Lemon Blueberry Protein Pancakes

These pancakes are moist and hearty, and the warm, juicy blueberries inside make them extra delicious. This recipe is actually long overdue, but I always like to do a second or third round of recipe testing before I post them. The problem is, I'm always making new recipes so it takes a long time to get back to all the ones I have to test! I decided that I'm going to stop being such a perfectionist and changing all my recipes two or three times . . . or just never posting them. If they taste amazing, they are just getting posted. Many people have been asking me where I get some of my ingredients. I linked some of the ingredients below to the website where I bought them. If you use the link provided, you'll receive a discount off your order :) . Also, there is a link on my homepage that brings you to the website that automatically applies the discount if you if you click on it.

Lemon Blueberry Protein Pancakes

Ingredients:

Pancakes:
3 tablespoons egg whites
2 tablespoons cottage cheese

2 tablespoons almond milk 
1/4 cup blueberries
15 drops lemon stevia (or regular stevia to taste)
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1/2 tablespoon psyllium husk
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Filling:
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
Few drops lemon stevia (or regular)

Directions:

1. Heat a nonstick pan over medium hear. Coat with cooking spray. 

2. Blend together all ingredients in a food processor/blender. 
4. Cook your pancakes!
5. Layer with more blueberries and Greek yogurt mixed with stevia.

Strawberry Protein Cheesecake

My parents were coming home from vacation yesterday, so I thought it would be nice have a nice meal waiting for them- including dessert. They traveled to Vienna, Budapest, and Prague for the past ten days. My dad posted pictures of their trip everyday on Facebook to keep us updated. The scenery, castles, and old buildings looked like they were right out of a fairytale. Definitely adding it to my LONG list of places I want to go.

They returned bearing gifts : ) . . . and what excited me the most? HUNGARIAN PAPRIKA. Yea, the real deal. I added it to my super egg white omelette that night.

 OK, recipe time. I had to use up some fat-free ricotta cheese, so I thought I'd attempt to make a cheesecake. I have never made a cheesecake in my life. So I knew going in, this could be a complete disaster or a pleasant surprise. Luckily, it came out great! My sister said it tastes just like cheesecake! The one and only downside to this experiment was that it probably would've come out better if I owned a cheesecake pan. I used a small brownie pan instead, so they are kind of more like cheesecake bars. I don't mind the shape at all because they are perfect for crumbling into my protein fro-yo. If you are lucky enough to have a cheesecake pan, I would probably double the recipe to make it fit.

Strawberry Protein Cheesecake 

Ingredients:

1 cup fat-free ricotta cheese
1/2 cup fat-free plain Greek yogurt
1 egg
1 scoop Cellucor Strawberry Milkshake protein powder
3 tablespoons stevia (or to taste)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Blend together all ingredients. Pour into a small cheesecake pan sprayed with cooking spray.
3. Bake for 45 minutes, or until set.

How easy is that?!

Serves 6

Nutrition Information (1 slice) : 74 calories, 1 g Fat, 4.1 g CHO, 11.1 g Protein

Cinnamon Swirl Cauliflower Pancakes

These are seriously unreal. I cannot preach enough about how moist, dense, and cake-like that cauliflower makes to your pancakes!! And no, you absolutely DO NOT taste the cauliflower. This recipe was originally posted by Kim, but since I'm not a good recipe-follower, I modified some of the measurements to fit my needs (and to get the batter looking nice and thick). You really need to try these- LIFE CHANGING.

As a side note, many people have asked where I get some of my ingredients. There is a link on my homepage on the bottom right that brings you to a website where I order a majority of my ingredients at incredibly low prices (iHerb). If you use my link, or click on one of the ingredients that I've highlighted, it will bring you to the website and automatically apply a discount for you :) If you just go to the website, my coupon code is ZSG766.

Cinnamon Swirl Cauliflower Pancakes

Ingredients:

1/3 cup riced cauliflower (I used my Ninja to rice it)
2 tablespoons Cellucor Cinnamon Swirl protein powder
1/2 tablespoon pysllium
2 tablespoons coconut flour
3 tablespoons egg whites
2 ounces banana (about half a medium banana)
20 drops vanilla stevia (or any stevia to taste)

Directions:

1. To make riced cauliflower, pulse the cauliflower in a food processor until it looks "rice-like".
2. Microwave the cauliflower for 30 seconds.
3. Blend together all ingredients except the cauliflower. Then, stir the batter into the cauliflower. Batter will be THICK.
4. Cook over medium heat on a nonstick pan coated with cooking spray. Be patient. Flip when the edges start to set.

 Macros: 2.6 g Fat, 28.4 g CHO, 13.3 g Fiber, 19.3 g Protein

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Protein Blondies

My original Peanut Butter Protein Blondies are fabulous. But, I created the recipe before I ever tried Cellucor protein powder. So, I made an updated version using Cellucor's Peanut Butter Marshmallow whey protein. Totally kicks the peanut butter flavor up a notch! Literally tastes like you are eating a soft bar of peanut butter. YUM. Crumbled one into my protein fro-yo today. Happy tummy : )

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Protein Blondies

Ingredients:

1 cup cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 scoop Cellucor Peanut Butter Marshmallow
1/4 cup stevia (or to taste)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup almond milk (I used unsweetened vanilla)

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350.
2. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
3. Eat some of the batter because it taste like cookie dough. Just kidding . . . kinda.
4. Spray a non-stick 8" square pan or bread loaf pan depending on what shape you'd like your bars to be. Pour batter into the pan.
5. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until your knife comes out clean.
6. Place on a cooling rack. Cut into 6-8 slices- or whatever serving size you prefer!

Protein Fro-Yo: The Answer to Your Ice Cream Problems

When I was younger, my favorite dessert was  ice cream. Mint chocolate chip ice cream. One of the best memories I have as a little girl is when my dad was home for what we called "family movie night" and he made his famous "specials". Right before the movie would start my dad would bellow out, "OK girls, whose ready for specials!" (yea, corny post so far . . . just keep reading). He would literally throw anything on top of that ice cream (maybe why I'm such an adventurous eater?). Pretzels, sprinkles, peanut butter, whipped cream, candies, chocolate syrup, tons of cherries (which I always saved for last) . . . the list goes on. As I got older, family movie night disappeared, as did "specials". But so did my eating habits. As I learned more about food and nutrition, I found it exciting to make healthy versions of all of my favorite foods. I had been freezing yogurt in place of ice cream and making fun desserts, but this is by far the most delicious, creamiest, and flavorful combinations yet. I have my protein fro-yo every single day. That's how insanely good it is.

It took several months of seeing @spicyysweet post her protein fro-yo before I finally tried it. Life changing. So the ratio of cottage cheese to yogurt is all her. The entire recipe so versatile, but this is my favorite way to make it. Use different flavored protein powders, fruits, nut butters and flavored stevia to mix it up. Throw in whatever toppings you fancy (coconut, carob chips, nuts, etc.).  I love to crumble half of one of my protein bars or muffins on top right before I eat it. SO GOOD.

Warning: You may become addicted : )

 Protein Fro-Yo

Ingredients:

1/3 cup cottage cheese (I use Daisy 2%, use whatever you like)
1/3 cup plain Greek Yogurt (I use Total Fage 0%)
2 tablespoons casein or whey protein powder (casein makes it extra creamy)
1 tablespoon almond or peanut butter (optional but recommended!)
1/4 berries of choice
Stevia to taste

Directions:

1. Nuke your berries in the microwave for about 25 seconds, or until warm and gooey.
2. Add all ingredients together (including the berries), and mix well.
3. Place in the freezer for about 1 1/2 hours. Top with half of one of my protein bars or muffins for some extra goodness.

*If its too frozen, nuke in the microwave in intervals until it unfreezes a little. YUM!