Delicious, Nutritious Power Pancakes with Peanut-Butter Syrup

Focusing on flavor and healthy ingredients rather than fat and calories… here’s my healthy, energizing, tasty pancake breakfast.

Easy, healthy, energizing, delicious pancakes.

Serving Size = 1 (2 pancakes with 1/4 cup syrup) as Shown.

Ingredients:

Pancakes —

• .5 C Kodiak Cakes High Protein Flapjack & Waffle Mix
• .5 C Water
• .5 TBSP Chia Seeds

Syrup —

• .25 C Mrs. Butterworth’s Light Syrup
• 2 TBSP Jif Peanut Butter Powder

Directions:  In a small bowl or measuring cup whisk pancake ingredients together. Cook in non-stick pan with a little non-stick spray over medium heat. Syrup: Whisk peanut powder into syrup. Easy and fast. Delicious and healthy!

Nutrition Facts:

Now, compare this recipe to traditional pancakes cooked in 1 tbsp butter and topped with 2 tbsp peanut butter and regular syrup (which is how I used to eat them):

Wow, right? More of everything GOOD, and less of everything BAD! Now, that’s a happy, healthy recipe :).

Lowfat Tuna Pasta Salad

Had an awesome, delicious pasta salad for lunch today. The ingredients are below. Just cook the pasta, drain the tuna, chop up the veggies, and mix it all together. This could easily be 2 servings with something else on the side.

Lowfat Greek Frittata

Just had to share tonight’s dinner creation. Very healthy and low fat. I’m only concerned with counting calories and fat grams for myself right now, and this was very filling.

Here are the ingredients with quantities and Nutrition Facts from my food diary:

This was also simple to make. All in one large non-stick skillet.

Directions:

Melt the butter blend over med-low heat; add chopped onion, garlic and mushrooms. Cook covered, stirring frequently for 10-15 minutes. Add the fresh kale spinach mixture, and cook for another 5 – 10 minutes. Beat the eggs and pour over the vegetables, tipping the pan to spread the egg evenly. Cook covered for 5-10 minutes. Distribute feta cheese crumbles on top. Cover again to finish cooking. Use large spatula to slide the frittata onto a large plate. (Add salt and pepper during cooking and/or after to your taste.)

Let me know if you tried this! 🙂

Eggplant Ratatouille with Chickpeas

Eggplant Ratatouille w/Chickpeas (shown before roasting)

This recipe from 86 Lemons turned out wonderfully! We all thoroughly enjoyed this healthy, nutritious, filling dish. Easy to prepare too!

Chicken & Shrimp Fajitas with Red Cabbage Salad

Fajitas, Red Cabbage Slaw, Blue Corn Chips, Refried Black Beans

My friend Missi and I had a nice lunch together today. Chicken and shrimp fajitas, red cabbage salad, blue corn tortilla chips with a great salsa and refried black beans.

It was delicious and healthy and we filled up!

I made the fajita seasoning myself from this recipe instead of buying a packet. It was quick, easy and tasted awesome. I had everything in my spice cabinet.

I had chicken breasts frozen and took them out this morning. It was easy to slice them into thin strips while they were still fairly frozen later on, and that helped the chicken thaw too. I also had frozen shrimp, which I thawed and peeled.

The fajita vegetables were a couple of onions, a green pepper and half of each of these that I had leftover: yellow, orange and red. I also had garlic and some fresh cilantro.

The fajitas are mostly prep. Getting everything sliced and ready to go takes longer than cooking. About 20 minutes before lunch time, I sauteed the veggies in a little olive oil, added some warm water to the spice mixture and used about half of it on the veggies. I don’t like soggy vegetables, so I cooked them until just tender and put them on my warmed platter.

The chicken strips went in the same pan with a little more olive oil and 1/4 of the remaining fajita seasoning mixture. Once cooked through I added those to the platter. Lastly, I sauteed the shrimp with some oil and the rest of the fajita seasoning.

The cabbage slaw or salad was inspired by my having a half a head of red cabbage on hand that I thought might make an interesting crunchy side for the fajitas. I used this recipe, and it was delicious. I will definitely do this again!

I used canned refried black beans, warmed in the microwave, and some organic blue corn tortilla chips, Wild Oats organic salsa, and this was more than enough food for us girls! I’ve got leftovers if anyone is hungry :).

Thanks for having lunch with me Missi!

Fajitas, Red Cabbage Slaw, Refried Black Beans, Chips and Salsa

Black Bean Mango Spinach Salad

Black Bean Mango Spinach Salad

My daughter Lindsay was here with me for lunch last week, and we put together this awesome, nutritious salad from what I had hanging around. (It’s good to have healthy stuff on hand!)

Here’s what it contains:

Spinach & Kale mix

Black Beans (drained & rinsed)

Red onion

Red cabbage

Fresh Mango Vinaigrette: 1 finely chopped mango, lemon juice, black pepper, rice vinegar and olive oil.

I thought it was pretty good!

The thing I’ve noticed since starting this “Nutritarian” eating plan about a month ago… if I eat something like this — highly nutritious — I don’t get hungry for hours. I can go without thinking of food for long periods of time with even this kind of light lunch. Ha! Who knew! Food is supposed to feed your cells. Damn. What a revelation. If you’d like to look at the Nutritarian concept, check it out like I did with this Kindle book I got from Amazon: The End of Dieting: How to Live for Life

Dips ‘n Veggies for lunch

Black Bean Dip, and Roasted Red Pepper Pistachio Dip

My awesome vegan lunch from poker night leftovers… just had to share these two dip recipes. Made with whole fresh ingredients, they taste amazing and have been a big hit at our gatherings.

I’ve made the Roasted Red Pepper Pistachio dip quite a few times. I discovered this recipe when I was in my “paleo” phase, and it’s a keeper. It is easy to make, and has just a handful of delicious healthy ingredients: Sundried Tomatoes, Roasted Red Peppers, Pistachios, Fresh Basil, Lemon Juice and Olive Oil.

The Black Bean dip is a recent experiment that I’m also keeping. It’s incredible! With whole, healthy ingredients: black beans, jalapeno, fresh cilantro, garlic, lime, etc. I served it with tortilla strips, but it’s wonderful with vegetables and crackers as well.

Give these dips a try for your next party or just for yourself as a healthy snack or lunch. Both are REALLY GOOD, easy recipes! Let me know how you like them!

Vegetable Spaghetti

I’ve always loved Italian food and would be miserable without it, so any diet that doesn’t include some kind of pasta isn’t going to last long for me. Fortunately, the nutrition plan I’m on now allows for some ‘whole grains’ and pasta is available in a wide variety of healthy, tasty versions.

I would’ve also never thought to leave out ground beef or sausage in my tomato sauce, but here’s my tasty version of a spaghetti dinner without all the fattening, animal products and processed grains.

Whole Grain Spaghetti loaded with fresh, healthy vegetables.

I used Barilla Whole Wheat Thin Spaghetti, and I find this brand has the best taste so far in the realm of true whole grain pasta. (Be careful though — some brands are not truly whole grain — you must read the labels.) Don’t overcook the spaghetti — the box says 6 minutes for al dente. I taste-tested mine at 5 minutes, and it was done.

In a medium saucepan, I sauteed 2 cloves of finely chopped fresh garlic, and 2 chopped small onions. After about 5 minutes, I added a half of each color of pepper: green, yellow, orange, red (sliced into strips). After another 5 minutes, I added 1 large can of organic diced tomatoes. Then I seasoned this sauce mixture with freshly ground black pepper and 2 tablespoons of fresh, chopped basil.

Easy! Simple! Delicious! Happy! Healthy! You won’t miss the meat, but if you must have some, add a little lean ground turkey.

Note: I did not overcook the vegetables. They should be tender-crisp, not limp :).

Chicken ‘n Greens

If you just MUST have some meat, then chicken or fish is the best choice for your health. It’s lower calorie and lower fat than other options.

I’m following a Nutritarian eating plan, so animal products are to be kept at a minimum if eaten at all. I can say that after a while, you don’t miss them, and after eating this dinner last night, I felt pretty weighed down.

But, here it is: my Lemon Pepper Grilled Chicken Strips, Sauteed Greens, and Wild Rice/Quinoa-Mushroom-Onion side dish.

Lemon Pepper Grilled Chicken w/Greens, and Wild Rice-Quinoa-Mushroom-Onion side

My boneless, skinless whole chicken breasts were still a little frozen when it was time to cook. No prob. It’s easier to thaw / cook them when they’re in smaller pieces. I sliced them into strips this time, and then mixed up a marinade for them with lemon juice, black pepper, olive oil, garlic and onion powder. You can leave them in this mixture all day if you have the time, or just 30 minutes or so before cooking. I only had 30 minutes this time. I then grilled them on my George Foreman to further reduce fat.

My husband is a southerner and he was asking for greens, so I found a ready to cook bag of mixed greens at the store that included kale, mustard greens, turnip greens and collard greens. I sauteed them with a little olive oil, garlic and black pepper in a large stir fry pan. Done.

I wasn’t at all sure I would care for the greens (I love spinach and kale but that’s about as far as I can go), so I made up a nice big batch of sauteed mushrooms and onions, along with a Wild Rice & Quinoa mixture. Whole grains are the way to go, and they’re delicious too. To all of this I added some chopped fresh garlic and freshly ground pepper. (I’m cutting back on salt too, so it’s only on the table now.)

This was a good meal that took only about 45 minutes total. My husband loved the greens, and I ate enough vegetables and whole grains to consider it in keeping with my Nutritarian plan.

Incredible Dark Chocolate Fruit Dip and Pudding

Incredible Dark Chocolate Pudding/Dip with Strawberries

If you’re looking for a delicious, whole food, vegan chocolate pudding or dip for fruit, THIS IS THE ONE! It’s easy and amazing.

Dark Chocolate Pudding Recipe

• 2 Ripe Bananas
• 3-4 tbsp unsweetened Dark Cocoa
• 2 tbsp peanut butter (optional)

Put all of the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.

Serve immediately or chill for later.

This is great all by itself, but I love it with strawberries. It would be equally good with other fruits and nuts mixed in, and you can even skip the peanut butter, so be happy, healthy and creative!

Note: If your bananas aren’t ripe enough, try this quick and easy solution to ripen them in the microwave.