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Healthy Eats: Pumpkin Cranberry Chocolate Chip Bar

Baking with protein powder is trial and error but when you nail it, you nail it! My Pumpkin Cranberry Chocolate Chip Bars are made with vanilla Casein powder which is a slow digesting protein powder so it keeps you full longer. These bars have about 40 g of carbs in each bar and I eat them as my post workout meal but they would be great for an easy breakfast or you could cut them into smaller portions and use them as a sweet tooth fix!

Ingredients & Instructions:

1.5 cups of Almond Milk (unsweetened)

1 cup of liquid egg whites

1 can pure pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

1-2 TBSP pumpkin pie spice (I make my own with cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, and ground cloves)

8 scoops Vanilla Casein Powder

1 cup dried sweetened cranberries

1/2 cup old fashioned oats

1/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl mix the first three ingredients together until smooth then add in the spices. Add the protein powder and whisk thoroughly until all clumps are out. Then fold in with a spatula the oats, cranberries and chocolate chips. Spray an 8×11 baking dish (or tinfoil) with non-stick cooking spray then evenly spread the batter in it. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until center no longer jiggles. Cool then cut into 6 even portions for the following macronutrients: 293 calories ~ 39.7 g carbs ~ 5.6 g fat ~ 23.2 g protein

There are so many healthy breakfast/post workout options to ensure you fuel your body properly! 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: Pizza Cabbage Steaks

Imagine the incredible smell of pizza wafting from your oven right to your nose. That Italian goodness is just waiting to be devoured! And with cabbage steaks as the base instead of pizza dough, this side dish is all the pleasure without the guilt! Pizza cabbage steaks have large round slices of roasted cabbage topped with low sugar tomato sauce and melty mozzarella. The texture is firm and the flavors are on point. Sometimes I’ll add chicken or ground turkey to the top and make it a complete meal. This is a regular dish in our home and after one try, I’m sure it will make your weekly rotation too!

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Slice a cabbage into 1/2 inch thick steaks and place on the baking sheet. Add a little salt, pepper, garlic and Italian seasoning and bake for approximately 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and top with a couple of spoonfuls of low sugar tomato sauce for each steak and spread it around. Then add a generous pinch of mozzarella to each steak (approx. 1/4 cup each). Return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes or until desired degree of doneness.

Try our other tasty healthy EATS by clicking 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: 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: Chocolate Granola Pancake

I go to bed excited about the next morning when I know I have a Chocolate Granola Pancake waiting for me! How can something so delicious also be so nutritious? Careful selection of the ingredients and ensuring portions meet your macro meal planning numbers ensures the nutritious efficacy of this TASTY breakfast staple! See original breakfast pancake for base recipe.

This post contains affiliate link(s). As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Any products I link to are tried and true and I highly recommend them!

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup egg whites
  • 1/2 cup Simply Nature Coconut Cacao or Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Granola (found at Aldi) **Note: any other granola may be substituted – aiming for 20 g of carbs per 1/2 cup serving**
  • 1 scoop Super Seed Beyond Fiber

Directions:

Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Meanwhile in a small mixing bowl, whisk together all ingredients. Batter will be lumpy due to the granola. Spray the pan with non-stick cooking spray. Pour in the batter, be careful not to the let the batter sit too long as the fiber powder will cause it to thicken greatly. Cook the Chocolate Granola Pancake until it’s easy to slide a spatula underneath the pancake, usually 4-6 minutes. Flip the pancake and cook another 1-2 minutes.

I like to make a stack of the pancakes on the weekend, wrap each meal in tinfoil, and store in the refrigerator for fast breakfasts on weekday mornings. Pancake as pictured is topped with 1 TBSP natural smooth peanut butter and 2 TBSP sugar free syrup.

Approximate nutrition facts (per pancake with peanut butter topping): 395 calories , 16 g of fat, 33 g of carbs, 33 g of protein

We’ve been making healthy food taste great for more than a decade. Try our other tasty healthy EATS by clicking 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: Pickled Green Beans & Red Onions

I’ve never been a big fan of pickles (unless they were deep fried ;0), but pickled green beans and red onions have my taste buds singing! I was introduced to pickled green beans by a dear friend of mine who produced the most epic charcuterie board one evening for a get-together. I became obsessed and quickly looked up recipes. After a little trial and error I found an easy, healthy, and quick way to create pickled green beans. Of course, I couldn’t stop there and expanded my recipe to also include red onions. Now, I always have a jar or two in the fridge of both pickled green beans, red onions, cucumbers and asparagus. The recipe works for almost any vegetable. Once pickled, they make amazing toppings on salads, healthy additions to charcuterie boards, or just a quick nibble when you’re between meals and hunger is kicking in.

Ingredients:

  • A few large handfuls of green beans (ends trimmed or snapped off)
  • 1 medium to large red onion sliced thin and layers separated
  • 3 cups of water
  • 2 cups of apple cider vinegar
  • 3 TBSP salt
  • 2 TBSP Swerve, Stevia, Truvia, etc. (zero calorie sugar substitute)
  • garlic cloves
  • peppercorns
  • dried red pepper flakes
  • dried dill (fresh is fine too but I find the dried gives better flavor)

Here’s how I set everything up:

  1. Line up three mason jars. Place a few garlic cloves and peppercorns in all three jars. In two of them add red pepper flakes (1 tsp) and dried dill (1 tsp). I just eyeball the measurements, it doesn’t matter if its not exact. The two that have all the goodies get the raw, trimmed green beans placed in them. The jar with just the peppercorns and garlic will be for the red onion. You can also add an additional tsp of sugar substitute to the red onion jar if you like them a little sweeter.
  2. Over medium high heat, bring the water, vinegar, salt and sugar substitute to a boil. Once this mixture boils, remove from heat and place the sliced and separated red onion in the liquid for about one minute. Use tongs to remove and place directly into the remaining third jar. Let the liquid cool for a few minutes then pour over the vegetables in all three jars. This recipe should yield enough to do 3-4 jars total. Make sure the green beans and red onion are completely covered. If you added more sugar to the onions, shake this jar up so the sugar dissolves.

The pickled veggies will taste great by the next day. If you can wait 2-3 days they’ll be even better. So far they’ve not made it in my fridge longer than 1 week because we eat them so fast, but given the other recipes I had explored I believe they should hold up for a couple of weeks.

Cooking is my passion and healthy cooking is my mission, 70-80% of the week anyway! Check out my plethora of ideas to help inspire your healthy eats.

*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: Buffalo Chicken Salad

Some healthy foods taste healthy. Some healthy foods taste borderline naughty. My Buffalo Chicken Salad is one of the latter. I created it one Sunday late morning while attempting to nurse a hangover without blowing my macro based meal plan. The flavors are bold! If you like buffalo chicken wings, blue cheese, and ranch, you are going to love this Buffalo Chicken Salad. Let’s put it all together.

You will need the following ingredients:

Here’s how to make the magic happen while following your meal plan:

  1. Measure your chicken and chop or shred it. Place on tinfoil and into air fryer. Crisp for 6-10 minutes on 350. Remove and top with hot sauce. Caution: a little goes a long way – if you like heat, load it up!
  2. Prepare your salad in a large bowl. Add greens/lettuce, chopped tomatoes, peppers, chopped pickled green beans, and pickled red onions.
  3. Measure your dressing to keep the macros in line. Remember you’re adding 1 oz of blue cheese crumbles per serving too so you want to make sure your fat allotment stays in check.
  4. After you’ve dressed your salad, add the measured cheese, and top with your crisped chicken portion.

This Buffalo Chicken Salad is so good, perfect for a week night meal when you need that taste of naughty but it’s not quite time yet, perfect for a hangover cure, really just perfect! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

For more recipe ideas that will keep your healthy cooking tasting like so much more than healthy cooking, visit our Healthy Eats index.

*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: Mongolian Beef

So actually I used bison in this Mongolian Beef recipe, but of course beef or elk would be great too. We love the grass-fed quality red meat we get from Northstar Bison. In addition, I used “Zero Pasta”. You can find this scientific gift to pasta lovers in the Vegan cold section of your grocery store – where they also keep the tofu for those of you not familiar with this section of the store! The texture on this pasta is awesome and its a great vessel to soak up some yummy sauces. See also my cold peanut noodle salad recipe featuring this awesome pasta nearly free of carbs and calories!!

Ingredients:

  • 2 packages of “Zero Pasta” found in cold vegan section of your grocery store
  • 1 lb grass-fed beef, bison or elk (I like to slice it really thin when its still frozen)
  • 2 TBSP vegetable stock
  • 2-3 cloves of chopped garlic
  • 2 tsp fresh minced ginger (or ground ginger if you don’t have fresh)
  • 1/3 cup of low-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 TBSP calorie free sweetener (like Stevia or Truvia)
  • 1 TBSP sugar free maple syrup
  • 2 TBSP Hoisin Sauce
  • 1/2 – 1 tsp of chili garlic sauce (depends how spicy you want it)
  • 4 green onions diced

So while your bison is still frozen, slice it really thin with a sharp knife. It should almost look like beef shavings. Let it rest on the cutting board, defrosting as you prepare the other ingredients.

In a bowl, combine the ginger through chili garlic sauce with a whisk. Drain your “Zero Pasta” in a colander over the sink.

In a large saucepan, heat the vegetable stock over high heat with the chopped garlic. When they stock starts to boil, add in the bison (or beef) and cook until nearly done. It will take just a minute or two since it’s sliced so thin. Then add in the prepared sauce and finish cooking the bison. Remove from heat. Use tongs to toss the “Zero Pasta” and diced green onions into the beef.

Based on the amount of ingredients the Mongolian Beef (bison) dish should make 2 portions if divided in half. I’m not usually so lackadaisical about measurements but this is one of those recipes where the sauce is so much better when added to the meat and finished on the stove! So your portion will be a bit eye-balled here but the ingredients are healthy and meal plan approved. You’ll be close!

We have so many healthy recipes to choose from. They are all perfected and taste-tested by us! Try our other healthy EATS by clicking 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: Snack Platter

So as I sit and write this, we are smack dab in the middle of Covid-19 stay at home orders. Even if you are reading this 20 years from now, you’ll likely remember this pandemic and the endless all-day snacking that most people couldn’t refrain from. We have some tricks to make your snacking a little more guilt-free and balanced for your macro needs. Give our snack platter a try – complete with protein, carbs, a bit of fat, and tons of nutrients.

We love fresh veggies dipped in ranch dressing or dip. While you can find low fat/low cal dips they aren’t always wholesome. We do our best to avoid too many “chemical” creations throughout the day. Wholesome is always best for us. So we like to make our own dip.

Ranch Greek Yogurt Dip

  • 1 cup plain, nonfat greek yogurt
  • 1/2-1 whole ranch dressing seasoning package (any brand is fine)

Stir the ingredients vigorously to remove any lumps and clumps from the seasoning packet. Greek yogurt is high in protein, moderate in carbs, and is a good base for many things that use mayonnaise like tuna salad or egg salad. Trick of the trade, replace your mayo with Greek yogurt and a little mustard – very satisfying!

Veggies are largely fair game. Of course there are vegetables with more nutrients than others, less carbs than others, but let’s be REAL, no one gets fat from eating carrots. So wash and slice your favorite veggies – radishes, peppers, grape tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers – these are all really yummy with the ranch dip.

I love chips! The crunch, the salty seasoning, the happiness that spreads through me when I eat them – half kidding half serious! So here comes my find of the century – FLEX chips. They come in 3 different flavors and it is hard to believe they are pretty good for you. Made from plant based protein, they are low in carbs and calories and pack a decent amount of protein in them.

This snack platter has a balanced macronutrient breakdown. You can eat a lot of this and not feel bad! You’ll be having a “meal plan approved” snack. I bet you’ll feel so much better about your eating habits by replacing today’s snacks with the healthier version!

We have tons of recipes and healthy EATS to satisfy your palate!

*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: Grilled Tofu & Vegetables

Well I’ll just come right out and say it, I used to be very anti-tofu. I’m not sure why. I guess in my head I determined I had eaten it and disliked it. I’m not sure I had even tried it, and now that it has become a weekly staple in our house. Typically, I use extra firm tofu and slice it into equal portions. I then season it and either grill it or broil it. The result is grilled tofu with a texture mixed between chicken and feta cheese. It tastes great the next day as a protein topper on a cold salad or warm with a plant-based (or regular) pasta dish. I was surprised how much I actually like tofu and I think if you give it a try you might be too!

Again, I think the variety of tofu matters. For us, the extra firm has the right texture, moisture, and macronutrient breakdown (see picture of label below). It’s easy to slice it into 5 equal (as equal as possible) chunks then season with some yummy spices (we like Penzey’s.com) and pop on the grill or under the broiler. We do the same to our vegetables. Season generously and grill or broil.

Since I’m on the topic of seasoning, we get asked a lot about SALT. “I know I shouldn’t have much salt” is something I hear almost daily. The truth is the body needs sodium and as long as you aren’t adding excessive amounts to your food you are probably well within the recommendations for daily intake. If you have a heart condition or high blood pressure, then regulating your salt intake is a bit more critical. If you do not have these ailments, then adding a bit of salt or seasoning that has salt to your veggies should be fine. Make the healthy food taste good so you’ll want to eat the healthy food! One thing we do avoid is adding salt to regular grocery store meat (chicken, pork, steak, etc.). These meats are preserved with a sodium solution that already has plenty of salt in it. So just add salt-free seasoning to your meats.

So if you’re looking for the recipe here, sorry there really isn’t one. Just slice the tofu (extra firm) into proportion depending on what the label says, then season and grill or broil. It doesn’t take long…give it a few minutes on each side. You can also squeeze a bit of fresh lemon on it while its cooking – yum! Pair it with your favorite vegetables and if you’re macros allow for it, add a bean pasta to it. We’ve tried many, the spaghetti varieties have the best numbers, lower on carbs, higher on protein. Here is a picture of the black bean box and label. They have several flavors and several different brands make this pasta now.

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

*The exact portions will vary per person. If you’re wondering how much tofu you get and whether you can add pasta to it, contact us for more details on your portions and macronutrient breakdown per meal/per day!