ALL the Reviews

So you could say I got a liiiiitle review happy today :P 

You can't blame me, I finally got a HUGE quest order delivered AND my Love With Food subscription box yesterday. It was just asking for a review day today! So I present you with not one, not two, but THREE reviews in one. Get excited. I know I was :D

 First off I started with Chobani's new grape flavored Greek yogurt this morning for breakfast.

 Like I mentioned in my previous review on the new green tea flavor, I wasn't expecting much out of this flavor. I assumed it would take like grape medicine TBH.

But boy, was I wrong! This yogurt was actually pretty tasty. I enjoyed it with extra grapes and Target's Peanut Butter Monster trail mix to give it a little PB&J theme. It was really good! Just like the green tea, I enjoyed the fact that this yogurt was 2% making it nice and creamy with a little extra richness compared to the non-fat varieties. I'm not sure if I'll be buying this flavor again, but it was definitely worth the try! No medicine taste here :)

 Next up I tried these Big Slice kettle cooked apples: raspberry hibiscus & green coffee extract flavored. 

 These bad boys were one of the snacks that came in my subscription box and you could say I was intrigued, to say the least! 

 I enjoyed these pre workout as a little carb pick-me-up and they were SO good! Seriously, I'm on a mission to find a store that sells them nearby. They could easily become a staple in my house! 

The apples came in a cute little pouch that you just rip off the top. Inside the apples were nice and soft and coated in this sweet and spicy (in a good way, think cinnamon spice) sauce. I LOVED these. Forget my usual pre-workout sour candies, these were better!

 Finally, for my post workout snack I enjoyed Quest's new protein chips!

 I've read reviews on these and heard they weren't that great so I didn't have super high expectations. That being said, I was still pretty dissapointed at the abundance of air in my bag and severe lack of chips...

These chips weren't half bad though! They were nice and crunchy and not overly salty. They had a bit of a strange texture, but what do you expect from a chip with 21 grams of protein and only 5 carbs? They were good for what they were! I probably won't be ordering more, but I'm sure as heck gonna enjoy the rest of the bags I have left! Expect recipes with these bad boys in the future :D

A Simple Dinner Recipe

I feel like I pretty much only post breakfast and dessert recipes, but I swear I eat other things too! Usually their just not as pretty haha. 

Well I figured there are probably a lot of you that could use a nice, healthy, high protein recipe for dinner that's full of veggies and all sorts of other good stuff!

 This recipe only serves one (although it makes a lot of food, I'm just a piggy), but it can easily be multiplied to feed more people! I'm just a starving college kid so I typically only make enough food for myself. Unless it's date night of course :P

I'm not exactly sure what to call this dish, so I'm just gonna wing it and name it:

Cheesey Veggie Quinoa with Chicken (serves one piggy)

• 1/4 cup (43 g ) dry quinoa
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 oz (112 g) chicken breast
• 1 cup (113 g) zuchinni 
• 1 cup (85 g) broccoli
• 1 small mushroom
• 1 cup (100 g) tomatoes
• 1 laughing cow light wedge

Directions

1. Rinse quinoa and drain in colander. Add to small pot with water and bring to a boil. Once boiling reduce to simmer, cover, and cook for about 15 minutes.
2. Spray a medium skillet with non-stick spray. Once hot, add chicken and season with garlic salt and pepper. Cover. Once golden on one side, flip and let cook until no longer pink in the middle. Remove chicken from pan and let rest while veggies cook.
3. Add veggies to hot skillet with a little bit of water. Cover and let steam. Season with garlic salt and pepper.
4. Once tomatoes have burst, slice chicken and add to veggie mixture. Lightly stir in laughing cow wedge.
5. When quinoa is finished cooking, add to veggie mixture.
6. Serve and enjoy!

Macros: 372 cals 5.8F/42.3C/35.6P

Shoulder Day and a Recipe

I really REALLY hate being sick! Usually I'm lucky and it only lasts maybe 2-3 days tops, but this time...Oh man, this time it's been slowly getting worse as the week goes on and I don't see any end in sight :(

That doesn't mean I skipped my workout today though! I'm finally dialing in my new routine and I love it so far! Today was shoulder day and the pump was SO real.

Sorry for the weirdo faces :P I can't be held responsible for what my face does after a workout! It has a mind of it's own. 

So what exactly did this workout entail?

1. Heavy OHP: 5x5 @ 70lbs
2. Light bent over BB rows: 4x8 @ 95lbs

Then we got into the lighter accessory work to get those boulders pumped! Seated DB presses, upright BB rows, face pulls, rear delt flyes, and DB shoulder raises both forward and to the side. Can you tell I love working shoulders?

All in all, I believe today I ended up lifting a total of 16,160lbs NOT including warm up sets!

And how did I refuel after all this hard work? Would you believe me if I said it was with a blondie and ice cream? IIFYM right?

Well that might have been a little misleading! Like the picture says, this was a protein #beltsanderblondie and banana "nicecream". Yummy!

Recipe

• 1 scoop (34 g)  protein powder of choice, I used Trutein Cinnabun flavor
• baking powder
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1 banana (100 g), frozen

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients except the banana together, adding almond milk a little bit at a time. You want the mixture to be just thick enough that the batter is wet, but not liquid-y. Pop into the microwave for 30 seconds. This will leave the blondie slightly under cooked and "molten", just the way I like it!
2. For the ice cream, simply blend the frozen banana in a magic bullet (or other blender) until smooth. 
3. Scoop onto blondie and enjoy!

Macros for blondie and ice cream, using these ingredients: 217 calories 1.9F/28C/25.3P

Cookies and Cream Protein Cupcakes

I can't believe I almost forgot to post my new creation I made this morning! I present to you Cookies and Cream Protein Cupcakes/Muffins in both regular and pumpkin spice Oreo flavors :D

I may or may have not had these for breakfast...don't judge me!

Can you blame me? Look how yummy these look!

Recipe (makes two cupcakes, one of each flavor):

• 1/4 cup (61 g) pumpkin puree, divided
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 scoop (10 g ) chocolate protein
• 1/2 tbs (2.5 g) cocoa powder
• 1/2 scoop (21 g) vanilla protein, divided
• pumpkin pie spice
• baking powder
• 2 tbs (35 g) greek yogurt
• sweetener to taste
• 2 oreos, 1 regular and 1 pumpkin spice

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin pan with two muffin liners.
2. For the chocolate cupcake combine half of the pumpkin puree, one egg white, the chocolate protein, cocoa powder, baking powder, and sweetener to taste. Fill one muffin liner with this mixture.
3. For the pumpkin cupcake combine the remaining pumpkin puree, egg white, half the vanilla protein, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, and sweetener to taste. Fill the second muffin liner with this mixture.
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. I ended up turning up the oven to 400 F for the last five minutes or so.
5. Top each cupcake with the remaining vanilla protein mixed with water drizzled over top. Top either cake with greek yogurt (I chose to top the pumpkin cake). Finish with oreo cookies. Enjoy!

Macros for both cakes, including toppings and cookies: 337 calories 9F/33.4C/31.8P

Peanut Butter Cup Protein Pancakes

Today's workout was intense so I HAD to make sure to refuel properly! What does that mean to me? Protein pancakes, of course!! Peanut butter cup protein pancakes to be exact...

They're just so beautiful! Nothing beat the combination of chocolate and peanut butter if you ask me.

Recipe (makes 9.5 pancakes)

• 1/3 cup (26 g) oats
• 1/2 scoop (16 g) chocolate protein powder
• dash of baking powder
• 1/2 cup (113 g) low fat cottage cheese
• 2 egg whites

Blend all ingredients together until smooth. Heat large skillet over medium heat. Spray with non-stick spray. Spoon batter into pan, creating as many pancakes as you wish. When pancakes begin to bubble, flip and cook for an additional minute or so. Plate and drizzle with sauces. Chop up 2 mini Reese's peanut butter cups and sprinkle onto pancakes as well. Devour :)

Dark chocolate sauce: 1 tbs (5 g) Hershy's dark chocolate cocoa powder + sweetener to taste + enough water to drizzle

Peanut butter sauce: 2 tbs (12 g) Pb2 + enough water to drizzle 

Macros for the whole stack, toppings included: 420 calories 14F/43.7C/43.1P

Blueberry Lemon Pancake Donuts A LA MODE

This past weekend I was up at my grandparents' house celebrating a late Christmas. I absolutely LOVE my grandparents' house. The house itself really isn't that big or special, but the property? Oh man...

20 acres nestled atop a hill, with a beautiful view of the northern California valley. Of course, with all this land my grandmother also has a multitude of gardens, both for produce and for beauty. And every time I go up for a visit, I swear she tries to get me to take home something from her garden. Whether its some fresh vegetables or an entire plant, I never leave empty handed! So what did I leave with this time? LEMONS

Instantly I knew I had to think of something creative to make with them, but what? Lemon poppy seed muffins? Typical. Lemon pancakes? Delicious, but been there, done that. Lemonade? Woooo...

Then I thought of something brilliant - Blueberry Lemon Pancake Donuts A LA MODE, because just the donuts by themselves weren't nearly decadent enough :P

This may be the easiest recipe I've ever made, but soooooo good!

 Just look at that ice cream melt over the warm blueberry donuts. And that fresh blueberry sauce drizzled over top? Forget about it.

You need to make this ASAP. It's literally the perfect combination of breakfast and dessert, but you don't have to feel guilty about it!

RECIPE

• 1/2 cup Kodiak Cakes pancake mix
• Juice and zest of one lemon, divided
• water 
• liquid stevia (or other sweetener) to taste
• 1/2 cup blueberries, divided
• 1 serving Halo Top lemon ice cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray donut pan with nonstick spray.
2. Mix together pancake mix, the lemon juice and zest of half a lemon, water to make 1/2 cup liquid, and sweetener to taste.
3. Mix in about 1/3 of the blueberries and spoon into donut pan. Bake for about 8-10 minutes.
4. While donuts are baking, prepare blueberry sauce by mixing together remaining blueberries, lemon juice and zest, and sweetener to taste in a small bowl.
5. Microwave for 30 seconds and mash blueberries with a fork.
6. When donuts are finished, drizzle blueberry sauce over top and garnish with lemon ice cream.
7. Dig in and enjoy!

Macros for the full recipe (makes 4 donuts)

312 calories 4.7F/65.4C/18P