Protein Peanut Butter Cup

HEAVENLY! ~ Protein + Peanut Butter and OF COURSE, Dark Chocolate! AHHHH

My Husband and I are addicted to a few things... to include PB and Dark chocolate. So one day after he sneaked Reeses peanut butter cup  I realized this was time for me to get on my game.... could I possibly make a healthy Reeses PB cup... an imposter? and Wala!

 Ingredients:

1 scoop (1/3c.) vanilla whey protein powder,
2 tbsp. peanut butter - crunchy, unsalted
2 tbsp. PB2 - Powdered Peanut Butter
1 tbsp. organic whole ground flax seed
1/4c 60-70% dark chocolate chips

I used silicone cupcake molds coated them in coconut oil. Meanwhile melt the chocolate in a bowl.
Use 1/2 the chocolate to coat the bottom of each cup.
-Freeze for 10min
Blend peanut butter, PB2, protein powder and flax seed.
Spoon PB mixture in each mold of hardened chocolate, bang on counter to even.
-Freeze for 10min
Melt the rest of the chocolate and coat on top of PB mixture.
 -Freeze for 10min
Gently peel out your tasty Protein PB Cups!

Nutrition Facts:

Per Cup, 4 servings
Calories:  164
Carbs:      11
Fat:          11
Protein:    10
Sugar:       6  (the darker the chocolate the less sugar per serving)
Fiber:        2

Chocolate Espresso Pie

  

After making the Mayan Pie  I had to make another chocolate pie just a little different. I love coffee so I thought an espresso chocolate pie might be a delicious option! Here we go Again!

 

Ingredients:  

 

Crust:     
*1/4 c Almond Meal  
2 Dates (soaked in water over night) 
1/4 TSP Almond Extract 
1/4 TSP espresso 
Dash of Cinnamon 

Filling:

6 Dates (soaked in water over night)
2 TBSP of Water from Dates
1/2 c Avocado (about 3/4 of an avocado)
2 TBSP Coconut Oil
1/4 c Cocoa Powder
1 TSP Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp Espresso
1/4 TSP Cinnamon

This fills one mini cheese cake pan PERFECTLY!

Times the recipe by 4 to fill a 9 in pie pan. 

1: Soak about 8 dates overnight or at least 8 hours
*if you don't have almond meal, soak 1/4 c whole almonds in water as well. 

2: Blend 2 dates, Almond meal, add extract and cinnamon. Don't blend too much, you don't want it to turn into butter. When combined press into your mini pan. 

3: Next blend 6 dates and 2 tbsp of dates soaking water until it forms a paste 

4: Add in the rest of the ingredients Avocado, Coconut Oil, Honey, Vanilla Extract, Espresso, Cinnamon. BLEND!


5: Add Cocoa Powder and BLEND again 

6: Pour over the crust and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. 

7: Serve and enjoy with almond milk!!!

This is a GREAT DESSERT full of all sorts of antioxidants and good fats! YUM YUM YUM!!

How something can be so delicious, natural, easy to make be so Good For You!  blows me away every time! Why was it that we needed sugar again?After eating this you'll wonder to!

 

Savor EVERY Bite!!!

Chocolate Black Bean Brownies

Now who doesn't love a gooey chocolatey rich decadent brownie!? I think we pretty much do

except we don't quite like all the fats and bad calories that come along with a brownie. Again somewhere online I found black bean brownies recipe and thought to myself, I think I need to simplify this recipe and of course add some protein! I don't like anything that includes too many ingredients, it just makes life more difficult, and the simpler the better. Of course not to make the recipe bland though but you know I love to have FULL flavor of healthy goodness!

Ingredients:

2 c. Black Beans
1/2 Cocoa Powder
1/4 Protein Powder (optional- Use no Almond milk if opting out of Protein- or keep it for gooey-er brownies) 
3 Egg Whites
1/4 Coffee
1/4 Almond Milk
1 TSP Vanilla Extract
2 TBSP Coconut Oil
1/4 c.  Agave Syurp
A dash of Cinnamon (or 5 if your like me!)
1/4 c. Nuts and dark chocolate chips (optional)


*Add a little more Agave/Honey if you don't think you can handle a lightly sweetened Brownie :)

Step 1:

Ensure you have cooked black beans. Boil them
on the stove for approximately half an hour on medium heat or soak overnight.

 Step 2:

In a large blender at 2 cups of cooked it black beans and the rest of your ingredients. Blend until combined  into a liquid form.

 Step 3: 

Oil an 8 by 8 baking pan. I use coconut oil for this but you can use whatever you want.

Pour your batter in the oil pan and sprinkle your nuts and dark chocolate on top.

 

 Step 4:

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes

Here's where you play a little more with the baking process process... if you like very gooey brownies bake until is the center does not jiggle but the knife still comes out clean (30 mins)
If you like your brownies try and cooked well bake until the top of the brownie cracks (45 mins).

Try em out both ways they both have their purpose but I'd definitely like a gooey brownie for eating!

 

-Gooey-

 

-Dry-

Enjoy the healthy richness!

Nutrition Facts
Servings 16.0
Amount Per Serving
Calories 80
Total Fat 4g
Saturated Fat 2g
Monounsaturated Fat 1g
PolyunsaturatedFat0g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 11 mg
Potassium 162 mg
Total Carbohydrate11g
Dietary Fiber 3g
Sugars 4 g
Protein 3 g

Chocolate Mint Protein Muffins

So my Husband is such a mint lover. Chocolate and peanut butter comes first but chocolate and mint is a close second. I really haven't made many chocolatey-minty things because it's a very strong flavor and it doesn't go nice on my palette , which makes the work even more complicated. Never the less I went for it once again.

Ingredients:

1/2 C (ground) Oatmeal Flour
1/4 C Coconut Flour
1/4 C Cocoa Powder
2 TBSP Flax
1 TSP Baking Soda
1/2 C Chocolate Protein Powder
1 tbsp Vanilla

1/4 tsp Peppermint Extract
2 egg whites
1/2 C apple sauce
2 TBSP Coconut oil
1/2 C Almond Milk- Unsweetened Vanilla
1/2 C Dark Chocolate Chips

  ~If you're missing something, have no fear, for substitutions click HERE!

Step 1:

I sift all my dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. 

Sift the big flour chunks to out help the muffins to rise beautifully. If you don't care, don't sift. Honestly I rarely sift, that's just one more thing to do.

Step 2: 

Slowly add in your wet ingredients. Ensure to scrape sides and mix well.

Step 3: 

Pour those babies into either a well oiled or a lined pan.
  

I've been getting a little tired of oiling my pan to make muffins every week so this time I thought I'd try out some jumbo muffin pan liners. ... Let's just say I'm either going to find a better brand or I'm going to go back to greasing my pan.

Step 4:

For each muffin and took one Andes after dinner mint broke it in half and stuck it in the center as a nice little treat.

Bake @ 350 for 25 minutes.
Makes 4 Jumbo Muffins!

So I have tried making things before and the trick, I think, really is not overdoing the mint extract. Mint is a lot stronger than vanilla or almond extract therefore a little goes a really long way. I only used 1/4 tsp mint extract in the recipe and when the muffins finished they had a very strong mint flavor.

 These are quite refreshing!

ENOJY!!

 

Protein Rice Crispies

Thanks to my husband who BEGGED me to make a healthy Rice Crispy Treat! I bought a box of whole grain rice crispy cereal and it sat in the cabinet for almost a month because I was trying to figure out how I would substitute the marshmallow and make it healthy... That took me forever, I did some research, thought a lot and one day BAM! it came to me! I've made these a ton of times but this time I actually took pictures to share because I was finally confident that I mastered the recipe. It takes a little patience and close attention but in the end its an explosion in your mouth!!

 

Ingredients:

1.5c rice crispy cereal -whole grain
.5c Whey Protein Crisps (or just more rice crispies if you don't have these)
2 egg whites
1/2c honey
1/4c or more peanut butter
1/3c vanilla whey protein
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/3c of dark chocolate
1/8c chocolate protein

STEP 1:

In a electric mixing bowl beat the egg whites and vanilla until it form soft peaks. Then Turn off the mixer.

This happens very quickly so make sure you are you watching so it doesn't get flat.

In a pot on the stove set to medium high heat, bring your half a cup of honey to a boil or cook until your candy thermometer says 250 degrees.

If you're going to boil without a thermometer make sure you boil it for approximately 1 minute continuously mixing so it doesn't burn.

STEP 2:

Turn your mixer back on and slowly pour your heated honey into the egg whites. 

This part is kind of hard to watch because it looks like a soupy mess. Beat on high for approximately 5 minutes.

Give it some time I promise it will turn into a marshmallow fluff! Homemade, 3 ingredient, marshmallow fluff!!!

STEP 3:

Next, in the same pot you he did the honey add your peanut butter and vanilla whey protein powder and mix until melted.

Now add in your newly formed marshmallow fluff mix again.

Incorporate then add rice crispies, protein crispies and mix again!

STEP 4:

While they're cooling melt your favorite dark chocolate and mix in a little bit of chocolate protein powder. 

Coat your rice crispies and freeze so the chocolate hardens faster!

 

Now it's time to enjoy!

 

*** THIS IS NOT A LOW
 CALORIE SNACK!

Nutrition Facts

Servings 12.0
Amount Per Serving
Calories 183
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 7 g	11 %
Saturated Fat 0 g	2 %
Monounsaturated Fat 0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 1 g	0 %
Sodium 64 mg	3 %
Potassium 153 mg	4 %
Total Carbohydrate 20 g	7 %
Dietary Fiber 1 g	3 %
Sugars 15 g
Protein 11 g	22 %
Vitamin A	0 %
Vitamin C	14 %
Calcium	1 %
Iron	13 %
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA

Almond Protein Bar

I made these bars for the first time almost a year ago but like my bad self I never wrote down the recipe and I completely forgot what I did. a couple weeks ago I tried to recreate these but messed up and that's how I ended up with protein almond bread. It wasn't quite as much of a disaster as I thought it would be. 

Thank goodness the recipe came to me a couple days ago and I went to work!

Ingredients:

1/2 c almond butter
1/4 c honey
1/8 c or more almond milk
1 tsp almond extract
1 c Vanilla whey
1/2 c coconut flour
1/4 c almonds
1/4 c flax

Step 1:

In a large pot on the stove combine liquid ingredients, honey almond butter almond milk almond extract. Mix thoroughly. 

Step 2:

Next add all dry ingredients, flour, protein, almonds and ground flax. Mix until its all incorporated. It should be gooey or crumbly but more like a cookie. If its too dry add a little more liquid of you choice. * remember a little goes a long way so incorporate liquid slowly, mix then repeat. 

Step 3:

Press into an 8x8 pan and slice to the desired size. Pop them in the refrigerator for about 1 hour. 

In the meantime clean the kitchen, haha... *Note to self. Because I hate this part.

Step 4:

Next melt your desired dark chocolate in the microwave. 

Lay your chilled bars on a pan or parchment paper and coat with chocolate.  I just use a spatula to coat them lightly. But you can dunk them in chocolate if you want. It all depends how much chocolate you want on them.

* this so why they need to be perfectly firm and not gooey, SO they hold up. 

Pop them in the fridge again, 10 mins or so. This helps the chocolate harden faster. 

After 10 mins lay them out chocolate side down and coat again. 

Because they are made from natural items that don't need refrigeration, you can store them on the counter but putting them in the refrigerator doesn't hurt either

Most of all enjoy them and Share!

 

 

 

 Nutrition Facts- Per serving- 1 bar (without chocolate)

Servings 12.0
Amount Per Serving
Calories 151
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 9 g	14 %
Saturated Fat 1 g	7 %
Monounsaturated Fat 4 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 2 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 1 g	0 %
Sodium 61 mg	3 %
Potassium 133 mg	4 %
Total Carbohydrate 12 g	4 %
Dietary Fiber 3 g	12 %
Sugars 7 g
Protein 7 g	15 %
Vitamin A	0 %
Vitamin C	4 %
Calcium	1 %
Iron	38 %
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.