Plums, Pancakes and Pizza Recipes (No, Not All Together)

If you have been following my (currently non-existent) WIAW posts over the past few months, you would have noticed that I have been keeping it pretty basic with minimal changes week to week. While I usually love mixing it up, because the summer was so busy, I just didn’t have time to think about it and kept it simple by doing what I already knew. From week to week I knew what I needed to buy, how to prep it and what all the macro (fats, carbs and protein) counts would be. It didn’t require much thinking which is how I needed it to be.

But finally (finally!!) things are slowing down a bit and I was inspired to try something new in the kitchen. This week it resulted in two really yummy recipes J Both provide a good balance between protein and carbs, and both can be modified to fit different macros, tastes and preferences. One is sweet and one is more savoury. Enjoy!

Plum and Zucchini Protein Pancake with Vanilla Icing

This recipe is a small twist in my basic Cinnamon Zucchini Protein Pancake. My parents have a plum tree in their backyard. It grows those delicious sweet and sour prune plums. At this time of year, my mom often makes a plum cake, which I love, so I wanted to find a way to recreate those flavours in a cleaner cake. The answer was a plum pancake J

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
• 40g (about ¼ cup) shredded zucchini
• 60g (about 2) soft prune plums
• 5g walnut pieces

Icing:

• 2 TBSP fat free Greek yogurt
• 1 TBSP vanilla protein powder

Directions:

1. Pit and chop up plums. Pre-heat and spray small frying pan. Add plums and sauté on low heat until soft and slightly caramelized.
2. In a small bowl, mix the oats, protein powder and cinnamon together.
3. Add in egg whites. Mix well. Add in zucchini, plum and walnuts.
4. Pour into the pre-heated, (re)sprayed frying pan. Cook for about 3 minutes, flip, and cook other side for 2 minutes (or until done).
5. To make the icing, stir together yogurt and protein powder.
6. Ice the protein pancake with the icing and serve warm.

 

 

 

I also topped mine with some chia prune jam. It turned out exactly as I expected. The pieces of plum in the cake really tart it up, which goes well with the sweet yogurt icing. I’m thinking of tripling this recipe and trying it out in a loaf pan to see how it slices up. A perfect portable, pre-portioned and prepped high protein and carb snack! It could even be used as a pre- or quick post-gym meal.

 

Quinoa Pizza Bites/ Casserole

This recipe started out as a way to satisfy a pizza craving (while meeting my carb and protein counts for the day). While sometimes nothing but a slice will do, other times, it’s really just the flavors I want. This recipe was a way to combine those flavors (tomato sauce, cheese, garlic and oregano) in an easy to prepare and package way for one of my meals during the week.

Ingredients (for 6 servings):

• 180g (1 cup) uncooked quinoa
• 300g spinach
• 6 TBSP tomato paste
• 1 ½ cup egg whites
• 125g (about ½ cup) dry cottage cheese curds
• garlic powder, oregano and black pepper (to taste)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cook quinoa according to package directions. When in doubt, I follow these instructions for quinoa.
3. Wilt spinach in a pan and set aside.
4. In a bowl, mix the egg whites, tomato paste and seasoning together.
5. Add in cottage cheese, cooked quinoa and spinach. Mix well.
6. Drop mixture into sprayed muffin tins or pour into sprayed 9X9 pan.
7. If making muffins, bake for 20-25. If baking in a pan, bake, covered, for about 20-25, then remove cover and bake for another 10 minutes.
8. Let cool and individually portion and package for an easy grab-and-go protein and carb filled meal.

 

This recipe turned out great! My first batch, made into muffins, were a little under seasoned, so I made sure to add more into my second batch, which I baked in a pan. This was delicious and very satisfying as a morning snack throughout the week. Depending on macros and personal tastes and preferences, parmesan cheese can be added to the mixture or melted on top for more flavor. Other “toppings” (like peppers and onions) can also be added into the mixture for different flavors and textures. The variations are endless! I might try a “Greek” inspired mix next time with feta and fresh dill!

And finally, even though I didn’t create this recipe, I had to share! I recently tried this protein and chocolate chip cookie dough brownie and almost died. It was amazing!! It uses a Quest bar, which I have heard a lot about, but haven’t tried out that much. This was a delicious way to eat it though! Mmmm.

XOXO

Jen

WIAWA: What I Ate… While Away :)

Whoa, life has been busy lately. Since moving two weeks ago, I have been to 7 different gyms (I felt like Goldilocks- needed to find one just right); to Napa and back, to Thetis Island and back; planning, preparing and prepping all my meals; working fulltime; and, in the middle of all of this, I have started taking an online course with the University of California on nutrition and disease (which is super interesting). I also have a couple of other things up my sleeve, but can’t reveal anything quite yet. So much is going on, but the sun is out which makes everything just that much easier :)

It’s Wednesday. Usually I would do a quick check in to post what I ate, but there really hasn’t been too much of a change since my last WIAW post mainly because I have just been keeping the menu the same to make planning and prepping easier. I know what I am making, what I have to buy and how it all totals up. Not too much thinking is involved, which is exactly what I need right now.

So, instead, this Wednesday, I thought that I would share what I have been eating while away. One of hardest things to do when away from home (for either business or pleasure) is to stay on track with the food plan. First, there’s the mentality of “I am on vacation, I should eat whatever I want,” which can be troublesome. Of course, vacations do usually mean a time for some indulgences and treats, but why hurt your body and undo all your progress just because you’re away? That doesn’t seem like a vacation. Taking the time to properly feed your body is a treat and what your body wants- and makes you feel good J Secondly, food is not always immediately available on vacation. Depending on where you are, where you are staying, and the time of day, grabbing a snack (healthy or not) may be difficult, if not impossible. And, eating out all the time gets expensive! Finally, going in with a plan and being prepared makes is so much easier to stay on track and avoid temptations. If you have put the time and effort into bringing your own food, it’s just that much easier to stay committed. #noexcuses.

Since May, I have been to Vegas with my sister, Napa Valley with girlfriends for a stagette, and Thetis Island with the hubby for a wedding. For each of these trips, I planned a menu ahead, prepped meals and packed snacks. Even when faced with various restrictions, such as crossing international boarders, flying, or not having refrigeration, it is possible. You can do it- I did! Below are the details from each trip with examples of what I ate while away.

Vegas: Keeping it Clean in Sin City

When planning any meal plan, I always start with the same questions. First, what do I need? I need proteins, carbs and healthy fats. Next, what am I working with? What are my constraints?

Well, this trip included crossing the US border (so no fresh fruits or vegetables) and flying (so no liquids- which, to note, apparently includes yogurt L I learned that the hard way while in the security line up). Also, once arriving at the hotel, I may or may not have access to a fridge and I definitely won’t have a stove.

So, what am I left with?

Well, for carb sources, oats is an easy one. Delicious, nutritious and portable. I can even pre-portion out bags, and mix with some protein powder for an on-the-go meal (as long as I have access to hot water, which, you’d think be easy enough). I can also bake a batch of my protein muffins to pack as well. You can also buy these handy dandy pre-portioned and packed bags that even come with a measuring pouch so you know how much water to add. Someone was thinking.

For proteins, the obvious is protein powder. Again, delicious, nutrition and versatile. I can pre-portion out servings or even just bring a tub to scoop out of. I can mix it with water (or coffee!), stir into my oats or mix it with yogurt. Enough said. Beyond that, however, proteins get a little trickier. My usual choices, chicken, fish, and eggs don’t travel well (for obvious reasons) and probably won’t make it through the boarder, or on a plane. This one requires a little more creativity…

Healthy fats are easy to pack, with lots of options. There are nuts (almonds, walnuts, mixed nuts), flax seeds and chia seeds. All can also be mixed with oats (and protein powder!) to make a balanced, travel friendly meal.

Once figuring out the basics, I realized I probably wouldn’t want to live on oatmeal, protein shakes and nuts for four days, so started to look into grocery store options in Vegas. Guess what!? There’s a Whole Foods a couple miles from the airport. Easy peasy. That opens up a whole new host of options- like fresh fruits and vegetables, egg whites and yogurt. After confirming there would be a microwave in the room (which seems fairly standard nowadays), I started planning my meals. Here is what I came up with:

• Meal 1 (pre-workout): Protein muffins (packed in my luggage frozen)
• Meal 2 (post-workout): Oatmeal with protein powder and flax seeds with a side of egg whites
• Meal 3: Salad with avocado and tuna
• Meal 4: Yogurt and berries
• Meal 5: Apple and almonds

Prep-wise, I brought the oatmeal, flax seeds, nuts and protein powder from home and bought a carton of egg whites, salad mix, avocados, tuna, yogurt and fruit at Whole Foods on the way to the hotel from the airport. Sure that added a little bit of time and expense onto the taxi ride, but the extra $20 was well worth it and would have easily been spent of food if I was buying my breakfast, lunches and snacks poolside at the hotel. I did also have to plan ahead and brought a couple containers and plastic utensils to make sure I had something to eat with in the room, although, it is easy enough to find around the hotel too. Forget the minibar, here’s what our well stocked room looked like:

I also left room in the menu to enjoy a few dinners out (with a couple glasses of wine) which was nice :)

And, it was all worth it. Not only did I have an enjoyable, relaxing and memorable vacation, I was also able to keep up with my training and stay on track which was very important as I was only 4 weeks out from my second competition of the season. 

 

Yay for eating clean and training mean in Vegas!

 

Napa Valley: Oatmeal and rice cakes with a side of wine?

A couple of weekend ago, I got to visit Napa Valley on a stagette with my beautiful friend Katherine :)

 

 

Obviously, Napa Valley = wine. And I may be known to love a glass, or two, of red, so I was stoked for this trip. I’m not currently “on season” and training for a show, but I want to keep up with my training and food plan because (a) I am working on Operation Bigger, Better, Stronger; (b) I am prepping for some MAJOR opportunities coming up (more of the stuff I can’t reveal quite yet) and I want to bring my best, and (c) for all the other reasons listed above. I demand a lot from my body and it feels better when I treat it right.

 

The tricky aspect of this trip, in addition to crossing international borders and airport security, was the lack of control. I didn’t plan this trip, it wasn’t my stagette, and there were 10 other ladies. Who knows what we’d get up to (and we got up to a lot :P) or where we would end up (over the four nights away we stayed in 3 different hotels). The good news is that I could control what I ate by bringing my food with me. So, I packed up a little bag of goodies:

 

 

In addition to the protein powder and oatmeal I took to Vegas, I also brought whole grain crackers and rice cakes for carbs, flax seeds and nut butters for fats, and some Vega and veggie-based bars to help round out the nutrition since I couldn’t bring fresh fruit with me (although, I was able to find apples and bananas along the way- either in airports, at Starbucks, or in the hotel). Having all of this on hand was awesome, as I was able to eat something immediately after my morning workouts and have things in my purse to eat throughout the day when we were out and about. 

Of course, when in Rome… I did also allow some room in my food plan for wine and some tasty meals out, one of the best being at this Italian place Ca'Momi Enoteca.  It was soooo delicious that I had two appys (to myself) and a whole pizza. Hahaha. I’m still dreaming about all of this:

 

 

Mmmmm. All, so good. And yes, while a little (okay, a lot) indulgent, overall, I was able to keep it on track most of the time, but still fit in a few treats- the best of both worlds :)

Thetis Island: Back to the Basics

This was a trip I was really looking forward to (although, I was really looking forward to all of them). But this trip was more like a little retreat. We were going for a wedding, but made a weekend out of it. Thetis Island is one of the southern gulf islands just off the west coast of B.C. and it. Was. Beautiful! Luckily, we had found a nice little cottage to rent that had a full kitchen, and we weren’t crossing any borders, or taking a plane (just two ferries and a bit of a drive), which meant I could take anything I wanted to eat!! Yay! This made things much easier. I created a menu and packed up a whole box and cooler with fresh veggies and fruit, nut butters, eggs, and yogurt.

 

 

I also had prepped some of the meals at home the night before to have them grab and go so I could eat them anywhere.

On the ferry:

In the car:

At the picnic table:

 

Anywhere. This made it so easy. #noexcuses and lots of time to enjoy the scenery.

 

And, even though I had planned and prepped all of that, I still couldn’t resist the fresh berries at the produce stand and bought some blueberries, cherries and peppers.

Again, I also allowed for some treats at the wedding. No alcohol, but a little bit of cheese and crackers, and a chocolate covered strawberry… or 5 of them. I couldn’t help it. They’re my favs :)

 

Anyway, the point of this WIAWA post is to share some ideas for keeping on track while travelling. It’s funny, even though I have now been through this a few times, it is still a little daunting and takes a little figuring when a new trip comes up. Next week I’ll be heading to Chicago (yay! I looooove Chicago) for a few nights. So, again, I’ll be faced with crossing international borders and airport security and I am already stressing about what to bring. BUT, I know it can be done, and I will do it. Sure, it’s not always easy, but it’s worth it.

 

XOXO

J

 

WIAW :) and Pre-Workout Snack Recipe

Here's what's on the menu for today.

It's a weight training day which means an extra pre-workout snack in the afternoon (not pictured above, see below). This week, I made chocolate protein muffins to eat on the bus on my way home from work/ to the gym. They are simple, easy to make, turned out delicious and have been fueling my tough new workouts. Only 18 days out to the show!! Things are tightening up and I am starting to get tired, but this is it! This is the final push. Love it!!

Reason to be fit #0197: For the smile I will have once I reach my goal.

Here's a full breakdown of my food plan fueling me this week:

Meal	Menu Item	What You Need To Know...
M1: Breakfast	Barley and buckwheat porridge.	I made a new batch of this porridge on Sunday prep and incorporated some of the tweaks I suggested in my other post.
M2: Snack	Quinoa and kale frittata.	A yummy little casserole dish filled with lots of veggies and protein.
M3: Lunch	Yam and chickpea chicken curry.	Again, I made a new batch this weekend and made a couple of changes. Still tasty :)
M4: Snack	Tuna on a bed of broccoli slaw and avocado.	Soooo yummy with a little lemon squirted on top.
M5: Pre-workout	Chocolate protein muffins.	The perfect, portable pre-workout snack made from egg whites, protein powder and oats.
M6: Post-workout/ dinner	Tilapia served over a bed of brown rice with a salad of raw veggies and a scoop of yogurt. This is served without the rice on non-weight training days.	The Greek yogurt mixed with the warm rice and crunchy veggies is heavenly! I also added in some fresh dill. Very satisfying.
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.	Still eating this every night, but in different variaties. Sometime vanilla, sometimes chocolate. Always delicious!

The barley and buckwheat porridge in the morning is just so satisfying! Building on the recipe from last week, this time around, I sub out the wheat bran, and added a oat and flax seed porridge mix instead. I also omitted the coconut oil, reduced a cinnamon a bit and added in two scoops of vanilla protein powder. These changes also required me to add in an extra cup and a half of water. It turned out a lot more moist than last time and I have been heating it up with 1/3 cup of apple sauce and melting 1 tsp of coconut oil on top. Absolutely heavenly!

While most of the other menu items on this week's meal plan are quite similiar to what I was eating last week, I did try out a new pre-workout snack. Working with what I need to consume carb and protein-wise before my workout, I tried out a new protien pancake/ muffin recipe. What I got was the perfect on-the-go pre-workout snack. Not only that, they are also very delicious, and as a bonus, quick and easy to make.

Pre-workout Chocolate Protein Muffins or Pancakes

Ingredients for 1 serving

• 1/3 cup oats
• 1/4 cup egg whites
• 10g chocolate whey protein powder (or any other flavor)
• 1 TBSP cocoa (because who doesn't love extra chocolate flavor)

 
Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Depending on whether you want muffins or pancakes:
• For muffins: Pour into 2 sprayed muffin tins and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Be careful not to over bake as they will dry out fast.
• For pancakes: Pour batter into a sprayed pre-heated pan. Flip pancake after 4 minutes.

To help save time, I recommend tripling or quadrupling the recipe to have extras on hand for the week. Also, this can be used as a base for even more yumminess. Depending of what your nutritional requirements are or what you are craving, you can also stir in some fresh fruit or nuts and top with nutbutter or yogurt protein icing!

Happy "pump" day!

XOXO
Jen