Healthy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Hi!! I'm back and I am sharing the most delicious and EASY Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancake recipe. It's October and that means pumpkin everything, amiright? I wish I could make every single pumpkin recipe I find on Pinterest but unfortunately I don't have enough time to wait for 47 minutes for bread to rise or to make my own  pumpkin puree, etc. Aaaand the fact that 90% of the recipes are packed with sugar, cream cheese, and more sugar also makes me a little less inclined to make them.  So I decided to make up something just as delicious, only a lot healthier, and much much quicker!

Recipe (makes about 2-3 pancakes)  * 1/3 C Kodiak cake pancake mix * 2 Tbs pumpkin puree * 1/3 and 2 Tbs water * 1/2 tsp pumpin pie spice *1/2 tsp cinnamon *Chocolate chips   Just mix it all together and add water if you need to make the consistency a little thinner. You can make them as pancakes or waffles, either will work great! I eat them with Walden Farms 0 calorie pancake syrup and fat free Reddi Whip. Hope you like them :) 

Fish Taco Salad

As of yesterday I started my competition prep for my bikini competition in October. I've got just about 15 weeks to be prepared. My diet is going to be a lot more strict now where as I am going to be gradually leaning out. Finally all the hard work I've been putting into the gym will show once I get my body fat down a little. I've gained a lot of muscle since my last competition in October 2013 and I can't wait to see all the changes I will have made in a years time. Anyways... back to the food. I have a set meal plan and my goal this time around is to not get bored of it. That's why I made up this quick and easy little recipe.  As of right now, I can basically have unlimited veggies, so I am going to try and incorporate as much as I can into the staples of my diet (Fish, Chicken, Rice, etc). Here is what I used for this recipe, Ingredients: *Tilapia *Ezekiel Tortillas *Brussel Sprouts *1/4 Red Onion *Lime *Cajun Seasoning *Olive Oil *Garlic Salt *Avocado I turned the Ezekiel tortillas into chips by heating them on a pan until they were crispy. I usually don't like any kind of tortillas, especially super healthy ones, but these were delicious once I turned them into 'chips'. I marinated the fish in a little lime juice, olive oil, and cajun seasoning, and while the fish was grilling I made the brussel sprout mixture. I think I would have normally used cabbage instead of brussel sprouts but I didn't have any cabbage and I figured that they were basically the same, and it ended up tasting awesome! I just sliced the brussel sprouts, diced the onion, and squeezed some lime juice on top of it, then added a little garlic salt to taste. Mix it all together and you've got a delicious, competition friendly meal! Or just a delicious meal, I know most people actually reading this aren't crazies like me and like to walk around in high heels and a sparkly bikini :) Either way, ENJOY!  p.s, you might want to use some kind of dressing on this, I just used lime juice and it tasted great but I think a little something extra, even just some salsa would make it even better! 

Double Chocolate Banana Bread

This is the bomb. That's all. I have always loved banana bread. I'm not necessarily a banana bread maker by any means, but if there's ever banana bread already made, I'm always down for a slice. I've always wanted to try to make a healthy banana bread recipe, but I've never really found one that looks super yummy. I came across this recipe from Bloglovin' and it most definitely wasn't healthy by any means so naturally I made it my own by substituting a lot of healthier options, and I must say it was delicious. Even my husband who isn't a big cake/bread/dessert fan loved it so I took that as a big compliment. You've got to try this! Who doesn't love banana bread and chocolate? Combine the two with a healthy twist and you've got a guilt free delicious treat! Ingredients: - 3 Medium/Large ripe bananas - 1/2 C melted coconut oil - 3 Tbs honey - 1 Large egg - 1tsp vanilla extract - 1tsp baking soda - 1/4 tsp table salt - 1/2 tsp cinnamon - 1/2 C oat flour - 1/2 C coconut flour - 1/2 C cocoa powder - 1 C dark chocolate chips

 Heat your oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with a nonstick baking spray.

Mash bananas in the bottom of a large bowl. (You’ll have a little over 1 cup mashed banana total.) Whisk in melted coconut oil, then honey, egg, and vanilla. Place baking soda, salt, cinnamon, flours and cocoa powder in a separate bowl as whisk to get rid of any lumps (could also use a sifter), then add to the wet ingredients. Stir dry and wet ingredients with a spoon until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Pour into prepared pan and bake 55 to 65 minutes, until a tester or toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out batter-free. (A melted chocolate chip smear is expected, however.) Cool in pan for 10 to 15 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and invert it out onto a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

The banana bread will keep for up to 4 days at room temperature. I keep mine wrapped in foil. It goes without saying that it has never actually lasted that long. Hope you love it as much as I did! 

Teriyaki Chicken Stir-Fry

          I was getting pretty bored of just my usual chicken and rice and broccoli meal so I decided that I needed to switch things up a bit while still incorporating a lot of veggies. I love flavorful food but a big problem with this is that when you go out to eat, a majority of that flavorful food has a lot of excess calories. My goal with this meal was to capture the teriyaki flavor without all the added sugar. Have you ever looked at the ingredients of just a regular bottle of teriyaki sauce? Or any store bought sauce or marinade for that matter? Go ahead and look, you'll find that either the first or second ingredient is HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP. Yep i'm not joking. I went to Smith's the other night and looked at over 7 different bottles and literally each bottles main ingredient was just that. So basically that made me disgusted and that is how I came up with this much healthier recipe for teriyaki sauce.  Ingredients:

Sauce: * 1/2 C Liquid Aminos (soy sauce substitute) * 1 1/2 C Water * 1/2 tsp ginger powder * 2 tsp minced garlic * 3 tbs Truvia  * 2 tsp Honey

Veggies: (you really can use whatever veggies you want or happen to have) * Snow peas * Red, Orange, and Yellow Bell Peppers * Bok Choy (similar to celery) * Red Onion * Broccoli  * Water Chess Nuts

Chicken:  * 3 chicken breasts cut into cubes 

To make the sauce I really just mixed everything together in a pan and simmered on low heat. My Sauce was very liquid-y but if you want it to be thicker or stickier I suggest adding a Tbs of corn starch or arrow root powder. Once the sauce is simmering I put the chicken in a pan and poured a little bit of the sauce over it while I cooked the chicken. While the chicken was cooking I cooked the veggies in a separate pan also cooking them with the teriyaki sauce. Once both are done you can mix them together and pour over rice. That's it! Enjoy :)

Raw Key Lime Cheesecake Bites

I'm a sucker when it comes to anything Key Lime, add cheesecake to that and I'm all for it. Unfortunately both of those things tend to not be very healthy for you. I have been looking at several raw cheesecake recipes for months now trying to figure out how to put my own twist on it and I came up with this treasure over the weekend! You have to try it, they are gluten free, dairy free, and don't require any baking! Sounds perfect right? That's because they are, you're welcome :)

• Ingredients 
• Cheesecake Filling
• 2 1/3 cup cashews
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup maple syrup or coconut nectar (could use honey if you like)
• 1/3 cup fresh lime juice
• about 2-3 tablespoons lime zest (about 6-8 limes)
• 1/4 cup water
Crust
• 1 cup almond meal/flour
• 3-4 medjool dates (or 1-3 tablespoons maple syrup)

Directions

1.  Begin by placing almond meal and dates into a food processor. And pulse until combined.
2. Take crust mixture and spoon into your mini cheesecake pans (or one large pie pan) and press into the pan. Set aside.
3. Next make the cheesecake filling.
4. I recommend soaking the cashews before blending and giving them a nice rinse.
5. Place nuts, maple syrup, lime juice, lime zest and water into blender.
6. Blend for a little bit.
7. Then add in your coconut oil and continue to blend until everything is well blended and the batter is nice and smooth. Adjust lime taste to your liking by adding more lime zest. (I like mine really tart)
8. Spoon lime cream filling on top of crust in mini cheesecake pans.
9. If you want more of a lime flavor, top each one with a little lime zest.
10. Then place in freezer or refrigerator and let set for a few hours.
11. Remove from freezer and pop out the mini cheesecakes and keep in refrigerator until ready to enjoy at room temperature.
12. Recommend freezing leftover slices for longer shelf life.

{side note: I had shallow cupcake/square pans so I had a lot of leftover filling, I just made some extra crust and put a thin layer of the filling in a pie tin, but if you have normal cupcake or muffin tins, it should be just enough filling for those.}

Chicken Skewers

I made some delicious chicken skewers on the grill tonight and I am so happy to share it with you all!

I wanted to incorporate a lot of veggies because I feel like I haven't been eating enough lately. I'm not the kind of person who likes following recipes so I usually just make up my own, because of this I don't have the exact measurements of everything, but I'm going to share the 'recipe' with you anyways cause it was sooooo good! You really can't mess this up so just go with whatever kinds of veggies you have or like, you'll love it! Chicken Skewers - cubed chicken -zucchini -yellow squash -purple onion -red/yellow/orange peppers -rosemary -olive oil -balsamic vinegar -lemon juice -minced garlic Marinate chicken for about an hour in the lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, garlic, rosemary (I like a LOT), and olive oil. (I tend to use very little olive oil, maybe 3-4 tbs for a big bowl of chicken and veggies) While the chicken is marinating cut up all of the veggies and then put them in the same bowl with the chicken and give those a chance to marinate for a little bit as well. Once you can't wait any longer start loading it all up on your skewers! cook until the chicken is done and you've got a delicious meal! We also had some grilled pineapple too which is the bomb! Enjoy! 

Here's the finished product with the pineapple! YUMMMY :)

PIZZA PIZZA PIZZA!!!

I've been seeing all of these healthy pizza recipes all over my Instagram and Pinterest and the other day I decided to try my own! I was too lazy to actually make the crust (although I've heard cauliflower crust is amazing) so I decided to turn a low carb tortilla from costco into my crust. 

They look delicious do they not? My husband scarfed down two of these so fast! As for me, one filled me up plenty, I may have eaten some of the toppings on their own while I was making them ;) can ya blame me?

Here's what you will need...

Ingredients: Tortilla marinara sauce goat cheese chicken apple sausage (costco) spinach tomatoes 
Directions: Preheat oven to 350-400, bake tortilla for 5-10 minutes until slightly brown and crispy, then take out, flip over, and add all of the ingredients starting with the marinara sauce. Then put back in the oven for about 10 more minutes or until the cheese is melted. Then turn your oven to broil and broil that delicious pizza until the edges are crispy, mine burnt a little so keep an eye on it! Try and come up with your own combos for ingredients, almost anything will taste good on that delicious tortilla, I honestly just used what I had in my fridge, be creative! ENJOY

Protein Waffles!!

What's better than waffles on a Saturday morning?? Just about nothing. Even though I can't eat these right now due to my competition prep, I still wanted to share them with you all, they are seriously soooo delicious and healthy too! They are also super easy to make! Here's how:

In a blender mix:
1/2 cup oats
2Tbs Greek yogurt
2Tbs almond milk
5 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla or almond extract
Sprinkles of cinnamon
1/2 mashed banana (optional) scoop of protein powder (optional)

It will be really runny so I usually make them as waffles.. But if you make them as pancakes you have to pour a little bit at a time so they keep their shape. If you're trying to get more vegetables in your diet throw a cup of spinach in the blender with everything. I've done it before and I promise you won't even tell a difference.. Besides the green colored waffles that is :)
I top mine with fruit and sugar free syrup!

The Clean Eating Scoop According to Sarah

Okay guys trust me, you do not have to be a great cook to eat healthy. It seems like a lot of people use this as an excuse to go eat out multiple times a week or to just go the easy route and have a microwavable meal. You don't have to be a good cook, but you do however have to cook (obviously). A while back, a lot of my instagram and facebook followers asked me to either start a blog with some tips and recipes and or to email them those tips. At the time I had not yet started my blog, so I put together a quick email with some of my tips and a few recipes. So here I will recreate that email I sent out to many of my friends and share it with all of you! I honestly just try and put as many healthy things together and hope that it tastes good! Luckily most all of my meals have been pretty decent thus far. I currently am on a very strict diet because of my bikini competition prep but this is just until mid October and as soon as it is over I plan on going back to this lifestyle to maintain my body after the competition. Any-who, here is my two sense on eating clean and making a habit out of it.

Rules I try to live by:

1.        Eat as many vegetables as you can, especially green ones (spinach, kale, asparagus, brussel sprouts, broccoli, etc.)

2.       Stay away from sugar. This is a BIG key in seeing results. No candy, desserts, pastries, muffins, etc. ( no one is perfect, so allow yourself a cheat day every once in a while). It’s really hard for the first few days but by the end of one week without it, you really stop craving it.

3.       PROTEIN, PROTEIN, PROTEIN, I can’t stress this enough; most people don’t get the amount of protein they need to maintain their muscle let alone build more muscle (which in and of itself increases your metabolism).

4.       Drink TONS of water throughout the day, I try drinking a gallon a day.

5.        I use coconut oil and olive oil to cook/sauté everything in… mostly coconut oil though.

6.        Sweet potatoes are a staple in my diet. They are one of the best complex carbs which gives you lots of energy, plus I love them!

7.        I rarely eat dairy, but when I do, I use plain Greek yogurt, fat free cottage cheese, feta cheese, and goat cheese.

8.        I only eat red meat about once a week if that, it's yummy in moderation, but chicken is better for you.

9.        Eat at least every four hours, it seems like a ton but if you get the portions right, you will boost your metabolism like crazy!

10.   Meal preparation has been a big key to my success.

 Here is what a typical day of food looks like for me:

Breakfast:

4 egg whites

1/2 cup oats w small protein scoop for sweetener and almond milk

Almond slivers

1/4 cup of fruit (strawberries, blueberries, bananas)

Snack #1:

dried fruit (pineapple)

a few almonds

Lunch:

Whole wheat pasta or spaghetti squash w/ marinara and sautéed spinach or kale

4-6 oz of grilled chicken

Snack #2:

protein drink (from Costco)

 piece of fruit (banana)

Dinner:

Tilapia (Costco)

Baked sweet potato

Asparagus

Sweet Tooth Sunday's

Who doesn't crave something sweet on a lazy Sunday night? Not I, that is for sure! But instead of eating a piece of cake, some cookies, or a pint of ice cream, try making something a little healthier! I'm going to be posting healthy 'treats'every Sunday and I decided that I would start with these delicious Banana Almond-Butter Bites!

Here's what you will need:

*Bananas

*Almond Butter (or peanut butter)

*Dark Chocolate chips

*Coconut Oil

Directions: Cut up bananas into slices, then put a tsp or so of almond butter on half of all of the slices. Meanwhile in a small glass cup or bowl melt about 1/4 C dark chocolate chips and about a Tbs of coconut oil in the microwave. Once that is melted put a little drop on top of the bananas with almond butter on them. Then put the other half of the banana slices on top of the almond butter and chocolate so it makes a little sandwich. To top them off, drizzle the rest of the chocolate and coconut oil mixture over them all. Put it on a plat, tray, or pan and stick in the freezer for 45 minutes or until you can't stand to wait any longer!