Recipe Box: Lemon Cottage Cheese Potato Pancakes

September 19, 2014 by bec2point0

A.k.a. Breakfast Protein, Alex’s Lemonade Stand style.

When I was planning these breakfast protein posts for September, I knew I wanted to incorporate a lemon-y recipe that was also a good source of morning protein. This wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be! I typically like my lemon in cake form, and baked goods and protein don’t exactly go hand-in-hand for me. It usually involves adding protein powder, which just makes thing taste off to me.

And then, I stumbled upon a recipe I’d had written down for a while, but had never made. Lemon Cottage Cheese Potato Pancakes. See, still cake!

Truthfully, I don’t even remember where I got this recipe. It’s just one of those one jotted down on a slip of paper and stuck in a pile. Every time I would run into it, I would get all excited at the idea of making them, but I never would.

That was very silly of me.

These were really delicious, and one of those recipes that has few ingredients, is low on time and effort, and is both tasty and versatile. You could totally make these as a side dish for dinner, or serve them as a late lunch. But, since I’ve been writing about breakfast all month, these had a starring role for a couple of mornings.

Lemon Cottage Cheese Potato Pancakes

4 Medium sized Potatoes, boiled and mashed

1 TBSP minced shallots

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup low-fat or fat-free cottage cheese

1/2 cup flour

Zest of one small lemon

1/2 teaspoon herbs

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Form into 16 small patties. Heat oil on a griddle or frying pan. Cook until golden brown over medium heat, about 4 minutes per side.

That’s it. No, really, that’s it. Crazy, right?

A couple of notes. I used whipped cottage cheese, so no lumps, but I think it would be just as good with regular. You can totally make the potatoes ahead, just let them warm up a bit before you start mixing. For the herbs, I used thyme and parsley, but really, use whatever is your preference. These also freeze well, just wrap them in wax paper and pop them in a freezer bag. Then, when you’re ready to eat them, a minute or two in the microwave and you’re good to go.

The cakes were creamy in the middle with crispy edges. So good! Serve them…pretty much however you like. I mean, I wouldn’t put maple syrup on them or anything, they’re not that kind of pancakes. But in this case, hollandaise made a lovely ‘syrup’. Plus, more lemon! The potato pancakes made an egg-cellent (yolk, yolk) base for my Eggs Benedict. I took pictures but truthfully, the looked like crap, sooooooo….

So, why Lemon? Well, if you don’t already know, we’ve formed a team for the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Million Mile Run-Walk-Ride, to raise money for pediatric cancer research. We’re walking and running and riding and raising money for pediatric cancer research. If kicking cancer’s butt is your thing, you should totally join us!

Breakfast Protein: Set It Up

September 12, 2014 by bec2point0

Life…life is crazy. I mean, I knew this week would be nuts, but this week was NUTS. Two soccer games, one Weight Watchers meeting, two doctor’s appointments, one back to school night and one English paper (not mine). Did I forget to mention a full-time job, cooking, cleaning and fitting in exercise? How silly of me! This week was honestly so full that I barely remember it.

Which brings me to the ideas behind week two of the breakfast protein series. PREP.

Seriously, if you have a busy lifestyle, and really, who doesn’t, prepping meals ahead can be such a lifesaver. And I knew going in to this week, that I needed to be ready. Luckily, there are quite a few protein breakfast options that can be thrown together days in advance, and quickly at that, for grab and go mornings. These are some of my favorites.

Overnight Oats

It’s not secret that we Scoot chicks love our oats. Heck, when five of us got together in April, we had an oatmeal buffet! But if you ask me, hot oatmeal is much better prepared fresh. So, for make ahead meals, overnight oats are my go to. But Bec, oats aren’t super protein-y! No, not high, but they do have some protein. And when you’re making overnight refrigerator oats, you can layer in some other great protein sources, like Greek yogurt and Chia seeds. There are a million recipes for overnight oats, but my tried and true is the recipe and variations found on The Yummy Life. I didn’t take a picture of the finished product. I love you all to much for that. Overnight oats may be delicious and nutritious, but they aren’t winning any beauty contests.

Overnight Oats, Before. 2014.

Egg Muffins

These babies have been in heavy rotation throughout the summer. Whipping up a batch takes almost no time, and then you can store them in the fridge if you’re going to eat them within a couple days (mine never last longer) or pop them in the freezer for later use. And holy versatile, Batman! My egg base is 4 eggs and 4 egg whites whipped with a bit of water, and after that, it’s a free-for-all. Ham, bacon, sausage, shredded potatoes, onions, mushrooms, peppers, cheese. I’ve made these so many different ways, and they’ve all been delicious. And if you’re a fellow Weight Watchers member, these average about 2 Points Plus per muffin (totally depends on ingredients, definitely calculate based on what you add). If these sound right up your alley, the best advice I can give is to order a silicone muffin pan. Makes clean up super easy. Because you’ve saved all this time prepping, you don’t want to spend it scrubbing a muffin tin. Or maybe you do, I’m not judging!

Denver Omelette Egg Muffins.

Quinoa

Is it a grain? A seed? How do you even pronounce it? (Fun fact, for a year, I was pronouncing it Kwin-o-a. I’m so cool). At this point, I’m sure this superfood isn’t new to most of you, but it might be new to your breakfast table. Quinoa is the edible seed of a grain plant, and it’s a really good source of protein. I often use it as a replacement for rice, but in the mornings, it also makes a yummy breakfast cereal. When I make a big batch for a meal, I just tuck some aside in the fridge. Voila, breakfast. Just heat it up in the microwave, add some nuts and dried fruit (or really, put whatever tickles your fancy in there), a little sweetener (maple syrup is my drug of choice) and pour some milk over top. It’s similar to Cream of Wheat, which for me, is a good thing. FYI, if you cook your quinoa in chicken stock, I wouldn’t recommend it as breakfast cereal. Becuase I like you and don’t want you to gag.

Cream of Kwinoa?

And that’s how I do breakfast protein, make ahead style. On that note, zoooooommmmm….

Are there any make ahead breakfasts that you love? Tell us about them in the comments!

Road Tested: Manitoba Harvest’s Hemp Pro 70

September 10, 2014 by Meridith

Back in February, we adopted our dog, Gemma. She came from the streets of Philadelphia and I swore that she was going to have the best life in our home. We feed her food that we get at a specialty natural pet food store, give her only the best treats, and occasionally she gets free range, organic eggs. Um, I’m pretty sure she eats better than I do!

Now, I’m not a vegan but I do try to be cognizant of what I put in my body. Therefore when I heard from Fit Approach that Manitoba Harvest was looking for some folks to try out their hemp protein powder, I jumped at the opportunity.

Oh, do go on!

I’m a morning gym goer, so my need/want for protein powder is usually in the form of smoothies. Prior to this, I solely went on taste. I tried a few protein powders that were… well, in a word, TERRIBLE. Chalky, powdery, strong-flavored (and NOT in a good way).

I finally found a protein powder that was right up my alley and it’s worked well for me but I’m always interested in trying new things, especially when they are better for me! Plant based protein with four ingredients? I’m down!

Since I was trying new things, I decided to try a couple of new smoothie recipes from the Manitoba Harvest website. I was sent two packets of Hemp Pro 70: chocolate and vanilla.

Now, before I continue, let me say that I’m definitely more of a vanilla fan than a chocolate when it comes to protein powder. That being said, I figured that I would start with the chocolate to give it a fair shot and not let any previous biases cloud my judgement.

The recipes on the website call for one serving of the protein powder but since I was given a half serving in the sample, the recipes below are adjusted accordingly. If you click through to their site, you can see the recipes.

Okay, chocolate, get your game face on!

Berry-Choco Smoothie

3/4 cup organic blueberries
.5 Manitoba Harvest organic hemp protein powder chocolate
1/2 chocolate almond milk (I used original unsweetened almond milk, as I didn’t have chocolate almond milk. I also upped it to a cup because it was too thick to drink.)

Combine in a blender and serve!

My thoughts? Well, sadly, I am still not a huge chocolate protein powder fan. I’m not sure if it’s the recipe (although I do love blueberries) or what I didn’t exactly adore about this smoothie, but I wasn’t crazy about it. The Manitoba Harvest folks suggest that their hemp products have a nutty taste but I felt like it was more earth-y.

Gemma was definitely begging for some but no can do, pup; no chocolate for dogs!

However, with the knowledge that I usually favor the flavor of vanilla protein powder, I was looking forward to powering on the following day.

Into the blender you go!

Vanilla Berry Banana Shake

1/2 cup organic strawberries
1/2 organic banana
.5 serving of Manitoba Harvest organic hemp protein vanilla
1/2 cup of organic vanilla almond milk (Again, I used original unsweetened almond milk. And again, I upped the amount to a cup.)
1/4 cup of ice (which basically equals a cube)

Combine and blend ingredients in blender. Serve. Enjoy!

Hello, my pretty!

Now THIS? This was total and complete love at first taste. And second. And third. Sometimes I save smoothies to share with my husband but not this time. (Too bad, so sad, Dude!) (Don’t fret – Gemma got the other half of the banana.)

Additionally, what’s pretty rad about this protein is that it’s water soluble. So you can throw it into water, almond milk, milk milk (if you’re an animal product type), coconut water and bam – it’s ready to go. Sign me up for a big canister of vanilla!

If you’d like to give the Manitoba Harvest Hemp Pro 70 products a whirl, here’s a coupon code! You can get 20% off the #pro70 vanilla and chocolate flavors with the code: sweatpinkpro70

Or, you can try your hand at winning a case of Manitoba Harvest Hemp Pro 70 – share a picture on Instagram or Twitter showing your hemp love! Make sure you tag @manitobaharvest and hashtag #pro70 so that they see what’cha got! Contest ends 9/30.

Talk to me about smoothies, because I love them so. Any suggestions for chocolate protein powder recipes that I can try? (I really like the chocolate and peanut butter combo.) How about vanilla? Have you ever tried Hemp Pro 70?

Fit Approach and Manitoba Harvest provided the me with the opportunity to taste and review. All opinions are my own.

Product Review: Buff Butter

August 29, 2014 by bec2point0

Confession: I love nut butter. Truly, madly, deeply. I have quite a collection going, so when I caught wind of Buff Butter on Instagram, I knew I had to try it.

If you haven’t heard of Buff Butter, it is a line of high quality nut butters with added whey protein. Depending on the flavor, you’ll also see things like hemp, chia and flax seeds and organic coconut palm sugar. And, it comes in awesome flavors like Snickerdoodle Almond Butter and Cinnamon Raisin Peanut Butter, just to name a couple.

I reached out to the folks at Buff Bake (I’ll explain a little more about the name in just a minute) and they generously offered to send me some for a review. Score!

And then, when the box arrived, SCORE!

The Fabulous Butter Boys

It seriously had the hardest time deciding which one to try first. The struggle is real, guys. (I went with Snickerdoodle Almond!)

I’ve been consciously working on getting more protein into my diet, specifically at breakfast, since it helps keep me satisfied longer than carbs, and Buff Butter is an easy and delicious way to get some extra grams in. (I’ll be posting Friday mornings throughout September with higher protein breakfast ideas, if that is your jam. I won’t really be posting about jam much, unless I decide to make a Buff Butter and Jam sandwich, which now that I mention it…. sorry, I got a little caught up there.)

ANYWAY, from a protein standpoint, Buff Butters have impressive stats. Compared to regular natural peanut butter, the protein is doubled, the fat is less, carbs are just a hair higher and the calories are neck in neck. (2 TBSPs of creamy natural peanut butter has 190 calories, 16 grams of fat, 7 grams of carbs and 7 grams of protein. 2 TBSPs of Cinnamon Raisin Buff Butter has 194 calories, 12 grams of fat, 8 grams of carbs and 14 grams of protein).

That’s a nutritional win/win for me. But, let’s face it, regardless of nutritional stats, if it tastes like crap, I’m not going to eat it. So, let’s talk about flavors.

Snickerdoodle Almond – This was by far my favorite. Which isn’t that surprising, since I prefer almond butter to peanut butter as a rule. But this was GOOD. Cinnamon-y and sweet, this was my perfect combo. Preferred serving method: on spoon.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter – A very close second. I love, love, love chocolate and peanut butter flavors together. Preferred serving method: on whole grain toast or bagel flats with sliced bananas.

Breakfast of Chocolate Chip Champions

Cinnamon Raisin Peanut Butter – Third, but almost tied with Chocolate Chip. It’s like delicious fall in my mouth. Preferred serving method: with sliced Granny Smith apples or over WBO (Whipped Banana Oatmeal).

Buff Party!

Cranberry Coconut Peanut Butter – I actually wasn’t a fan of this flavor. I wanted to be, since cranberries run though my New England bloodstream and I LOVE coconut, but this one just didn’t do it for me.

Three out of four is damn good. And since I first heard of them, they’ve added another flavor to their line up. I haven’t tried it, so I can’t speak to how it tastes, but I have just two words. Cookie Butter. I’m obsessed with regular Cookie Butter, but it’s not really a nut butter at all, it’s crushed up cookies. Buff is now selling Cookie Butter Almond Butter.

Price wise, Buff Butters are competitive with other natural nut butters I’ve purchased. 12 ounces jars are just under $11 for peanut flavors and just under $14 for almond varieties. They also have 3.5 ounce squeeze packs, so you can try the different flavors out. And hey, if you fall in love with the stuff the way I did, you can buy variety packs that bring the price down a bit. I firmly believe you get what you pay for, and I would consider these well worth the price.

So, why is it Buff BAKE? Because they also sell Buffins, which are high protein muffins. I haven’t tried these yet, but I totally plan to.

Long ~~story~~ review short, Buff Bake gets a total thumbs up from me. If you are looking for ways to get more protein in, this is a delicious and easy one.

Do you love nut butter? Which flavor would you most like to try?

Recipe Box: Watermelon sangria

July 18, 2014 by vfreile

Earlier this month my mama-in-law introduced me to a light, tasty adult summer drink – watermelon sangria!

We made this adult beverage at a family party and it was quite the hit. We’re a family of foodies, so know high standards were met, folks!

So since it’s my sister’s birthday today – and she loves all sorts of sangria – I thought I’d share this gift with everyone! And Happy Birthday Sissy!

Without further adieu, here’s what you’ll need to create my new favorite drink of champions:

– 12-14 cups of cubed watermelon, divided

– 1 (750ML) bottle of dry white wine

– 1 cup vodka

– 1/2 cup triple sec

– 1/2 cup simple syrup (sugar and water mixture)

– 1 medium lime, chopped and quartered

– 2 oranges, cut into thin sliced

– 1 cup (or so) of fresh blueberries

Got everything together? Great. Now start with the watermelon. I’d seriously chopped up 3 within the 24 hour span before making this so I was verging on expert, I like to think.

1. Place 9 cups of watermelon cubes in a blender; blend on high until very smooth. It’s incredibly wise not to do it all at once, but in parts, say 3 cups at a time. Otherwise your blender might get overwhelmed and quit.

2. Strain juice through a mesh strainer into a large pitcher. We used a huge thermos instead of a pitcher. We also used a spoon to help push the blended watermelon through the strainer.

3. Pour the wine, vodka, triple sec and simple syrup into the pitcher. Stir to combine. We used generous amounts of the alcohol.

4. Mix the remaining 3 cups of watermelon cubes (I made them really small), the lime and orange sections and blueberries into the sangria. Stir.

5. Chill for 4 hours before serving. I skipped this last step and just added ice. You could go crazy and do both.

Drink and enjoy! You will soon become the hit of the party.

What’s your go-to summer drink? Do you ever add fruit to your adult beverage?

Guest post: Meal prep anyone?

July 17, 2014 by scootadoot

Hi everyone! *waves*

My name is Tyra, and I’m here to talk about meal prepping! It’s something that I’ve done now for a few months regularly and it has changed my life by saving me time, money and keeping me on track with my nutrition goals.

Every Sunday, (or sometimes Monday, depending on how our weekend went) I spend 1-3 hours preparing all of our lunches and often the main parts of our dinner for the week. Each prepared meal lasts the work week in the fridge.

When I’m done with my meal prep for the week, I take a picture of it all laid out and post to my Instagram and Facebook accounts. This has created a buzz amongst my friends, which is fun but really what I love to see are the questions, and then people doing it themselves and posting their own pictures as well. People don’t believe me at first when I tell them how easy it really is, but once they do it themselves, they see the truth!

Here are a few examples of what my weeks look like:

Here are the main items / ingredients I use for food prepping:

1. Containers

I use Glad Ware containers but you can use whatever you have. I have regular sized containers and half cup containers for smaller items.

2. Food Scale, measuring cups and measuring spoons

3. Protein

Ground turkey (I get 99% or 93%)
Chicken breast or chicken breast tenderloin (I just get the frozen bags)
Cod, tilapia or salmon
Adelle’s Chicken Sausages
Egg Whites

4. Pasta (for race weeks!)

5. Veggies

Canned tomatoes (or fresh)
Asparagus
Green Beans
Broccoli

6. Complex Carb

Quinoa
Brown rice
Black beans
Sweet potatoes (or red potatoes)

7. Seasoning

Mrs. Dash Seasoning and Taco Seasoning (low sodium if possible) or make own taco seasoning, sea salt
Pico de Gallo (either make or buy it) and/or jar salsa or Franks Hot Sauce, Sriracha, etc.)

8. Misc

EVOO, Coconut Oil and cooking spray

Now that you’ve got all of your ingredients, here’s what I do, in the order I do it:

Grab your containers and place them out on a table so you can easily place ingredients into the containers.

1. Rice/Quinoa: Grab a rice cooker. Measure out the quinoa/rice and water. (1 part dry and 2 parts water) Get that cooking in the rice cooker. (You can mix them or make them separately, or prepare one or the other – it’s up to you!)

2. Sweet Potatoes: Wash and boil till they’re soft. I have also sliced like coins and baked so they are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Or, if you want to start these in the morning and walk away, wrap them in foil and cook on high for a few hours (or low if you’ll be leaving for the day).

3. Protein:

Ground turkey: prepare like taco meat on the stove. Play around with the seasoning.
Steak: I use my George Foreman Grill or our BBQ. I pretty much sear each side leaving the middle very pink as it will cook more when you reheat.
Adelle’s sausages: Easiest of them all! Place it in the container out of the fridge, or cut up first to make things really easy at lunch time.
Fish: I bake in the oven.
Chicken: bake on a cookie sheet in the oven according to package directions.
Egg Whites (for breakfast) I use a mini loaf pan. It makes 8 mini loaves. Spray the pan with cooking spray, add 6 T egg whites (I use the carton egg whites) and some chopped spinach, or whatever veggies you like in an omelet, and bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes. They take 30 seconds to reheat in the microwave in the morning!

4. Pasta: (If you are doing pasta for the week) Boil as you normally would.

5. Veggies:

Green beans: open can and drain.
Asparagus: steam for a minute. You want these to be really crisp because they will cook more when you reheat.
Broccoli: same as asparagus. Undercook, as it will cook more when you reheat.

6. Black Beans: Open can, drain and rinse

7. Pasta: Boil as normally would.

Measure and weigh each item out and place into your containers with tight lids.

With regards to how much to put in, I start with 1 serving of each item but you can adjust by adding the amount you need for your nutrition goals. If you need more protein and less carbs, go heavier on the chicken or turkey and less on the quinoa and rice. It’s up to you.

Here’s an example of the nutrition on one of the meals I make:

3-4 oz of meat. (100 – 150 calories, 0 carb, 1 fat, 24 protein, 125 sodium)
100 grams sweet potato (100 calories, 21 carb, 0 fat, 2 protein, 36 sodium)
1/2 cup quinoa/rice mixture (150 calories, 22 carb, 0 fat, 3 protein, 5 sodium)
1/2 cup green beans or several spears of asparagus (25 calories, 4 carb, 0 fat, 2 protein, 13 sodium)
Seasoning: (sea salt or Mrs. Dash’s, or Frank’s hot sauce, Sriracha or Pico de Gallo)

Per serving: (approximate)

Calories: 375
Carbs: 49
Fat: 2
Protein: 31
Sodium: 480

Play around with the measurements for your nutrition goals!

Some things to keep in mind:

The meals that keep “fresh” the longest are the ground turkey meals.
The chicken meals last well too, even better if you were to prepare the chicken in the crock pot and add a little juice to the meals
Beef – while I really enjoy this one, I’ve learned to prepare on the “rare” side, as when you re-heat, it will cook more.
Fish – When I prepare this, I try to use this in the first few days. I am sure it will last longer, no air gets into your containers but I don’t like to take chances!
Don’t be afraid of seasoning! You can make ground turkey for the entire week and it will taste different every meal if you add pico, or add Mrs. Dash’s or whatever sauce / seasoning sounds good to you!

So there you have it. It still might look a little daunting but I encourage you to try it for a month to see that it really is easier than it looks. And when you do, please reach out to me and show me yours! I love new ideas!

Happy Meal Prepping!

You can keep up with Tyra’s weekly meal prep via her Instagram page and see more past posts on her WordPress Blog as well.

Road Tested: Cheribundi

July 8, 2014 by vfreile

I’m all over fruit juices from upstate New York farms.

Flavored apple juice from Red Jacket Orchards in Geneva, Ontario County – I buy it every time I see it.

Freshly-squeezed Wegmans orange juice? Can’t get enough of it.

So when Cheribundi approached me about trying a sample of the tart cherry juice, I was all over it.

I love cherries, therefore I would love cherry juice, I thought. And I was right.

The juice is tart but refreshing, and the Geneva, New York-based growers boast there are 50 freshly-picked cherries in each bottle.

Lately, I’ve been hearing all about “superfoods,” which are foods supposedly beneficial to your health – like kale, broccoli, berries and lentils. Cherries, of course, are among them.

Cheribundi calls their cherries a “superfruit” since each is packed with phytonutrients, melatonin and vitamins including vitamin A, potassium, iron and calcium.

The original tart cherry juice (my favorite) is 90% pressed tart cherries and 10% apple juice, which sweetens the drink instead of sugar. Yep, that’s no added water or sugar.

Cheribundi teamed with food scientists at Cornell University (ahh, Ithaca, my old home) and researched the benefits of tart cherries, and also created a gentle juicing process to maintain cherries’ levels of melatonin, vitamins, nutrients and other antioxidants.

Rather than take part in Cheribundi’s 7-day challenge, I decided to test the juice each time I returned from what I deemed my worst recent runs, hoping the juice would work its magic powers.

Presto. Each time I felt better. (Not to mention, my hubby was entertained as I repeatedly tried to squeeze every last drop from the bottle).

And there are several types of juices, teas and even smoothies.

The juice is meant to support restful sleep, promote a healthy inflammation response and is deemed “the Ultimate Antioxidant.”

Personally, I love the benefits, but I drink it because its natural, local and darn tasty. A win-win-win!

Plus, I love that the Cherry People are headed up by a man named Pear. (Steve Pear, CEO). Little things just make me smile.

Have you ever had cherry juice? Do you love all things tart and tasty? Have you been to the Finger Lakes, were farmers grow the cherries that becomes Cheribundi juice?

Cheribundi provided the cherry juice for me to taste and review. Opinions and (attempts at) wit are entirely my own.

Bar Food

June 18, 2014 by Meridith

If you look in any grocery store, health food store, or outlet/club store, chances are you will see no less than fifty different brands and flavors of bar (variously billed as energy bars, protein bars, etc.). When I was growing up, these things were exclusively the realm of the dieter – someone who had gone to confession and admitted the sin of being unable to master the dark art of portion control and therefore needed the gods of some random food manufacturer to portion out their appropriate allotment of vitamins, minerals, calories, and what-have-you that make up a healthy diet. Similarly, granola bars have been around for quite some time. Originally, they were clearly targeted at kids lunch boxes and those that needed a snack on-the-go.

Modern energy bars are a natural combination of both of these trends. They serve as a meal-replacement for someone trying to manage their diet and count calories with deadly accuracy. They serve as a snack for on-the-go kids and adults that want to have some notion that what they are eating is healthy and has some measurable nutritional value. Most importantly, for our purposes, they serve as a means of getting a high amount of calories into our digestive systems for some athletic goal. This might be generating energy for a run or workout; providing appropriate fuel for muscle-building afterwards; or getting some quick-digesting energy to keep us going after a period of sustained exertion like a long-distance run.

Whatever your purpose for eating them, sorting through the huge variety of available bars can seem daunting. With price-tags that can cost as much as a cheap take-out meal for a single bar, it’s reasonable to want some sense of what you’re buying when to invest in a case of bars. Have no fear: we’re here to help. We intrepidly tested a number of widely-available protein/energy bars and rated them on the following categories:

Nutritional Content / Breakdown
Taste
Price (except we got most of these from other people… so, uh, we can’t help you. Sorry y’all.)

It’s a six star rating scale. Why six and not five? Oh, wouldn’t you like to know.

The taste-testers. Dude and Mer.

First up, we have Picky Bars Lauren’s Mega Nuts.

This has what might be the most healthy nutritional content. It’s 45 grams, rather than 40 grams like most of the others. It has 200 calories, with 56 calories from fat making it lower fat content than all the other bars we tried. That’s 46% less fat than all of the 40 gram bars we tried, even though there’s more bar there. Boom goes the dynamite. (I’ll give you a hint of who did the math for this post… it wasn’t me.)

It has a very earthy texture. Dude likened it to peat moss, but I’m thinking he’s never ate peat moss so what the heck does he know?

If you’re looking for energy or meal replacement with it being as healthy as possible, this is the way to go.

In addition, you could make a health-nut buzzword drinking game out of the label and end up incapacitated (eg non-gmo, organic, agave nectar, cane juice, etc.). We have very little memory of eating this bar because of this aforementioned game.

5 out of 6 stars for nutritional content / breakdown

3 out of 6 stars for taste

Next on tap, we’ve got the Luna Peanut Honey Pretzel bar, which Dude ate without me before the gym (not that I’m bitter or anything…)

This bar tastes great, is the largest portion size of those we tested (at 48 grams), and has the second lowest fat calories at 70.

On the other hand, it achieves this combination not through health-nut buzzwords, but the miracles of modern chemistry. The ingredients are in fine print on a reflective portion of the label, but the fastidious among us can find AP chem classics such as: magnesium oxide, ferrous fumarate, potassium iodide, and other geek classics. (Dude note: these are all in the vitamin/minerals section and are good for you but don’t sound as much earthy goodness as folks might expect.)

This bar kept Dude going during an intensive training session with our sociopath trainer (his words, not mine. I love you, Ron).

Editors note: It is only at this point during our review that Dude noticed the Luna bar’s label tag line “Whole nutrition bar for women.” He is displeased with my having recommended this one to him, but stands by his review nonetheless.

4 out of 6 stars for nutritional content / breakdown

5 out of 6 stars for aste

Are you ready for our next taste test? Sure you are! That would be the LARABAR uber: Roasted Nut Roll.

Dude said this bar should automatically be disqualified because it did not hail him a cab. #giantgeek

Despite containing very natural ingredients, the nutritional content of this bar leaves something to be desired, including containing 24% of your recommended daily intake of fat in a small 40 gram bar. Oy vey!

That being said, it tastes good. It has a distinct trail mix flavor so if you were a Scout as a kid, odds are you’ll feel right at home with this bar.

Like the KIND bar we’ll talk about later, it’s relatively low in carbohydrates, so if you want a bar for a quick burst of energy look elsewhere.

3 out of 6 stars for nutritional content / breakdown

4 out of 6 stars for taste

Are you ready to hear our thoughts on thinkThin Crunch Caramel Chocolate Dipped Mixed Nuts? Okay, awesome, because we are ready to share them.

This bar has a seal on the front that says “Wholesome abundance, 9g protein, 6g sugar, 4g fiber.” We cannot fathom why they left off 11g fat.

Despite this omission, we can say that this bar is one of our favorites. It’s lower fat than the worst offender, but better tasting and with better texture than the rest of the competitors. We’ll let the missing fat grams on the seal slide.

Like with some other bars, the low carb content makes this a better meal replacement bar than an energy or recovery bar. Dude would eat six of them in one sitting if I did not stop him (for those of you following along at home, that would be 102% of Dude’s recommended fat intake).

4 out of 6 stars for nutritional content / breakdown

6 out of 6 stars for taste

Finally, we have the KIND Nuts & Spices Dark Chocolate Nuts & Sea Salt.

This bar has a unique flavor that seems specially crafted to help you prove how much better than everyone else you are. The nut flavors alternate with the sea salt taste in a way that is hard to argue is not fantastic.

The wrapper has a tag line “…made from all natural ingredients you can see and pronounce”. Exercise for the reader: pronounce soy lecithin.

More fun label facts! “A study by the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center indicates that eating two KIND bars a day helps prevent weight gain.” Studies by the Daniel-Daniel Prevention Research Center indicates that eating twelve daily does not afford such benefits. We’re not sure if they’re talking about eating just the two bars and nothing else for the entire day because two of these bars would give you 46% of your recommended daily fat intake.

3 out of 6 stars for nutritional content / breakdown

4 out of 6 stars for taste

In conclusion, we like eating bars. We also like drinking at bars. We hope this guide helps you choose a bar that meets your needs – whether it’s a meal replacement, a pre-workout energy bar, or a post-workout recovery food.

Bon Appetit!

What’s For Dinner?

May 19, 2014 by bec2point0

I’m considering having my name legally changed to that. It’s what everyone calls me anyway. (I kid. Kind of.)

Are you the person in charge of meals at your house? Do you routinely get called ‘What’s For Dinner?’

And do you sometimes not know how to an answer?

This is what happens when I don’t plan.

I feel you. I really do.

What’s worked for me over the years is to plan. It takes some time, but I figure what I lose in planning time, I make up for in getting to skip Wednesday night runs to the store because I didn’t have anything in mind for dinner. (I still make them. Just less often). I’m not going to get into the nitty gritty planning details. Pick your recipes, check the pantry for what you have, check the sale flyers, make a list, get thee to the grocery store. Or you can start with the sale flyers and the pantry and go at it that way to keep cost down. Either way.

This is more about WHERE to get the ideas. I get up on Sunday Sunday mornings, pour myself a cup of coffee, and sitt down in my dining room. From there, I’ve got access to my cookbooks. I have… a few cookbooks.

What? I like options!

All kidding aside, I have a major cookbook obsession. Last year, between my birthday and Christmas. between gifts and gift card purchases, I think I got nine new ones. But I use them, so it’s all good. Some get used a lot more than others. Some are for special occasions. Some are just to make the stacks look even (not really).

My babies!

Pictured above are some of my favorites:

The Oh She Glows Cookbook: Oh my GOSH, I love this book. If you don’t know Oh She Glows, it is a website for vegan recipes. While I’m not a vegan, everything Angela makes looks amazing, and everything I’ve tried IS amazing.

Keepers: This is a newer book for me, and hasn’t gotten a lot of use yet, but the “Jump-In-the-Mouth’ Turkey Cutlets are really, really good.

Relish: I don’t watch The Chew, and I didn’t even make the connection that Daphne Oz was the daughter of Dr. Oz, but this book was reccommended to me and it’s fab. Part cookbook, part party planning manual (which I ignore because HA). I took this out of the library first (I do this a lot, I hate cookbook buyers remorse), but I’ve already added it to my GIANT cookbook wishlist on Amazon.

Weight Watchers One Pot: If you are on Weight Watchers, or if you are trying to eat healthier, or if you like FOOD, go get this. Everything I’ve made from here, from the Cinncinnatti Four Way Chili to the Chicken in White Wine (the one on the cover), has been incredible. It definitely does NOT taste like diet food.

The Food You Crave: Oh, Ellie. You’re my hero. I have every one of Ellie Krieger’s cookbooks, but this was my first and it is still my favorite. Baked Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta. Make it. Trust me.

How to Feed a Family: Not pictured. Because I don’t have it yet. But it’s top on my list.

Skinnytaste: You probably know the blog of the same name. I’ve been waiting for this cookbook for a while. And there is still a while to wait, because it doesn’t come out until the fall, but if you’re a cookbook dork like I am, you can preorder it!

And even with all those cookbooks, I often turn to the internet. I will usually have something in mind and just start with Google, but these are the sites I wind up on most of the time.

Emily Bites: This site is newer to me but the tagline of ‘Lightened Up Comfort Food’ means it’s already a favorite. Make the Deep Dish Sloppy Joe Casserole. Trust.

Skinnytaste: There it is again. It was worth repeating. Recipes are healthy and have Weight Watchers point listed. This is NOT your mama’s Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy. Unless your mom made that really well and healthy.

LaaLoosh: Weight Watchers Points included. Asparagus Goat Cheese Risotto. YUM.

And that is how I get here.

Anyone want to come over?

How do you meal plan? Favorite cookbooks? Website suggestions?

Diet is a Four Letter Word

May 9, 2014 by bec2point0

So is cult. Hmmm.

Last week, Meri sent me a link to this very interesting post from Triathlete Magazine’s website.

You should give it a read. I’ll wait right here.

*folds nine millionth load of laundry*

So? Did you spend half of that article nodding like a bobblehead? Because I did.

Now, keep in mind, I had just come off on my less-than-30 day stint on Whole30, a diet with a decidedly cultlike following. But Whole30 is certainly not the only diet that meets at least a few of those criteria. In fact, most of the ‘diets’ I’ve been on over the course of my life fall into at least one of those categories, most of them more than one.

Similar to religion, I’ve spent years trying to find the one diet that just fit. Except that I accepted years ago that no one religion fully encompassed my belief system, yet I’ve continued to try on diet after diet, looking for the perfect one.

But no sooner had I adopted a new diet plan, then I would immediately start feeling the chafe of the restrictions and questioning whether the principles of the diet were even based in sound nutritional science at all. What do you mean no fruit? Why is peanut butter forbidden, but almond butter is fine? What do you mean no substitutions, I hate beets! Why does everyone need me to drink the Kool-Aid? WE’RE NOT EVEN ALLOWED TO HAVE KOOL-AID!!

Clearly, the part of the article that really spoke to me, the part that gave me one of those elusive ‘A-HA’ moments, was where the author, Matt Fitzgerald, talks about “agnostic healthy eating.”

Boom. Like a ton of bricks. This made so much sense to me.

I’ve said to more than one friend over the years, and even my doctor, that I keep waiting for the ‘magic plan’ that will finally work. And really, I’m an intelligent adult. Logically, I know that unicorns don’t exist and that the rabbit was really in the hat all along and that any number of diets will help me to lose weight if I’m willing to do the work. Still, there is a part of me that likes to believe that magic exists. And that a magical perfect diet exists.

It doesn’t. When it comes to weight loss, there is no magic. There are no fairy godmothers, waiting around to grant our wishes of instant and lasting weight loss.

Sorry. I know, I’m bummed too. (Let’s hug it out, we’ll get through this together.)

The funny thing is, the fact that a diet that is loaded with high quality food and light on processed food is the best option? This is not news. Anyone I know that has had significant, lasting weight loss, has done so by eating more whole, natural foods and less (or no) chemical laden junk, regardless of what name their diet plan had.

It seems so simple when it’s broken down like this. And really, without even really realizing it, my head was already kind of going to this place. Immediately after giving up my quest for a Whole 30 halfway through day 5, I immediately bopped over to twitter and tweeted the following (in several tweets because I am wordy and 140 characters is not a lot):

So, in the wake of my opting not to finish Whole 30, I needed a new diet plan. Decided to come up with my own and I’ve got it! It is a combo of vegan, clean eating, Paleo, weight watchers, low Carb, and a few others. I’m calling it Eat Food That is Good for You in Reasonable Quantities and Don’t Go Off the Rails When You Occasionally Indulge. The name needs work, admittedly. I took my inspiration from the Michael Pollan quote, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Brilliant.

I’m a little sassy on Twitter sometimes.

Look at that. I’m cured! Now that I have had these realizations, the weight will fly off my body like magic!

Oh. No. It won’t. I will still have to do the work. I will still have to make the tough choices, like ‘Cookies for breakfast? No. Not today.’ And I know myself well enough to know that cult-like or not, I do best with some kind of a plan, something with structure. It doesn’t have to be rules, especially if those rules are ‘no ice cream shall ever pass those lips again’, but the support system and the community aspects? Those parts of diets work for me.

Enter Weight Watchers. Surprisingly enough, when I joined, confetti did NOT rain from the sky and I was NOT handed a free toaster for being the member that had signed up the most times. Hard to believe.

While Weight Watchers definitely holds some of the characteristics of a cult-like diet, the one thing it definitely does not do is make any food forbidden. So, while cookies can’t be an everyday thing, and most certainly should never be for breakfast, they are something I can indulge in on occasion.

Weight Watchers is not the answer for everyone. Heck, it may not be the answer for me. But it’s a place where I feel like I can have my agnostic beliefs, where I can do it my way, and still be part of the ‘cult’.

I really wanted to make a commitment, to give this long enough to start to feel ‘normal’, so I prepaid for six months of meetings. I went for my first weigh in on Sunday morning. It was nothing unexpected. The plan hadn’t changed since the last time I joined. The number on the scale was nothing I hadn’t seen there before.

But it isn’t one I care to see again. So, let’s get to work.

*blows an eyelash of my finger*

Just in case.

Scootadoot

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Category Archives: Food