Super Bowl Breakfast

Meet my two new friends! I love these little guys! They are sooo good for you!

Where to begin?!

 Let's start with goji berries. I first discovered these little guys when looking for foods that would help with infertility. Not only did I discover that goji berries help with increasing fertility naturally but recent medical research has identified several powerful medicinal properties, including: anti-aging, anti-cancer, weight loss promotion, enhancing libido as well as fertility, immune system boosting and much more. I will do a later post going into further detail!

And now for the amazing Chia seeds... How did I live without these little guys?! Their health benefits are amazing..

8 x more omega 3 than salmon

22 x more magnesium than broccoli

5 x times more calcium than whole milk

2 1/2 x more iron than spinach

2 x more potassium than bananas

2 x more fiber than bran flakes

5 x more protein than kidney beans

8 x more phosphorus than milk

equal to asparagus in folate

equal to antioxidants in blueberries

Some of the many benefits include:

energy boost/stability

lose weight & keep fit

anti aging

lowers cholesterol

stabilizes blood sugar levels

improves digestion

reduces inflammation

balances electrolytes

improve hydration

increase lean muscle

speed injury recovery

healthier skin

better sleep

better mood

Okay, and while we are at it, I will introduce you to a couple more friends I used to make my super bowl concoction. Crunch flax cereal, which is basically every allergen free~soy free, dairy free, gluten free, wheat free, nut free, egg free, fish free

And my little sweetener

 

This is one of my favorite random breakfast concoctions! mmm!

 

Super Bowl

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of your favorite yogurt (i have used plain greek & goat yogurt)

sweetened to taste, I used vanilla liquid stevia

1/2 cup crunch flax cereal or favorite cereal

1/2 cup of berries

1 tablespoon of chia seeds

2-4 tablespoons of goji berries

Directions:

Mix together & enjoy!

Chart comparison on chia seeds: http://www.azchia.com/chia_seed_tables/usda_comparisons.htm

Stuffed Strawberry Chocolate French Toast

I love stuffed french toast at ihop, but I know they are super unhealthy and tons of calories so here is my healthy, delicious version!

Stuffed Strawberry Chocolate French Toast

Ingredients:

8 slices of whole wheat bread

filling:

1/2 cup ricotta cheese*

2 teaspoon stevia

4 teaspoon grain sweetened chocolate chips

8 ounces of fresh strawberries, hulled & sliced

french toast batter:

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

Mix french toast batter together; set aside. 

Mix ricotta cheese and stevia. 

Spread filling in between two slices of bread (2 tablespoons of ricotta mixture, 2 ounces of strawberries and 1 teaspoon grain sweetened chocolate chips). Dip in french toast batter and cook on skillet over medium heat until both sides are browned. 

Top with:

healthy chocolate syrup, whipped cream, syrup, etc.

Serves 4

*Substitutions for ricotta~ cottage cheese, greek yogurt, vanilla greek yogurt, or greek yogurt sweeten with vanilla stevia.

Low Calorie PB&J Muffins

I just stumbled across the greatest invention the other day! PB2! I am obsessed with peanut butter and have always dreamed of a lower calorie, all natural, delicious peanut butter! I was skeptic at first, something like this is to good to be true (45 calories for 2 tablespoons)! Well I ripped open the greatest invention ever when I got home and it smelled like peanuts, it tasted like peanuts. Yup, it was delicious! I knew I had to remake my PB&J muffins that I just recently made! 

Low Calorie PB&J Muffins

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup oat flour (blend oatmeal)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup PB2

1/4 cup sucanat or brown sugar

1/4 cup stevia

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 egg whites

1 cup vanilla yogurt (I used plain non fat yogurt with 20 drops of vanilla stevia or to taste)
1 tablespoon unrefined coconut oil (or oil of choice)

1 cup raspberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Line muffin tins with liners. Spray muffin liners with nonstick cooking spray so the muffins come out of the paper easily or spray muffin tin very well with nonstick spray. Combine vanilla, egg whites, and yogurt in bowl. Combine the rest of the ingredients (dry ingredients) except raspberries in a seperate bowl; stir yogurt mixture just until blended. Gently stir in raspberries. Spoon mixture into prepared muffin liners and bake 14-16 minutes or until golden brown.

 Yields: 12 muffins

Calories for one muffin~ 100 calories

What is PB2? 

We call it peanut butter’s second generation because it’s unlike any peanut butter you’ve ever experienced. Through a unique process that doesn’t involve the use of any chemicals and doesn’t alter nature’s intended balance found within the peanut, we remove over 85% of the fat from premium quality peanuts. Essentially, the oil is squeezed out of roasted peanuts and what remains is our famous powdered peanut butter – all natural with no artificial sweeteners or preservatives. When you mix water or a favorite drink with PB2 you get the same consistency as full-fat peanut butter, with all the roasted peanut flavor, but 85% less fat calories.

http://www.bellplantation.com/products

PB&J Muffins

 The other day I made a healthy peanut butter banana muffin and as much as I like bananas and peanut butter, sad to say I didn't enjoy them. I don't know if it's the momma mind, but my next thought was to replace the banana and make a peanut butter and jelly muffin. So glad I did!

PB&J Muffins

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup oat flour (blend oatmeal)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup sucanat or brown sugar

1/4 cup stevia

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 egg whites

1 cup vanilla yogurt (I used plain non fat yogurt with 20 drops of vanilla stevia or to taste)
1 tablespoon unrefined coconut oil (or oil of choice)

1/2 cup healthy jam/jelly

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line muffin tins with liners. Spray muffin liners with nonstick cooking spray so the muffins come out of the paper easily or spray muffin tin very well with nonstick spray. Combine vanilla, egg whites, and yogurt in bowl. Combine the rest of the ingredients (dry ingredients) except jam or raspberries in a seperate bowl; stir yogurt mixture just until blended. Fill muffin liners half way with batter. Spoon 2 teaspoons of jam on top of batter. Top off each muffin with remaining batter and bake 14-16 minutes or until golden brown.

Yields: 12 muffins
Calories for one muffin- 150 calories

Low Calorie Blueberry Muffins

My hubby was craving some blueberry muffins, so of course I had to make them healthy!! The only problem was we weren't digging the whole wheat muffin flavor. So out of many batches of trial and error, here is what I came up with to meet the health factor as well as the flavor factor and to my surprise they ended up being low in calories too!

Low Calorie Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup oat flour (blend oatmeal)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup sucanat or brown sugar*

1/4 cup stevia

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 egg whites

1 cup vanilla yogurt (I used plain non fat yogurt with 20 drops of vanilla stevia or to taste)
1 tablespoon unrefined coconut oil (or oil of choice)

1 cup blueberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Line muffin tins with liners. Spray muffin liners with nonstick cooking spray so the muffins come out of the paper easily. Combine vanilla, egg whites, and yogurt in bowl. Combine the rest of the ingredients (dry ingredients) except blueberries in a seperate bowl; stir yogurt mixture just until blended. (The batter may be a little runnier than most muffin batters, but it bakes just fine.) Gently stir in blueberries. Spoon mixture into prepared muffin liners and bake 14-16 minutes or until golden brown.

 Yields: 12 muffins
Calories for one muffin- 100 calories**

 * I have also reduced the sucanat or brown sugar to 1/4 cup (making it only 85 calories per muffin) and I still thought they were great! My husband likes them a little sweeter!
**The calorie calculations were based off of the 1 cup of yogurt being 100 calories.

Did you know blueberries are repeatedly ranked in the U.S. diet as having one of the highest antioxidant capacities among all fruits, vegetables, spices and seasonings?!
Antioxidants are essential to optimizing health by helping to combat the free radicals that can damage cellular structures as well as DNA.

Read more: http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?dbid=8&tname=foodspice

Hot Dogs for Breakfast!

How do I always end up with extra hot dog buns?! Here is a great way to use up extra hot dog buns! Have them for breakfast.

Baked French Toast (hot dog style)

Ingredients:

4 whole wheat hot dog buns

2 eggs

1/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon stevia, sugar free syrup, or sweetener of choice

2-4 bananas (depending if you want a whole banana or half banana)

condiments

Directions: 

Grease an 8 x 8 baking dish. Combine eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, & sweetener in a bowl; mixing well. Place hot dog buns in baking dish and pour french toast batter over the hot dog buns and in the creases of the buns, making sure the bun will soak up all the liquid. 

Cover and refrigerate over night.

In the morning, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.

Take your hot dog bun and place your hot dog (aka banana) inside the bun. 

Top with desired condiments:

sugar free maple syrup

healthy jam

healthy chocolate syrup

nuts

peanut butter

whip cream

etc.

Or have 'the works' like I did!

 

 

Did you know hot dogs are good for you?! aka bananas

Bananas are one of our best sources of potassium, an essential mineral for maintaining normal blood pressure and heart function. Since the average banana contains a whopping 467 mg of potassium and only 1 mg of sodium, a banana a day may help to prevent high blood pressure and protect against atherosclerosis. 

Source: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=7

Pumpkin Pancakes

This recipe was posted by my sister in law Erin!

If you like pumpkin pie, you will loved these pancakes!! These little bites of heaven will make you ooh and ahh out loud while you are eating! At least it did to me! The only bummer, my husband doesn't like pumpkin pie (he's a crazy man, I know!), so it's just me and the kiddos enjoying these babies this fall! Here's the recipe...

Healthy Pumpkin Pie Pancakes

1 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour or oat flour (I have used both, and they are both great)

2 tbsp. sweetener (xylitol, agave, or honey) if you use stevia, try only 1 tbsp. first. it is much sweeter than the other sweeteners.

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. allspice

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

4 eggs or egg whites (slightly beaten) 

1/2 c. pureed pumpkin

1/2 c. Almond Breeze (really any milk will do, pick your favorite!)

Preheat griddle to medium heat. Mix flour, sweetener, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg in a bowl. Wisk eggs and pumpkin in a separate bowl. Mix in Almond Breeze. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix together. Spray griddle with non-stick butter spray. Scoop batter with a 1/4 cup measuring cup onto griddle. Cook 3-5 minutes on a side. Makes 10 pancakes delicious pancakes!

Yes, I know you are dying to know what pumpkin can do for you! You will want to eat pumpkin all day long now, because it is anti-aging!! And if that weren't all, it also is chalk full of beta carotene which helps in the prevention of cancer, zinc which helps strengthen your immune system, and fiber which we all know is good for your heart and in prevention of cancers as well! Yay for pumpkin!!

http://cjking.hubpages.com/hub/Health-Benefits-of-Pumpkin

Jamba Juice Chunky Strawberry Topper

I love, love, love jamba juice. My hubby use to work there when we were dating in high school. Oh how I loved to visit him there!! Too bad they didn't have this one then. This is one of my new favorites there! So much cheaper to make at home!

Jamba Juice's Chuncky Strawberry Topper!

Ingredients:

½ cup of vanilla coconut milk (not canned)* (I used Vanilla Sugar Free So Delicious)

¼ cup plain yogurt

1 ripe frozen banana

1 heaping cup frozen strawberries

2 tablespoons natural peanut butter

1/3 cup granola

top with fresh banana slices (optional)

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in blender except granola & additional bananas.

After blended stir in granola & top with banana slices.

ENJOY!

* You can also use vanilla soy milk, vanilla almond milk, milk with a dash of vanilla, etc. I know Jamba juice uses soy milk, but I usually don't use soy milk.

Did you know strawberries are well known to fight against the onset of many differet forms of cancer due to the combination of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents?!

Source: http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/8-health-benefits-of-strawberries.html

Almond Joy Pancakes

This is a pancake recipe I got from my mom, that we grew up with, with some tweaks of my own to make it one of my favorite candy bars. Blender wheat pancakes are a great way to get ALL the health benefits of the full wheat kernel. No refining here! 
 
Almond Joy Pancakes

Coconut Blender Wheat Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 cup light coconut milk, carton or canned

1 cup whole wheat kernels

1 egg

2 tablespoons stevia, or other sweetener

¼ cup unrefined coconut oil

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoon baking powder

grain sweetened chocolate chips

 Top with:

healthy chocolate syrup

healthy whip cream*

Directions:

Combine milk and whole-wheat kernels in a blender. Blend on high speed until wheat kernels are finely ground. (Or blend to desired texture.) Preheat griddle to 375 degrees. Reduce blender to medium speed. Add egg, sugar, oil, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Lightly grease preheated griddle. Pour ¼ cup of batter onto griddle and sprinkle with grain sweetened chocolate chips.

* Healthy whip cream options- homemade or store bought (checking the ingredients to make sure it's healthy)

Homemade Healthy Whip Cream

Ingredients
1 cup heavy whipping cream
stevia to taste
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (optional)

Directions:

Pour whipping cream into a large bowl. Sweeten to taste with sweetener and vanilla extract (optional)

Whip with mixer on high speed using whisk attachment until fluffy and forms stiff peaks.

Did you know coconut oil provides a nutritional source of quick energy?! It also boosts energy and endurance, enhancing physical and athletic performance. Along with improving digestion and absorption of other nutrients including vitamins, minerals, and amino acids.

Peach Sunrise Smoothie

This recipe was posted by my sister in law Erin! 

So my inspiration for this smoothie was to make a peaches and cream smoothie... well, that was a little bland, so I threw some strawberries in and voila! Peach Sunrise smoothie! Hope you enjoy it too! My kids love it, in fact, they love it anytime I make smoothies for breakfast! I think they think they get to have a treat, but really I am happy to fill their bellies with fruit and veggies with out them knowing any better! I've added spinach to this as well, and as long as you don't put too much in, it doesn't change the flavor. I would say start out with one handful of spinach if you decide to add it in. The recipe for this is really simple...

Peach Sunrise Smoothie

  

1c. Almond Breeze (or your favorite milk)

8-10 ice cubes, or about a cup of crushed ice

2 peaches, peeled and sliced

3 tsp. agave or your favorite sweetener

1 banana

6-8 fresh or frozen strawberries

blend until desired smoothness. Enjoy!! 

Did you know that peaches can prolong your life and prevent cataracts?!?! 

http://www.healthfood-guide.com/HealthBenefitsOfPeaches.aspx

Banana Split Pancakes

Mmmm, as Despicable Me would say BA-NA-NA!

Banana Split Pancakes

Grandma's Cleaned up Pancakes

Ingredients:

2 cups wheat pastry flour (wheat flour works as well)

2 cups buttermilk

½ cup plain yogurt

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

Toppings:

sliced bananas

sliced strawberries

healthy whip cream

healthy chocolate sauce

walnuts

Directions:

In a medium size bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture; set aside. In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients together, then add to the dry mixture. Mix ingredients until blended. Pour ¼ cup batter onto heated griddle and cook over medium heat. Makes 10 pancakes.

Top with toppings!

Did you know bananas help with bone health?!

Along with lowering blood pressure, potassium prevents the weakening of the body's bones.

high sodium intake, which is typical of many American diets, can cause excessive amount of calcium to be lost through the urine, which threatens not only the strength and general health of the bones, but also negatively affects blood clotting, proper muscle contraction, and normal nervous system function. The potassium found in bananas neutralizes the high amounts of sodium in one's diet, thus allowing for healthy amounts of calcium to remain within the body.

Source: http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/8-health-beneits-of-bananas.html

Peanut Butter & Jelly Yogurt

I am absolutely obsessed with peanut butter! I can't get enough of it! I am now obsessed with this yogurt! Soooo delicious!

PB&J Yogurt

Ingredients:
½ cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon natural peanut butter (can get away with 2 teaspoons)
7 drops vanilla stevia liquid or to taste*
1 tablespoon healthy strawberry freezer jam, favorite jelly, or fresh pureed strawberries!

Directions:
 Mix yogurt, peanut butter, stevia together & swirl jelly in! Eat & Enjoy!

*Can use powdered stevia & a splash of vanilla or any other healthy sweetener of your choice.

Did you know Greek yogurt Greek yogurt has substantially more protein than standard American yogurt. Per ounce, Greek yogurt provides an additional gram of protein over typical non-fat yogurt. Additional protein can help you to feel full and satisfied.

Source: http://www.livestrong.com/article/233450-what-are-the-health-benefits-of-greek-yogurt/#ixzz1ZwPEUUEc

Grandma's Pancakes

Who doesn't love grandma's fluffy pancakes?! Of course, I had to clean these up a little bit by replacing the white flour with wheat & sour cream with yogurt. Still yummy and fluffy!

 

Grandma's Pancakes

Ingredients:

2 cups wheat pastry flour (wheat flour works as well)

2 cups buttermilk

½ cup plain yogurt

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

Directions:

In a medium size bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture; set aside. In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients together, then add to the dry mixture. Mix ingredients until blended. Pour ¼ cup batter onto heated griddle and cook over medium heat. Makes 10 pancakes.

Did you know eating wheat in it's whole state, offers us numerous health benefits ranging from cancer prevention, to protection against diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and free radical damage to the structure of our cell?! 

Resource: http://xim.hubpages.com/hub/Benefits-of-Whole-Wheat

Ode to Oatmeal

Start your day off right and fall in love with Oatmeal!

I used to hate oatmeal and now I love it and crave it! It is so fun to see how many different ways you can eat a bowl of oatmeal. The best part oatmeal it is so healthy & cheap!