PUMPKIN SPICE & EVERYTHING NICE

Over the past few months, I have searched for and tried several healthier pancake recipes - all of which have been a GIANT FAIL - until today!  I swear that Jamie Eason is the "Queen" of healthy recipes that actually taste good too.  I haven't disliked a recipe yet and today proved that again.

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

(although not a strong pumpkin flavor for those who may be leary)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups oat flour
• 2 tbsp Splenda, Truvia, or Ideal
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 scoop whey protein (optional)
• 4 egg whites
• 1/2 cup raw pumpkin
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened Almond Breeze

 

Directions:

1. Preheat griddle to medium heat.
2. Mix oat flour, Splenda, Truvia, or Ideal, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg in a bowl.
3. Wisk egg whites and pumpkin. Mix in Almond Breeze.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix together.
5. Spray griddle with non-stick butter spray.
6. Scoop batter with a 1/4 cup measuring cup onto griddle. Cook 3-5 minutes on a side.

Makes 10 large pancakes.

 

I actually made my pancakes about 5 inches in diameter to easily store in a ziploc sandwich bag so I was able to get 24 out of 1 batch of mix.  I stored them 4 to a package (equal to 2 of the large size that the following nutrtional information is based upon) and stuck them in the freezer for quick easy grab n go.

 

Nutritional Content for 1 Large Pancake or 2 Smaller Size (with 1 scoop of protein)

 

Pumpkin Spice                                      vs.                     Aunt Jemima Buttermilk

Calories: 73                                                                                     Calories:  90
Fat: 2 grams                                                                                    Fat: 0 grams
Carbs: 10 grams                                                                              Carbs:  12 grams
Protein: 5 grams                                                                              Protein:  2 grams
Sugar: 0 grams                                                                                Sugar:  4 grams

PLUS - my kids gave them 2 thumbs up too!

What Will You Want?

Quite honestly, this question has been burning in the forefront of my mind for the past 45 days.....not because I lack hope or faith.....not because I don't believe in miracles.  Because I know that most walk around their daily life not knowing when their final day will be and get caught up in so many distractions of life.

In the past week our local news has reported on a young child who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and was struck by a passing vehicle.....a father, son, brother, employee who was simply doing his job at 2am - diverting traffic when his vehicle was struck and exploded.  They didn't know how that day was going to end.

I pray every day that my brother and I have more time with our dad, that my children have more time with their grandfather, that my mother has more time with her husband.......that we have more time then what statistics tell us.

Yet I promised myself on August 10, 2012 not to allow the time that I have with those who matter in my life be filled with distractions.  That the laundry and dishes can wait if it means enjoying the little things in life.  So that if that final day comes sooner then expected, I won't look back with regret.  I challenge you to do the same.....

Carb Cycling - the beginning

Week #10 of the LIVE FIT Program involves "carb cycling" and being that this is brand new to me, I woke up Sunday morning, grabbed the laptop, my notebook and my morning cup of "joe" (i.e. for many that may be a cup of coffee, for me is used to be a Dr. Pepper....but now it is 12 ounces of water mixed with Mango Strawberry Spark and Mango Pineapple Rehydrate - YUMMO)...ready to do some meal planning. 

 

 

"Carb Cycling" involves days of low carb/high protein vs. high carb/low protein.  This week I have 6 days of low carb/high protein and 1 day of high carb/low protein to plan for.  The type of day coincides with the workout of the day too.  Thankfully, the LIVE FIT Program has an easy calculator to determine the total calories, carbs, protein and fat you need.  Once I determined these numbers, I sat down with the My Fitness Pal app. and customized my nutrition plan accordingly (under settings).

 

 

The first thing that I added to my food diary was my Advocare products because that is something that is the foundation of every day for me.  Then I began adding in all the foods that I typically like to eat for the various meals/snacks throughout the day.  Once I had all my foods in the diary, I was able to start subtracting out food items and formulating a menu (using the LIVE FIT suggested foods as a guide too).

 

 

Below is what I came up with for day #1 (keep in mind I am learning as I go).  You will see that some of the items listed are what many would consider "normal" when I could have chosen a "low carb" or even "low fat" option - examples:  Laughing Cow Creamy Swiss vs. Laughing Cow Light or Mission Regular Fajita Flour Tortilla vs. Mission Carb Balance Fajita Flour Tortilla.  My reasoning is simple - I am using items I already had in my house and not wasting them - so on a future shopping trip, I have already made notes to buy the other version.  Additionally, you will see that I am eating egg whites for breakfast and again at dinner - today that works for my schedule as I will be shuttling between soccer practices and the dance studio - so I can whip up that meal easily and take it on the road with me while I play taxi driver.

 

 

YES - this took me about 2 hours to come up with, however now that I have a starting point, I can modify each day going forward.  I have my list of all the items that I originally started with and I can quickly swap foods each day going forward.  As I do so, I hope to get my numbers a little closer to my daily goal - but for today I think I did a fairly decent job.

 

P.S.  I am using my new Easy Lunchboxes & have my salad prepped for the week in Mason Jars (as seen on PINTEREST) and will update later on how I like them.

 

 

 

1850 Calories in a Day

As I am entering the final phase of the 12-Week Live Fit Program, I have days where I have to take my calories from my normal 1500 range up to 1850.  Here is what 1850 calories typically looks like for me:

4:30 AM - Advocare Mango Strawberry Spark & Mango Pineapple Rehydrate w/3 Advocare Catalyst

6:30 AM - Advocare Muscle Gain Vanilla Protein w/PB2 Chocolate and 1/2 Banana plus my Advocare Vitamin MNS

9:30 AM - 2 Squares Jamie Eason Cinammon Swirl Protein Bread

12:30 PM - 6 ounces of Tilapia seasoned with Monteray Steak Seasoning chopped up with 1/4 cup of shredded cheese & wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla - 1 cup of Salad with 15 spritzs of Wish Bone Italian Dressing & 1/4 cup shredded cheese

3:30 PM - 4 Squares of Jamie Eason Chocolate Protein Bread & Fage Greek Yogurt

5:30 PM - 2 Sargento Cheese Sticks (typically as I am shuttling kids places)

7:30 PM - 5 Egg Whites with salt/pepper and 1/4 cup of shredded cheese

Calories:  1849
Fat:  62 grams
Carbs:  162 grams
Protein: 169 grams

Needless to say, my lunch box is usually stuffed to the brim with food and you will find me putting something in my mouth all day long.