What I Ate Wednesday #132: Time For a Change

Posted on May 20, 2015 by BarrAndTable

Heyooo! Look at me posting twice this week! Pretty exciting, huh? I’ve recently starting making a couple changes to my diet, so I figured a good WIAW post was in order.

I mentioned recently that I’ve had a bit of weight gain. Frustrating? You betcha! So I decided that I was going to make some changes to my workouts. I set a goal for myself; I wanted to lose 5 lbs by my anniversary. I know it’s not all about the number, but sometimes I find it helpful to have that goal.

I tried increasing my cardio, as that was what worked for me a couple years ago, but unfortunately, not this time. My next attempt was to go in the complete opposite direction. I started the 30 Day Kettlebell Challenge and while I’ve loved these workouts, I still haven’t seen the change I’m searching for.

Next change is diet. I reached out to my good blogger friend, Lindsay Cotter, who happens to be a fitness nutrition specialist. She’s been so helpful and I’m looking forward to seeing how her suggestions work out for me.

[Pre-Workout]
Half of a banana with almond butter and a cup of coffee is the perfect fuel for me these days. The workouts I’ve been doing are less than 30 minutes and this snack is just enough to tide me over.

[Breakfast]

Dude. Dude. You have to try these microwave grain-free english muffins! I don’t have any raisins, but these have been so good with some almond butter schmeer and have proven to be a great vessel for my sweet eggs. I also tried replacing half of the almond flour with protein powder on Tuesday and it turned out wonderfully!

[Morning Snack]
I had a busy morning so I wasn’t able to snap a picture of my smoothie, but it was lean, green, and protein-packed.. err mean? I used 1 scoop whey protein, 1 scoop Skoop Sweetgreens A Game, 10 cherries, 1 tbsp coconut oil, cucumber, ice, and a little almond milk to get things moving. The coconut oil in a smoothie was new for me but Lindsay said more fats, so I gave it a go and it was DEELISH.

[Lunch]

I was starved by the time I got home from work so I threw some kale, chicken, frozen butternut squash, and sugar snap peas into a pan with a little buffalo sauce and topped with avocado and ketchup.

[Afternoon Snack]
More fats? You got it. I went for an over-medium egg, a few almonds, and a carrot. A little #StrangeButGood action. And definitely not photo-worthy. You’re welcome.

[Dinner]

Coconut honey lime Filipino chicken with roasted red pepper and zucchini. All the protein and nice and light. I devoured it in between my evening clients.

[Evening Snack]

Oh heyyy, almond butter! I was happy to see it multiple times throughout the day. And apples and nut butters go together like.. well, nut butters go with everything.

The biggest changes I have here are breakfast and snacks. I definitely thought I’d miss my daily bowl of oats a little more than I do. I’m still getting used to the snacks, though; I’ve never been a big smoothie drinker and tend to grab a bar for convenience, but you have to make changes to see changes, yes? So far, so good this week; I’ll report back!

Food for Thought

What are your favorite protein-packed, grain-free breakfasts and snacks?

Almond Butter STUFFED Brownie Bites {Recipe ReDux}

Posted on May 10, 2015 by BarrAndTable

Happy Mother’s Day!

I have a chocolate-y treat for you today that you won’t want to pass up. They’re gluten-free, paleo, and sweetened with fruit! Dried plums, to be specific. But don’t go running!

When was the last time you tried a dried plum? They’re delicious! A little sweet, a little tart, and chewy like candy. Not to mention, each serving is just 100 calories, provides 3g of fiber, 293mg of potassium, 16mg of magnesium, and more vitamin K than any other fresh or dried fruit. And in honor of May’s National Osteoporosis Month, why not give them a try?

Almond Butter STUFFED Brownie Bites

Makes 16 brownie bites

Ingredients

3oz. California Dried Plums [about 12-15 dried plums]
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp milk [I used cashew milk]
2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
2 tbsp coconut oil; melted
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp almomd butter; divided
1 egg
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

For the Frosting

1/4 cup chocolate nut butter*
2-4 tbsp milk

*If you don’t have chocolate nut butter, you can sub regular nut butter and add cocoa powder. You will need to increase the amount of milk if you do this.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Place the dried plums in a food processor and process into a paste. You may need to stop and scrape the sides down a few times.
Add the vanilla, milk, applesauce, coconut oil, and 1/4 cup almond butter to the bowl and process until smooth.
Add in the egg and pulse a few times until just incorporated.
Add the remaining dry ingredients to the bowl, pulse a few times to get it started, and finish incorporating completely by hand.
Using a 1/2 tbsp, scoop the mix into 16 mini muffin tins.
With a 1/2 tsp, scoop almond butter on top of the brownie bite base.
Finish off with another 1/2 tbsp of the mix to cover the almond butter and place in the oven for 8-9 minutes.
While baking, make your frosting. Add the ingredients to a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir together until smooth.
Remove the bites from the oven and let cool completely before frosting.

Nutritional Information
75 Calories / 5g Fat / 6g Carbs / 2g Fiber / 3g Sugar / 2g Protein

Now who wouldn’t want to snack on that today?! And because I can’t make these for my mom today, you should!

Don’t miss out an all of the California Dried Plum recipes from all of the other ReDux-ers!

And, of course, happy mother’s day to my mom! I wish I could be with you today to celebrate how awesome you’ve always been and always are for me. But hey, if you want to come out here again, I have some brownie bites waiting for you!

Food for Thought

Are you a dried plum fan?
How are you celebrating your mother’s day?

Disclosure: I received free samples of California Dried Plums mentioned in this post. By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by California Dried Plum Board and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.