Homemade Peanut Butter

 
Homemade Peanut Butter

Ingredients:  

 

• 9.5 ounces low sodium peanuts (or more, probably double for a full jar)

Directions:

1. Blend peanuts briefly just to chop to small pieces. At this point, remove 2 ounces of chopped peanuts out of the 9.5 ounces (or 4 ounces of doubled) to make crunchy peanut butter. Omit this step if you just want creamy.     
2. Blend peanuts for a minute & stir.   
3. Blend for another minute & stir. 
4. Blend for another minute & stir.   
5. Blend for a little longer if more creamy peanut butter is desired.   
6. Scoop into jar.   
7. Stir in crushed peanuts if making crunchy peanut butter.     
8. Store in refrigerator for 3-4 weeks. Enjoy!! 😋

Macros: 

  

Cauliflower Rice & Stir-Fry

  

Cauliflower Rice

Ingredients:

• 1 head Cauliflower
• 1 tbsp Coconut Oil, melted
• Garlic Powder & Pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425F. 
2. Wash cauliflower & cut off florets.   
3. If you have a ninja or food processor, pulse florets until fine. If not, I cut mine by hand (took awhile, but got the job done).   
4. Melt coconut oil & mix into cauliflower with seasonings.   
5. Spread out on greased cookie sheet & bake for 25 minutes.   

Stir-Fry

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg Turkey Cutlets (basically acts as a turkey steak)
• 5 servings frozen broccoli, cooked
• 5 whole carrots, cut into pieces
• 10 tbsp Stir Fry Sauce 

Directions:

1. Cut turkey cutlets into pieces & cook in a skillet with cooking spray & seasonings. I used pepper & garlic powder.     
2. Once turkey is cooked through, add broccoli, carrots & sauce & simmer for about 5 minutes.   
3. I then separated into 5 meals for meal prep. 😋    

Macros (1/5 recipe): 23P • 4F • 18C

My carbs are higher so I had pita crackers on the side. 👍🏼 Enjoy!! 😊

Cinnamon Roasted Butternut Squash

  
Cinnamon Roasted Butternut Squash

Ingredients:

• 1 – 12 oz. container pre diced butternut quash (or whole butternut squash cut & diced yourself)
• 1 tbsp olive oil 
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2-3 tsp Truvia Baking Brown Sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425F. 
2. In a bowl, mix all ingredients together until evenly coated.     
3. Spread out on foiled, sprayed cookie sheet.   
4. Bake for 30 minutes. Longer if you have more than 12 oz.   

This tastes more like a dessert than anything. 😋 It reminds me of sweet potatoes in a way! & for 6 oz. butternut squash only has 15C 0F 3P so great macros!!

Enjoy ☺️☺️

Mini White Chocolate Peppermint Pie

  
White Chocolate Peppermint Pie

Ingredients: 

 

• 1 Advocare White Chocolate Peppermint Meal Replacement Shake
• 4 Mini Pie Crusts (5-6 for less full pies, could also use whole pie crust)
• 1 tub Fat Free Cool Whip
• Walden Farms Chocolate Syrup (optional)

Directions:

• With the cool whip still in the container, I removed about 7 tbsp & freezed for another (if making more than 4 mini’s, don’t remove any). Mix in the pouch of MRS.   
• Divvy out into each pie crust.   
• Drizzle with chocolate syrup.   
• Freeze & let sit for an hour or so before eating & enjoy!

  YUMMMMMM!!
MACROS: 43C • 5F • 6.5P

This recipe can be made with any meal replacement shake flavor. They can be found at http://www.advocare.com/150387067. Email me with any questions at A-Hepler@hotmail.com! 

Protein Pumpkin Parfait 🎃

  
Protein Pumpkin Parfait

Ingredients: 

 

• 1 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
• 1/2 Large Frozen Banana
• 1/2 scoop PEScience Snickerdoodle Protein Powder
• 2 tbsp PB2
• 1/4 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1/4 cup Pumpkin Puree 
• 1 sheet Low-Fat Graham Crackers

Directions: 

1. Blend all ingredients together except for graham crackers until smooth.     
2. Top with crushed graham crackers, slurp & enjoy! 🙂  

Macros: 20P • 7F • 38C 

Mashed Potato Bowl

  Mashed Potato Bowl
Yields: 5 Servings

Ingredients:

• 650g Sweet Potato, skinned & uncooked
• Dash Unsweetend Almond Milk
• Spray Butter
• Seasonings (Cajun, Garlic Powder, Pepper)
• 20 oz. Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast – Fat Trimmed
• 1 head Broccoli
• 1-2 cups Spinach
• Reduced Fat Mozzarella

Directions:

1. Wash & skin sweet potatoes.   
2. Cut into cubes.   
3. Add to a pot of water. Boil until potatoes are soft (I poke with a fork & if they slide off, they’re done).  
4. While the potatoes are boiling, prepare chicken. Trim fat & cut into cubes. Add to a skillet sprayed with cooking spray & sprinkle with desired seasonings (I used Cajun, pepper & garlic powder). Cook through.     
5. When the potatoes are done, drain in a strainer & add to a mixing bowl with a dash of almond milk, spray butter & seasonings (garlic powder & pepper).   
6. Mash & mix with electric mixer.   
7. Wash off broccoli head & cut off florets. Wash off spinach. Add to a pot with water & boil for about 10 minutes or until soft.  
8. Strain broccoli & Spinach.   
9. This was a meal prep for me, so I separated into 5 bowls. First add potatoes, then chicken, broccoli/spinach.   
10. I waited until the day of to add the cheese, heat it up & enjoy!! 🙂  

MACROS (1 meal): 36P • 5F • 31C

Spicy Chicken Sandwich & Keeping Chicken Moist! 💦

First I wanted to share my lunch this week for all of you meal preppers (& non meal preppers)!! In the directions I will explain how I prepped both my chicken & green beans. This is how I always prepare my chicken for meal prep to keep it moist. You can also prepare cut up into chunks in a skillet, but cooking spray is still important to keep it moist! If you’d rather, olive oil does the trick too, just high in fat – but healthy fat at least!

Spicy Grilled Chicken Sandwich & Green Beans 👇🏼  
1 Meal Ingredients:

• 2 Slices of Bread (I used Pepperidge Farms CarbStyle 100% whole wheat – awesome macros! 5P • 1.5F • 8C for one slice 😍)
• 1 – 4 oz. piece of chicken breast, baked with hot sauce (I prepped this ahead of time, I’ll explain below)
• 1 slice Sargento Thins – Provolone
• Spray Butter
• Fresh Green Beans (also explained below on how to prepare. 

Chicken Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F. 
2. Trim fat off of chicken
3. Measure out 4 oz. pieces for how many ever meals you desire. I prepped for 4 days. To do this, I first measured the whole breast & kind of guesstimated how much would need taken off. Easy one – an 8 oz. breast obviously cut in half for 2 – 4 oz. pieces. 
4. Once measured, placed on a foiled & greased baking sheet. Sprinkle the chicken with garlic powder & smother hot sauce all around. (You can add whatever seasonings you want & don’t have to add the hot sauce – that’s just for this sandwich). KEY!! Spray tops with cooking spray – this keeps it moist while baking. 
5. For 4 – 4oz. (Basically 2 breasts) pieces bake for 20 minutes. For 3 breasts bake for 30 minutes. The shorter time & higher temperature helps to not over cook them! 

  
Green Bean Directions:

1. Buy fresh green beans from the produce section. When ready to prep rinse them in a strainer. Cut ends off of each green bean. You can cut them into smaller pieces like I did or leave them whole. 
2. Place them in a pan with water covering. Once boiling, let them go for 5-10 minutes until they are bright green. 
3. Strain & place in a skillet with spray butter, garlic powder & pepper. 
4. Sautée for 5-10 minutes!

Sandwich Assembly:

1. Spray 2 pieces of bread with spray butter. 
2. Heat up chicken if priorly meal prepped. 
3. Place sprayed side of bread down in a skillet on medium heat. Top with 1 slice cheese, chicken & other slice of bread. 
4. Cool until golden brown & flip just like you would a grilled cheese!

ENJOY!!  

   MACROS (1 Meal): 38P • 6F • 22C

Mini Protein Pumpkin Pies 🎃

  Mini Protein Pumpkin Pies

Crust Ingredients:

• 7 Low-Fat Cinnamon Graham Cracker Sheets
• 1 tbsp Coconut Oil, melted
• 3 tbsp Unsweetened Almond Milk

Filling Ingredients:

• 15 oz. can or 1 3/4 cup Pumpkin Puree
• 4 Egg Whites
• 2 scoops Protein Powder (I used PEScience Snickerdoodle)
• 2 tbsp + 2 tsp Truvia Brown Sugar Baking Blend
• 1/4 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
• 1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1 tsp Cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Prepare crust by blending graham cracker sheets to crumbs. This is best using a food processor or ninja, but I made it work with a blender.    
3. Add in coconut oil and almond milk. The mixture should stick together.      
4. Press into the bottom of muffin tins (I made 10). You could also press into the bottom of a pie pan for a full pie if desired.  
5. Bake in oven for about 8 minutes.  
6. Remove & allow to cool while preparing the filling mixture.
7. For the filling, add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. You could also do this with an electric mixer if preferred.    
8. Spoon filling evenly into the 10 muffin tins, on top of the pre-baked crusts.  
9. Bake for 25 minutes.
10. Decrease oven temperature to 300F and bake for an additional 10 minutes. No need to remove the pies, just decrease the temperature when the 25 minutes are up and set your timer for 10 minutes while the pies remain in the oven. If you decide to go with a whole pie for this – you may need to bake it longer (until a knife comes clean upon poking the center).   
11. Let cool for about an hour and refrigerate. Enjoy!!

MACROS (2 pies or 1/5 recipe): 32C | 5.4F | 14.6P

Naked Chicken Burrito

  Naked Chicken Burrito A.K.A Burrito Bowl

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups Fat Free, Low Sodium Chicken Broth
• 14.5 oz. can Diced No Salt Added Tomatoes, drained 
• 2-3 Chicken Breasts, trimmed (about 20 ounces)
• 1 cup Brown Rice
• 1 can Black Beans, drained & rinsed
• Chili Powder, Garlic Powder & Pepper
• 1 1/4 cup Reduced or Fat Free Cheese (I used reduced fat Sargento 2% Mozzarella)

Directions:

1. In a crock pot sprayed with cooking spray, place chicken breasts at the bottom & sprinkle seasoning over top.   
2. Pour chicken broth & tomatoes over chicken.       
3. Cook on low for 4 hours.      
4. Remove chicken. 
5. Add in uncooked rice & black beans. 
6. Cook for 30 minutes & then turn to high until all liquid is absorbed into the rice. This took about an additional hour & a half for me.   
7. Turn crock pot off & shred chicken on top of the cooked mixture, I just did this by hand. Add cheese on top of that & mix.  
8. Place the lid back on & allow it to sit for about 10-15 minutes for the cheese to melt. Mix all together & serve or separate into desired containers.     

Macros (1 meal or 1/5 recipe): 40P • 5F • 47C 

Meal Prepping & Macro Counting

For those of you that are new to meal prepping &/or macro counting I want to explain how I have made things work for myself in hopes that it’ll help you as well!!

Tracking your food can be both a great & bad thing. However, for myself it has been more beneficial than not. I have been doing this for probably 5 years on and off. However, I was just introduced to IIFYM (If it fits your macros) at the start of my bikini prep this past February so almost 9 months now. Whenever I used to track I solely looked at calories, protein carbs and fats did not come to play in my mind. Having said that, a great deal of my diet contained empty calories & definitely NOT enough protein. When my coach introduced me to IIFYM, it was a saving grace! It allowed me to fit in a sweets craving here and there without feeling guilty. It truly saved me to be honest. Prior to IIFYM I deprived myself, not only of treats, but of food period. Always remember – food is your FUEL, you need it to grow, to function, to LIVE!! Now some people become obsessive when tracking and make a bad habit out of it, that is not the goal here. The goal is to keep you on track, but enjoy life as well.

With that being said, here is how I’ve figured everything out to work best for me..

MEAL PLANNING

My on bikini prep meal planning versus off season varies a little & I will explain that for each meal below. Right now I am in off season so my macros are gradually getting higher. Right now I’m around 140P | 45F | 200C. I eat 5 times a day. Breakfast when I wake up usually around 8, then lunch after my workout around 11, a snack 3 hours after that between 2-2:30, dinner between 5:30-6, & my last snack at 7:30-8. You don’t have to be so structured with timing, but this is when I find that I start to get hungry. Spacing my meals out like this helps me spread things out also, it also keeps your metabolism moving to burn fat! I’m not going to say every day works out like this. I have days that timing doesn’t always work, but you make due and change things if need me. The last thing you should do with this is stress – it’ll become second nature in no time. I usually plan the following week’s worth of meals the Friday before so I can go grocery shopping Saturday morning and meal prep on Sunday. When I’m planning, I like to get ideas from people I follow from Instagram as well as recipes I find on Pinterest. Sometimes I try other people’s recipes, sometimes I find a recipe a change it to be my own, and sometimes I make my own – whatever happens, happens! I usually try to plan my breakfast & lunch first. Then I plan dinners for the week. & Then follow with snacks.

BREAKFAST

Eggs are usually my go-to for this meal, but I try to change it up each week to keep it exciting. Although I LOVE my breakfast sandwiches. 🙂 I usually try to find a good balance between protein carbs and fats for this meal, making sure that I have high protein and moderate carbs at least since this is usually the meal I eat before my workout. For example, I might have 2 pieces of toast with spray butter, cinnamon & Truvia, and 4 egg whites on the side mixed with 2 Jimmy Deans Sausage Patties ripped up and scrambled with the eggs and then mix in some ketchup. The sausage becomes my fat & protein, eggs are another protein, and toast being my carbs. In this case, I do not have anything to meal prep unless I buy fresh turkey links and cook them myself. My breakfast is usually the same every day for the week that I am planning for to make it easier. This is my favorite meal of the day so I always make it something to look forward to!

LUNCH
I always have some kind of lean meat with lunch. Whether it be chicken breast, turkey (usually ground), or tuna. Along side that I make sure to have a vegetable of some sort – I love broccoli & carrots!! & Then I usually try to fit a carb in there as well since it tends to be my after workout & body needs to replenish fuel that it just lost from lifting. My lunches are usually pretty low in fat because I like to save room for peanut butter in my snacks. 😉 An example lunch for me: 5 oz. boneless skinless chicken breast, 1/4c brown rice, 1c frozen broccoli, 2/3c frozen carrots all mixed together & sprayed with spray butter. YUM! My lunch is also usually the same for the week that I am planning for. I meal prep this meal on Sunday morning & just disperse them into 5 containers that I’m able to heat up the day of eating. However, certain meals that I choose do not require me to prep ahead of time. For example, last week I had tuna wraps & carrots in which I mixed a can of tuna with 1 tbsp Fat Free Ranch & a little hot sauce, places it on a bed of lettuce on top of a flat out wrap & ate right away so it was super easy!

DINNER
When I’m prepping, I make my own dinners and dinner separately for my husband, although you do not have to do this – I just found it easier to have the same thing each night of the week days.  During off season, I make dinner for both my husband & I each night so we are eating the same thing. I plan a different meal for dinner each night or at least every other night and have leftovers the following day. I usually get my ideas here from Pinterest and just change things where need be. For example, I usually turn to fat free or reduced fat options and I never cook with real butter because it upsets my stomach from eating so clean all of the time. My go to – SPRAY BUTTER!! I make all kinds of meals for dinners. I always try to find a balance between healthy, yet enjoyable. Follow me on Pinterest, I have a board called “Yummy Goodness” that I post all kinds of recipes that I want to or have tried! I also have a board of the recipes I post on here. The link to my Pinterest –> Lyss Robb’s Pinterest. If you’re worried about having to make something every night then you have some options. Do as I do in bikini prep & plan the same thing to eat each night & prep it the Sunday before while prepping your other meals. You could also prep a couple different things on Sunday to where you can just throw them in the oven or unfreeze them throughout the week. Do what works for you!!

SNACKS
This is where I have fun. 🙂 I LOVE trying different protein treat recipes & different protein bars. On prep  – I choose an afternoon snack for the week as well as a before bed snack for the week. When not on prep – I usually decide a snack for the afternoon for the week or have a protein bar and then have whatever fits in the evening. In this case, if I’m making a recipe I usually prep it the Sunday before so it’s already baked for the week and I can just refrigerate it to keep it good. For example, today I prepped individual protein pumpkin pies (I’ll be sharing the recipe as long they taste good when I try them). 🙂

ALWAYS PLAN THINGS THAT YOU CAN LOOK FORWARD TO!! Life is too short to eat things that you don’t like & when you follow IIFYM, it makes ZERO sense to fit something in that you’re not going to enjoy.

MACRO COUNTING

Depending on what your fitness journey is, where you are at in that journey, and what your goals are your macros may change weekly or they may remain the same for a few weeks. I have reversed dieted (as I’ve talked about in other posts) up to the point that I am at today. At this point, I have found a balance of not needing to add any more in because I am gaining lean muscle, increasing my weight, while minimizing my fat gain. If you find that you’re losing weight, you’ll need to up your macros. If you find that you’re gaining weight and are on a mission to lose, then you need to decrease your macros. I usually do this in increments of 5-10 carbs & 1-3 fats. My protein has remained basically the same with no increase or decrease (I do about 1.3 per lb to put on lean muscle for the weight lifting that I do).

PROTEIN
With my protein being as high as it is, I try to have 30g at every big meal & divvy out the rest between snacks. Your body can only digest 30g Protein at a time, although sometimes I do end up having higher since I have to reach 140g each day.

FATS
My fats usually come from peanut butter, I’m obsessed.. who isn’t?! 😉 However, I always log my breakfast, lunch, and dinner first and then see what fats I have remaining for snacks.

CARBS
My carbs come from all different food sources, but I usually try to make them be complex carbs. Complex carbs are foods such as whole grain breads, sweet potatoes, brown rice, fruits, veges. I do have simple carbs here & there though – I LOVE making Quest s’mores. I bake the Quest bar that’s cut into 4 pieces at 400F for 2 minutes on each side and sandwich them with Marshmallow Fluff.. to die for!! My breakfast, lunch, & dinner always contain complex carbs. My snacks go both ways, sometimes being complex, sometimes being simple. IIFYM is all about balance, you just need to find yours.

TRACKING MY NUMBERS
I have used the Myfitnesspal app, but I don’t like that on my phone I can’t see my specific macro numbers easily so I use an app called MyPlate by Livestrong and I love it!! The day or night before I always log what I’m going to be eating the next day for a few reasons. One, so I have set in my head ok, this is what I’m going to have. Two, so it takes away the guess work and you don’t stress throughout the day thinking about if you’re going to be able to fit things in or not. Third & Lastly, because it’s what works for me! Again, find what works for you. 🙂 I treat it as a math puzzle (if you don’t like math, don’t do that haha). Being +/-5g of each of my macros each day is a goal for me & it’s something I aim to achieve for my health. Don’t let it stress you out. Yes, in the beginning it can be intimidating, but it’ll come to you with time!

You may even get to a point that you don’t need to track, that you can kind of guess and know that you’re fueling your body with the right amount of calories from the macros contained in your foods. For me, at least for now, I need to track in order to ensure that I need enough otherwise I spiral down and that’s the last thing I want. I have a goal in mind and I’m set on achieving that. Like I said earlier, you NEED food to grow. IIFYM teaches you not to be afraid of food, but to love & embrace it. Have FUN with fitting in your foods, it’s like a daily challenge that you have to conquer. 😉

If anyone has any questions or I didn’t cover something that someone is struggling with please do not hesitate to ask! Comment here, email me at A-Hepler@hotmail.com, or find me on Instagram –> @lyssrobb. I’d love to help out!!

<3Lyss 🙂