Pumpkin Pancakes and Greek Quinoa Recipes :)

It’s the weekend! And it’s fall! That means two things:

1. It is menu planning and meal prep time, and
2. Pumpkin flavored everything is everywhere... including my pancakes J

In terms of weekend food prep, I’ve got a pretty good Saturday routine down. Sleep in, eat, gym with my mom, eat, grocery shop, eat, food prep, and then, obviously, eat again. This weekend, however, I switched it up a bit and included a couple new recipes in my menu, so it required a little extra shopping time. I also had to prep all my food around a kitchen window renovation, so things were a little slower than usual. I had to leave a couple things until today, but finally have got it all prepped and packed, and done! Whoot whoot! All ready for the week.

This weekend I also made two different kinds of post-workout pumpkin pancakes. And both were yummy! Pumpkin puree just has a way of making baking rich, lush and delicious. And, even though it's available all year, it just seems to fit the best with fall.

The first was based on my basic Cinnamon Zucchini Protein Pancake with Vanilla Icing, but with a ¼ cup of canned pumpkin puree added to the batter, and a tablespoon of pumpkin added to the icing. The second creation was adding a ¼ cup of canned pumpkin puree to my Chocolate Zucchini Protein Pancake with Chocolate Icing. Mmmmm, the additional moisture added from the pumpkin made the pancake very dense, and in the absence of cinnamon, the pumpkin flavor really came out, and paired well with the peanut butter and bananas on top. What a delicious way to get in those post-workout carbs and protein!

After opening up a big can of pumpkin and only using ¼ cup at a time, it lasts awhile, so I have been trying it out in different things. Pumpkin works really well in yogurt with some oats, walnuts, bananas, cinnamon and maple syrup. Pretty much autumn in a bowl J This has been my new bedtime snack for the past week. I also tried it out in an oatmeal cookie. While the execution of baking the cookie went a little awry (I tried frying it like a pancake because I didn’t want to wait for it to bake in the oven), it still tasted really good- especially with some chunky peanut butter on top! I based this creation on this recipe from the Powercakes website, but I used a chopped up Brownie Questbar as chocolate chips instead. It all came together quite nicely.

 

I am always looking for new ways to use pumpkin in baking or recipes, so let me know if you have other ideas J

I have also been using the fall weekends to build and experiment with other recipes as well. One of my new go-tos for a weekday meal has been a spanakopita/ Greek inspired quinoa bake. I based this recipe off of a side dish my girlfriend Leanna used to make, but made a couple changes to make sure that it included the right amount of carbs and protein I needed for a mid-morning snack. I also started baking it as a casserole so I could easily slice and package up individual servings to heat and eat at work. It’s a pretty simple recipe with only a few ingredients, but is full of flavor and can be adapted to suit any macros or particular tastes. Enjoy!

Spanakopita Quinoa Bake

Ingredients (for 6 servings):

·         240g uncooked quinoa

·         1 bunch (about 6) green onions

·         3-4 cloves of raw garlic (or to taste- I like a little bit more)

·         300g raw spinach (about one of the big boxes)

·         ½ bunch of fresh dill

·         ½-1 lemon, juiced

·         1 ½ cups egg whites

·         To taste- black pepper and garlic powder

·         1 ½ cup dry cottage cheese

Instructions:

1. Cook quinoa according to package directions.
2. Dice up green onions and garlic. Sautee in a pan sprayed with Pam.
3. Once onions and green onions are soft, add in spinach to wilt. Remove from heat.
4. Stir fresh dill and lemon juice into onion, garlic and spinach mixture. Set aside.
5. In a large bowl, mix egg whites, pepper, and garlic powder together.
6. Add cooked quinoa to egg mixture. Mix well.
7. Add spinach mixture to quinoa and egg mixture.
8. Pour into sprayed baking dish.
9. Sprinkle cottage cheese on top.
10. Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Uncover and bake another 5-10 minutes or until egg is set and cottage cheese is melted.
11. Remove from oven. Let cool. Slice and serve or slice and store for an easy, re-heatable meal later.

This dish turned out really good! The combo of the garlic, onions, fresh dill and lemon really gives it that Greek-inspired flavor, while the quinoa and cottage cheese provide the carbs and protein to make it a satisfying meal. Options to switch it up a bit include using feta with (or instead of) the cottage cheese, swapping the quinoa with another grain for variety (I’m sure rice would work well!), add different vegetables (like peppers or sundried tomatoes) or change the herb (maybe some oregano?). Endless clean possibilities. Try it out and lemme know what you come up with!

 

XOXO

Jen

I'm Back! And, it's WIAW!!

I’m back and it’s already Wednesday. There is a lot to catch up on (like a recap of the show (and post-show treats), a quick trip to Vegas, the countdown to the next show, and potential plans for another show), but for now, it’s WIAW :)

With so much going on and little time to prep and prepare, my meal plan this week has been pretty simple, but really delicious! Here it is in pictures:

 

 

A description of each from left to right, top to bottom:

M1: Buckwheat and barley crockpot porridge topped with coconut butter

 

M2: Yam, oats and spinach baked with egg whites and topped with coconut butter

 

M3: Spinach salad with tilapia, yams, veggies and hemp hearts

 

M4: Broccoli slaw salad with avocado and sriracha sauce

 

M5: Chicken and brown rice with Greek salad and lemon dill yogurt sauce and Udo’s oil

 

M6: Greek yogurt mixed with chocolate casein and topped with raspberries and a “chocolate sauce” made of (pasteurized) egg whites and cocoa powder

 

The only thing not pictured are my pre-work out chocolate muffins which I eat out of my purse, on the bus, with my dirty bus fingers :(, on my way to the gym in between meals 4 and 5. Fine dining at it’s best.

 

Even though the overall components are quite basic, I tried to vary the proteins, carbs and healthy fats across the day while also balancing each macro within each meal (although some meals are more carb heavy while others are more protein heavy). What I eat and when is really dictated by my training schedule and needs. As I have only 18 more days before the next show (!!), and want to build and fill out my muscles, I am really focusing on getting the right amount of protein and carbs throughout the day, especially pre- and post-workout. I need these babies to grow!

And just because it is sooooo amazing, and raspberries are so delicious right now, here’s the recipe for the yogurt and raspberry snack:

 

Chocolate Covered Raspberries and Yogurt

 

Ingredients (for 1 serving):

• 15g (half a scoop) chocolate casein protein powder
• 1 TBSP cocoa powder
• 2 TBSP pasteurized egg whites 
• ½ cup non-fat Greek yogurt
• Raspberries (or any other fruit or nut topping)

Directions:

1. Combine the protein powder with the cocoa powder.
2. To make the chocolate sauce, mix 1 tablespoon of the protein powder and cocoa powder with the egg whites in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. In a serving bowl, combine the remaining protein powder and cocoa powder with the yogurt.
4. Top yogurt mixture with the raspberries and drizzle chocolate sauce on top. Note: If the chocolate sauce gets too thick, add a little bit of water to thin out.
5. Enjoy :)

 XOXO

J