Jamie Eason pumpkin protein bars

i have been looking to make some clean healthy protein bars and found on good old Pinterest Jamie Eason pumpkin protein bars so this morning I decided to make them

The ingredients which i adapteded slightly:
2 cups of oat flour which I made by grounding oats up in the food processor
1/2 cup of coconut sugar the original recipe is birch sugar
1 can of pumpkin
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup almond milk
4oz of apple sauce
1tsp baking powder
1tsp of baking soda
2 scoops of protein powder
4 egg whites however I have used 2 whole eggs

Pre heat oven to 350 or 170 degrees
Spray a baking dish
Mix all the ingredients together
Pour into baking dish
Bake for 25-30 minutes
Cut into 24 slices

Spanish stew

Spanish stew

Peppers

Onions

Spinach

Tim tomatoes x2

Red lentils

Chick peas

Morocan spice

Apricots

Quinoa

Fish fillets

Cook onions and peppers and spinach

Meanwhile cook chickpeas till they are soft

Add in tin tomatoes and morocan spice and red lentils and quinoa to the onions and peppers

Once the chick peas are cooked add them to the pan, along with apricots and the fish, cook till fish is cooked which takes a few minutes

Chicken fajitas

Oven baked fajitas

-peppers

-onions

-diced chicken breast

-fajita spice

Pre heat oven to 180

Put peppers and onions in the pan

Put diced chicken on top

Sprinkle with fajita spice and give it a mix

Bake in oven for 25 mins till chicken has cooked

Meal prep Sunday's

If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail, if you set one day or one afternoon to prepping your food for the week you will find you stay on plan!

If you can get a slow cooker and a big pan then all you have to do is pop it all in the pan and make big batches of meals.

My favourite meals to batch cook is:

Bolognese 

Curry

Lasagne

Chilli

Fajitas

Risotto 

Spanish stew

You can buy slow cooker books and as long as you have basic ingredients in the cupboard then you are all set for prepping clean healthy foods for you and your family 

Almond butter blondies

Almond butter blondies

 

Ingredients

80 ml coconut oil 1/3 cup

195 almond butter 3/4 cups

2 eggs

185 ml maple syrup 3/4 cups

240g ground almonds 2 cups

1tsp baking powder

75g chocolate chips

Method

Preheat oven to 180

Cream the coconut oil and almond butter together

Combine the baking powder and ground almonds together 

Mix with the wet ingredients

Fold in the chocolate chips

Place on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes

Leave to cool for 10 minutes then cut in to slices 

Lemon and coconut bliss balls

Lemon and coconut bliss balls

 

Here is a healthy snack that takes no time at all to make, filled with healthy fats which is essential for hormones, skin and hair

Ingredients

2 cups shredded coconut

1/2 cup almonds

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

2tbs coconut oil

2-3 tbs honey or maple syrup

Method

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend together for 1 minute

Then roll the mixture into little balls

Roll in extra coconut

Place in fridge until firm

Quick easy dinner

Hasslebank chicken with mozzarella and tomato

 

Ingredients x4

- Chicken Breast x4

- Beef tomatoes x2

- Mozarella

- Butternut squash

Directions

- pre heat oven to 180

- Slice into the chicken breasts to make separations

- slice the beef tomatoes in little macaroons

- slice the mozzarella up

- put tomatoes into he chicken slices skin facing up

- put the Mozarella into the gaps with the tomato

- cook for 20 minutes and then take out and push all the tomato into the chicken, put back in oven and cook till chicken is cooked through

- Mean while skin the butternut squash and make into noodles and cook them in the oven for 20 minutes until soft

This meal is clean healthy, perfect for mid week meal, it is also slimming world and Paleo friendly 

Pancakes

This morning I really fancied pancakes, I have such a sweet tooth for breakfast, I would happily choose pancakes, waffles over a cooked breakfast any day, however traditional sweet breakfasts are actually worse than you than a 'fry up' due to the fat and suave and all the extra toppings that you choose

Here is the recipe that I used, I made it up but the pancakes turned out lovely

1 egg white

2 whole eggs

A splash of coconut milk

A quarter cup of coconut flour 

Make sure you cook them small to flip them over as they are thinner than normal

To make the sauce

A scoop protein powder

Splash of coconut milk

Top it off with blueberries and pear

Homemade nakd bars

Nakd bars are great, high in sugar but only because of the fruit however they are not the cheapest to buy so making your own is great

150g cashew nuts

6 whole dates

90g cherries 

Place the cashew nuts in food processor and blend till fine breadcrumbs and then pour into a bowl

Put cherries and dates in processor and blend till broken

Slowly add cashew nuts into mixture

Pour mixture into a container or lunchbox, make sure tightly packed

Cover and place in fridge for at least 2 hours

After 2 hours take out and cut into 8 equal bars

Wrap each bar and keep in the fridge

Homemade oat bars

shop bought bars can contain a lot of sugar and added ingredients, if you make your own you can control what goes in it, especially if you are giving them to your children

Here is some basic ingredients to make your own bars, however you can go creative and add what you want

3 cups basic oats
2 eggs beaten
1 cup of nuts
1 cup of mixed fruit, such as cranberries, and raisins
1 tbs pure maple syrup or honey
1 cup of milk
1 tsp cinnamon
Protein powder (optional)

Pre heat oven to 180
Mix all the ingredients together
Line a baking tray and pour ingredients in
Bake for 40 minutes or till cooked

Post workout meal

Post workout for me is my lunch as I tend to workout lunch time once I drop the children at nursery

So I need to make sure it has all the correct macro and micros to help repair my muscles from my workout

Veg sausages

Salad

Sweet potato

And fig jam

One pot meals

I love one pot meals, as a busy mommy it makes my life so much easier

Here is my dinner, it is chicken and chorizo jambalaya 

One onion

One pepper

Tim of tomatoes

Chorizo

Frozen diced chicken

Cajun spice

Rice

Chicken stock

Put it all in the pot and cook till the rice has cooked takes about 40 minutes in total

Clean eating meal plan week 1

Day One   Meal 1 3 egg scrambled 2 slices whole meal bread Meal 2 Banana and peanut butter Meal 3 Chicken salad with feta cheese Meal 4 3 oat cakes with tbs hummus dip Meal 5 Pork steak 1/2 cup mashed sweet potato 1 cup cauliflower Meal 6 Almond milk/low calorie hot chocolate	Day Two Meal 1 Peanut butter pancakes  Meal 2 Protein powder 8 oz water or almond milk Frozen fruit Meal 3  Sweet potato Salad  Tin tuna Sprinkling of cheese Meal 4 Carrot and cucumber sticks 2 tbs hummus Meal 5  Cottage pie Side salad and balsamic dressing Meal 6 1 cup Greek yogurt
Day Three Meal 1 Overnight oats Meal 2 1/2 cup almonds Meal 3 Chinese style steak 1/2 cup couscous  1 cup broccoli Meal 4 1 string cheese 1 apple and peanut butter Meal 5 Turkey chilli Meal 6 Protein powder 8 oz water or almond milk	Day Four Meal 1 Strawberry smoothie Meal 2 Mango  Cheese string Meal 3 Chicken salad with feta cheese Meal 4 1/2 banana Protein bar Meal 5 Salmon fillet 1/2 cup couscous 1 cup steamed beans Meal 6 Low calorie hot chocolate
Day Five Meal 1 1 slice whole meal bread 1 egg scrambled 1/2 avacado Meal 2 Protein powder Frozen fruit Pineapple juice Meal 3 Grilled chicken Breast in bbq sauce 1/2 cup brown rice 10 asparagus spears  Meal 4 1 tbs almond butter 1/2 banana Meal 5 Pork tenderloins Sweet potato baked Cup mixed veg Meal 6 Cup Greek yoghurt	Day Six Meal 1 Banana nut oatmeal ( 1/2 cup oats, 1 cup almond milk, 1/4 pecans 1 small banana) Meal 2 1 cup chocolate almond milk Meal 3 Chicken breast stuffed with sun dried tomato and feta cheese Spinach and balsamic vinegar  Meal 4 Cucumber and carrot sticks Hummus Meal 5 Turkey steak 1 cup broccoli 1/2 cup brown rice Meal 6 1/2 cup almonds
Day Seven Meal 1 Three egg omelette with cherry tomatoes, half an onion, half a pepper and asparagus Meal 2 1 cup Greek yoghurt, 5 dates and handful of almonds Meal 3 2 slices of whole meal bread, chicken breast, lettuce, cucumber, grilled bacon medallions and tomatoes Meal 4 Protein powder, fruit juice, frozen raspberries, frozen strawberries and frozen blueberries (smoothie) Meal 5 Sweet jacket potato Steak grilled Corn on the cob 1 cup of mixed veg Meal 6 Low calorie hot chocolate with almond milk

Where do I start?

A question that gets asked a lot is where do I begin?

Well the honest answer is you and you finding your motivation and reasons to want to begin!

I previously shared my story on how I began, when I was pregnant was when it hit me that I needed to do something, I was slim to start with so lucky in that sense but definitely skinny fat, yes that really is a term! I was slim but had no definition to my body and was soft! I also ate what I wanted and when without a care in the world! 

However being pregnant changed hat, make de realise what I was eating was going to my baby and if I wanted a healthy child I needed to eat healthy..

My exercise love started after he was born, I did lots of cardio was a cardio bunny my love for weights didn't start till I was pregnant with my second child...

I am still a long way and rom where I want to be but closer to my goals with every work out that I do

So once you have found your motivation and reasons why you want to change your life then it's how to go about doing it..

If you want to join a gym see if there is any friends that you can join with which will help you stick to going to the gym! See if there is any classes at your local community centre to start going to..

But a DVD and start exercising at home, that way you can start exercising and get a feeling for it and then once you are ready then join a gym!

Take photos and measurements which will help you stay accountable and keep reminding you why you started.

There is a lot of information in nutrition and fitness and lots of it contradict it self so I can fully understand why it is so confusing.

I fully belive nutrition is the key, if you can get your eating habits sorted first then your exercise will follow as you will feel a lot better about your self and more confident. I fully belive that abs are made in the kitchen and built in the gym, so 80% is nutrition and 20% is exercise.

Start by researching clean eating, I will do a post on this for you, throw away rubbish from your cupboard, but fruit and veg and lots of lean meats, stock up on Greek yoghurt and honey to help your sweet tooth and get meal planning.. 

But remember we are only human and everyone slips so and to take it day by day and to not beat your self up if you slip up

Snack

Snack

Apple

1 tbs peanut butter

Perfect afternoon/morning snack or can be used as a pre workout if your not feeling very hungry before you workout