Pumpkin Banana Smoothie

  Tonight I stayed home from Track practice for way too many reasons I should NOT be using.  In any case I was bored after getting my work done and decided to play around with some more smoothie recipes.  Since I have a ton of pumpkin in the house I thought why not add to my list of pumpkin recipes by putting it in a smoothie.  It only took this one try to get something that not only tastes great but also is healthy and filling.  Enjoy!!!

Ingredients

1 Medium banana

¼  cup canned raw pumpkin

½  cup plain, fat free Greek yogurt

¼  cup almond milk

1-2 tbsp cinnamon

2 tbsp Ground Flax seed

1/3  cup Vanilla Flavor Whey Protein Powder (optional)

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients use hand blender till smooth, or if using ice place in blender.

2. Top with cinnamon for even more cinnamon flavor and enjoy!

  

**Nutrition Facts Calories(255), Fat( 5.5 g), Carbs( 40 g), Fiber (4g), Sugar (26g)

Protein(15 g)

  

**Nutrition information does not include calories and other information from protein powder.  If you add your favorite protein powder remember to add on the appropriate number of claories, fat, sugars and protein your powder has.**

Turkey Muffin

Recently a fellow fitness professional introduced me to the world of BodyBuilding and Fitness Modeling (don't worry I am not going to attempt either of those while training for Ironman Triathlons).  However I was interested in seeing what types of foods they preferred to eat. I came across a woman by the name of Jamie Eason who seemed to have her stuff together, I mean you have to if you are named World's Fittest Model right. So in searching her blogs and recipes I decided upon this one of her many recipes to try.  I was looking for an easy alternative to just baking or grilling my meat and having the veggies on the side, but also something that was more rounded than just a slab of protein.

     

 Turkey Meatloaf Muffins (inspired by Jamie Eason)

    1 lb ground Turkey (or chicken)

    1/4 cup of egg whites or 2 small egg whites

    1/2 cup of Rolled Oats

    1/4 tsp ground cumin

    1/4 tsp dried thyme

    1 tsp ground mustard seed

    1 tsp black pepper

    2 tsp Flaked Red Pepper

    1/2 tsp salt

    1 tbsp garlic powder

    1/2 small onion, finely chopped

    1 celery stalk, finely chopped

    1 large carrot, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 375F. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mush together. Mix all the spices in a separate bowl and save for later. If you like flavor don’t skimp on the spices, add a little more for fun! Mix veggies, turkey, egg whites, and rolled oats together with hands. Slowly sprinkle the spice mix as you mix the ingredients again.

Spray muffin tins with olive oil. Form 12 little balls or 6 big balls and plop into the muffin tins. Feel free to pat them down. Make sure they are all about the same size. Bake in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Eat em pipping hot on top of a green salad or a bed of raw spinach.  You can freeze these for later as well.

  

To make this a meal I combined it with my Roasted Garlic Mashed Cauliflower (http://northsnotesonline.blogspot.com/2012/10/roasted-garlic-mashed-cauliflower.html) , and had a spinach salad with balsamic dressing.  Delicious!

Makes 9 muffins: 80 calories in each turkey muffin with 1.5g of fat, 4.5g of carbs and 15g of protein **Depending on how lean your turkey or chicken is, the nutrition information will change.**

Roasted Garlic Mashed Cauliflower

Looking for a healthier alternative to mashed potatoes? Look no further than the ever versatile cauliflower. This amazing side dish will fill you up like its starchy alternative, but at less than half the calories you will be happy with this option.

Roasted Garlic Mashed Cauliflower

1 med head White Cauliflower

1 Bulb of Garlic

1 tbsp Kerry Gold Irish Butter

2 Green Onion/Chives Chopped (green portion only)

2 Green Onion/Chive bulb

½ Yellow Onion

2 Tbsp Parsley (more if you like)

1tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Pinch of Red Pepper flakes

Salt and Pepper to taste

Makes 4 Servings

Begin with the Garlic. Set oven to 400F. Peel back a few layers of skin from the bulb and chop off the top so you can see the meat. Wrap in foil and put in oven for 30 minutes.

Cut Cauliflower into small florets. Place in pan with enough water to cover tops. Boil till soft enough to mash with fork or potato masher, about 15 minutes.

Drain most of water from pan, but keep a bottom full and begin mashing.  Add the butter.

Finely chop the white onion and green onion. In Separate pan sauté the yellow onion and green onion bulbs with tsp of olive oil. When almost done turn up heat to brown. Make sure to stir these frequently as they can burn easily.

When garlic is done, unwrap from foil and peel all cloves. Toss into cauliflower and use hand blender to blend lightly.

Toss in sautéed onions, red pepper, salt and pepper and top with Chives and Parsley.

Makes 4 servingsPer Serving: Calories(89kcal), Total Fat(4.25g), Sat Fat(2), Cholesterol(10mg), Sodium(62mg),Carbs(12g), Fiber(4.25g), Sugars(4.5g), Protein(3.5g)

***If you don't like to much spice, skip the red pepper.***

This side dish goes great with a salad and my Turkey Muffin recipe.

 

Pumpkin Protein Muffins

While searching for new ideas in healthy snacks I came across a recipe for pumpkin protein bars by Jamie Eason (professional fitness model). I loved her recipe so I thought I would give it a try with a few changes since I do not use Xylitol, or baby food applesauce.

Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients:

• ½ C Raw Brown Sugar
• 4 oz. applesauce, or 2 Large Fuji apples simmered into sauce
• 2 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• ½ tsp. ground clove
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 large egg whites
• 1 large whole egg
• 1 - 15 oz. can of raw pumpkin
• 2 C oat flower 
• 1/3 C Ground Flax Seed
• 1/3 C vanilla whey protein powder (I use Jarrow Formulas, Muscle Optimeal)
• ½ cup almond milk
• ½ C chopped walnuts, pecans, or cashews (optional)

 

 

 Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Spray a 12 cup Muffin tin with non-stick spray.
3. Combine first 12 ingredients and mix well.
4. Add the final 4 ingredients (5, if adding nuts), and mix until lumps are smooth. Equally place batter into the muffin tins and bake for 40 min.
5. Makes 15 Muffins.

 

Nutrition Per Muffin: Calories(132), Fat(3g), Sat Fat(0.4g), Cholesterol(17mg), Sodium(74mg), Potassium(57mg), Carbs(18g), Fiber(3g), Sugar(8g), Protein(6g)

***After trying them my impression is that if you have a sweet tooth this will not be your go to snack.  I prefer my snack to have a lit sweetness to it and these muffins hit that right where i like them.  The flavor from the spices was mild so if you prefer a bit more cinnamon flavor I would increase the amount of cinnamon.  Also when I used the metal muffin tins the bottoms were a bit under done so I have to put the muffins back in the oven for about 10 more minutes.  Just make sure to watch them so they do not burn.  Enjoy!!!***