Chocolate espresso nice cream

 

Hello beautiful people,

It’s Friday. Finally Friday! The day most of us look forward to all week… In all honesty, as much as I love Fridays, Sunday is my favourite day of the week. Maybe because growing up, Sunday meant time spent in the kitchen with my mom and often times my grand-mother (which meant a lot of fresh bread, cookies and cakes being made!). It also meant family dinners and football. Although I don’t cook with my mom nearly as much as I would want to anymore, I still spend a fair amount of time in the kitchen, with football games playing on tv in the background and most often, my son, husband and dog, close by, to taste test. So in a way, Sundays have kept that same childhood family feeling.

But we are Friday today and for many people, that usually means the beginning of a lot of decadent, rich food and unstructured meals for the next couple of days. Myself included, I find it harder to eat healthy and on time on weekends. I don’t want to have to rush to make and eat breakfast. I usually have a much bigger breakfast, since it’s my favourite meal of the day, and so lunch becomes more about grabbing whatever is available in the fridge and can be eaten as I go about my busy day of chores. And when my hectic day is finally over, I do feel like I deserve to reward myself with a nice dinner that consists of a little more then roasted vegetables, lentils and brown rice…

I know how you feel. I feel the same. Every Friday. Every weekend. But here’s the thing: I have goals! Health and fitness goals. And as much as I love food and as crazy as my days get and as much as I feel good about treating myself to an entire weekend of fried gnocchis, pizza, burgers, fries, coconut ice cream and brownies, I know it’s only delaying me reaching my goals. So what to do?!?

Well first off, I don’t believe in depriving myself of any good food. I also don’t believe some foods are bad and others are good. I do believe in having a great meal over the weekend and yes, I do see it as a reward and I don’t see anything wrong with that. There’s a lot of talk about not rewarding yourself with food because it creates a negative association to food. You should reward yourself with a spa day, a new pair of running shoes or whatever other non-food related thing one may want.

But I love food. And a lot of my life revolves around food. So yes, when I’ve had a hard week, I want a good meal with my husband or my friends or both, that I can look forward to. But here’s another little important thing: my reward meal is not a weekend long meal! It’s one meal…ok maybe two meals. That’s it. And the rest of the weekend, I make sure I eat well and have plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables handy, healthy homemade granola to grab on the go, bags of nuts and dried fruits I keep in my purse and a full bottle of water with lemon juice. Those naughty meals are what keep me wanting to eat healthy so I can feel good about having that reward meal. I also know that if I eat crappy all weekend, I’m going to feel crappy come Monday morning and that no longer feels like a reward, it feels like punishment!

This is where treats like this Chocolate Espresso Nice Cream come in handy. It’s full of good for you food, it makes a great quick & easy breakfast or a nice snack to hold you over until dinner and it’s just decadent tasting enough to satisfy your naughty cravings.

Hope you guys enjoy it and leave a comment to let me know what your favourite reward meal is and how you handle your weekend cravings!

 

xx

Chocolate espresso nice cream
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 2 portions
This makes a great breakfast and espresso gives you that little boost of extra energy. If you don’t want the caffeine, make it with decaf espresso. Serve it with some chocolate shavings on top and maybe even a little vegan whipped cream if you feel really naughty…
Ingredients
  • 4 frozen bananas
  • 1 14 oz can butter beans
  • 1/2 cup espresso, chilled
  • 1 oz semi-sweet dark chocolate, roughly chopped (extra for serving)
  • 2 drops liquid Stevia (optional – if you like your nice cream really sweet)
Instructions
  1. Take out your food processor and add the grating disc. Insert the frozen bananas in the feeder and grate away on high.
  2. Once all bananas are grated, take the grating disc out and switch to the s-shape blade.
  3. Add the remaining ingredients to the food processor and turn on high until you reach an ice cream like consistency.
  4. Serve with extra chocolate shavings.

 

Kale Caesar Salad

 

Hello beautiful people,

For the past few posts, I’ve shared with you my thoughts on compassion. I hope you’ve enjoyed it and I’d love to hear back from you so don’t be shy, scroll on down (after you’ve read this post of course!) and leave a comment… But now, it is time to go back to plant based food and address a very important topic: plant protein!

Now, I know that this topic has been discussed in great length on countless plant based blogs, websites, youtube videos and Instagram accounts yet somehow, the confusion persists, especially in the bodybuilding and fitness industry, although there is some improvement there. If you’ve read my story, you know that this is an industry I’m very found of. But this post is not only aimed at those muscle heads (and I mean that as a compliment as I consider myself one!) but also, and mainly, at those that want to take their fitness to the next level, at those that want to lead an active lifestyle and at those busy families who want to nourish their bodies and fuel their muscles, all the while doing something  positive for their health, the environment and the animals. An all around winning situation if you ask me!

Now let’s get into the thick of things and debunk a few myths along the way…

Let’s start at the beginning. What is protein? According to the National Institutes of Health, protein is a macronutrient (like fat and carbohydrates). It is composed of amino acids, which are organic compounds made of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, and proteins are the building blocks of muscle mass.

It was once believed, by the scientific community (actually, as far back as 1971), that plant protein was incomplete in and of itself. That all plant proteins lacked one or more amino acids and so someone eating only plant based foods, would have an incomplete intake of amino acids which could lead to a plethora of problems. And so “proper food combining” was recommended to those who wanted to adhere to a plant based lifestyle. And this complicated things for a lot of people. It made this lifestyle very labour intensive and unattractive. Those that might have been plant based-curious where easily turned off by the idea of properly combining foods at every meal.

Luckily, that concept has long been debunked! Unfortunately, it still persists… NutritionFacts.org actually made an amazing video on the topic and I would strongly encourage you to watch it here.

So now we know that most plant proteins contain at least the minimum amounts of all 8 amino acid and that our bodies can store amino acids for when we eat plants to that do not contain the magic 8. And so combining certain plant foods together at every meal is not required. Your magnificent body does the work for you. Incredible you are!

Now what? Well now, unto the next myth: protein requirements!

Since the craze of high-protein diets and the incredible lobbying of various meat industries, it is wildly believed that our bodies need an incredible amount of protein to function properly. We’re talking about diets that promote eating anywhere from 150 to 300 grams of protein (depending if you are active or not, man or woman), a day. That is insane! Some diets even go as far as suggesting a protein-fast where you only eat lean meat all day, for a period of time dependent on how much weight you want to loose. I won’t even get into the dangers of such a diet or the havoc it can wreak on your hormones and digestive tract let alone your sanity but it’s actually a very popular diet so this is scary! Diet such as these promote efficient, drastic and quick weight loss due to the power of protein.

Now let’s be real, protein doesn’t have magical powers and your body definitely doesn’t need that much to function, be active and recover from brutal workouts. So how much do you actually need? Of course, the answer is unique to each person but the general guidelines from the American Dietetic Association and Health Canada is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram (1 kg = 2.2 pounds) of body weight per day. So a person who weighs 135 pounds needs 54 grams of protein in a day. Pregnant and breastfeeding women need more as do athletes. For myself, I weight 135 pounds and I know, through trial and error, that my body functions best and I recover faster from my workouts when I eat at least 80 grams of protein, some days even more. And yes, all my protein is plant based and delicious!

Now I know some of you are freaking out on me right now thinking this is way way to low. But think of this: a baby needs the most nutrients and protein as it has the greatest growth curve yet per 100 ml of breastmilk there is 1.3 gram of protein, 4.2 gram of fat and 7 grams of carbs. Food for thought!

Ok so now you know, you don’t need to combine different plant foods at every meal and you know roughly how much protein you need to eat. So what do you eat to hit those protein macros? Check out this chart below by Full Circle Healthcare.

It never ceases to amaze me how complete the plant kingdom is. So whether you choose to eat tofu or not, only unprocessed foods or not, it is very easy to get all the protein you need on a plant based diet.

If you are curious on how much protein you actually do eat, I encourage you to track one or two days in a log like My FitnessPal or Cron-O meter and see how much protein you consume. I’m sure you’ll be surprised!

And now, onto my recipe! I’ve made a kale caesar salad that is loaded with protein from the kale itself, but also from the hemp hearts and the tofu in the dressing.

I hope you enjoy it and let me know how much protein you consume!

xx

 

Kale Caesar Salad
Recipe Type: Salad
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 4 portions
This kale Caesar salad packs a serious protein punch and is loaded with nutrients so your body has all the help it needs to recover from brutal workouts or simply a hectic day of running around! You can sub the kale for collard greens or romaine lettuce or mix a few greens together. This recipe calls for a chill time in the fridge of 15 minutes to soften the kale. If you don’t have time to wait, sprinkle a little salt over the kale, once washed, and massage it for 30 seconds. It will soften. Just taste the salad with the dressing before adding any additional salt.
Ingredients
  • 1 full head of kale
  • 1/4 Cup olive oil
  • 6 oz firm silken tofu
  • 1 garlic glove (I use 2 gloves because we like it really tangy!)
  • 2 Tbs lemon juice
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 2 medium size dill pickles
  • 1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce (vegan)
  • 1/4 Cup of nutritional yeast
  • 1/2 Cup hemp hearts
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Remove the ribs from the kale leafs, wash and chop.
  2. Set aside in a mixing bowl.
  3. Add all your remaining ingredients, except the hemp hearts, into a blender or food processor and blend until you get a creamy texture.
  4. Pour the dressing over the kale and combine with a wooden spoon.
  5. Store covered in the fridge for at least 15 minutes so the kale softens.
  6. Top with hemp hearts and some gluten free croutons.

 

Leftover vegetable soup

 

Hello beautiful people,

The title of this post says it all: vegetable leftover soup! It happens to all of us. We go to the grocery store or the farmer’s market and buy all this beautiful produce. We come home, head full of ideas on what to cook/bake for our family during the week. And as the days go by, the basket of colourful carrots is down by half, the cabbage head is shredded to its last quarter, the bunch of kale merely has 2 leafy stems left. You know you don’t want these vibrant vegetables to go to waste (throwing out food that’s gone bad is the worst feeling ever!) and you also know that if you go to the market now, these beauties will hit the back of the fridge in no time. But then again, what to do with them? You could just shred everything and toss it in a salad bowl and call it a day. It would make for a nice refreshing and delicious dinner but you want something more. You want to expand your culinary wings and create something more because you are a chef in your own kitchen. You also want to be practical and spend your time in the kitchen wisely, which means making a meal you can easily bring for lunch the next day. And this is where this soup comes in. It takes care of all those beautiful leftover vegetables, it’s flavourful and it makes enough for you to bring to lunch the next day. Bingo!

Now I’ll admit, I wasn’t a fan of soups for the longest time. It just didn’t do it for me. Not only did I not consider a bowl of soup a meal (how could a bowl of liquid keep me full!) but I also considered it to be a waste of my stomach space when served before the main meal. It didn’t help that I grew up in the 80’s and soup diets were all the rage (cabbage diet soup anyone?). I would see close relatives eat nothing but soup all day for a week, feeling miserable but holding on because the scale was showing a few dropped pounds. Yah, no thank you. I’ll stick with solid foods.

But then something happened: I went away to University to attend Law School. I no longer had my mom to cook with me or to cook for me when I was pressed for time. I lived in an apartment steps away from campus and really wanted nothing to do with cafeteria food. I had a small kitchen in my apartment and I was determined to keep up with my home cooked healthy meals. Here’s what I hadn’t accounted for: the immense lack of time! Between studying for school and training for triathlons AND fitness competitions, there was barely any time left to cook healthy meals, let alone be creative and inventive in the kitchen. But being able to cook my own meals was important to me so I focused the little time I had on meals that could be easily put together, would make great lunches, wouldn’t put too much of a dent in my pocket book and packed a serious nutrition punch to help me keep up with my crazy schedule. And that is when I made amends with soup.

I realized soup didn’t have to be a diet food. It could be loaded with protein like beans or tempeh, pack a whole day’s worth of vegetable and give me the energy I needed with some added grains. I discovered that soup was also very versatile. I could get creative and feel like a chef again by mixing different spices, vegetables and grains. It also really helped towards the end of the week, when I had no time to shop for food and my fridge looked miserable with only a few leftover pieces of vegetables. Soup became my food companion throughout University.

This recipe is an homage to my University days. The soup is filled with a bunch of leftover vegetables, some split peas for protein and some barley for carbs. If you want to make this soup gluten-free, you could definitely swap the barley for some basmati brown rice or some millet. This soup makes a hearty meal so I simply served it to my family with some rustic french bread for dipping. So delicious!

I hope you guys enjoy this soup and let me know in the comments what you served it with.

xx

Leftover vegetable soup
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 8 portions
This soup is loaded with good-for-you vegetables. If you don’t have these vegetables on hand, don’t worry, swap the carrots for some beets and the leek for some celery or whatever else you have on hand. Simply make sure you add vegetables to hold well during longer cooking time.
Ingredients
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 1 leek, thinly sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 4 carrots, diced
  • 2 Cups cabbage, diced
  • 1 Cup turnip, shredded
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp coriander seeds
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp paprika (if you like a little heat, add hot paprika)
  • 1 Cup pearl barley
  • 1 Cup split peas
  • 10 Cups of vegetable broth
  • 1 27oz can of diced tomatoes
  • 1 Tbs lemon juice
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Dice, slice, mince and shred your vegetables
  2. In a large pot, add the olive oil and turn the heat to medium-high.
  3. Add the onions, garlic and leek. Cook for 2 minutes.
  4. Reduce the heat to medium and add all your spices.
  5. Coat the onion mixture with the spices (except bay leaf) and cook for another 3 minutes. Stir frequently so the spices don’t burn.
  6. Add the barley and split peas and stir to coat.
  7. Add the vegetable stock, the can of diced tomatoes and the bay leaf. Stir.
  8. Cover the pot and increase to hight heat. Bring to a boil and reduce heat back to medium-high.
  9. Simmer for 15 minutes then add the remaining vegetables.
  10. Bring to a boil again and simmer for an additional 20 minutes.
  11. Turn off the heat, season with salt and pepper to taste and add the lemon juice.
  12. Enjoy

 

 

 

 

Quick & Easy hearty pumpkin soup

 

 

Hello beautiful people,

I’m just gonna come out and say it: I love Fall! I love everything about Fall. From the crisp cool air in the morning, the colourful leafs, the soft and warm sweaters… I love it all. But what I especially love, is the food. Fall recipes tend to be heartier, filled with root vegetables that are cooked slowly to release their best flavour and fruits that taste like the last few rays of sunshine and cool breeze. I’m getting romantic on you guys here! But honestly, there is nothing I love more then sitting down at the dinner table to a warm bowl of stewed vegetables blended with different spices and finish off with a luxurious apple crumble topped with coconut ice cream. Now you tell me, doesn’t that sound divinely good?

I find root vegetable and Fall fruits also lend themselves so perfectly well to different herbs spices. Herbs and spices for me, are the essence of cooking. They are actually the heart and soul of my cooking. When people see a fruit or a vegetable they like, they usually think of the dish they’ll prepare with it. Like apples for example. When seeing an apple, you’ll think, apple pie, sautéed apples and arugula salad or bean stew with apples. I will think cinnamon and nutmeg that would go well in an apple pie, rosemary and thyme that would compliment the warm apples and arugula, sage and caraway seeds to elevate a bean stew with apples. I see the produce and I let my love of herbs and spices dictate what recipe I’m going to create.

Herbs and spices are also nutrition power houses.They contain an amazing amount of phytonutrients that our bodies need to thrive. Phytonutrients  are compounds found in plants that protect the plant from environmental threats and keep it healthy. When you eat plants, including herbs and spices, those phytonutrients fight to keep you healthy. Although not essential to your health, many believe herbs and spices, due to their phytonutrient density, can cure many diseases that still plague our country today.  In many cultures, herbs and spices are still used to this day as medicine to cure ailments ranging from headaches and soar throats to labor pain and inflammatory diseases. If science is your thing and you wanna read more about the power of herbs and spices, you can start by the following articles here and here.

Why am I telling you all this? Because if you follow my blog, you’ll notice that I use a lot of spices, many of which have incredible benefits to your health, including the ones in this soup. Especially the ones in this soup as 3 of them are in the top 10 healthiest and most beneficial herbs and spices. And those 3 are turmeric, fenugreek seeds and ginger. Here is a little explanation as to why each of these spices are beneficial for you:

Turmeric: according to Joe Leech, MS, over at Healthline, turmeric contains curcumin which is a remarkably  powerful antioxidant, that helps to fight oxidative damage and boosts the body’s own antioxidant enzymes. Curcumin is also strongly anti-inflammatory, to the point where it matches the effectiveness of some anti-inflammatory drugs.

Fenugreek: according to Dr. Axe, fenugreek can help with numerous digestive problems and cholesterol levels. It can also improve you athletic performance, increase milk flow in breastfeeding moms, increase libido in men, combat diabetes and reduce inflammation in the body due to fenugreek’s antimicrobial, antioxidant, antidiabetic and antitumorigenic properties.

Ginger: according to the people over at The World’s Healthiest Foods, ginger has a long tradition of being very effective in alleviating symptoms of gastrointestinal distress. Modern scientific research has revealed that ginger possesses numerous therapeutic properties including antioxidant effects, an ability to inhibit the formation of inflammatory compounds, and direct anti-inflammatory effects.

So not only is this soup very healthy for you, it’s also super quick and easy to put together. I created this with the busy moms and dads in mind. Those who, just like my husband and I, work hard all day but still want to feed their family nutritious and delicious foods. This soup is hearty enough on it’s own to make a meal but is so good when served with some warm bread to dunk it in.

I hope you enjoy this soup and let me know what you served it with!

xx

Quick & Easy hearty pumpkin soup
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4-6 portions
This soup makes for a hearty dinner of 4 portions or 6 smaller portions. You can serve it with some wholegrain bread and a dollop of vegan sour cream. You can also jazz it up a bit with some chopped cilantro or green onions as garnish. I made this soup with organic canned ingredients as I wanted to make it a quick and easy recipe that would take no time at all to put together. However, if you do have the time, you can totally soak and cook the small red kidney beans instead of the canned variety and use freshly cooked and puréed pumpkin. For the coconut milk, use the one in a can, not in a milk carton.
Ingredients
  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • 1 large red bell pepper, largely diced
  • 1 tsp palm oil
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp ginger
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg, (freshly ground if possible)
  • 2 Cups pumpkin puree
  • 2 Cups coconut milk (if you want a rich creamy taste, use full fat. If you want less calories, use lite)
  • 1 1/2 Cup small red kidney beans, canned
  • 1 Cup vegetable broth (you can use 1 cup of water with 1 cube of vegetable broth)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. In a pan, on medium high heat, melt the palm oil.
  2. Add the onions and red bell peppers. Cook for 3 mins or until translucent.
  3. Add all the spices and coat the onion mixture. Cook for another 2 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent the spices from burning.
  4. Remove the pan from heat.
  5. In a blender or food processor, add all the ingredients.
  6. Blend until the soup has a creamy texture. Our family likes texture in soups so I blend it for 3 minutes and thats enough for us.
  7. Return the soup to a pot to warm up.
  8. Enjoy!

 

Lentil spinach pasta sauce

 

Good morning beautiful people,

What a week this has been so far. I won’t lie, I’m happy we are Thursday morning and there is only one day left before the weekend. This week has been quite the roller coaster ride. I’m still figuring out the “blogging” thing, while trying to be more active on social media to get my blog more traffic and exposure, while creating awesome recipes (some of epic failure! loll) for you guys to enjoy. All that, while working my regular job, getting my workouts and yoga practice in, being a mom to a 13 month baby and a wife. Need I say that my plate is full! Lol

But I find comfort in the fact that I am not alone in this. So many other parents out there work there tails off to provide for their family while still creating a life for themselves they are proud of. And it’s with you in mind that I create my recipes. They are family friendly, easy, nutritious and naughty enough for you to enjoy without feeling guilty. They will even satisfy picky eaters!

For those of you that follow me on Instagram, you know that this week has been all about people that have inspired me along my journey. Be it as a mom, a food blogger, a recipe creator, a fitness enthusiast or a vegan. All the people I mention in my posts this week are inspirational in what they share with the world. Tonight’s dinner is a salute to those in the fitness/bodybuilding community that live a vegan and plant based lifestyle.

If you read the About me page, you know I’ve been involved in the fitness/bodybuilding community for a long time. Unfortunately, one of the most prevalent misconception in that industry is that you need to eat very animal heavy meals and supplements, 5-6 times a day, to keep your metabolism at high speed and your physique lean, hard and muscular. These vegan athletes put themselves out there and show the world you can look smokin hot on beans, broccoli and brown rice! For those of you still skeptical about being an athlete and maintaining that hard earned physique on a plant based diet, there are plenty of science based articles written about the benefits of a plant based diet as an athlete. Matt Frazier over at No Meat Athlete runs an amazing blog for endurance athlete. Torre Washington, Jordan David and Crissi Carvalho are all vegan physique athletes that can show you the ropes of building an amazing body on plant foods.

(BTW, none of these links are affiliated. These are all people I simply admire, that have the necessary knowledge on how to structure a proper vegan diet and have the physiques to prove it.)

For me personally, as a former competitive athlete and one that still keeps very fit and active, adopting a plant based lifestyle has brought amazing benefits. Amongst all the benefits, recovery time has to be the one with the biggest impact and the greatest benefits. I recover a lot faster from heavy workouts and my body feels a lot less heavy so I’m able to move more freely and with greater ease during my yoga practice. And because my food is so nutrition dense and easily absorbed by my body, my sleep is so much better, which boils back down to my recovery being so much better. And by my recovery being so much better, I’m able to push harder in my workouts and my practice. And by pushing harder, I get greater results. And by getting greater results… well you know where this all circles back to.

And so for all my plant based and wanna-be plant based followers that make fitness an integral part of their lives and want to make sure their bodies get all the nutrients it needs, I created this protein packed pasta sauce. You can enjoy it over spaghetti like we did for dinner or over any other type of coarse grain you like or over vegetable noodles like zucchinis, for a gluten-free meal. It’s a pretty thick sauce so if you like your sauces a little thinner, just add more passata (italien tomato sauce). You can also substitute the spinach for kale or other leafy green vegetable you happen to have on hand. You can also swab lentils for other high protein beans like white kidney beans or edamame beans if you eat soy.

I hope you and your family enjoy this recipe. Let me know how you’ve eaten the sauce!

xx

Lentil spinach pasta sauce
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4 portions
This lentil pasta sauce is hearty and super nutritious. It packs a great protein punch that will help your body recover from those hard workouts.
Ingredients
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tsp. palm oil
  • 2 Cups frozen spinach (if using fresh, use 4 cups)
  • 2 Cups passata (Italian tomato sauce)
  • 1 cup lentils, cooked
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp dired rosemary
  • 1/4 dried nutmeg
  • 1 tsp chili flakes (optional – we like heat in our family but adjust according to taste or omit)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Fresh basil leaves for garnish
Instructions
  1. On medium high heat, melt the palm oil in a pan.
  2. Add the onions and garlic. Stir and cook until translucent, about 3 minutes.
  3. Add the spices and coat the onion and garlic mixture. Cook for about 2 minutes. Stir frequently so the spices don’t burn.
  4. Add the frozen spinach and coat with the spicy mixture. Reduce the heat to medium and cover the pan. Cook for 3 minutes. Stir. The spinach should have wilted down. If not, add a little water. Do not cover the pan again. Simply stir until the spinach is wilted down and the water has evaporated.
  5. Set aside.
  6. If using canned lentils, rinse them.
  7. In a blender or food processor, add the lentils, spinach mixture and passata. Blend or process until you get a creamy textured sauce.
  8. Serve warm over pasta or zucchini noodles.

 

Protein Packed Pumpkin Spiced Nice Cream

 

Hello beautiful people,

I can’t believe we’re Friday already. The week has just flown, right by me. Part of me is excited, read relieved, that the weekend is just around the corner, mainly because the 3 hours a day commute to work has taken a toll on me this week (read my previous post here). Part of me wishes there were less items left on my “weekday” to-do list. Because yes, there is a “weekday” to-do list and a “weekend” to-do list. The difference between the two resides mostly in what I can get accomplished when my son is with me, i.e. groceries and what I can’t get accomplished with him, i.e. getting a good workout in at the gym.

Admittedly, these days, most of my workouts are done at home, as is my yoga practice. Although I try to get to the gym at least once a week so I can happily lift heavy things and make it to an Ashtanga yoga class, it’s not always possible. So home workouts have been my saving grace. I don’t have really heavy weights to lift at home, but lucky me has a very handy husband who crafted me a beautiful wooden plyobox, inspired by Rogue crossfit gear.

My home workouts are geared more towards full body weight workouts that can be done within 30 mins but still get my heart pumping and my muscles sore. I also put a lot of emphasis on my core, as it is still weak from pregnancy and it helps with my challenging Ashtanga practice. With early morning workouts and a demanding work schedule, it’s no surprise that my body needs all the nutrients it can get. And as I explained on my About me page, I always need to make sure I have enough protein in my diet. It’s what keeps me energized, satisfied and functioning well.

So with that in mind, I’ve created a protein packed nice cream. For those of you who don’t know what nice cream is, it’s actually a frothy, creamy, dreamy concoction made of frozen bananas and whatever else you fancy, that tastes just like ice cream but is the nicer version as it contains no animal products. I love nice cream and since it’s healthy and good for you, why not have it for breakfast! But I needed to find a way to incorporate protein in it to feed my muscles after my workouts. So after a few attempts, I’ve found the perfect secret ingredient: butter beans! Butter beans or lima beans, are packed with protein (8 grams of protein per 100 grams), have a nice smooth texture and a very subtle taste that can’t be distinguished when blended with frozen bananas. Winner!

I hope you guys enjoy this recipe and that it keeps your muscles fuelled up! Let me know if you want me to share some of my workouts with you.

 

xx

Protein Packed Pumpkin Spiced Nice Cream
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 1 portion
This nice cream is really easy to make, is packed with protein and has a nice subtle pumpkin spice flavour. To make sure I always have frozen bananas on hand, I stock up when they go on sale, slice a bunch of them up and individually freeze the slices on a pan in the freezer before transferring them to a closed lid freezer safe container. Also, if pumpkin spice isn’t your thing, don’t be shy to experiment with other spices like ginger or just add some vanilla extract.
Ingredients
  • 2 cups frozen banana, sliced
  • 1 14 oz can butter beans
  • 1/2 cup mylk (my new obsession is Ripples unsweetened pea mylk)
  • 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice mix
  • 2 drops liquid Stevia (optional – if you like your nice cream really sweet)
Instructions
  1. Rinse the canned beans.
  2. Put all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until you reach a smooth, creamy texture. And voilà!