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…Infinite Life Fitness Recipe: Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups…

peanutButterCups

Ok… Lets be honest. Who can resist those delectable little…peanut butter filled… chocolate capsules of deliciousness!??

I know that I have a HUGE weakness for things that include both peanut butter and chocolate.  So I had to find a way to create my own recipe but carried a healthier nutritional profile.

Ingredients

1 cup chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate BUT I suggest other baking chocolate)

2 tbsp. vanilla protein

2 tbsp. peanut butter (I used natural creamy peanut butter)

1/4 cup chocolate PB2 (you can also use the regular peanut butter flavor PB2.  This is what makes these “double chocolate” protein cups)

1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk


Directions:

  • Combine protein powder and PB2 into a mixing bowl.
  • Add almond milk and mix contents until smooth and creamy.
  • Add peanut butter and mix until thick and creamy.

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  • In a small sauce pan, melt the chocolate chips at low heat (stirring occasionally).
  • Add a small layer of melted chocolate to silicone baking cups (you can also use wax paper but silicon works best for this recipe). My layer is literally just enough to cover the bottom of the baking cup.  You do not want to add too much, just a few centimeters thick.
  • Place baking cups with chocolate into the freezer until hardened (this will take about 15 -20 minutes. Make sure they are sitting on a flat and even surface while in the freezer)
  • Take the baking cups out of freezer and add about 1/2-1 tbsp of peanut butter mixture into the chocolate cup. (DO NOT overfill the cup! Just enough for a small dollop of peanut butter protein mixture to sit in the middle of the cup)
  • Cover the peanut butter protein mixture with more melted chocolate. ( I add enough chocolate so that the peanut butter mixture is “hidden”.

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  • Place chocolate cups (with the added peanut butter protein mixture) to the freezer until hardened. (This will take about 30 – 45 minutes).
  • Remove chocolate cups from silicone baking cup (or you can leave them in the wax baking cups if you chose to use those) AND ENJOY!

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  • Keep these stored in the freezer until you are ready to eat them. I typically place the cups in a Tupperware container to help store them in the freezer.

 

Nutrients:

This recipe will make approximately 12 cups
Serving Size: 1 Peanut Butter Cup
Calories: 120
Fat: 8 g
Protein: 7 g
Carbs: 8 g
Sugar: 5 g

Try these healthier peanut butter cup alternatives and let me know how you like them! Like stated above, you will want to keep them in the freezer until you are ready to eat them.  This will also allow them to last longer.

These are a great treat for you, your family, or even for your friends! I made these and took these to work and NO ONE was able to tell that they were not the “regular” peanut butter cups. You can get creative and add things to your cups. I prefer dark chocolate so that is what I decided to use instead of milk chocolate.  It is your treat so make it however you like!

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…infinite life fitness recipe: Protein Fudge…

protein_fudge

Working towards your health and fitness goals do not require you to completely sacrifice sweet treats.  Lets be honest…who doesn’t get a sweet tooth every now and then? And yes it can be hard to ignore those sweet cravings! So what do you do?

Instead of driving yourself crazy and trying to ignore the sweet cravings you should come up with healthy AND tasty alternatives for you have when you are needing something a little sweet.  Here is a treat that I personally love to make and usually keep in my freezer just in case I need to grab something sweet.

What you will need:

  • ¾ cup peanut butter (I use Skippy natural chocolate peanut butter)
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • ¼ cup melted coconut oil
  • 3 scoops vanilla protein powder ( I chose to use 1st Phorm Vanilla Whey. Depending on the brand of protein you may need to use less or more! You will have to adjust your recipe)

What you will do:

  • heat up coconut oil and measure out 1/4 cup
  • Place all of the above ingredients into a mixing bowl
  • mix ingredients until batter is thick and sticky (I added small amounts of almond milk to get the mixture to mix and blend. I literally just added a few tablespoons)
  • Once the batter is mixed place in a freezer safe container
  • spread batter evenly into container
  • place container in freezer and allow to freeze
  • once the batter is frozen cut into even squares and enjoy!

NOTE: I stored my protein fudge in the freezer.  If thawed out it will just become runny and not thick.  Keeping it in the freezer allows it to stay in the fudge chunks.  Even though it is frozen, the fudge is very easy to bite into and chew.  It is slightly chewy and VERY yummy!

You can get creative and toss in nuts, chocolate chips, or anything else that you would like.  But remember, adding those things increase the calorie, carbs, and fat macro nutrient content in this treat.  So you want to try to limit what you add to make sure to keep it as healthy as possible.

Like I stated before, this is a great treat to keep around the house to help subdue those sweet cravings you may get. This snack is packed with an amazing taste and is high in protein.

Mix. Freeze. and Enjoy! Let me know how YOUR version of this recipe turns out!

 

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…Infinite Life Fitness Recipe: Protein Bread…

protein bread

 

If any of you are like me…you may LOVE to eat bread and bread like products.  Bread is my one weakness so once you find out the nutritional value (or the lack of nutrition) that is found in your favorite bread, it makes you cringe just thinking about indulging in more than one service size.   I had to find an alternative to help satisfy my bread craving as well as fit into my macronutrients.

What you will need:

  • 1 pack of baking bread yeast (NOT the quick rise yeast, just the regular yeast)
  • 2 cups of wheat flour
  • 1 cup (84 g) of vanilla Protein (I used 1st Phorms Vanilla Ice Cream Protein.  You can use other brands but i have found this brand to work the best for me when it comes to baking and cooking with it)
  • 1 tablespoon of wheat gluten
  • 1 tablespoon of dry milk
  • dash of salt
  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon of honey (you can also use maple syrup, agave nectar, or sugar.  YOU NEED regular sugar to help feed the yeast.  It is NOT advised that you use artificial sweetener for this recipe)
  • 1 1/2 cup of water
  • Bread making machine or bread pan

What you will do:

  • the type of bread machine that I have and use  is an Oyster 2lb express bread maker 
  • Add all of the wet ingredients first!!
  • You will then add together all of the dry ingredients
  • You will make a small well in the middle of the mixture and then add the yeast (look at picture 1)proteinbread_1
  • For my settings i chose: 1.5 lb loaf & light crust.
  • I pressed the start button and just let it sit!
  • My bread maker kneaded the dough and baked it.  Once the bread was ready the machine cut off automatically.
  • I let the bread cool and then removed it from the pan and cut it up into my desired sizes.

You are more than welcome to play around with this recipe.  This is just how i learned how to make mine and it seems to work very well.  My bread is very dense yet flaky.  It is very filling for me and a great snack to grab when you are on the go!

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…infinite life fitness recipe: C.T. Crunch Protein Pancakes…

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My favorite breakfast item = Protein pancakes!

These are easy to make, have a high amount of protein and a small amount of carbs.

When you have a healthy diet you have to try to create things that will satisfy your urge for things such as pancakes and waffles.  In all honesty there hit the spot for me!  When i have craving for traditional breakfast foods, i just create something similar BUT my meal is lower in carbs and higher in protein.

What you will need:

  • First Phorm  CT Crunch Whey Protein (or any other type of cinnamon protein)
  • (2) egg whites
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp coconut flour
  • 1/3 cup of water or Almond milk (add this until the batter is the consistency that you would like!  The more liquid the batter the more pancakes you can make…BUT it will make flatter/slimmer pancakes)
  • add sweetener to your own preference ( I used 1 tbsp of equal sweetener
  • Walden’s Farm Pancake Syrup 

How to cook the pancakes:

  • turn on your stove top to medium heat and get a frying pan and lightly spritz it with olive oil
  • mix all ingredients into a mixing bowl
  • Mix ingredients until the batter is mixed completely.  Add water or almond milk to make the batter the consistency that you would like
  • At this time you can add nuts, fruit, or any other items that you would like to be cooked into the pancake!  I have also added dark chocolate chips and this is also a great addition to this breakfast treat!
  • Add batter to pan and let pancakes cook ( do not forget to flip the pancakes when they are ready).
  • Once they have cooked place them on your dish and allow to cool
  • Add syrup (I personally use Walden’s Farm sugar free syrup)
  • ENJOY!!!

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Reaching your health and fitness goals require you to find things that will supplement your diet without completely depriving you of things that you want and crave.  Yes you can enjoy the things you love but in moderation!  But if you choose to say on track with healthy eating you have to learn how to make substitutions with your recipes to make the recipe healthier for your lifestyle and goals.

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