Low Calorie/Low Sugar Pumpkin Cookies

Halloween is a few days away and I knew I needed to make something that would help me avoid cheating by sneaking candy out of the kiddos dreaded candy bag. I knew I wanted something that would feel seasonal so I chose to make a treat with pumpkin. After doing a little Googling I came across this recipe for a pumpkin cookies that are made with steel cut oats and Truvia. I changed it slightly because I didn't have steel cut oats, only old fashioned and the PINK suggests we don't use the powdered form of stevia only the liquid form. Other than that I remained true to the recipe and I must say they are delicious. My kids even loved them which let me tell you is great on one hand because I feel good about giving these cookies to them, how often do you get to say that you feel good about giving my kids a cookie? But bad on the other hand because as they are eating them, I am wanting them to stop because they are going to eat all of my special treats...how selfish am I?

Remember these are a treat and should only be eaten as such. Also if you are on reset, they should be avoided. This recipe made about 60 cookies that were about 2 1/2 inches in circumference.

Ingredients

 

1 15 ounce can  pumpkin puree

1 cup applesauce

3 scoops of Vanilla Whey Protein Powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cloves

2 cups old fashioned oats ground in a blender to form a flour

20 drops liquid vanilla stevia

1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Start by grinding your oats in a blender until a flour like consistence is reached. I used my magic bullet to do this.

Add the protein powder, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves and salt to the ground oats

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, this would include the pumpkin, applesauce, stevia and egg.

Stir until it is combined

Using a tablespoon drop cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet or use a Silicone baking mat. The mat I used is called  a Sil-pat.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.

Enjoy and feel free to freeze these cookies so you won't be tempted to eat them all at once.

    

 

 

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Overnight Refrigerator Oatmeal

Hello....Hello...Anybody out there? Does anyone read this blog anymore? No? That's okay because I have neglected it something awful! I have been so busy with my children and their sports/end of the school year activities that this blog has become the last thing I think about.

So an update, yes I am staying true to PINK...I have messed up/cheated a few time but that is okay everyone does once in a while. The important thing is to get back on track and not let the cheating/messing up spiral out of control. To date I am down 45 pounds. I will post updated pictures in the near future though there isn't much change in my body, I don't think. I signed up for the Spartan race yesterday which will be on June 16th, the day after my birthday. That should be a fun challenge for myself. If you don't know what that is, it is similar to the Warrior Dash just a little longer and supposedly a little tougher, we will see. I am excited because it is not something I would have even thought about 6 months ago.

Hopefully when life calms a little bit I will be more inspired and come up with some more recipes but I wanted to share/pass along a link to a recipe I found on Pinterest yesterday for an overnight refrigerator oatmeal. I am not posting the recipe on this blog because I didn't create the recipe and don't have permission to post it but go to the link above and you will see 6 different flavors you can try or get the general idea and come up with your own flavor combinations. I assembled the chocolate banana versions before I went to bed last night and ate it for breakfast this morning...it was really good. I know it sounds odd especially because you don't cook the oatmeal but trust me it was really good and satisfying. It was rich and yummy and a perfect blend of protein and slow carbs for those of you who are in the primary phases of PINK and are following the blueprint for your meals. I can see this being a really good breakfast on those hot summer mornings where eating something warm just doesn't sound good. It is also a really good breakfast to take along with you when you are in a hurry in the morning. I made a raspberry version this morning for breakfast tomorrow, can't wait to try it. Give it a try and let me know if you come up with any good flavor combinations.

My go to Breakfast and sometimes Lunch

Just wanted to pop in and share what has been my go to breakfast and sometimes lunch (when I am in a hurry) lately. I know I am not reinventing the wheel and that this is something that a lot of people probably eat but one morning I found myself bored with the same old oatmeal I was eating for breakfast and began to look for something else that I could eat that would be a good balance of both protein and carbs. I decided on a yogurt parfait. I used Greek yogurt as my base which I have heard from a lot of you is not your favorite. Yes it is sour I agree with you and plain it is not something I can eat but I always sweeten mine with a little bit of stevia and some vanilla which makes it great in my opinion. Before you say yuck to Greek yogurt, have you tried to sweeten it up and add a little flavor? Try it you might like it.

Yogurt Parfait
3/4 cup non fat Greek yogurt
1/4 cup high fiber cereal (I used a grape-nut type cereal)
2 strawberries
1/4 banana
stevia (to taste)
vanilla (to taste)

Method

Start by sweetening and flavoring your yogurt with vanilla and stevia. I don't put an amount because everyone likes things at a different sweetness level. If I want to change the flavor, say if I am using raspberries instead of the strawberries, I will sometimes add a little lemon juice and lemon zest instead of the vanilla to make a lemon flavored yogurt.

Cut up your berries and banana

You will then start layering your yogurt, high fiber cereal, berries and banana.

When you have used all of your ingredients, your parfait is done. Enjoy!

Note: I am aware that the blueprint for breakfast is 1 protein and 1 slow carb or slow fruit. 1 serving of a high fiber cereal is 1 cup and I only used 1/4 cup along with what ends up being about 1/2 cup of fruit which is only 1/2 of a serving. So all together I am getting about what is allowed in the blueprint but if you don't feel comfortable with that, go with one or the other. Use all fruit and leave out the cereal or use all cereal and leave out the fruit.

Sticky Chicken

I had a great weekend, I went with my daughter on a mother daughter camping trip and had a blast! For the first time in a very long time, I felt comfortable in my own skin. I wasn't ashamed of how I looked, I had more energy than I think I have ever had. I even participated in a relay race on the beach which included doing crab crawls for about 100 feet and thanks to Jenna I kicked booty at those crab crawls. Boy was my back and shoulders sore the next day though. We had a blast and the weather was great but not much cooking happened other than things I have previously posted so I apologize for my absence here.  I am back though and today's recipe is worth the wait, it is so yummy!

Today's recipe is inspired by traditional sticky chicken which is usually made by marinating chicken in soy sauce, garlic, ginger and lots of sugar. I decided to make a version that is much more healthful by using Medjool dates in place of the sweetener and subbing in Bragg's Amino's for part of the soy sauce to limit the amount of sodium in the dish. While the chicken wasn't technically sticky, the flavor was out of this world good and would make for some great shish-kabobs on the barbeque this summer. I just baked mine in the oven and served along side some coconut cauliflower "rice" and stir-fried vegetables. I will share how to make the coconut cauliflower "rice" tomorrow.

Sticky Chicken (Serves 4-5)
4-5 boneless skinless chicken breasts totaling about 20 ounces
2 tbsp. minced garlic
2 tbsp. minced ginger
2 tbsp. tomato paste
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. Bragg's Amino Acid
3 Medjool Dates

Method

Start by putting your dates in a little warm water to help soften and re-hydrate. Set aside for about 15 minutes while you cut your chicken.

Next, clean your chicken and cut it into strips, or leave it whole, it doesn't really matter. I cut mine in strips intending to put it on skewers for kabobs but then got lazy and just threw them in the oven.

After the chicken is cut, you are going to make the marinade. Take the dates that have been softening and remove the pit, then add them to your blender along with a couple tablespoons of the water they were soaking in and blend them up until a paste is formed.

To a bowl, add the garlic, ginger, tomato paste, date paste, soy sauce, Bragg's and balsamic vinegar. Stir to combine.

Add in your chicken and stir to coat, making sure all pieces and all sides are covered in marinade.

Marinate in your refrigerator any where from 2 to 8 hours. I let mine sit for about 3 hours and it was super flavorful and yummy.

Ideally these would be grilled but if you are lazy like me, go a head and bake them in the oven at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes or until they are cooked through. If your chicken is thicker than mine it will take more time, if it is thinner it will take less.

Serve with your favorite sides and Enjoy!

BBQ Green Chili Chicken

Here is Oregon, we were treated to some pretty good weather over the weekend which gave me the itch for BBQ. I love BBQ, I love the sweet tangy sauce and the act of cooking outdoors. However, BBQ sauce in the traditional sense is full of sugar and salt which is a big no, no on the PINK method. When I got around to it this week, I decided to try to create my own BBQ sauce that is PINK friendly. Unfortunately, by the time I got around to making a BBQ sauce, it was raining again here in Oregon so I had to cook indoors and come up with a Tex-Mex BBQ fusion which turned out great.

PINK Friendly BBQ Sauce (makes about 2 cups)
1/2 sweet onion chopped
3-4 medjool dates
3-4 garlic cloves chopped
1/2 cup water
1 6 ounce can tomato paste
3 tbsp yellow mustard
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
2-3 tbsp liquid smoke (I use the Stubb's brand, mesquite flavor)
Salt and Pepper to taste
water to thin the sauce if needed, I ended up adding about 3/4 cup

Method

Add the chopped onions, Medjool dates, garlic and 1/2 cup water to a bowl and microwave for about 3 minutes until the onions and dates soften.

Add the onion and date mixture to the blender and blend until a smooth puree is formed

Add the onion puree, tomato paste, mustard, liquid smoke, apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper to a sauce pan

Stir to combine, at this point if the sauce is super thick, add more water to it until you get a BBQ sauce consistency, like I said above I added about 3/4 cup of water but only add 1/4 cup at a time because you don't want it to get to soupy. At this point if you like a super sweet BBQ sauce, you could add a few stevia drops, I like mine more tangy so the sweetness from the dates was a perfect sweetness level for me.

Turn heat on medium and cook the sauce until it has thickened slightly and all the flavors have married. Turn off the heat and let cool. At this point you can put it in the refrigerator and save for about a week, using it whenever you BBQ.

BBQ Green Chili Chicken (Serves 5)
5 boneless skinless chicken breasts weighing about 4 ounces each (truth be told mine were about 5 1/2 ounces)
1/2 sweet onion sliced
1 can roasted green chilis
1/2 cup PINK Friendly BBQ sauce

Method

Trim your chicken breasts of any fat and using a knife you are going to cut into the chicken breast as if you were filleting it but do not cut all the way through, you just want to create a pocket to hold the onion and green chili mixture.

When the chicken is prepped, add the onion and green chilies to a saute misted with a little olive oil.

Cook until the onions have softened and browned slightly.

Take the onion/chili mixture and stuff it into the pockets you created in the chicken breasts.

Brown the stuffed chicken breasts in the pan you sauteed the onions in.

Top the chicken breasts with a smear of BBQ sauce

Bake in a 350 degree oven until the chicken has cooked all the way through, about 15 minutes or so depending on how thick your chicken breasts are.

I served mine along side some mashed baked sweet potato, steamed broccoli and carrots.

Enjoy!

Beef and Broccoli Stir-fry

This meal was a treat for most of my family. Why? You ask, well we don't generally eat beef in our house. My husband's body just doesn't process it very well so he doesn't eat it. I am not a fan of making several different meals so we have just gotten use to not having beef. I however love beef so once or twice a year when I find it on sale I will make something with beef which is a treat for myself and my kiddos. This beef and broccoli was a hit with my family and much to my dismay there wasn't a morsel leftover for my lunch the next day because my kids all had seconds. I know I shouldn't complain that it was all gone because that means my kids ate a really healthy meal full of vegetables but man was I looking forward to having some for lunch the next day. For the kids, I served this over Yakisoba noodles, for myself since I was on reset, I served it over cauliflower "rice" but you could also serve over brown rice if you are in the primary phase. Give it a try, it was really good.

Beef and Broccoli Stir-fry (serves 5)
20 ounces beef (I used a London Broil cut)
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tsp Bragg's aminos
7 cups broccoli florets
1/2 cup stir-fry sauce

Stir-Fry Sauce
I found this recipe in Rocco Despirito's book Now Eat This and modified it to make it PINK appropriate.
1 tbsp. Seasame oil
2 tbsp minced ginger
2 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 cup chopped green onions, white and green parts
1 tbsp arrowroot powder
2-3 tbsp Bragg's aminos
3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
3 ounces of tomato paste
8 drops stevia or sweetener or your choice
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Slice the beef into thin strips

Add the garlic, ginger, vinegar and Bragg's to the slice beef and stir to coat the beef. You will want to marinate your beef for at least a few hours in the garlic, ginger, vinegar and Bragg's mixture.

After the beef has marinated for a few hours you will want to make your stir-fry sauce.

Add your chopped garlic, ginger and green onions to a pan that has been misted with olive oil. Saute until you can smell the garlic and ginger and the onions have softened.

While the the garlic and ginger are cooking add the remaining ingredients for the stir-fry sauce to a bowl and whisk to incorporate any lumps from the arrowroot powder and incorporate the tomato paste.

Add in the liquid mixture you just created to the saute pan with the garlic, ginger and green onions. Cook until the entire mixture has thickened. Take the sauce off the heat and set aside. This will make about 2 cups of sauce, you will not use it all in this recipe so use what you need and save the rest for another meal. It will last in the refrigerator for about a week or you can freeze it to use later.

When the sauce is done, you will saute your marinated beef in a mist of olive oil. If there is a lot of marinade or juice in the beef, be sure to pour it off.

When the beef is browned, add in your broccoli and let cook until the broccoli has softened to your likeness.

When the broccoli is soft, add in about 1/2 cup of the stir fry sauce and stir to combine.

If you like your stir-fry a little more saucy, add in a little more. The 1/2 cup will not make a super saucy stir-fry but the sauce is pretty strong so start with a little and add more if you want.

Serve over brown rice or cauliflower rice and Enjoy!