Strawberry cupcakes with fresh strawberries

Strawberry cupcakes are my weakness.  There is one of those fancy cupcake stores near my house that sells the most delicious strawberry cupcakes for only $3.99 each!!  Yikes.  I only treat myself occasionally since they are also full of sugar and fat.  I have really been craving one this week so I decided to make my own.

Here are the unfrosted cupcakes straight out of the oven. Nice pink color with no fake dyes!!

Strawberry Cupcakes
12 oz fresh strawberries or can use frozen unsweetened
1-2 tsp sugar

Cut the fresh strawberries into small pieces and sprinkle with sugar.  Let sit about one hour. Then puree in your blender. Makes about 1.5 cups of puree.

2 1/4 cups cake flour (lighter than regular flour but you can use regular all-purpose)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup splenda or stevia substitute ( you will need less stevia maybe 1/2 cup)
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
6 TBSP butter at room temperature
1/4 cup Greek yogurt

3/4 cup strawberry puree
1/4 cup almond milk or regular milk
6 egg whites
2 tsp. vanilla

In a mixer, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, splenda and salt.  Add butter and Greek yogurt and mix until the mixture is course and crumbly.  In a separate bowl, mix puree, vanilla, milk, and egg whites.  Add the liquid to the dry mix and blend about 2 minutes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Makes 20 cupcakes.

Each cupcake contains 123 calories, 3.3g fat, 20g carbs and 2.8g protein.

I used vanilla protein powder, Greek yogurt and more strawberry puree to make a healthy frosting!! Delish!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Coconut Protein Granola Bars

Yes, a little bit of everything delicious!!  I used my regular granola bar recipe but was really craving chocolate and coconut.  I decided to modify the recipe and it turned out great!!

I ate another bar while I was getting everything ready for this post!! Hehe.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Coconut Protein Granola Bars
1 ripe banana, mashed (if you want to leave out the banana just used 4 more ounces of applesauce)
4 oz. unsweetened applesauce
3 TBSP honey
1 TBSP dark chocolate peanut butter (I use Peanut Butter & Co. If you don't have this, just add 1 tsp cocoa powder to regular PB.)
6 scoops vanilla protein powder
2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup shredded coconut (I only had sweetened and really wanted the coconut, so I used it!)

Start by mashing the banana well.  Add the applesauce, honey and peanut butter and blend well. Add the protein powder and oats.  You can use more oats and less protein powder as you like or just use 4 cups of oats.  I wanted the added protein in mine.  The mixture will be sticky and a bit tough to mix but it will work.  If yours is too dry, add a little bit of water until it can be mixed well.  Then add chocolate chips and coconut and mix well.  You could also substitute nuts or dried fruit.  Whatever you like.  This was just what I was craving yesterday!! 

Press the mixture into a lightly greased 13x9 cake pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Makes 15 granola bars. Each has 144 calories, 3.4g fat, 18.3g carbs and 12.3g protein.  Delish!!

Blueberry Protein Oatmeal

I love oatmeal for breakfast!!  Sometimes I like to change things up when I get tired of the same old bowl of oatmeal.  This recipe can be changed up if you'd prefer to add other berries or nuts.  Sometimes I add mini chocolate chips and peanut butter to make it more of a dessert!!

Blueberry Protein Oatmeal
1/2 ripe banana mashed or 4 oz. unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup oats
2 egg whites
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
1/8 cup almond milk

Mix all of the ingredients together in a large mug or ramekin.  Fold in blueberries, nuts or chocolate chips.  The above picture has 1/4 cup fresh blueberries but I wanted more so maybe add 1/3 to 1/2 cup blueberries.  Microwave for 1.5 to 2 minutes until just set in the middle.

Serving without add-ins- 300 calories, 3.3g fat, 39g carbs and 29g protein.

My blueberries added 15 calories, 0.5g fat, 6g carbs and 0.5g protein.

Homemade spaghetti sauce

Here is my homemade spaghetti sauce served over steamed kale with 2 of my turkey muffins.  Great meal!!  I love this sauce because it is easy, full of veggies and just plain delicious.

Homemade spaghetti sauce
2 TBSP Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 each chopped onion and bell pepper
about 4 carrots chopped
large can of crushed tomatoes about 28 oz, or 5-7 large tomatoes boiled, peeled and crushed
garlic powder
oregano, basil, thyme

Start with the oil in a large pan.  Saute the carrots about 3-5 minutes then add the bell pepper and onion.  Saute until soft.  Add the tomatoes.  If you are using fresh tomatoes you may need to add a bit of water to have a thinner consistency.  Add the seasoning of your choice.  I used 1 TBSP garlic powder and about 1/2 TBSP each of oregano, basil and thyme.  You could also use crushed red pepper flakes if you like a spicy sauce.  Simmer on low for 30-45 minutes until desired consistency.

This sauce stores really well and I just love the fresh taste!!  So easy too.  You can also make a double batch and freeze half for later.

Banana Nut Protein Muffins

 I love banana nut muffins.  Since we eat a lot of bananas here, we always end up with a few overly ripe ones.  So what better to do with them, then make muffins.

Banana Nut Protein Muffins
2 ripe bananas
2 eggs
1/4 cup stevia
1 cup greek yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
2 cups oat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 TBSP ground flax
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Mash the bananas.  Then add eggs, stevia, yogurt and vanilla. Mix well.  Add the protein powder, oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground flax and cinnamon.  Mix well  Fold in the walnuts.

Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes. Makes 12 large muffins.

Each muffin has 135 calories, 5.4g fat, 14g carbs and 8.3g protein.

Southwestern Egg Cups

This recipe is from #busygirlseatclean who I follow on Instagram.

I have been wanting to try this recipe out for a while but just haven't had all the ingredients until now!!  I am kinds funny about eggs.  I never eat eggs out because I am so picky about the way I like them cooked.  I like my scrambled eggs done well so this recipe worried me a bit.  But no worries, these were cooked perfectly for my taste.  I am so happy because now I will have a quick easy egg muffin instead of living off boiled eggs each day!!

Southwestern Egg Cups
Mix together in a small bowl:
1/4 cup each corn, black beans drained, chopped onion and chopped bell pepper

In another bowl, beat 2 eggs, 6 egg whites and a dash of Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle.

Spray 9 muffin openings with non-stick spray.  Divide the eggs evenly between the 9 openings.  Mine filled about 1/2 to 3/4 full.  Then add the veggie mix to the eggs.  I had about 2 spoonfuls of veggies per muffin.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  I baked mine for 23 minutes until they were a bit more brown, since I wanted to ensure they were cooked all the way through.  These turned out better then I had anticipated.  I think it is the veggie combo that really steals the show. 

Per each egg muffin- 48 calories, 1g fat, 4g carbs and 5.3g protein.  I had 2 for my serving size with oats and blueberries!!

Zucchini Noodles

I have seen many people use zucchini as noodles on blogs or instagram.  Not sure what they are using but I decided to give these a try with my mandolin.  I used the thick julianne blade.  I started with thin but they were just too thin. The thick blade worked out great.  I cut a whole zucchini which became the amount above. 

I simply dropped the zucchini into boiling water for about 5 minutes until slightly tender like a noodle.  I drained and served with some homemade spaghetti sauce and a serving of my turkey spinach meatballs.  What a great meal.  Since I skipped all the carbs of pasta, I was able to add a piece of Ezekiel garlic bread!  Yummy!!