Healthy S W E E T S

I love sweets, but I try to distance myself as far from them as humanly possible!
and as for baking....

It hasn't happened much in the Young house. For good reason too:
 
1.. I HAVE ZERO SELF CONTROL
and well....
2. I don't want to weigh 500lbs.

And so the story goes on...

 I started following some amazing people on Instagram.
These chics make bad, fatty, and sugary food.... not bad, not sugary, and not fatty.

I say, Halleluiah!

That being said, things have changed around here lately. I have a new found love for baking healthy delicious "sweets".

My 1st Attempt:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Brownies

Batter: 2 cups oat flour, 2 scoops chocolate whey protein, 3 tbsp PB2 powder, 1/2 cup stevia in the raw, 1tsp baking soda, 1/2c unsweetened apple sauce, 3/4c unsweetened almond milk, 4 egg whites - Mix all dry ingredients first then add in wet ingredients- mix well. - as for topping I melted 2 tbsp of PB and poured on top prior to baking. Pour in 8x8 cake pan and bake at 350 for 15 min. (Middle will not be fully cooked- removing early prevents them from drying out) Thanks to cleanitupgirl for the inspiration!

My 2nd Attempt:

Coconut Cake Batter Blondies

 

These are my favorite so far!!!

 

Ingredients: 1 can chickpeas drained/rinsed, 2 scoops vanilla whey + 3/4 tbsp. golden batter cake mix ( or 2 scoops cake batter protein), 1/3 cup PB, 1/3 cup honey, 1egg, 2 egg whites, 2 tsp. vanilla or coconut extract, 1/4 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. salt, 2 tbsp. unsweetened coconut + coconut/sprinkles for topping. Mix all ingredients together in food processor/blender, spray 8x8 baking pan or line. Spread evenly in pan, top with coconut/ sprinkles, bake 20min @ 350. :)

I am HOOKED!

And my picky husband is too!!!

Try these out and let me know what y'all think.

What's on the agenda for this week you ask???
- Banana Protein Muffins
- Protein Peanut Butter Cups

mmmmm MMMMMM mmmmmmm  MM MM!!!



Dirty 30 Brewbash!!

 

 

Last weekend we celebrated my husbands 30th BIRTHDAY!

He is now officially "the OLD MAN" ;)

 

I had such a fun time planning this big day and have been dying to share the details with you guys!

 

So without further adieu, lets get to it!

 

The invites:

 

 

I purchased these from JacksMaster etsy shop and printed them off at home.

 

We asked each guest to bring one chilled 6-pack of their favorite unique brew- 2 beers from each 6 pack were entered into the beer tasting. Each guest voted on their favorite and the winner was awarded a giant beer mug filled with goodies/gift card.

 

The party décor:

 

 Most of the décor was handmade.... Thank goodness for the enormous amount of Pinterest inspiration!!!

 

 

To keep the categories simple we went with lights, ambers, and darks. I had planned to do IPA's, lagers... etc etc. but soon discovered that there are FAR tooooo many categories of beer.

 

 

These fans are so easy to make!! For the small fans I used scrapbook paper, and for the large, I used wrapping paper (postage paper would work well too). Tutorial can be found here.

 

 

Handmade Burlap Birthday Banner

 

The beer tasting sign was another pinterest inspired idea. This thing literately cost me a measly $5 bucks to make. I dug up a piece of plywood in the garage, cut it to the size I wanted, bought a can of chalkboard spray paint and went to town. Piece. of. cake.

 

And as for the pig head....  This guy was the life of the party. He was pretty darn tasty too!!!!!!

 

The Chow:

 

 

We ordered a 60lb. pig, and it fed roughly 30 people... it was aaaammazingly good.

Along with it my mother in law made her famous bacon baked beans, and scalloped potatoes.

 

 

Appetizers included stuff we like to eat with beer. Pretzels with cheddar, cheddar popcorn, peanuts... and for the healthy people: vegi platter/ fruit platter

 

 

 

And for dessert: cupcakes by CupKates. Katie is a good friend of mine and she makes the BEST cupcakes! If you live in the eastern NC area look her up on facebook. yummm.

 

The BIG Celebration:

 

Festivities began with a surprise visit from Mike's Momma and Poppa.

 

 

 

Mike was definitely surprised!!! Especially when this was presented to him shortly after their arrival.

 

 

A custom engraved Colt45 1911. He was in heaven.

 

Party Time:

 

 

 

 

 

The Beer Tasting:

 

 



 

 

Making Breakfast Count!

You've heard it before- breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

I would have to agree!

So why is it so important?

Breakfast is essential for energy. Your brain needs glucose from food to work well... hence why studies have shown that students that eat breakfast tend to do better academically than those who skip it.

Research has also shown that breakfast eaters have fewer weight problems that non-breakfast eaters. Yep, that's right... EAT to maintain a healthy weight. When you eat breakfast- you get your metabolism running and tend to eat fewer calories throughout the remainder of the day.

I try to eat a healthy breakfast everyday... But with school keeping me so busy, it seemed as if I was just grabbing anything as I walked out the door.

So lately I have been trying to make a better effort in the breakfast arena.

Here are a few pretty fast, super easy- HEALTHY recipes I have tried.

Spinach/ Red Pepper Egg White Scramble w/ 1/2 Grapefruit

 2 Egg whites, hand full of fresh baby spinach, handful of sliced red bell pepper.

I mixed the egg whites with spinach and red pepper, tossed it into a nonstick skillet and toasted a piece of whole wheat bread. Throw in 1/2 of a grapefruit and you have a well balanced breakfast that will keep you full well beyond 11 a.m. :)

(The scramble can be done as a omelet... I suck at making omelets so I just go for the scramble- same thing, just not as pretty!)

Almond Pecan Oatmeal

Steel cut oats, a little vanilla soy milk, pecans, almonds, raisins/ craisins, and 5 minutes. Delicious! (Follow directions on back of oat meal package, add a dash of milk, and toss in all others)

Banana Pecan Wheat Pancakes

This recipe is for 2. (About 6 pancakes)

Mix 1cup Hodgson Mills Insta-Bake Whole Grain, 1/2 squishy banana, 1/2tbsp. brown sugar, 1 egg, 2/3 cup of vanilla soy milk (or reg. milk). Cook as you would with any pancake mixture, add a handful of pecan pieces, the rest of that banana, and syrup- I use 100% pure maple... a little goes a long way.

Protein Packed Banana PB Yogurt

0% Vanilla Greek Yogurt, sliced banana, PB, and drizzle honey. Yummm.

Quick Breakfast Smoothie

 Photo: Pinterest.com

I've made this smoothie a lot in the past. As with most smoothies- its SOOO easy! I do a scoop of PB, a whole banana, hand full of ice, about a cup of vanilla soy milk, hand full of almonds. I have tried it with the oats and its ehhh ok- I prefer it without the oats.

And here are some HEALTHY breakfast recipes I plan to try this coming week.....

Caramelized Onion, Red Pepper and Zucchini Frittata

photo: skinnytaste.com

Find this recipe here.

Avocado Egg Rings

 Photo & Recipe: apronstringsblog.com

Heat a non-stick skillet to medium low heat. Lightly spray with oil. Slice an avocado with the skin ON lengthwise, forming one thick slice in the middle. (You will have some leftover avocado pieces) Remove the seed and use a small cookie cutter to make a hole in the center of your thick slice. Place the avocado slice in the pan. Crack a medium sized egg into the center of the hole. Cover and cook for a minute or two, until the egg is as you like it. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Quick PB and Jelly Banana Roll ups

Photo: Pinterest.com

A wheat wrap would make this a little healthier!

Hope you all can use some of these breakfast ideas. Let me know what you think!

Have a good weekend y'all!

Meal Planning... Do you do it?

It may seem a bit boring, but if you want to...

a. save money

b. take out the guess work on "whats for dinner?"

c. save time

d. impress your husband

&

e. have more QT with your fam

...then you should be planning out weekly meals.

  

[from: Google images]

At our house, we try to stick to a budget of $100 weekly for groceries. And we try to eat healthy, always...

Without meal planning our budget + healthy eating goes out the window pretty quickly... Since we, well maybe I should say I :)... started planning out our weekly meals we have had no problems staying within budget & have even avoided the fast food joints for the most part.

 Plus, its so nice to wake up and already know what you will be having for dinner- with no grocery pit stops on the agenda. :)

There are probably tons of ways to get a plan together... mine is pretty simple and to the point.

I first dig through my cookbooks, or browse for recipes online. A few sites I love...
www.allrecipes.com
www.kraftfoods.com
www.delish.com
www.realsimple.com

I pick 6 recipes that I know my husband and I will both like, then compile a list of ingredients minus the items I already have. I add in a few snack items, breakfast stuff, lunch stuff, toiletry stuff... and I'm off to the grocery store.

Couponing prior would be wonderful as well... but I just haven't found time to clip or search. Maybe someday!

I then post up a little list on the fridge so the hubby knows whats up, and I'm done.

I get to come home, have everything I need to prepare dinner, make dinner, and enjoy it with my man!


[from: Google images]

Try it out if you aren't already on board. I think you will be pleasantly surprised how simple planning can be such an incredible time and stress saver.
CIAO luvs.