What I Ate Wednesday #131: White Chocolate Raspberry Protein Bars {Recipe ReDux}

Thank you all for your wonderful comments on Monday’s post. As I said, I’m working on figuring out my balance with jobs and life and blogging. I had to post today to share my new protein bar recipe. It’s just too good to keep to myself. So why not jump back on the What I Ate Wednesday bandwagon?

[Pre-Workout]
It was 2 for Tuesday yesterday so rather than my usual energy bites, I whipped up a quick protein pancake with 1 scoop protein powder, 1/4 cup egg whites, and 1/4 cup cashew milk and spread a little almond butter on top. While it held me over pretty well for barre, I decided to pop 1/2 banana before I went over to the gym for some cardio.

[Breakfast]

I KNOW I said you don’t need to see another bowl of oatmeal. But this might have just been the best bowl of oatmeal ever. Or maybe I was just so hungry. Yep. Let’s go with the latter.

[Lunch]

I got the hugest bunches of kale and bag of carrots from the farmers’ market on Saturday. I sauteed a bunch of them up with some sugar snaps, turkey meatballs, and buffalo sauce, topped with avocado, quick-pickled beets, and ketchup. Legit. And so filling.

[Afternoon Snack]

HOLY YUM! I’ve been trying to figure out a good recipe to replace my favorite Quest bars and this month’s Recipe ReDux helped to inspire my bars.

Go through your pantry, cupboards, freezer, or fridge; what ‘treasures’ have you found? Pick an ingredient/spice/condiment that’s been hanging out for a while and give it the attention it needs. Share a healthy recipe made using your new-found pantry prize.

We’re pretty much the worst at ever finishing a jar of preserves so why not throw it into a bar? These are just the right amount of sweet and the best part? No baking! That said, if you do decide to broil or bake these babies, they are pretty reminiscent of a Quest bar. Success!

No-Bake White Chocolate Raspberry Protein Bars

Makes 6 bars

Ingredients
– 1/4 cup nut butter [I used Peanut Butter Co. The Bee’s Knees]
– 4 scoops vanilla protein powder [I used Optimum Nutrition]
– 1/4 cup coconut flour
– 4-6 tbsp water
– 2 tbsp white chocolate chips
– 1-2 tbsp raspberry preserves

Directions
In a medium bowl, melt the nut butter. Mix in the protein powder, coconut flour, and water. The amount of water used will depend on your other ingredients so add slowly. Mix these ingredients until everything comes together and is slightly sticky. Add in the white chocolate chips and 1 tbsp raspberry preserves.

Line a loaf pan with saran wrap and press the mixture into the pan. Top the mix with a little more raspberry preserves and place in the freezer for about an hour. Remove from the freezer and cut into 6 equal bars. Wrap each bar separately in saran wrap and store in the freezer.

Nutritional Information
Per 1 bar
208 Calories / 9g Fat / 15g Carbs / 3g Fiber / 10g Sugar / 20g Protein

[Dinner]

We can pretend that my dinner looked half as good as the real deal. In reality, I decided to not toss the balls in buffalo, skip the naan, and used cheddar instead of blue cheese. I think it would have turned out better if the falafel had been tossed in buffalo.. or if they were fried. Oh well. You win some, you lose some.

[Evening Snack]
The apple and nut butter still live strong.

Don’t miss out on all of the other Recipe ReDux link ups!

Food for Thought

What treasure do you have in your pantry or fridge?

What I Ate Wednesday #130: Greens & Grains

It’s amazing how much I love eating at home when I know we have company coming into town. Especially company that has yet to experience all of the incredible food and drink the bay area has to offer! I’m making sure to get in all of my greens, whole grains, and lean proteins while I can because it’s not long until our craziness starts again. I even had the opportunity to eat most of my meals at home yesterday. Dinner was the only exception but hey, at least I had time to throw it all together before heading to work.

[Breakfast]

I finally made sure I’m fully stocked on nut butters again! It’s practically torture only having 1 nut butter at my disposal [my life is so hard!], but now I’m back to cashew, almond, and peanut. Thank goodness!

[Morning Snack]

More of a breakfast #2.. post-barre I was pretty hungry and Taylor’s microwave peanut butter protein pancakes that I shared yesterday were just screaming my name! It was the right call, for sure.

[Lunch]

Leftover Moroccan chicken, za’atar cauliflower, and asparagus from Monday’s dinner graced my salad. I think I could’ve just eaten a big bowl of the cauliflower and been perfectly happy! If only I roasted 2 heads of cauliflower..

[Dinner]

A late lunch held me over for a good while until I had dinner standing outside of the gym. When you’re working the evening shift, you do what you gotta do! Luckily I had time to throw together cashew chicken and broccoli.. except with ground turkey. I guess you’d call that cashew turkey?

[Evening Snack]

I just won some of these Vanilla Almond Pure bars and they’re so good! It definitely helped to nip my sweet tooth in the bud after dinner and I love the chewy + crunchy texture from the nuts and grains. I’ve gotta get my hands on the Peanut Butter Chocolate and Chocolate Chunk Nut bars soon!

Food for Thought

Have you tried the new Pure Ancient Grains bars?

What I Ate Wednesday #114: The True “Normal”

Have you entered my Peanut Butter & Co. giveaway?

I may have gotten back to my pretty “normal” eating last week after Thanksgiving, but the truth is I was still on vacation. It might have just been at my parents’ house, but that still means a little extra snackage, a little bit bigger meals, going out for dinner and drinks with friends more often.. it all adds up. I was ready to get back to normal, normal and yesterday was the first day of that.

[Pre-Workout]

I missed these little bites!

[Breakfast]

I don’t even know how many months I’m going on now with this breakfast but there’s just nothing better.

[Mid-Morning Snack]
I had to run to Berkeley Bowl and Trader Joe’s so of course I had to grab a couple samples! A bite of cheese, truffle salami, a bite of a cookie, and some coffee. The new truffle salami from TJ’s is fabulous! I rarely buy the sampled items but I couldn’t resist.

[Lunch]

Nathan didn’t finish his bibimbop the other night for dinner so I added it to sesame-marinated kale and topped it with an egg. The egg made it, obviously. On the side, I had a bottle of Cranberry Blood Orange PACt from Ocean Spray. It’s a cranberry extract drink with only 10 calories and 2g sugar per bottle; we all know the benefits of cranberries and cranberry juice, but there’s just so much added sugar. This drink tastes great—though I didn’t get a ton of blood orange flavor—and I’d definitely get it again.

[Afternoon Snack]

I was so excited when I got a LOVE drop yesterday from Lindsay. It actually came the day after we got to Baltimore but I had no idea what it was! I’d been wanting to try the Power O’s for so long and had yet to come across them. They’re made from beans, you know. Clearly I needed to fit these into my snack today and they’re delish! I mixed a little NuStevia chocolate syrup into some cottage cheese and topped it with these crunchy bites. I can’t wait to try the other flavors!

[Dinner]

I wasn’t going to do squash this week, but when I saw butternut for $.39/lb at the store, I couldn’t resist! I decided to make my butternut squash soup for dinner tonight and also worked in some Thai basil turkey with carrots and green beans. This was such a good combo and I totally added more turkey to the top after I took some [much needed] replacement pictures for my original recipe post!

[Evening Snack]
The apple and nut butter prevail! I’m a creature of habit.. clearly I like my days to start and end the same way.

Food for Thought

Have you ever had a bean-based cereal?
What’s your favorite soup?

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary shipment of PACt from Ocean Spray. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What I Ate Wednesday #109: Fueling for Opening Day

Friends, today is a big day. It’s not just Wednesday. It’s opening day for Truve! It has certainly been a long process [and I wasn’t even around for much of it!] but that’s part of what makes opening so exciting. I can’t wait to work with my clients at a brand new facility with lots of new equipment that I haven’t had much of a chance to play with.. like kettlebells! Oooh my clients are going to hate me 😉

Anywho, clearly yesterday I had to properly fuel myself for the occasion. You know, all that excitement really drains me. Ha!

[Breakfast]

Tired of seeing this yet? Well, I’m certainly not tired of eating it! My new favorite thing, however, is to prep it the night before. Toss in a little extra almond milk in the morning and throw in the microwave for a few minutes and I’m good to go. I’m also loving sprinkling a little salt on top. Try it. Trust me.

[Mid-Morning Snack]

All I wanted was peanut butter and chocolate. And thank goodness for my ThinkThin bars! So good.

[Lunch]

Sunny day lunch outside is the best. A 20 lb [ok, that’s an exaggeration..] kale salad with Monday night’s turkey burger, sweet potato, snow peas, cucumber, and persimmon. A wonderful combo. Topped it off with a dark chocolate pretzel. I only bring 1 with me to work because I know if I bring more, I’ll eat ’em all!

[Afternoon Snack]
Unpictured: homemade ginger kombucha and peanut butter. Right outta the jar. Give me a spoon and I’m a dangerous gal!

Still feeling snacky though, I went for some popcorn drizzled with buffalo sauce. Dang, that was a good choice.

[Dinner]

Pomegranate chicken, bacon pom brussels, and roasted red kuri squash. Use your imagination to double the brussels and squash and that’s probably closer to what I actually ate 😉 This was my first time having red kuri squash and it’s fabulous! So creamy and sweet. My last kabocha was dryer than dry so this definitely more than made up for that.

[Evening Snack]
Apple and 2 dark chocolate salted cashews. Again, if I don’t close the bag after 1 or 2 cashews, I’ll eat ’em all. Kind of like my spoon and PB jar issue.. or non-issue, depending on who you ask.

I think I’m properly fueled for tonight’s opening.. but just in case, you can expect more oatmeal, nut butters, and salad on the menu today 😉

Food for Thought

What food is your weakness?
Have you ever salted your oatmeal?

What I Ate Wednesday #106: The Unpictured

We’ve all read it before—things are not always what they appear to be. So many times we read blog posts or see pictures on instagram and get a peek into someone’s daily life; what their workouts look like, what their meals look like. It can be pretty easy to fall into the dreaded comparison trap. What we don’t always remember when reading these posts is that you don’t necessarily see every little piece.

[Pre-Workout]

I’m loving my Skoop superfood blueberry bites and will absolutely be making more when these run out.
Not Pictured: A carrot cake energy bite. I like a little variety in my morning bites!

[Breakfast]

My nut butters are running pretty low and I have a little packet of coconut butter that I’ve been saving. I forgot how delicious it is! Not to mention, nice to add a different flavor in there.
Not Pictured: A second cup of coffee. Stevia and coconut almond milk are my favorite mix-ins.

[Lunch]

A quick throw-together break room lunch—mixed greens, shredded carrots, cucumber, tomato, red pepper, and avocado with orange rosemary dressing.
Not Pictured: The protein—a crispy quinoa burger on the side—had to keep it that way so I could warm it up! Also, a dark chocolate covered pretzel. Sweet and salty after lunch is necessary.

[Afternoon Snack]

I was starved by the time I got home so I whipped up a pumpkin protein mug cake, topped with some Old Fashioned Crunchy.
Not Pictured: The pumpkin ravioli, chocolate coconut almond, and coffee samples from Trader Joe’s. Is it possible to go into that store and not pick up the samples?! Oh, and the chocolate coconut almonds are ridiculously delicious. I also snacked on a couple grapes and some of Monday night’s dinner. What? Girl’s gotta eat!

[Dinner]

Martha Stewart did me right! Nathan’s plate was much prettier than mine because he had his tandoori-style turkey burgers in a pita, as suggested.
Not Pictured: An extra potato wedge and ketchup. I usually tend to snack a bit while I’m cooking dinner, but I think my extra snacks did the trick!

[Evening Snack]

This one pretty much sums it up. Apples and peanut butter are just the best.

It’s a good thing you’re not just going by my instagram, huh? You might have thought I only had oatmeal and a turkey burger salad yesterday 😉

Food for Thought

Do you ever fall into a comparison trap, whether it’s with workouts, physique, food, or anything else?

What I Ate Wednesday #105: Nut Butter All Day!

It should come as no surprise that we currently have 5 open jars of nut butters in the house. That said, they’re all dwindling because I can never decide which one I want and I never want to finish a jar. Such problems, right? Most days I usually have 4 of the 5 nut butters; I’d say that’s a good day!

The health benefits of nuts, including peanuts [technically a legume], are undeniable. Aside from just being known for healthy fats, they also contain a number of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants.

[Pre-Workout]

I wasn’t even counting my Skoop blueberry bite, but this does have some PB&Co. Bees Knees in it. Peanuts are higher in protein than most nuts and are a heart-healthy food due to the mono-unsaturated fatty acids that can help to lower bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol.

[Breakfast]

You all know how much I love my melty nut butters on my oatmeal. This bowl has a mixture of peanut butter, coconut cashew butter, and protein almond butter. Almonds are a fiber-rich nut which, along with the healthy fats, helps you stay full. And a recent study funded by the Almond Board of California has shown that these nuts can even raise the levels of good bacteria in your system for a healthy gut!

[Lunch]

I swapped out my healthy fats at lunch for a little avocado on my snack plate. As for the tuna, I mix in some ketchup and relish.. is that strange? I’ve put ketchup in tuna my whole life so I don’t even know. Ha!

[Afternoon Snack]

Soon after my lunch, I had a few slices of freshly roasted sweet potato with more coconut cashew butter. This was pretty much the best combo all day! Cashews are a great source of iron—helps to prevent anemia—, zinc—for immune health and vision—, and magnesium—to help improve memory. Crunch on some cashews so you can remember all of this 😉

[Dinner]

Skipped the nut butter in dinner again, but there’s a sprinkling of peanuts on top! I filled my bowl up with tons of broccoli and it hit the spot. Nice and light but super filling.

[Evening Snack]
Sliced up an apple with some more peanut butter. I just can’t get enough!

Nut butters are something I always have to use measuring spoons for, otherwise I’d go crazy! So while it may look and sound like I’m eating a ton of nut butter, I’m actually limiting it to about 2-3 tablespoons per day. You bet your butt I could eat more [like a jar per day!] but there is such a thing as going overboard on healthy food too 😉

Food for Thought

What’s your favorite nut?
Do you measure out your nut butter or just go for it?

Sources: 29 Amazing Benefits Of Peanuts For Skin, Hair And Health & Why You Should Go Nuts for Nuts

What I Ate Wednesday #104: Restaurant Quality

Nathan can take credit for the title, but I’m taking credit for the meal behind the title! Not all of my eats from Monday might qualify as restaurant quality, but seeing as how I was pretty darn excited when Nathan made that comment about dinner, I say it works. Honestly, though, who’s to say my favorite oatmeal breakfast shouldn’t be served at a restaurant? I’m pretty sure it’s better than any bowl of oats I’ve ever had out!

[Pre-Workout]

I love starting my morning with a Skoop superfood blueberry bite. Don’t be fooled by the color; they’re delicious!

[Breakfast]

I guess if I were serving this in a restaurant I’d have to make it look a little prettier, huh? Looks aside, the banana, cinnamon, and nut butter combo can’t be beat. Knowing that I have this waiting for me is mostly what gets me through my workouts every morning 😉

[Mid-Morning Snack]

I’ve recently decided that it’s a better idea when I’m not working too late at Athleta to save lunch for after work instead of trying to scarf it down in 15 minutes. [Not to mention, it’s less food to pack the night before!] I’ve fallen back in love with these peanut butter ThinkThin bars. They’re just too good and with 20g of protein, they hold me through the next few hours till lunch.

[Lunch]

And speaking of.. snack plates are fun. And even more fun when you have leftovers [even though this is the pork that I gave Nathan a hard time for ordering]! It’s just tastier than grilled chicken and nice to mix it up sometimes.

[Afternoon Snack]

I totally forgot that I have paleo bread in the freezer! I mixed up some of my NuStevia cocoa syrup into plain greek yogurt, crumbled a piece of bread on top, and drizzled a little more cocoa syrup. It was nice and filling with the protein from the yogurt and the fat from the almond meal in the bread. Yum!

[Dinner]

I have a feeling this dinner is going to become a staple. This is my “restaurant quality meal” courtesy of Half Baked Harvest. I subbed turkey for the beef and made cauliflower rice instead of regular rice [still added the lemongrass but not the coconut milk.] It was super easy because I was just using ground turkey instead of having to slice up some chicken breast and it was crazy flavorful! I also used our homemade thai chili sauce which might have kicked it up an extra notch. Yea.. definitely making this again!

[Evening Snack]
The fuji never fails me! I’ve been trying some new apples since the season is upon us but the fuji is still my go-to.

Food for Thought

What’s your most successful meal that you’ve made?
Now that apple season is back, do you have a favorite kind you’ve been waiting for?

What I Ate Wednesday #103: Mostly Recyclables

I’ve been slacking. But I’m blaming my phone. It’s time for a new phone for sure and I’ve been keeping it plugged in pretty much all the time. That said, it’s not in always in my hand to take quick pictures of my food so today’s WIAW is [almost] all about the recycled pictures. Thank goodness I eat so much of the same food all the time, right?

Monday was another flip day at Athleta so that meant another early morning. I didn’t get my workout in at the gym, but with all of the running around we do at the store and lugging boxes of new merchandise, I think it’s safe to say I did, in fact, get a workout in for the day!

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[Pre-Workout]

I have a new bite recipe to share! It’ll be up later this week but for now, I’m trying not to eat the whole container. Often times, pre-workout snacks focus more on healthy fats and carbs to fuel the workout so when I’m making my bites, I try to stick with a coconut/peanut flour and peanut butter base. Makes for a delicious and creamy treat! –>

[Breakfast]

Protein rocks! <– [Best commercial ever.] But for real, this is my favorite breakfast, workout or not. It has the perfect balance of protein, carbs, and fat for refueling and keeps me full for hours. It was just what I needed.. especially piping hot at 5:30 am.

[Morning Snack]

Source

After all of my running around, I scarfed down a Salted Caramel ThinkThin bar. I’ve always loved ThinkThin but this new bar is by far my favorite. It’s basically like a little treat!

[Lunch]

Big ass salad, anyone? I pretty much throw the contents of my fridge on top of whatever greens we have and call it lunch. They mostly end up looking like this because wouldn’t it be the worst to have a salad without avocado?! I always make sure to have 4-6 oz of protein and some healthy fats with my 10 tons of veggies.

[Afternoon Snack]

I’m so bad about drinking water when I’m at work. Because I’m running around, I can’t have my water bottle with me all the time. I got home and chugged some homemade kombucha that I’ve been rationing out until my next batch is ready. Thankfully, we’re all a go for the second fermentation and in just a few more days I’ll have another gallon’s worth!

[Dinner]

Something new! Nathan’s been requesting buffalo chicken and I figured roasted broccoli and okra would compliment nicely. I’d never made okra before but decided to give it a shot. I ended up eating pretty much the whole batch so I’d call it a success.. for me, at least.

[Evening Snack]

Carbs and fats [clearly in nut butter form] are easily my faves so I think it’s the perfect way to end the night. I’m really digging the chunky peanut butter right now too!

And even though this is from last night, not Monday, I thought I’d share anyway..

because how can I keep my homemade peanut butter cups all to myself? 😉

Food for Thought

Are you a food creature of habit or do you switch it up regularly?

What I Ate Wednesday #96: #FuelYourBetter

Haaappy hump day, friends! Hope your week is going well. I’m currently enjoying my couple of mid-week days off before I have lots of shifts coming up. It’s going to be a busy week and a half so you know I’m loving the down time and getting things done around this place!

Monday’s meals started off a bit on a different foot from my norm. For whatever reason, I was looking for another way to fuel my morning and the Vega team did just that for me with their #FuelYourBetter campaign.

[Breakfast]

A breakfast smoothie is so strange of me. I almost always go for a hot breakfast of oats or pancakes with lots of nut butter. I guess when you really think about it though, I just swapped the oats for Vega Sport vanilla protein powder; the rest that went into the blender is banana, peanut flour, almond milk, and ice.

This is the first time I’ve had the Vega Sport protein powder and having tasted a little before making the plantain protein bread on Sunday, I knew I really enjoyed the flavor so I didn’t want to add too much to my smoothie. I was pleasantly surprised that this smoothie bowl held me over as long as it did. It was super light but very satisfying which was perfect for post-workout. I might have found my new favorite protein powder!

[Morning Snack]

I had to get a little nut butter in before work so I warmed up a plantain protein bread and topped it with half almond butter and half peanut butter. I got the recipe for these little guys from Taylor and it’s so easy and delicious.

Ingredients
– 3 plantains
– 2 eggs
– 2 scoops protein powder

Directions
Mix all of the ingredients well and bake in muffin tins at 350°F for about 15 minutes.

I only had 2 plantains but it still worked great. I also really like the vanilla flavor in these because my plantains were so ripe that they were extra sweet!

[Lunch]

Lap lunch at work. Nathan brought home a huge salad that was leftover from a lunch at his office and I’ve been using that for lunches this week. It’s been nice to have everything thrown together already. There are mung bean sprouts, cabbage, kidney and garbanzo beans, carrots. I’ve just been adding protein [Monday’s was spinach, fontina, roasted garlic chicken sausage from Trader Joe’s], avocado, and a little dressing.

[Afternoon Snack]

After work I was really in the mood for something a little crunchy, but obviously needing more nut butter. I’ve been trying to get my sweet tooth to take a chill pill this week after too much my brownie brittle obsession last week, so I opted for the carrots for dipping and another plantain protein bread. Again, I couldn’t choose between almond or peanut, but they have different benefits so technically I needed both of them.

When Nathan got home, we popped open this Sierra Nevada / Oskar Blues Beer Camp collab. It was so delicious! You really can’t go wrong with a rye bock though, am I right? Look at that color!

[Dinner]

I’ve decided we’re the worst at meatless Monday. Last week I made 3 lbs worth of turkey meatballs and this week we roasted a whole chicken. That said, the whole chickens were $.99/lb so not only did we roast this baby up, Nathan also cut up a second chicken that I threw in the freezer. So thrifty!

This was an awesome dinner. The piri-piri chicken had great flavor [though I’m not sure I’d consider it piri-piri..] and the brussels were roasted oh so perfectly. Look at that char. Mmm!

[Evening Snack]
I finished off my night with an apple. Like I said, I’m trying to kill the brownie brittle beast that I was last week so a simple apple hit the spot.

Food for Thought

What is your favorite way to fuel post-workout?

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary shipment of the Vega Sport Recovery Protein as a Sweat Pink Ambassador. All thoughts and opinions of the product are my own.

What I Ate Wednesday #95: Killer Sweet Tooth

Don’t forget to enter my Swanson Vitamins giveaway!

It’s all in the title. I’m telling you, my sweet tooth has been out of control lately. Especially at night!

Breakfast

The usual. Oatmeal, egg whites, banana, nut butters, coffee. It’s pretty much heaven.

Lunch

My lunch spread. On the floor of the break room at work haha. I mixed up some tuna with apricot bbq sauce and kefir to spread on a rice cake and had some leftover bbq mix for veggie dipping. It was delish.

Afternoon Snack

I came home to a box of Cookies & Cream Quest Bars [from my Swanson order.. don’t forget to enter the giveaway!] so obviously I popped one in the oven right away. Holy moly I forgot how good these things are!

Dinner

Another new take on the baked turkey meatballs with zucchini noodles, no-cook tomato sauce, and freshly shredded parm. It was SO good! I used half turkey italian sausage and half regular ground turkey for extra flavor. This version is a keeper, for sure!

Let the dessert games begin!

Up first, a fig with almond butter. Because everything is better with nut butter!

Followed by a bunch of peaches and plums.

And finished off with salted caramel brownie brittle with peanut butter. No time for pictures of this.. just eating. It’s too delicious! But who am I to turn down chocolate, peanut butter, and salted caramel? I mean, really! I’m actually glad that the bag of brownie brittle is almost gone so I can control myself again! Ha!

Food for Thought

What food is your biggest weakness?