in ½ - 1 tablespoon of coconut oil or butter when I heat up the individual serving.

2. I might omit the walnuts and top the individual servings with some other type of nut butter, like almond butter or hazelnut butter, to switch it up.

3. To boost the protein, I am also thinking of stirring in a ¼ - ½ scoop of vanilla protein powder after I warm it up.

4. I also may try to add the apple sauce to the crockpot to see if it turns out more moist.

5. And, in the vein of zucchini cake, I want to try adding some shredded zucchini and cocoa powder.

So many options! Let me know if you try it out! Send me your pics.

My other “new” meal this week was the quinoa pudding recipe I found on Chelle Stratford’s Recipe for Fitness blog. Here’s what I made with the nutritional information.

Chocolate Quinoa Protein Pudding

Ingredients (for 5 servings):

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 2 scoops (60g) chocolate whey protein powder
• 1 ¼ cup almond milk
• 3 TBSP cocoa

Instructions:

1. Cook quinoa as normal.
2. Once quinoa is done and still warm, stir in the almond milk, protein powder and cocoa.

Per serving: 190 calories; 3.3g fat; 24g carb; 15.5g protein

This turned out great! A delicious chocolaty delight! On days that I weight train I use it as my pre-workout snack (consumed on the bus- much more convenient and less smelly than tuna or eggs :)) and on non-weight training days I eat it in the morning as my Meal 2 with an added tablespoon of almond butter. I even tried it heated up this morning. Just as yummy. Like a hot chocolate soup.

Next time, I may add in a little less liquid so it’s not as runny, but again, overall, good as is. A definite repeat. And, it could be made with any flavor of protein powder and mix-ins (like nuts, fresh fruit, chia seeds, etc).

In any case, the week of mornings are now over, which means some weekend sleep ins! Yay! And know what else weekend mornings mean?? Protein pancakes! Mmmm…

XOXO
J

New Month, New Week, New Food, New Blog!

Welcome to my blog! Since I intended to start posting months ago, let me catch you up…

I am currently just under 5 weeks (5!) out from my first fitness competition of the season. I competed for the first time in November 2012 at the BCABBA Sandra Wickham Fall Classic in BC in the Bikini division. It was an amazing experience. So amazing, that I wanted to do it again- and I am!

This time, I am aiming for Fitness Model. My training program has changed, my food plan has tightened up and body is getting stronger. I look forward to every opportunity, every day, to push it further and do my best. This blog to share this experience with you J (more on that later).

It’s the start of a new month and a new week (sorta, since Monday was a holiday). For me, that means a new meal plan. I spent the majority of my long weekend planning, prepping and piecing together my menu for the week, balancing my nutritional needs across the day to ensure my body gets what it needs when it needs it. Sunday (in this case Monday) food prep helps me stay on track and saves me so much time throughout the week. Once everything is made and put together, I don’t have to think about it again (until the following weekend at least). Everything is just grab and go. No excuses. #keytosuccess

Everything prepped, cooked, and portion for a week of clean meals.

While I usually stick to fairly simple and similar meal plans week to week, this week I started changing things up to accommodate some of my new food plan requirements (such as eating starchy carbs earlier in the day and pre- and post- workout) and to add more variety to my protein, carb and fat sources. This week, I’ll be sharing what my meal plan looks like and how all turns out. I have either tweaked existing recipes or just fully developed my own recipes to fit my nutritional requirements. And, since I am on a fairly specific everything-is-measured-and-weighed diet, little, if any, taste testing gets done while I cook. So, this week may be full of surprises- good and/or bad. Either way, I’ll be sticking to it though :)

A couple restrictions I have to work with while planning and preparing my meals:

1. I work full time and commute 2.5 hours to and from work. That is a lot of time away from home which means my meals must be mobile. Pretty much Meals 1-4 (1-5 on weight days) must be portable. I need to make food that can be stored in tupperware containers, last in the fridge (or freezer) at least 5 days and can be easily assembled and warmed up.

2. While I do eat chicken breast and some (limited) seafood, I do not eat any other meat (it’s not a moral/ ethical thing- I just don’t like it). I also don’t like ground chicken or the taste of chicken reheated. Sometimes, if the chicken is in a soup, I can tolerate it, but it is hit and miss. This forces me to be creative with varying the sources of my protein to ensure I get enough.

3. Everything must taste good. When preparing my meals, taste/ enjoyability always comes first. I am not going to eat something that I don’t like- no matter how good it is for me. There are soooo many delicious options out there, why eat something you don’t enjoy?? Makes no sense to me. I love food and I love finding ways to put things together so that they not only meet my nutritional needs, but also taste delicious.

So, considering all of the above, this is my #mealplan for the week:

Meal	On the Menu	Just So You Know...
M1: Breakfast	Barley and buckwheat porridge	Adapted from Tosca Reno’s Eat Clean Diet Crockpot Porridge
M2: Snack	Tuna baked with oats and flax on a salad of avocado, spinach and broccoli	Spiced up with a hit of siracha sauce and squeeze of lemon
M3: Lunch	Yam and chickpea chicken curry	Made this concoction up… should be interesting
M4: Snack	Egg whites with steamed veggies and hemp hearts	Too easy to be this good
M5: Pre-workout	Chocolate quinoa pudding	Found this on Chelle Stratford’s Recipe for Fitness blog (which I love by the way)
M6: Post-workout/ dinner	Turkey with rice and beets, served over a salad with Udo’s oil	Easter leftovers (thanks mom and mother-in-law!)
M7: Snack (optional)	Greek yogurt mixed with a half a scoop of vanilla casein and strawberries	My ultimate fav! #cleantreat #favouritething

Can you spot all the proteins, healthy fats and complex carbs? I think I did a good job of mixing things up and fitting it all together, but the week shall tell. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Jen