Caramel Birthday Cake Pancakes

Its my birthday & ill eat pancakes if i want to!!! :D I have a slight obsession with pancakes, I try different things each time because I want to come up with the best possible recipe. Each time I think oh man this is it and then then next time I make pancakes they're even better! These were my favorite so far. They were the perfect texture, amount of fluffyness and had the best flavor (i ate way to much of the batter....). They poured perfectly and could be combined with pretty much any topping. On mine I decided to go with bananas, fresh almond butter and caramel sauce. I also put blueberries in each pancake as they cooked! Seriously PERFECT.......

Caramel Birthday Cake Pancakes:

(makes about 7 small pancakes)

• 1/2 cup of liquid egg whites
• 1 egg white
• 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• coconut extract (depends on how much you want)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 full droplet of vanilla sweet cream Stevia 
• 1/2 cup oat flour (oats blended up)
• 1 tbs. coconut flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 banana 
• 1-2 tbs water (only if its to thick)

Directions:

1. Blend all ingredients together
2. Cook on a pan sprayed with cooking spray
3. Put 3-4 blueberries in each pancake as they cook
4. When they start to bubble flip 

Toppings:

1. The remaining banana
2. Fresh almond butter
3. Caramel sauce (Walden Farms no cal caramel sauce mixed with water & microwaved)

Bananas Foster Bread

If you don't already know I'm kind of obsessed with bananas. I LOVE them!! I kept seeing people post pictures of banana bread on Instagram and kept telling myself that I was going to make some.......and then I thought no, I'm gonna make bananas foster bread (clean of course)!!! :D NOM. So I went at it. The bread came out kind of dense, very moist and quite delicious. I think next time ill switch up the recipe up a little but let me tell you it was DELICIOUS! 

Bananas Foster Bread:

• 3 egg whites
• 1 tbs egg substitute mixed with water (or one egg)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 2 very ripe bananas
• 1 tbs. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. caramel extract
• a couple drops of liquid Stevia
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 1 tbs. baking powder
• 2 tbs. chopped walnuts (topping)
• 1 tbs. Walden Farms no cal. caramel syrup (topping)
• 1/4 banana, sliced (topping)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Mix wet ingredients and banana with a hand mixer
3. Incorporate with the dry ingredients (if the batter is to thick thin it out with some water)
4. Pour into a bread dish sprayed with cooking spray
5. Place the walnuts and banana sliced on top. Drizzle the caramel syrup over them
6. Bake for 50-60 min, or until done

It taste almost like a cake! So yummy :)

Enjoy

Sweet Potato Bread With Walnut Crumble

This bread is absolutely AMAZING! :)))) I've been wanting to make a good bread for a while now and thought hum "what if i used the recipe for my pancakes to make a bread?" Soooo that's what I did......I added a few more things but its pretty much the same thing. When you have a good recipe, well you've got a good recipe ;)

Now let me tell you about how I cooked it! My oven works sometimes and sometimes it decides to suck and now work.....this was one of those times -_- I mixed everything, had the oven preheated and then it shut off. So I was like well shit this sucks.........and then BAM ideaaaaaaaaa! I'm gonna cook it on the BBQ. I turned my BBQ down really low, covered the bread pan (its made of glass) with foil, placed it on the front part of the grill, closed it and let it cook. I don't know exactly how long it took, I just poked it and took it out when it was done. I wasn't to sure how it was gonna turn out but man let me tell you, its so DELICIOUS and MOIST! Definitely might be making more things on the BBQ. lol

Sweet Potato Bread With Walnut Crumble:

• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup liquid egg whites
• 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• a couple drops of liquid Stevia (I used toffee flavor)
• cinnamon
• 1 cup oat flour (oats blended up)
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• about 150 g. cooked, cooked and peeled sweet potato (I didn't peel mine because I don't mind the skin)
• a handful of walnuts, chopped (topping)

Directions:

1. Using a hand mixer mix the egg whites including from the egg (reserve the yolk) until they become frothy
2. Add the rest of the liquid ingredients, incluting yolk
3. Add dry ingredients and sweet potato
4. Pour into a sprayed bread dish and top with chopped walnuts and more cinnamon
5. Bake at 350-375 until done (like I said I didn't do it in the oven soooo this is just a guesstimate)

ENJOY

Fodmap diet

Living life being bloated

I'm not exactly sure when this started to happen but its been quite sometime now. Back in 2010 I was very heavy, I wont get to much into it but I started to loose weight rapidly by extreme dieting. I was in the gym non stop, taking tons of supplements, limiting my body from the nutrition it needed and then I would binge ....basically I was running myself into the ground by trying to be "skinny". I've tried every diet out there, you name it I've done it. Nothing EVER seemed to work until I started to eat clean and really take nutrition seriously. As time went on however I began to feel really bloated and sick after eating CLEAN FOODS. I thought maybe it was normal because I was eating 6 meals a day....or maybe everyone got a little bloated. The pains and feeling sick NEVER went away, it only got worse. The bloating continued to progress until the point where I would look 9 months pregnant. I was mortified! How could I be doing everything right and be so bloated?!!?

9 months pregnant? Nope just bloated -_-

I was determined to fix this problem so I began experimenting by eliminating different foods from my diet. At the beginning of 2012 I decided to go vegan. I gave up all animal products and began to feel better each day. I finally thought I found a solution until it started to happen again :/ So after 4 months of depriving myself I said screw it I'm gonna quit being vegan, why continue if I was still feeling sick? After that things only seemed to get worse though. I'm not sure if my body became intolerant to dairy but every time I tried to eat yogurt or anything with a good amount of dairy I was beyond sick. Not only was I extremely bloated but I would have the worst pains! I had to give it up and switch to non dairy products. 

You would think things would get better after that right? Wrong! Still bloated....now almost every night. I was sick during the day which made me very irritable. I ALWAYS felt like shit, it got to the point where it was hard for me to go places or be out for long periods of time. I didn't know what to do, I was doing everything right and yet I was feeling so bad. I felt like my body wasn't where it should be. The hours and effort I put in the gym and my clean eating I should have a twelve pack!!! I went to the doctor and was told that I needed more fiber. So I did that....nope made me worse. Then I thought "okay ill try a probiotic or enzyme." NOPE made me extremely bloated! I tried not eating gluten, weighing out my food, sticking to small meals, eating only certain foods at certain times........still no luck.

I decided that in 2013 I wanted to compete and that I was going to get in amazing shape. I figured out my macros   (calories, fat, protein & carbs) for each day and I stuck to it. I weighed all my food and began to carb cycle. With this I actually found the most success....but I would still get bloated or feel sick on occasion  So after carb cycling for 2 months I began to incorporate more carbs into my diet........this was a big mistake. I was more sick then I've ever been. Now I'm NOT saying its from the carbs, its from not giving my body the proper nutrition every day. I had to find a solution now, I couldn't take it anymore! So I reached out on Instagram and talked to some amazing people who suggested the Fodmap diet. I don't like to even call it a diet because its not something to do to loose weight, its for people that are suffering with the sickness of bloat. 

My Progress with Fodmap

Its been almost 1 week since I've been sticking to the approved foods and I cant even explain how good I feel! In this diet you must give up dairy, gluten, caffeine, whey, casein, chewing gum and a lot of fruits & veggies that I really love! Now its not saying that all of these foods are whats causing the problems....maybe its not food at all. But these are the foods that most commonly cause bloat and upset stomachs. Personally I don't think I have a problem with gluten but I'm sticking to this diet for the whole month of February and after that ill slowly add foods one by one back into my diet to see what I can and cant handle. So far its been working great for me! I've also decided to give up whole eggs because I was told that they also might cause sickness.

Everyone is different so I'm not sure if this will work for you but so far this is what ive been doing....... 

Steps I've been taking with Fodmap:

1. Drink a glass of warm water, 1 tbs. apple cider vinigar & lemon each morning upon awaking (before you eat anything).
2. Drink warm water with lemon, mint or ginger (i like combining all 3) throughout the day. Cold water is hard on your digestive system.
3. Not drinking to much water, you CAN over drink. 
4. Eating 6 portioned small meals a day.
5. Adding carbs to every meal.
6. Eating a variety of colors and nutritional items. Feed your body what it needs!
7. Not weighing anything. If you need to still measure your food to keep portions do that!
8. Not eating to close to bed. 
9. Reading all labels, not eating anything with added ingredients (like peanut butter) make sure your foods are NATURAL & clean.
10. Keeping protein and moderate amount (I was consuming over 200 g. a day)
11. No whey or casein....(This has been extremely hard, I need to find a non-dairy protein)
12. Adding fruit to my breakfast, usually banana, strawberries or other berries. Some people have fruit intolerance as well so you might not be able to do this (Fodmap says certain fruits are okay)
13. NO SUPPLEMENTS

I'm still learning and hopefully I continue to feel good and not bloated! If you want to know more you can Google it or ask any questions.....like I said I'm still very unsure of what my problem is so I'm no expert. Just trying to help those of you that are experiencing this same problem and are as lost as I was. I still plan on seeing a gastrologist and suggest that you see a doctor as well!

At night                                In the morning  

Sample basic meal plan of what I EAT:

• Pre-workout meal: 1 brown rice cake, fresh almond butter, a slice of microwaved banana
• Breakfast: 1/2 cup oats, fruit, 3/4 cup egg whites
• Meal 3: 4 oz chicken, bell pepper & zucchini, sweet potato (100g)
• Meal 4: 2.5 oz tuna, green beans, 1/2 cup rice
• Meal 5: 4-5 oz chicken, bok choy, carb (sometimes)
• Meal 6: microwave cake (includes egg whites, NO whey and all clean ingredients)

This is NOT what I eat everyday this is just a basic meal plan of what I would have for one day. And like I said I'm not weighing my food but I gave you the measurements so you can keep your portions and dont go overboard. 

Good luck! :)

 

After 5 days!

"The FODMAP theory holds that consuming foods high in FODMAPs results in increased volume of liquid and gas in the small and large intestine, resulting in distention and symptoms such abdominal pain and gas and bloating. The theory proposes that following a low FODMAP diet should result in a decrease in digestive symptoms.  In other words, eating foods with varying FODMAP values at the same time will add up, resulting in symptoms that you might not experience if you ate the food in isolation. This might explain the mixed results of studies that have evaluated the effects of fructose and lactose, two types of carbohydrates, on IBS.  As with any new treatment or dietary approach, it is always best to discuss the issue with your own personal physician." http://ibs.about.com/od/ibsfood/a/The-FODMAP-Diet.htm

Sweet Potato Pancakes

It's NATIONAL PANCAKE DAY! So to honor that I give you this delicious stack :) 

By far the BEST pancakes I've ever made! They were moist, fluffy, sweet, delicious........AMAZING! I put a layer of peanut fluff in between each one, and banana slices in between every two. Surrounded them with strawberries and covered them with WF no cal syrup, coconut flakes & cinnamon. It was the perfect balance of flavors!

So damn good!

Sweet Potato Pancakes:

• about 50g. cooked & cooled sweet potato
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• cinnamon 
• 3/4 cup egg whites
• 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
• a couple drops of sweet vanilla liquid Stevia

Toppings:

• peanut flour mixed with water
• 1/4 banana
• 3 strawberries
• 1 tbs. unsweetened coconut flakes
• cinnamon
• WF no calorie pancake syrup

Directions:

1. Blend everything together (i used my magic bullet)
2. Cook on a hot pan with cooking spray
3. Layer each pancake with peanut fluff (peanut flour mixed with water)
4. Layer every other pancake with sliced banana
5. Cover with strawberries, coconut, cinnamon & syrup
6. DEVOUR 

#6 is extremely important!!! ;)

ENJOY

English muffin/Biscuit microwave bread

Do you like English muffins? What about biscuits? I know that I happen to LOVE both, unfortunately neither of those are clean :( That makes it really hard to enjoy breakfast sandwiches.....unless you can come up with a healthy alternative? Oh wait, I did that! :) I wasn't really expecting it to turn out so good because I kinda just threw some stuff together, but it was AMAZING! I like bread A LOT and I never seem to enjoy sandwiches or anything that includes bread because of my diet. Soooooo I've been experimenting with microwave breads (sweet & savory). Turns out you can make bread out of a lot of things........and it can be pretty delicious too! Anyways Ill stop talking and give you the recipe :)

I cut it in half and cooked it in the pan to get a little toasty....

Filled it with non-dairy cheese, turkey bacon, and egg whites.....

Topped it off with the other half and BAM its a sandwich....

Yummmmm <3

English muffin/Biscuit microwave bread:

• 2 tbs. oat flour (oats blended up)
• 2 tbs. coconut flour
• 2 tbs. almond flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 6 tbs. egg whites
• 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 3 tbs water

Directions:

1. Mix everything together until a creamy batter forms
2. Put into a rectangle tupperware container & microwave for 5-6 min (should be firm)
3. Take out and let cool off a bit before cutting (i cut the rectangle in half and then cut those down the center)
4. Toast on each side for a few seconds to make a little crispy
5. Enjoy!