Tag: diet and exercise

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Healthy Eats: Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownie

There are few flavors as satisfying as the peanut butter and chocolate combination. These delectable brownies are made with Peanut Butter Chocolate Casein Protein Powder and stay very moist with good texture thanks to the applesauce and addition of salted peanuts. Then for extra deliciousness, top the brownie with 1 TBSP of all natural peanut butter. The nutritional facts below include the addition of the peanut butter topping. Enjoy!

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Ingredients:

1 cup egg whites

1.5 cups unsweetened almond milk

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

4 scoops Protein Powder

2 TBSP coco powder

To add to top of each brownie when its time to eat:

1 TBSP dry roasted peanuts -salted or unsalted is fine and you can crush them or leave them in whole pieces

1 TBSP all natural peanut butter (to add to top of each brownie when its time to eat)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine egg whites, almond milk, applesauce and peanut butter with a whisk. Then add in coco powder and casein powder until well blended. Next, spread batter into 8×11 baking dish or tinfoil pan if you prefer to not do dishes like me! Bake for 25-30 minutes then let cool. Cut into 8 equal (ish) portions and wrap in plastic wrap. Top each brownie with 1 TBSP all natural peanut butter and 1 TBSP crushed or whole peanuts when it’s time to enjoy. Can be frozen if you want to make a double or triple batch.

Nutrition Facts:

Per brownie including peanut butter/peanut topping:

224 calories ~ 7.6 g carbs ~ 12.7 g fat ~ 21.4 g protein

All of the Check Total Health “Healthy Eats” are created and tested by us! Try our other recipes here.

*The exact portions will vary per person. Contact us for more details on your portions and macronutrient breakdown per meal/per day! There is no need to guess at how you should eat – let us help you eat right for your body type and goals!

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Healthy Eats: Breakfast Burritos

It can be challenging to get appropriate protein, carbohydrates and fats locked into a single burrito, so why not make it two! The Breakfast Burritos include protein tortillas, white rice, cheesy eggs and hot sauce. They can be premade in bulk then reheated. As always, each person’s individual portions and macronutrients will vary.

Ingredients (per serving):

2 Protein Tortillas – 1 c rice – 1/4 c Egg Whites – 2 Eggs – 1/3 c shredded cheese – hot sauce to taste

Lay out tortillas and fill each with 1/2 cup cooked long grain white rice such as jasmine or basmati. Drizzle the rice with hot sauce. In a frying pan, cook 2 beaten eggs and 1/4 cup egg whites. Add 1/3 cup shredded cheese until melted. Divide the egg patty in half between the two tortillas. Wrap and roll! Store in the fridge until ready to reheat and eat.

Nutrition Facts:

816 calories – 83 g carbs – 31 g fat – 58 g protein

We have an entire index of healthy homemade creations. Check out more of our recipes here.

*The exact portions will vary per person. Contact us for more details on your portions and macronutrient breakdown per meal/per day!

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Healthy Eats: Apple Cider Dijon Pork Tenderloin

This marinade became a fast favorite in my home. Apple Cider Dijon Pork Tenderloin is a weekly staple in our healthy repertoire. We’ve expanded the marinade for use with chicken and turkey tenderloins as well. It’s delicious on grilled or baked proteins. It’s also incredibly easy to put together in a time pinch. I usually marinade the pork for about an hour before we cook it.

Ingredients:

2 pork tenderloins trimmed and silver skin removed

2 TBSP apple cider vinegar

2 TBSP sugar free syrup

1 TBSP Dijon mustard

3-5 cloves chopped garlic

2 tsp each fresh or dried herbs – pick 2 each time, I’ve tried all the combos and they are all delish (Thyme, Basil, Rosemary, Oregano)

Combine all ingredients in a large sealable bag. Shake and move around until the pork is well coated with the marinade. Let sit at room temperature for 30 min – 1 hour before grilling or baking to desired degree of doneness.

There’s more where this recipe came from! Click here to check out additional health EATS!

*The exact portions will vary per person. Contact us for more details on your portions and macronutrient breakdown per meal/per day!

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Healthy Eats: Plant based sausage, egg & rice bake

Part of shifting our eating to “partially plant-based” is redoing some of our favorite meals to utilize less (or no) animal proteins and more plant based proteins. My husband, Justin, has a few favorites that needed to be adjusted. First things first, BREAKFAST, the very most important meal of the day. In our regular egg and rice bake there is 3 whole eggs and 1 1/4 cups of egg whites. There’s also cheesy goodness too. In general there is a lot of animal proteins and fats. A quick redo and our plant-based sausage, egg & rice bake is not only healthier and more sustainable for the environment but it also TASTES better!

Here’s how to put it together. You’ll need the following ingredients:

  • 1 cup of cooked white or brown rice
  • 2 TBSP rice flour (or regular white flour)
  • 2 whole egg
  • 1/3 cup liquid egg whites
  • 2 plant based sausage links (see pictures – Aldi brand) ** These are the best plant-based sausage links! If you can’t find them, try to find an alternative with similar numbers on the nutrition panel! **
  • 1 tsp hot sauce

Stir together cooked rice, rice flour, and 2 whole eggs. Spread into the bottom of a loaf pan. Cut up your frozen sausage (lightly cooked in the microwave first) and place on top of the rice crust. Whisk together egg whites and hot sauce and evenly pour on top of the crust and sausage. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes depending on your oven. There should be no jiggle left when you shake the pan!

Each egg bake should be 1-2 meals depending on your macronutrient needs. *The exact portions will vary per person. Contact us for more details on your portions and macronutrient breakdown per meal/per day! There is no need to guess at how much or how often you should eat – let us help you eat right for your body type and goals!

All of the Check Total Health “Healthy Eats” are created and tested by us! Try our other recipes here.

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Healthy Eats: Cabbage Steaks

I first discovered Cabbage Steaks when I was making a delicious St. Patty’s day dinner for hubby and me. I needed a nice side dish to compliment my corned beef hash. The recipe I found for cabbage steaks brushed both sides with oil, topped with salt, pepper and garlic and roasted in the oven. They were delicious and an immediate hit in our house.

Since macro-based meal planning is what we do and how we eat, I decided to remove the oil from the cooking process and hoped the cabbage steaks would still be delicious. Spoiler alert – they were! So now we make the cabbage steaks sans the oil, just a little cooking spray on the pan. The rest of the process is similar and the cabbage is a staple a few nights a week.

Here’s how to roast up your very own meal plan approved cabbage steaks:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
  2. Pick a nice medium head of cabbage from the store. Remove the outer layers of loose leaves (usually one to two layers should do it).
  3. Slice the cabbage into 3/4 – 1 inch “steaks”.
  4. Spray cooking spray on foil or parchment lined baking sheet. Then place cabbage steaks on the sheet.
  5. Generously add seasoning. We’ve tried many different combinations. Simple salt, pepper and garlic is perfect, or pictured here is “everything but the bagel” seasoning. You really can’t go wrong – be creative and let me know of any winning combinations!
  6. Add cabbage steaks to the oven and set your timer for 25-30 minutes. Use tongs to flip the cabbage steaks over and lightly re-season the new side of the steaks. They may lose a little of their “steak shape” once flipped. That’s okay – they will still taste incredible!
  7. Return to the oven for another 15-20 minutes. You may want to broil the cabbage steaks at the very end to get a little color on them. 

The cabbage steaks have a buttery taste to them and are so amazing with turkey meatballs. We hope you’ll like this recipe as much as we do.

Check our our entire index of Healthy Eats!

*The exact portions will vary per person. Contact us for more details on your portions and macronutrient breakdown per meal/per day!

 

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Healthy Eats: Sauteed Onions and Mushrooms

There are two main reasons to avoid cooking with oil:

  1. The composition of oil changes when its heated up and toxins can be released depending on the boiling point of the oil
  2. It’s hard to know how much oil is in your portion of food once the dish is finished. Keeping close watch on your fats, carbs, and proteins is very important in macro-based meal planning.

I get asked often how to saute vegetables without adding oil. It’s simple really, add other things that are meal plan approved. In this dish – Sauteed Onions and Mushrooms – I use soy sauce, balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. That’s it – no salt, no pepper – nothing else! These veggies are an amazing topper to steak, ground beef, grilled chicken, salad, etc. The flavor is rich and delicious, you won’t miss the oil one bit!

Here’s how I prepare the Sauteed Onions and Mushrooms. First chop your large onion into medium size wedges then separate each layer. Next slice your mushrooms or buy the pre-sliced mushrooms and simply open the pack! Place onions and mushrooms in the saute pan and add your liquids. I add approximately 1 TBSP each of balsamic vinegar and soy sauce and about 1/2 TBSP of the Worcestershire sauce (for one large onion and one regular size pack of sliced Portabello mushrooms). Then turn your pan on to high heat. You’ll saute until the liquid is pretty much gone and the mushrooms and onions have a nice golden brown color to them. It should take about 6-8 minutes total on high heat.

The Sauteed Onions and Mushrooms are so easy to make and truly delicious. Add them to your healthy cooking this week!

We create our recipes and fine tune them for macro-based eating that tastes great too! For additional Healthy EATS, click here!

*The exact portions will vary per person. Contact us for more details on your portions and macronutrient breakdown per meal/per day!

 

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Healthy Eats: Meatballs & Cabbage

I’m getting more and more dependent on meals I can prepare in advance so my husband can just pop in the oven if I’m still at work or busy with the kids! I love when the whole meal can be in one tinfoil pan too. This means easy to cook and easy to clean up…for a working mom it doesn’t get much better than that! I usually spend one day each week prepping a few pre-made pans of food for the nights I work late. Turkey meatballs and cabbage has become one of our very favorites for flavor and ease of preparation!

In my recipe for EASY Stuffed Peppers I explain that ground meat loses about 25% of its weight when cooked. So if you’re measuring your meat raw you need to account for this decrease. For the Meatballs & Cabbage recipe I measure 4 oz +/- for each meatball. So if you have a package of 40 oz of ground turkey (Sam’s and Costco sized packages) then you should get 10 meatballs.

Again, super easy to assemble. I take a head of cabbage and remove the outer 1-2 leaves. Then slice into thin “steaks” and place in the bottom of tinfoil pans. Usually 1 head of cabbage will make two pans for me. Then I thinly slice a sweet onion and spread around the two pans as well. I season the vegetables with salt, garlic powder and pepper. Before I portion out the meatballs I season with Italian seasoning or a mixture of whatever spices I have on hand. I’m a big fan of the Penzey’s salt free blends! Place the meatballs on top of the cabbage and onions. Add 1-2 TBSP of low sugar tomato sauce to the top of the meatballs and bake uncovered at 400-425 degrees (depends on your oven) for 55 min-1 hour.

Some helpful notes:

5 meatballs per pan seems to be the max to not have too much liquid cook out and saturate the cabbage. Add your fat portion after the meatballs are cooked. We love feta or Parmesan on the meatballs & cabbage meal but you could also drizzle a good quality olive oil!

We have so many healthy EATS that you can make right in your own kitchen!

*The exact portions will vary per person. Contact us for more details on your portions and macronutrient breakdown per meal/per day!

 

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Healthy Eats: EASY Stuffed Peppers

So there’s stuffed peppers then there’s EASY stuffed peppers. If you’re looking for the easy way to make this meal, then you’re in the right place! In my regular recipe, I first cook the ground turkey. It’s something I thought was necessary for portion control. Turns out, after some research, there is consistency that ground turkey/beef in general loses 25% of its weight when cooked. So, if you measure each raw portion of meat to be 4 oz, then cooked it will be 3 oz which just happens to be a perfect fit in a small to medium pepper.

How to Prepare:

For the EASY stuffed peppers, all you do is clean the peppers and remove the top and inside membranes and seeds. Season your ground lean meat with Italian seasoning. I also like to add fennel seeds as it makes the meat taste and smell like sausage when its cooked! Measure your raw meat to be 4oz give or take a little and stuff it into the pepper. Top with a few tablespoons of low sugar tomato sauce and 1-2 oz of cheese of your choice. You can also wait and add the cheese after the EASY stuffed peppers are cooked. Feta is one of my favorite cheeses to top with!

Bake the peppers at 400 degrees uncovered for approximately one hour. Let cool slightly before serving. Make a few pans up ahead of time with chopped vegetables and you’ll have easy weeknight healthy cooking ready to go for your family!

Check out more healthy EATS recipes here!

*The exact portions will vary per person. Contact us for more details on your portions and macronutrient breakdown per meal/per day!

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Healthy Eats: Kale Chips

In terms of veggies, usually green means good and Kale is KING! Kale is one of the most nutrient rich vegetables and is chocked full of vitamins and antioxidants. Kale only has 33 calories per cup. There are many ways to prepare this leafy wonder but perhaps my favorite way is to bake it into crispy Kale chips.

To make Kale chips, buy (or grow) Kale stalks or the chopped kale in a bag. Wash the stalks thoroughly then remove the fibrous large center stem. Tear the Kale into small leafy pieces and place on a tinfoil lined baking sheet. If you did buy the chopped Kale, still go through it and remove any of the big stems. Spritz the Kale with non-stick cooking spray and sprinkle with sea salt.

Bake the Kale on 350 degrees for 20 minutes (give or take a few minutes depending on your oven). The Kale should shrink dramatically in size. You’ll be left with crispy, salty, healthy chips. It doesn’t matter if you can’t stop after just one…eat the whole tray if you’d like!

If you like our Kale Chips, you’ll love our index of healthy eats created and taste approved by us. Try our other healthy recipes here.

*The exact portions will vary per person. Contact us for more details on your portions and macronutrient breakdown per meal/per day! There is no need to guess at how you should eat – let us help you eat right for your body type and goals!

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Healthy Eats: Sweet & Spicy Pork Tenderloin

What do people miss most when they diet? Good tasting food of course! Make your healthy eats taste great with simple ingredients that don’t add many calories to your meal. Our Sweet & Spicy Pork Tenderloin combines soy sauce, calorie free syrup and spicy garlic chili sauce to make a delectable marinade.

Here’s what you’ll need to get started: trimmed Pork Tenderloin – or trimmed chicken breasts or flank steak. Place your meat in a large resealable plastic bag. Combine equal parts of the three ingredients in a bowl and whisk until combined. Pour the marinade over the meat and seal the bag. Toss the meat around in the marinade until it is well coated. Keep refrigerated until an hour before cook time.

For my recipe I used 1/4 cup of each of the marinade ingredients and two pork tenderloins. You could make a little extra marinade to place on the side and drizzle over the meat once it is cooked. You can broil, grill or bake your pork tenderloin, chicken or steak. The finished meat pairs nicely with broiled asparagus and avocado.

Click here for more delicious and easy healthy EATS!

*The exact portions will vary per person. Contact us for more details on your portions and macronutrient breakdown per meal/per day!