Clean, Green & Lean Pinwheels

Ok, so I actually wrote this post this past Friday & when I went back to finish it up & post it, somehow most of it got deleted! Ugh! It was a really good one too!!! Definitely frustrated with Blogger about that! So, I honestly haven't had it in me to go back & rewrite all of it out in detail like it was so I 

am going to make it short & sweet! 

One of my favorite things are pinwheels! I love love love them! I usually only make them on special occasions and at the holidays -

 But this past week it dawned on me...... 

Why do I have to wait for a special occasion to make

 these wonderful little treats?! 

That's totally crazy!! 

They are so good and can be made in millions of different healthy ways & are the perfect easy go - to lunch or healthy snack!! So I got in the kitchen and have been making pinwheels for the past two weeks and having them for lunch!! You need healthy wraps to start & for the meat (which you can leave out & just do veggie ones too!), I used a large can of chicken - drained & rinsed of course (fresh is obviously better if you have the time & money  but the canned is a lifesaver if you are like me & short on both lately). I also used sweet peas in 1 batch then broccoli in the other. For the spread you can use Fat Free Cream Cheese but I like this Alouette Spreadable Cheese too cause it comes in flavors! And I use Hummus as well cause it takes a decent amount of spreadable stuff to make them stick, roll up & get firm enough to slice & I think more than 1/4 C of Cream Cheese is just too much. But, that's just me! Get creative & make yours however you want! Using 1 large can of chicken, a serving of sweet peas or broccoli (you choose) 1/4 C Cream Cheese, 2 Tbsp Hummus made up one batch of five which is enough to last you through a 5 day work week! Both batches came out really good! This is one of those recipes that will just keep getting better and better the more times you make it and the more creative you get with the ingredients!! I topped mine with salsa both times and it was really really good!! 

 Just make sure your veggies are chopped or mashed & your cream cheese is at room temp so you can mix it all together well! Then put it all in a bowl, mix & start spreading leaving about 1/8 inch around away from the corners to give it room to spread out. Then I wrap in saran wrap individually & chill til firm enough to slice into pinwheels! 

Oh yea!...... pimento & Paprika are great add ins & they make them pretty when sliced cause they add a splash of color!

Banana Bread Babies

Well the weather here in small town Tennessee can't make up it's mind! 
Is is still Summer or is it Fall?! Ugh! 
In my heart it is Fall & I am ready for the weather to follow suit! 
I think some cooler temps are moving in tonight & that makes me happy! So, with my heart beating to the rhythm of Fall & the upcoming holiday seasons, comfort food has totally been on my mind lately! One of my favorite Fall comfort foods is Banana Nut Bread! I love to make the mini loaves & give them away as gifts & I love having it around at the holidays! So, I knew coming up with a good healthy recipe for it was something I needed to be working on! And what do you know?...... not to brag, but - I got it perfect the first time! I love it when that happens! Cause when baking clean & healthy, that is a challenge! Even the people in your house who may not be into healthy eating are going to love these! I had one as soon as they came out of the oven & it was seriously an act of willpower not to eat the whole darn pan! Seriously, this recipe gets 5 stars! I am very proud of it! Can you tell by all the pictures I took of it? lol..... I couldn't help it! It's so pretty & crumbly! They look like baby banana bread loaves!

How cute is that?!

Also I got to playing around with some different filters on my camera & they made for some more interesting pictures instead of the plain "oh, here's a picture of my food"  pictures i usually post! lol......I couldn't decide which picture I liked best so I posted them all. I think I like the first one best! Which one do you like?? I want your opinion on which picture is your favorite & also what you think of these Banana Bread Babies! You can leave your feedback in the comment section below! I would really appreciate it! :)

Serve warm with a glass of cold cinnamon almond milk while seated & relaxed so you can totally savor each delicious bite!! 

BANANA-YUM! 

Banana Bread Babies

1 C Oats (ground into flour)

2 large kinda ripe bananas (approx 7 oz each) - mashed & set aside

1/4 Unsweetened Almond Milk

1/4 C PB2

1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I use Dymatize ISO 100 Gourmet Vanilla)

1 egg white

1 tsp Brown Sugar Splenda

1/8 C Stevia & 1 Tbsp (seperated)

1/4 Pecans (chopped)

1/2 tsp baking soda & 1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

*Preheat your oven to 350. Have chopped pecans set aside in a small bowl. In another small bowl, mix Brown Sugar Splenda & 1 Tbsp Stevia & set aside. These will be used for the topping!

Grind oats into flour then add remaining dry ingredients & blend well. Add banana & blend some more before adding the remaining wet ingredients. Pour into a 8 x 8 pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray & then sprinkle pecans on top. Then sprinkle on the Stevia/ Brown Sugar mix & bake until edges start looking brown & a toothpick comes out clean! Remember not to over bake! You want them to be moist & not dried out!

I cut mine into 10 bars but you could also cut into 16 squares if you like! Adjust nutrition accordingly! :)

This is the nutritional content for the way that I made mine.

 I added a scoop of protein powder to it but you can leave that out if you want. You could also make this with almond flour & I know it would be amazing! It would cut the carb content down as well! Also you could make with natural peanut butter or almond butter! Just adjust the nutritional content if you make any changes! I use My Fitness Pal to figure up the nutritional content of all my recipes! It's easy peas-y! I use it to track my noshes too! If you aren't using it yet, you ought to! It is so great for staying on track & a total lifesaver

 for recipe saving &  calculating! )

How To Follow My Blog...FINALLY!

I FINALLY FIGURED IT OUT!!!!!!!

I have had a lot of people tell me that they cannot figure out how to join my blog, only how to follow by email or subscribe to posts. And while I am thankful for that...... I want my blog to GROW! In order to do that I need people to actually JOIN IT!!! But it has been really confusing on how to go about this....& not just to me. When I first started my blog there was a "join this site" widget but it's gone now since they updated Blogger & I have no idea how to get it back! Ugh!  So, in the mean time...... here's what you do:

You  need a Google account & from there you go to Blogger or type in beautifullyfit1.blogspot.com & add it to the list of blogs you "follow". That's it! Wow! It's that simple!! I can't believe it! Whew!

Ok, so I hope that helps & please join if you aren't already a member!

Thanks for reading & have a BEAUTIFUL WEEKEND!!!!

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! :)