Dani Spies’s High Protein Pumpkin Pancakes

Welcome back to Healthy curves.

Just a quick post to share with you my favorite fall breakfast recipe:

Dani Spies’s High Protein Pumpkin Pancakes from http://cleananddelicious.com/

They are sooo easy to make and so good for you. It's not your regular pancake batter recipe. The main ingredients are Rolled oats, egg whites and cottage cheese! I was surprise of the results...and instantly hooked!

I love Dani Spies’s blog and the videos on her YouTube channel are well made and very instructive! Just follow the link: http://cleananddelicious.com/2012/10/24/video-high-protein-pumpkin-pancakes-clean-delicious%c2%ae/

Subscribe to her YouTube channel  because she has many CLEAN AND DELICIOUS RECIPES.

I also tried her kale chips and her Popcorn broccoli recipe and I LOVED them.

I actually have to go make these NOW (lol). You can make them in advance keep them in the fridge or freezer. The recipe yields 2 servings of 6 pts each. I skip the maple syrup in the recipe and added a bit more pumpkin spice*.  

See you soon!

* Pumpkin spice was not easy to find in Montreal (LOL). I found mine at Walmart (after 3 supermarkets) or you can make your own!

Sweet Potato Muffins

Sweet Potato Muffins

Disclaimer: This recipe has been Weight Watcherized (3pts)!

Inspired from http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/healthy-recipes/recipe/sweet-potato-muffins

Makes 24 small muffins

1½ cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 cups sugar

1¼ cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes or yams (canned or fresh)

½ cup butter (1 stick), softened

2 eggs

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

½ cup raisins

¼ cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously grease the muffin tins (for 24 muffins), and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, nutmeg, salt, and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and mix well. In a large bowl, combine 3/4 cups of sugar, the sweet potatoes, and butter, and beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the eggs and mix well. Alternately add small amounts of the flour mixture and the milk to the sweet potato mixture, stirring just to blend after each addition. Do not overmix. Fold in the raisins and pecans. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin cups.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

ENJOY!

WW's Garden Vegetable Soup (0 pts)

Another great soup for fall is the Weight watcher 0 points garden vegetable soup. It’s only vegetables. There are many variation on that soup (Mexican, Asian, Italian (just Google itJ)) I also serve it with multigrain bread with a little butter (the meal is still very low it PTS).

Garden Vegetable Soup Recipe By : Weight Watchers 4 servings 2/3 cup sliced carrots 1/2 cup diced onion 2 cloves garlic -- minced 3 cups fat free chicken broth -- or other 1 1/2 cups cabbage -- diced 1/2 cup green beans 1 tablespoon tomato paste 1/2 teaspoon dried basil 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup zucchini – diced Season to taste (red pepper flakes, thyme...) 1. In large saucepan, sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, sauté carrot, onion and garlic over low heat until softened, about 5 minutes. 2. Add broth, cabbage, beans, tomato paste, basil, oregano and salt; bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer, covered, about 15 minutes or until beans are tender. 3. Stir in zucchini and heat 3-4 minutes. Serve hot.

In the upcoming posts I will do several reviews on different products I tried like Gardein (a meatless food line), Vega energizing smoothie, different plant milks (soy, almond, hemp, coconut, rice…)

Easy Kale bean and tomato soup

Here is my Favorite KALE recipe it’s 4 pts and I serve it with a good multigrain bread. I do add meat on occasion like lean chicken breast or tuna.

Easy Kale bean and tomato soup

1 tbsp. (15 ml) extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, diced

1 carrot, scrubbed and diced

2 cloves garlic minced (or to taste)

1 tbsp. chopped fresh sage or 1 tsp. dried

1 – 28 oz. (796 ml)can of diced plum tomatoes

4 cups (1L) of fat free /no sodium chicken broth

2 cups (500 ml) of chopped kale (black kale is my favorite)

1 – 19 oz. (540ml) can of white kidney beans or red drained

salt and pepper (or red pepper flakes) to taste


Directions:

1. In a stock pot, heat the oil over medium heat.

2. Add the onion and cook until soft. Add the carrot, garlic and sage and cook a further minute.

3. Stir in the tomatoes and broth. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the kale and cook until tender.

4. Add the beans. Bring back to a simmer.

5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

inspired from :Easy Italian tomato and kale soup

This summer (part 2)

Here is a look about what I did this summer to loose almost 30 pounds!

 

I had to cut down my alcohol intake because it’s a natural enemy to weight loss.

It’s only empty calories and I would rather spend my Weight watchers budget on something else. So I would only have drinks occasionally or it if I went out with friends. I tried different Mocktails (alcohol free beverages). Like this Watermelon fauxito:

 

Watermelon Faux-ito

• 1 cup watermelon
• 3 leaves of mint (or basil if you dare!)plus more for garnish
• Lime sparkling water (no sodium added)
• lime slices(optional)
• ice

*put the mint leaved at the bottom of you glass and crush them

*Cut your watermelon in small cubes and fill up your glass

*Top with the sparkling water

*Garnish each with a slice of lime and a sprig of mint

This was so helpful during those hot summer months!

 

 A votre santé!

This summer (part 1)

 

I would like to show you what I ate this summer to help me lose almost 30 pounds!

I joined Weight Watchers (WW) on June 13, 2012 and based on their calculations (height, weight and age) I was allowed 46 pts a day! The first couple of weeks were a disaster as I went over my points daily, while making choice I though were HEALTHY!

 

Let’s do some math

 

I had to re-think the way I was eating and started working out. I gradually cut all fruit juices OUT! The points (or calories) I was drinking made me go over my WW points everyday. Think about this: 1 cup (250 ml) of orange juice = 3 pts. AND do you really only drink 250 ml at a time! I could drink 3 X 500 ml (I would fill my glass!) of juice per day! So that’s 18 pts per day. And that would leave me with 28 pts to eat!

 

SMOOTHIE OBSESION

 

I also realised that if you are cutting a food OUT, you have to find a healthy (or healthier) alternative. This is when my SMOOTHIE OBSESION started. With WW the fruits and vegetable have a 0 points plus Value. I started experimenting and soon the smooties replaced all the juice I would drink. I made it extra thick to mimic ice cream (or sorbet or frozen yogurt) during the hot summer months. I experimented with hemp milk, soy milk, almond milk, fat free yogurt, added vegetables, or spices. Often I would make a full blender of smoothie worth 3-5 pts plus on WW!

 

Here is my fave smothie recipe:

 

Mango Ginger Smoothie

 

• 1 1/2 cups diced fresh Mangoes
• ½ frozen banana
• 1/2 cup Plain fat free yogurt
• 1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger (or to taste)
• 1/2 cup ice
• 1/2 cup water or  unsweetened almond milk

 

Well that it, for me… Try to make a food SWAP toward a healthier option! And let me know about it!