Oldies But Goodies

Im going to start posting some of my older recipes that I haven't published on this blog. First up... Healthy Monkey Muffins? Wet ingredients: 1 egg, 1/3 cup egg whites ¼ cup coconut oil 1 baby food jar of squash 1/3 cup agave syrup 1 medium mashed banana Dry ingredients: 1/2 cup chocolate protein powder ½ cup almond flour ½ cup cream of rice cereal ½ cup wheat germ 1 cup rolled oats ¾ tsp sea salt ¾ tsp baking soda 3 tsp cinnamon Optional: 2 squares 70% dark chocolate, made into shavings.   1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly spray a 12-pan muffin tin with oil. 2. In a small mixing bowl, mix together wet ingredients thoroughly. 3. In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients. 5. Combine the wet ingredients into the dry mix bowl. Mix together with a wooden spoon. Gently fold in dark chocolate shavings. 6. Spoon batter into muffin tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Serve. Calories in muffins with dark chocolate: 210 Without chocolate: 198

The Other Plan... With A Side Of "Blueberry Chocolate Almond Ice Cream"

So I'm kind of feeling lost in terms of my fitness goals and how to fit them into my life for the next four months (actually for the next 8 months). The problem is I feel somewhat like a Gym Gypsy. I hope that this "fitness plan" helps keep me stay focused and efficient in the gym no matter which gym I'm training in. After I leave Sicily in April I will be living in Utah for 3 months until Mike returns from his 3 month deployment and we head to Vegas (in August we should be transitioning to our life in Vegas). During this time back in the states I plan on enjoying my time with my parents, my mother in law, and my friends. I hope to keep my training motivation high and accomplish my fitness goals in this three months. As for my fitness goals, I'm going to put more muscle onto my lower body, mainly my quads. I feel my upper body is good in terms of size and definition but I think my legs, especially my quad sweep, is lacking the size to be symmetrical with my upper body. I plan on doing lots of box squats, leg presses, and narrow stance hack squats. I also hope to stay fairly lean in this off-season so that when September rolls around I can do a competition (or maybe a competition in October). I feel like I shouldn't choose a Bodybuilding Show until we have settled in a house. Doing so otherwise will set me up for failure because of all the other commitments and issues that come when transitioning into a new home. To keep me accountable, I'm posting my most recent pictures as well as my leg measurements. Right thigh at largest measurement, 20.25 inches. Right thigh at mid measurement, 19 inches.

And now, onto a delicious dessert! I call it Blueberry Chocolate Almond Ice Cream. 1 cup frozen blueberries (they must be frozen), 1 scoop vanilla protein powder, 1 cap full of Cocoa Roasted Almonds (I used Emeralds). Put into a blender and turn on the low setting. Depending on your blender, you will have to stop the machine and scrape down the sides. I have a VitaMix so I only had to do this once. But a lower grade blender you may have to stop a couple more times. No extra sugar necessary, the blueberries add sweetness and those cocoa roasted almonds are a great crunch! Delicious!

The Plan

For those of you I haven't informed directly, my husband is being reassigned to a new location. Drumroll please... LAS VEGAS! We are both very excited for the new possibilities and what LV brings us in terms of new opportunities. Let me start my "List of Excitement" with 1) The Olympia! Yes, the superbowl bodybuilding is held every year in Las Vegas. And perfectly we go to Vegas in August, a month before the Olympia. Meaning, I'm going this year. Woop woop. Very stoked about this. Now, onto number 2) fancy gym with childcare. Another HUGE excitement because then Mike and I can hit the iron together. 3) Whole Foods Market, Trader Joes and a host of other health food stores (with Kombucha Tea). I miss my selection of when I lived in San Diego. It will return to me! 4) A new house with a larger kitchen to develope more recipes of yumminess. I don't know if you've seen my current kitchen but it's very European Chic, and ridiculously small. I can only fit 4 days of grocery in the fridge, I'm using my kitchen table as counter space to prepare food, and my sink is approx 1 foot by 1 foot, meaning I can fit the dishes from breakfast and lunch in the sink before having to wash them BY HAND. 5) A dishwasher, yep, I'm getting a ridiculously good dishwasher so that I never have to hand wash again. Lol. 6) Ok, number six doesn't have any less importance than number 1, in fact, it's the most exciting reason we are moving to Vegas. Our family is so close. Our family lives in Utah and Arizona, which means it only takes a half day drive to reach them. This is so important to me. I'm close with both my siblings and parents, plus I gotta hold my new baby Nephew Braden. Mike was joking the other day about how I should open up a bed and breakfast in Vegas because of all the friends and family that have already jumped at the opportunity to come visit. Not sure if it's because we are in Vegas, or because Kellen...

Un-attractive with Homemade Nut Butter

So I've been feeling really ugly lately. It all started back in July when I first changed my hair color. I brought the picture to the hairdresser (who came highly recommended) but he gave me an entirely different hair cut and color than what I wanted. I tried to like my new style but it never suited me. Since then it's been one bad color after another. Also, I noticed wrinkles around my eyes a couple weeks ago when I was looking at some recent photos taken of me while in Germany. Gasp! Wrinkles!? I'm only 27. Then I've been super pasty white all year, no glowy tan, just stark white. O ya, I'm also in that "mom rut" of wearing comfy shoes and clothes. I want to look hot again! I know we all go through these emotions, but mine have lasted awhile. That's why I'm pledging to myself to get a new hairdo, spray tan, pedicure, and eyelash extensions. Nothing like a great make over. Before and after pics anyone? Its all going down the end of April (another blog post to explain this date to come soon). Besides that, I did manage to come up with a new recipe. It's my own home nut butter. 2 cups walnuts. 2 scoops vanilla protein powder. 2 tbs coconut oil. 2 tbs water (this depends on your protein powder). Place the walnuts in a food processor and process for 5 minutes. Add the protein powder for one minute. Then slowly drizzle in the coconut oil, and then the water. You'll have to stop the food processor periodically to scrape the sides and re-incorporate the ingredients. I spread it on two rice cakes. ;)

Cocoa Cake Batter

I recently found a recipe on Pinterest that everyone was repinning and so I decided to look at what all this hype was. The original recipe maker was boasting a delicious "cake batter" dessert which included healthy-for-you chick peas but not raw egg in sight. After reading over the ingredients I realized I could make this recipe EVEN BETTER. I would keep the idea of the chick peas (because beans are awesome don't cha know!) but use my usual ingredients to make this recipe mine. So a little substitute there, an addition here, a deletion there and voila. I was so happy with the finished product. So I grabbed my taste tester and had him try a bite. He asked, "what are you making me eat this time?" I replied, "I promise it's good, just try it! I'll tell you what it is after you taste." So he tastes and goes YUM. I asked him what he thought it tasted like. He said, "it kind of tastes like licking the spoon after your mom makes cake." Now, if that isn't called 100% success I don't know what is. So, here's MY version of the recipe with higher protein and lower fat. Makes 4 servings. 1 can garbanzo beans. 2 tbs Hershey's Cocoa Powder. 1 scoop vanilla protein. 1/2 cup walnuts. 7 dates. 1/2 tsp vanilla. 1/2 tsp baking soda. Scant salt. 2 packets Truvia. Approx 1/4 cup water. Place all ingredients EXCEPT WATER in a food processor and blend until smooth. Slowly add water until reaching desired cake batter-like consistency.

On Hold...

And once again, my goals are on hold. We were informed last week that Mike is being reassigned to another duty station mid April. This means I cannot compete in the Naples Bodybuilding Competition next month. At first when I heard the news I was extremely disappointed, not only because I cannot compete (all that dieting, training, and focused energy) but also because we are leaving this wonderful home we have made here in Italy. My immediate thought was to my neighbors who have become our second family here. They have been such an amazing part of our lives and to them we owe so much gratitude. I truly believe if we hadn't been friends we would not have enjoyed our lives here nearly to this degree. We will miss them, along with all the other wonderful friends we've met here in Sigonella. And of course, to bring all my contest preparation to a screeching halt is never good. The day after we found out the news I was completely lost. Lost because I didn't know what to eat. Lost because I didn't know what to train. Lost because all my decisions are based around the competition and now that competition doesn't exist. I was also very upset because I believe this would be the best package I've ever brought to the figure stage. My body responded so well to training and diet this time, I must admit, I'm looking the best ever. I'm trying to stay positive and enjoy this time period I'm in now. I'm back to 4 workouts a week and I've reincorporated some food back into my diet (hello dairy and bread). For now, everything is still so uncertain so I cannot set another competition date. Do I compete in Utah for the 2 months I'm living with my parents? Do I compete in Septmember after Mike returns and we settle into our next home? And so, because I can't answer that question, I resolve to train hard and eat clean. Because that's always a good idea.

What A Vacation!

I prepared myself for our family vacation ensuring that not only would we have fun, but that I could also stay on my contest prep diet and fit in my workout. I packed my carry on with my meals during our travel time as well as a couple extra snacks just in case. My checked luggage contained not only my clothes for the trip but also my protein and fats sources, workout clothes, and shaker bottle. I was so excited to not only visit wonderful Germany but also my ability to stay prepared and in control for my contest goal. Wow, was I ever challenged! To begin our vacation all our checked baggage was lost by the airline. This meant clothes AND all my food (minus travel food that was packed in my carry on). I felt stuck in our hotel. It took a full 24 hours before they found our baggage and delivered it to the hotel. I managed to eat as "clean" and close to my diet as possible choosing an egg white omelette with no butter, extra veggies, and one piece whole grain bread. For snack, I still had a couple rice cakes left over and some almonds from the day before. For lunch, I ate a large green salad with black beans and pork. Another handful of almonds and a tuna packet for a snack. And then right before dinner our luggage finally showed up. I was so excited for my toothbrush, deodorant, shampoo, workout clothes, regular clothes, and my contest prep food! I ran downsatirs to the mini gym and got in my shoulder workout in 45 minutes. For dinner, I ate another large green salad with a white fish. The next day was pretty much the same food wise. I got in a leg workout early in the morning before Mike or Kellen woke up and then plenty of cardio hiking up to Neushwanstein Castle and hitting those castle stairs! That night Mike started complaining of stomach pain. The entire night he woke up every couple hours sick. The next day started off good but by mid morning I started feeling stomach pain. We decided to go ahead with our plans to see Salzburg, Austria. By the time we arrived (2 hour drive), we realized we both had the stomach flu! Despite being sick, we tried to see as much we could and make the most of the day. That day I considered whatever food I kept down a huge accomplishment! The same with Saturday too! Saturday we made ourselves go to the Zugspitz because we didn't want our vacation to be ruined by this stomach bug that had claimed our intestines. I couldn't stay on any sort of diet plan so I ate mostly carbs and just hoped to keep it down. Sunday we flew home, sad to leave Germany but happy to have our own bed (and own toilet for that matter). So, minus the stomach flu, being in a contest diet prep was totally do able during vacation as long as its properly planned out! I brought almonds, tuna packets, salmon packs, rice cakes, protein powder, and Ezekiel bread. The vegetables I bought once I got to my destination. As for the workouts, I got my lifting in before everyone woke up and then relied on all the sight seeing as my cardio. And as for eating out at restaurants? I got exactly what I wanted, I just asked for it. For instance at breakfast, I asked the chef for an egg white omelette made with six egg whites, tons of vegetables, no cheese, no oil or butter. It was perfect, and the chef didn't seem annoyed at all. In fact, he smiled. So don't be scared to ask for what you want. I won't lie, I did have two cheat meals. I had to try some of the local German food! Sausages and noodle definitely aren't on a competition prep diet. Going on vacation doesn't mean all your fit and healthy goals will be ruined (unless of course you and your husband get hit with a three day stomach bug).