Prepare to Succeed

One of my pitfalls, has been a lack of preparation. I know that if I want to succeed and do well, I need to be prepared throughout the week with my meals, to eliminate the opportunity to give in and eat bad things. Let's face it, I've been heavy my whole life and changing my food behaviors has been a struggle, I don't expect to change overnight, but if I prepare ahead of time, I am one step closer to re-training my brain. So today I've been cooking up a storm. I love to cook, bake and look for new ideas and recipes online.  I will share some high protein recipes I love and have been making for awhile as well as a couple new recipes I just tried out today. These recipes are not my own, but I do tweak them to my own preferences, so I'm sure you could do the same.

I made these Turkey Meatloaf Muffins again today. This time, I cut the recipe in half. The first time I made these, it was pre-surgery, and I followed the recipe exactly as it's written. They were a little too spicy with all the spices it requires and having 12 servings of meatloaf muffins, I felt was a bit too much. I felt rushed to eat them before they went bad.When you use 2 lbs of turkey, your meatballs are rather large, so now that I'm post-op I cut the recipe in half and altered the recipe a bit to make smaller meatloaf muffins. I guess if you made the recipe as is, You could always freeze them, or if you have other family members to help eat them, it wouldn't be a problem. I personally enjoy fresher foods and only keep leftovers around so long so I'd rather just cut the recipe in half and then re-make another batch in a week if I want more.

Video Tutorial w/ Recipe for Turkey Meatloaf Muffins

Turkey Meatloaf Muffins

Turkey Meatloaf Muffins

Calories: 80
Fats: 2 grams
Carbs: 4 grams
Protein: 11 grams

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs ground turkey (or chicken)
• 3 egg whites
• 1 cup quick cooking oats
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp black pepper 
• 2 tsp dry yellow mustard
• 2 tsp chipotle pepper spice (This stuff is spicy! You may want to try 1tsp even if you are using 2 lbs of turkey )
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp garlic powder (2 cloves minced)
• 1 small onion (finely chopped)
• 2 celery stalks (finely chopped) 
• BBQ Sauce (optional)

Directions:

1.     Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.     Spray muffin pan with canola or olive oil.

3.     Mix all your ingredients together in one large bowl.

4.     Roll the mixture into balls and place in muffin pan. Muffins should be about the size of a racquetball.

5.     Bake for 40 minutes.

Makes 12 muffins.

Serving Size:
Women: 2 muffins
Men: 4 muffins

(Serving Size may vary for post-op's)

The next recipe, I cant tell you how much I love anything with cinnamon and spices that remind me of carrot cake or pumpkin pie. I Love these like a fat kid loves cake!! What's even better, is these carrot cake bars, are packed with protein and are seriously delish!! I use a really good high protein powder, so the carrot cake bars I make, may have more protein than whats listed, but they are so moist and tasty, I'm sure you'll fall in love with these. I've found that even after surgery, I am still able to eat these without any problems just because of how moist they are.

If you'd like to watch the video on how to make these, here's the link:

Carrot Cake Protein Bars

Carrot Cake Protein Bars

   

Carrot Cake Protein Bars
Calories: 94
Fats: 1.25 grams
Carbs: 10 grams
Protein: 10 grams

Ingredients:

• 1 cup oat flour (If you cant find oat flour, you can grind up Quaker oats into a flour consistency in a food processor)
• 2 scoops vanilla whey protein or your choice of vanilla high protein powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 4 egg whites
• 3/4 cup Splenda, Truvia, or Ideal
• 8 oz baby food carrots
• 4 oz water

Directions:

1.     Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.     Mix flour, whey protein, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, baking soda and salt together in a bowl.

3.     Mix egg whites, Splenda, Truvia, or Ideal, baby food carrots and water (optional) in a bowl.

4.     Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix together.

5.     Spray glass pyrex dish with non-stick butter spray.

6.     Pour ingredients into dish.

7.     Bake 20-30 minutes.

Makes 16 squares, 2 squares per serving.

The next recipe I got created from items I had in my fridge & pantry, but it was inspired from Shelly's Eggface Bites over at The World According to Eggface. After a couple of wonderful readers suggested Shelly's blog, I have literally been there every day looking for new foods and ideas of things to make. Today I finally attempted to make one of her bites, but the ingredients are my own as I had to use what I already had.

My Version of Shelly's Fiesta Bites

Turkey Fiesta Bites

Turkey Fiesta Bites

Ingredients:

• 5 Eggs, beaten
• 4-5 tablespoons of  Green Chile's
• 1/2 cup Deli Turkey, cubed or cut up small ( I used a Herb Roasted Turkey to add extra flavor)
• 1/4-1/2 Green Bell Pepper
• ½ cup Shredded Mexican Cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon Cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• a few twists of Black Pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. 
2. Combine all ingredients. Spoon into lightly greased mini muffin tins. (Pam non-stick spray works great for this) 
3. Bake for 30 minutes at 350. Let them cool a few minutes & they will pop right out. 
4. Typically Makes 24 Bites..... Somehow my batch barely made 22? lol

 Fore more recipes and flavors, definitely check out Shelly's blog, she is the mastermind behind all sorts of wonderful recipes. Her blog has been so helpful, with high protein ideas so I don't get burnt out on the same ol' foods.  She has lost so much weight, and such an inspiration to me! :)