Key Lime Protein Cheesecake

What a discovery this recipe was!  I will definitely be making this again and again to perfect a few things.  (I found this on Heidi Patterson's athlete fan page.  Go and 'like' her Facebook page for more of her awesome ideas.)  At 10g of protein/slice, this is DEFINITELY a Legalicious Eat! The crust is so YUM!  I wanted to eat it plain :)  

**Fit tip-- I always like to volunteer to bring desserts to social events, so I have a treat option that I know isn't sabotage!  Just one of those little things that can help us to stay on track in everyday life :)

Serving size: 1/12 of pie

Calories: Approx. 111 per slice

Ingredients:

CRUST

¼C Pecans

¼C Walnuts (replace with almonds if you can’t eat walnuts)
1 Tbsp Almond butter ( I assume peanut butter would be just fine)
3 Tbs Oat flour or 1/3c old fashioned oats blended into flour
2 tsp Truvia or xylitol
½ scoop Vanilla protein powder
1/8 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Vanilla extract
7 drops Capella drops- graham cracker flavor (optional)

FILLING

1C 1% or 2% cottage cheese (preferably 1%)
1C Part Skim Ricotta Cheese
½C Plain Greek yogurt

3 Tbsp Sugar free-fat free- cheesecake pudding mix (unprepared)
1 tsp Sugar free lime jell-o mix (unprepared)
1 Tbsp Lime juice (optional)
1 ½ scoops Vanilla protein powder
1/8 tsp cinnamon 

5 Cheesecake Capella drops (optional)

Instructions:

CRUST
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
In a food processor or blender, combine all ingredients and blend into a coarse mixture. Press the mixture into a pie dish. Bake for 10-15 minutes.  Keep an eye on it; you do not want it to burn! Take it out, and let it cool while you prepare the filling.

FILLING

Measure all ingredients into a food processor or blender and blend until the consistency becomes creamy and smooth (do not overdo it, or your cheesecake won't set up!). Make sure to scrape the sides down a few times when blending it, to get all the chunks out.
When you’re done pour it into the cooled pie crust, and refrigerate overnight. You can garnish the top with a little bit of crushed pecans or some fat free sugar free whipped topping!  Cut into 12 pieces.  Devour ;)

Crispy & Easy Sauteed Green Beans

Green beans out of a can???  Never again!  (Okay maybe when you're desperate)  These are so much better than that, though!  And so easy.  I find that my steamed green beans tend to get water logged and mushy.  I haven't quite gotten the steaming thing down to a science with my veggies.  This method has made me less motivated to figure it out, because mmmmm... mm! 

Serving size: Varies

Calories: Varies

Ingredients:

Olive oil cooking spray

Fresh green beans (I buy the ready to go bag of french green beans from Costco- even easier!)

Salt (try Real Salt-- it will change your world ;) Plus it's local!)

Mrs. Dash "Vegetable" seasoning

Directions:

So much of this depends on your own taste.  I start by getting my pan heated to medium heat.  I spray the pan lightly with cooking spray just before adding in the beans.  I say the serving size varies, because it depends on how many you're serving, how much you want for yourself, and whether or not you count greens into your daily caloric intake (during the off season, I don't).  You're body does more to digest greens than anything else, so the calories are pretty negligible.  You just need to watch out for the cooking spray and salt!  I like to eat a lot and feel full, so these are a great option, and I eat a pan of them daily (at least) on the side of whatever protein I've planned in for that meal.  I spray the beans lightly with cooking spray, add salt and Mrs. Dash, and saute them until lightly browned (about 10 min or so).  You want them to appear bright green.  Taste one!  I like it when they still snap, but the too "fresh" taste is gone.  These are SO easy and yummy!  Even my son and husband have given them a pass!  Let me know if you try these or have questions in the comment section below.  Bon appetit! 

Chocolate PB Oatmeal

Stumbled on this yummy recipe today while experimenting a little bit.  I'm SO glad, because I will be having this for breakfast (along with my egg whites) for a good long while! 

Serves: 1

Calories:  205

Ingredients:

1/3 C Coach's Oats or equivalent

1 C water (or a little less)

1/2 tsp Choocolate extract (got mine at Walmart)

5 Peanut Butter Capella drops (optional)

2 Tbsp reconstituted (or dry) PB2 (health food store or netrition.com)

1 Tbsp Truvia (adjust to desired level of sweetness)
1/2 Tbsp brown sugar xylitol (found at most grocery stores in the baking aisle)

Splash of almond milk (optional)

Directions:

Prepare your oats according to package directions.  I like to use just under 1 C of water, so my oatmeal is thicker, but that's just preference.  Then, add your chocolate extract (best discovery ever!-- found at Walmart with all the other extracts) and your peanut butter flavored Capella.  Stir these together, and stir in your PB2.  If you want to know a secret, I actually like to put the powder straight in my oatmeal.  This makes it thicker, and that's why I use a little almond milk to add the creaminess back in, totally up to you.  Don't forget to sweeten!  If you are like me, you like dessert for breakfast, so go for it!   My husband says this tastes like a no bake cookie! Adding some unsweetened cocoa powder could be yummy.  Chia seeds, flaxseed meal, and protein powder are always great little add-ins too!  Let me know if you die and go to heaven like I did ;)

Guiltless PB&J

Yep, I said it... guiltless.  Thank the heavens above for this one, because if you're like me, you're salivating when making your husband's lunch, because this sandwich is just too classically irresistible!  And of course he gets extra PB and gobs of J!  So, I thought I'd take a stab at a version that I can feel good about eating myself.  This here is one tasty little snack :)

Serves: 1

Calories: 145 (without optional ingredients)

Ingredients:

2 slices Sara Lee 45 Calories and Delightful 100% Whole Wheat Bread

2 Tbsp PB2 w/ 1 Tbsp water to reconstitute
1/2 Tbsp Truvia

1-2 Tbsp Smuckers Sugar Free Preserves (depending on PB to J ratio you prefer ;) )

Vanilla protein powder (optional)

Directions:

In a small bowl, reconstitute your PB2, according to the directions on the package, and mix the Truvia w/the PB2 .  Then, happily spread your peanut butter and jelly onto your bread (yes I said bread), smack both sides together, and inhale!  I mean.. savor ;) 

**Whenever I've needed to make this a more protein packed "meal", I've added some vanilla protein powder to the PB2 when reconstituting... yum-o!

Naked Protein Shake

This is called a "naked" protein shake for a few reasons.  First, when combined with diet and exercise, this shake will help you look better naked ;)  Also, it is sort of the bare bones approach to a shake.  Sometimes when you are on a specific meal plan or you are just trying to limit calories for weight loss, you can't do much more than mix your protein powder with water.  Here we've tried to make that just a little more exciting.

photo credit

Serves:1

Calories: 127 (without optional ingredients)

 

Ingredients:

1 C unsweetened almond milk (if you can afford to do pure almond milk that's the yummiest, otherwise 1/2 water-1/2 almond milk is good, plain water works too if you have to watch it) 

9-10 Capella drops (use whatever flavor you like-- I love Orange Creamsicle, Root Beer Float, or Vanilla Cupcake)

8 ice cubes ( I like mine icy ;) )

1 scoop MRM Vanilla Whey (substitute with the protein powder of your choice)

Add Stevia or Truvia to achieve your desired level of sweetness

1/2 C berries (optional) 

Directions:

Combine all ingredients together in your blender, and whip up into a Legalicious, desserty drink that's much more than plain old, plain old.  You'll see ;)

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Tosca Reno's recipe for these is perfect (after a few tiny tweaks), so I have taken this straight from The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook to share with you.  Sweet potatoes are a delectable super-food with an array of different health benefits.  They are yummy plain, paired with any protein, baked into bars, made into fries, etc.  If you're sick of eating the same old baked potato, this recipe for you.  Don't delay!  Go try these!   Right now... ;)

photo credit

Serves: 6

Calories: 66 per serving 

 

Ingredients:
Olive oil cooking spray
Fresh or dried rosemary (enough to lay or sprinkle over the bottom of the baking sheet)
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 medium sweet potatoes
 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.  Lay fresh rosemary or sprinkle dried rosemary over the bottom of the baking sheet.  Mix all other spices together in a small bowl.  Slice the potatoes into fries (I wash mine and leave the skin on!).  You might have to put your back into it ;)  Raw potatoes can be tough to cut!  

Place the potatoes on the baking sheet in a single layer.  Sprinkle the potatoes generously with the spice mixture, making sure to coat the fries.  Spray with a layer of olive oil cooking spray.  Bake 20 minutes.

Pull them out of the oven, and spray once more with the olive oil spray.  Return to the oven for about 15 minutes more or until the fries are golden and puffed :)  

Dip these in a little bit of No Sugar Added Ketchup, your favorite dipping sauce, or enjoy these flavorful fries as they are! 

Capella Drops

Here's an old post that I pulled from the archives :)  This was back when I first discovered Capella drops.  Now they are part of my everyday. Use these however you like.. be creative!  

"Get ready for your life to change forever... ;)

Maybe I'm the only one in the world who didn't know about these, but wow.  I had something delectable and totally legal today.  Love trying new things and learning new tricks that make the maintenance at the end of this whole body transformation business seem doable.  Capella Flavor Drops... Have you heard of them??

I just ordered a mass amount at capellaflavordrops.com, so I can try all the flavors.  They can be used in protein shakes, yogurt, baking, etc.  They seem pricey, but they're extremely concentrated, so you only need a small amount for various recipes, and these suckers will go a long way."

...Since discovering these, I've used them in the following ways (certainly you can come up with others! Check out how I use these in different dishes under specific recipe tabs) Add them a drop at a time until you get used to using them (and don't forget to sweeten with your favorite sugar substitute) in:

• Protein shakes
• Oatmeal
• Egg whites (sweet-- peanut butter, salty-- bacon.. not kidding.  Try it ;) )
• Baking 
• Plain yogurt
• Salad dressings
• Cottage cheese
• Laughing Cow Cheese

The possibilities are endless!