Edible & Technical Apples

Well, it's the weekend & I am having a great one so far! I am synching my new iPhone 4S as I blog this so I am super stoked! I am a gadget iFreak for those of you that don't know! Especially Apple products! I LOVE THEM! The edible apples of the world & the technical apples of the world..... all make me smile!

So, I have a friend who is doing the Paleo diet & she let me borrow one of her Paleo recipe books where I found some awesome looking recipes! I used the one called Paleo Apple Muffins as the base for this recipe but made a few small changes & added in some protein so they wouldn't technically be "Paleo" approved now but let me tell you..... 

they are iDelish!

Apple Pie Protein Muffins with a glass of cold Almond Milk

 I love that the apples in them are left chunky & not all blended in! 

That really reminds me of a homemade apple pie!

Anywho, since I have a lot of other Apple-ing to do today, I'll make this short & sweet & maybe it's something you will want to try for breakfast in the morning! They are packed with good for you carbs & pair well with a cup of hot coffee or of course a glass of cold almond milk - like I had mine! I also think one would be really good served warm on top of some apple cinnamon flavored Greek yogurt! 

Apple Pie Protein Muffins

iYum! ;)

Apple Pie Protein Muffins

2 & 1/4 C almond flour (could use oat flour)

4 Egg whites

1 Apple - peeled & diced into small chunks)

1 Ripe Banana

1/4 C Applesauce (natural, unsweetened)

1 Scoop Vanilla Whey Protein Powder

1/3 C H20

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp Salt

2 tsp Apple Pie Spice

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/8 C Stevia

*Preheat oven to 350. Mash banana in a small bowl & set aside. Add all other ingredients & mix well by hand. Then add the mashed banana & mix well again. Batter will not be super thick but more like a cake batter. Pour into muffin tins sprayed with non stick spray & bake until toothpick comes out clean! Make sure not to over bake so they will be moist & crumbly! 

Enjoy! 

*I am not adding nutritional content on these because I didn't make the full recipe & the nutritional content will vary depending on the type of flour you use, the type of protein powder you use (if you use any) & how full you like your muffin tins. I only came out with 8 muffins because I like mine full & I didn't make the full recipe. If you use My Fitness Pal, you can create a new recipe with the ingredients you use & it will figure nutritional content for you! I LOVE that app! :)

Cinnamon Apple Crumble Squares

FALL.........I LOVE this time of year!! 

You are probably going to hear that a lot from me over the next few months! I love the way the Fall air feels & smells, I love having my windows open, I love the falling leaves, the approaching holidays & of course, I love the food!!!....... ahhhhhh! To me, it is all DIVINE!!! I feel so alive this time of year! I have really been feeling great lately since I started doing the Body Earned program! I can see & feel myself getting stronger! I am lifting more at the gym & pushing hard with HIIT cardio! I am definitely seeing results & I am LOVING it!!! 

And since I am feeling the love everywhere lately, you can bet I wanna stir up some Fall lovin' in the kitchen! It was time for a new batch of protein bars today, so I reached for my tried & true fav -  Jamie Eason's Cinnamon Swirl protein bars, but then I thought,  "Callie, you need an Apple Cinnamon protein bar recipe!" And for those of you that are familiar w JE & all her protein bar recipes you are probably thinking, "Callie, JE has an Apple Cinnamon protein bar recipe!" And you would be right! However, I have to be honest, I have made them a few times & I have to say that (no offense to Jamie cause she is my total fav) but I do NOT like them AT ALL! And I am a HUGE Apple Cinnamon fan!!! I'm sorry! But, I have to be honest! They are the only ones of hers I don't like! But since I love the taste of anything Apple Cinnamon so much & this is the perfect time of year for it AND Dr. Oz just recently did a show on the Top 10 Anti- Aging herbs & spices & Apple Pie Spice was #5!!! (link to the article is below) And you know how I am about anti-aging, right?! So, taking all things into consideration, I figured it's high time I came up with an Apple Cinnamon bar that I DO like! So, anywho, long story short (semi-short) I got in the kitchen & a scrumptious new protein bar was born! YAY!  I am always so proud when I birth a new protein bar recipe that comes out really yummy 'cause clean baking is a lot of trial & error! 

Clean ingredients are very different to cook with if you haven't 

already experienced that already.  

I used my fav - JE Cinnamon Swirl protein bars as my recipe inspiration because I love, love, love the cinnamon "sugar" swirl part! And I have to say that I like these even better that those & that is saying A LOT 'cause her Cinnamon Swirl bars are the 

super dang & my total fav...... until now! 

I can't wait to have one of these warmed up with a glass of Cinnamon Almond Milk!! 

Shut the front door!!! 

YUM!!! 

Oh, & also, they made my house smell gloriously amazing! 

(besides the Scentsy I always have burning!)

Add caption

They are worthy of the name too!  Pretty & crumbly! Mmmmm.........

 Cinnamon Apple Crumble Squares

Dry ingredients:

1.5 C Oat Flour

2 scoops Vanilla Whey

1/4 C Stevia in the Raw

1 Tbsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

1 tsp Cinnamon

2 tsp Apple Pie Spice

wet ingredients:

4 egg whites

1/2 C Unsweetened Almond Milk

1/4 C Natural Applesauce

1 tsp Brown Sugar Splenda

*Topping:

1/ C Stevia in the Raw

1 tsp Brown Sugar Splenda

1 tsp Apple Pie Spice

1 tsp Cinnamon

*Preheat oven to 350. Blend oats into flour then blend remaining dry ingredients. (I use my Ninja for all of this, of course!) Add wet ingredients to the dry & blend until it's all mixed together-scrape sides of bowl or Ninja cause the flour always wants to stick. Pour into an 8 x 8 square pan then sprinkle Cinnamon Apple Crumble on top. Swirl with knife all the way through back & forth a couple of times then pop into the oven & bake until a toothpick comes out clean! As with all protein bar recipes like this, don't over or under bake! This can be tricky when you are first learning to make things like this! If you take it out & your toothpick comes out clean yet you cut into them & your knife is gooey, don't stress! Just put them back in for a few more minutes! 

*Makes 16 squares.

*Nutritional content: 34.5 calories, .5 gram of fat, 2.9 net carbs, .2 grams of sugar & 3 grams of protein!

(Nutritional content is calculated according to the protein powder I currently use which is MRM. You will have to adjust the content according to what kind you use or any other ingredients you alter)
* If you would like to read the article by Dr. Oz on the Top 10 Anti- Aging Herbs & Spices you can check it out here!!

Wednesday is Operation: Smoothie

Happy Wednesday! 

How are you doing on the weekly challenge of 20 push ups a day?!  Did you check out the Syra Namaskar A video on Yogaglo I posted Monday? How about Pinterest.....did you pin any of my recipes?! I want to hear feedback from you!! Please feel free to message me or comment on any posts!!

 I really really look forward to Wednesday's Operation: Smoothie blog because I get to try out a new smoothie recipe & then I get to blog about it! I was a little undecided on what kind to make today because I have been dying to make a green smoothie but I want to learn more about them before I go there so I went with plan B which was to satisfy a caramel apple pie craving I had going on!  (I have those a lot, I know!) It came out sooooo good! If I had crushed low fat graham cracker crumbs  to sprinkle on top it would have been like drinking homemade apple pie! Mmmmmmm!!!

Without further ado...... here is the recipe!

Caramel Apple Pie Protein Smoothie

1 C Unsweetened Almond Milk

 1 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder

1 tsp sugar free Torani Caramel syrup

1 Tbsp natural no sugar added applesauce

1 Tbsp nonfat plain Greek yogurt

1 Stevia packet

a couple of dashes of apple pie seasoning & a couple of dashes of cinnamon

1 C ice

*Throw into Ninja & blend until smooth! I sprinkled a dash of Nutmeg on top of mine for extra flavor & to make it picture perfect! ;)

*This Operation: Smoothie case is closed at 140 calories, 5 carbs & 20 grams of protein!

 

TGI Love Fabulous Food Friday!

Well, this edition of TGI love Fabulous Food Friday comes to you on Saturday morning because my day yesterday got busy & I just never got around to blogging.....actually I never even opened my Mac Book yesterday! 

Gasp! I know right?! 

But, sometimes it feels good to live a day outside of cyber world! 

I did enjoy some really great food this week! One of the 3 recipes I am about to share with you is a protein cupcake recipe that I am  proud to call my very own! Yes..... I said protein cupcake! They are amazing! And really cute too! I designed & named them around an Alice In Wonderland theme! 

For those of you who don't know me that well..... I bleed Disney! ;)

This first recipe is a Veggie Lover's French Bread Pizza!
All you need is a loaf of whole grain french bread from the bakery, whatever veggies you like, a low carb & sugar sauce (you can make it homemade or just add some Italian seasoning to the plain stuff to dress it up!) & some fresh mozzarella or 2% cheese!
Hollow out all the bread & just leave it like a little boat, then brush it with EVOO & toast a few minutes til it's a little crispy before you put anything in it. You can saute any veggies during this time if you need to. Then start with your veggies, then layer sauce & cheese & bake until melted! Really simple & really delish!

Next on the list ended up being one of the absolute tastiest ways I have ever dressed up Greek yogurt & I cannot WAIT to have it again! It tasted like apple pie!

Plain nonfat Greek yogurt -1 serving

1 tsp pure honey

dash of apple pie seasoning & cinnamon

Stir & then see how slow you can eat it!....... Seriously! 

And now, without further ado........ let's see how deep the rabbit hole goes!

The Hatter's Mad Cupcakes

dry ingredients:

1 1/2 C oat flour

1 vanilla carb smart yogurt

1 serving of birthday cake flavored protein powder

1/4 C stevia

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

wet ingredients:

2 egg whites

1 Tbsp vanilla  

4 oz H20
Icing:
1 wedge of Laughing Cow light cream cheese
2 Tbsp of vanilla carb smart yogurt

1Stevia packet 
Stir with a fork in little bowl

*food coloring of your choice to make them un-birthday looking!

 I used neon food coloring for mine!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites then add remaining wet ingredients  until blended then add to dry. Blend until smooth then pour into medium sized muffin pan sprayed with non stick spray filling about 3/4 of the way full.Take the food coloring (only use 1 color per cupcake otherwise they all bleed together & are not so  pretty if you try to make them multi colored. I lost a good cupcake trying to do that!) & put 2 - 3 drops on top then poke it with a toothpick several times to get it down into the batter. Bake until toothpick comes out clean then completely cool before icing. I would only ice the ones you are going to eat.

Makes 9 regular sized cupcakes. I posted some extras about this recipe below the last picture.

*Per cupcake  -  calories 85, 2 gram of fat, 10 carbs & 8 grams of protein!

Perfect for any un-birthday occasion! ;)

 

 

*I have switched to a new protein powder that comes in these convenient little bottles that you can take anywhere, has no chalky aftertaste, no artificial sweeteners, no growth hormones & the best part is that it is only 125 calories per serving, 0 fat, 0 carbs, 0 sugar, 31grams of protein & comes in tons of awesome flavors! Like... birthday cake! Check it out right here. But if you don't want to buy birthday cake flavored protein powder, use regular vanilla. I am sure they will still be good! They just won't have the same cake flavor. 

*You could make this in mini muffin tins if you wanted to & have mini cupcakes which would also be really cute! And you could use cute little wrappers too, which I left off so you could see the inside of the cupcakes! Eek! I love recipes that you can make pretty! Makes me happy!