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…Infinite Life Fitness Recipe: Bell Pepper Nacho Bites…

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Who does NOT love nachos?

OK… if you do not love nachos there is no way we can be friends. The savoy mixture of seasoned meat with cheese and fresh veggies…It is making my mouth water to just think about it!

I decided to create a simple, healthy, and cost effective alternative to one of my favorite dishes.

This would be a great dish to have as a finger food when you have people coming over OR it can be a great snack/meal.

Ingredients:

  • 1 package ground lean meat (turkey, chick, lean beef)
  • Assortment of Bell Peppers (red, orange or green and I made 4-6 “bites” per bell pepper)
  • 1 cup low fat Cheese
  • 1/4 cup Salsa
  • 1 tbsp Tomato Paste
Directions:

1. Cook meat thoroughly, add desired seasoning if desired

2. Drain meat and mix salsa/tomato paste to coat meat for flavor

3. Scoop out seeds from peppers and cut into boats (each pepper = 4-6 pepper boats/bites)

4. Scoop meat into pepper boats and sprinkle cheese on top of the meat

5. Either heat up in microwave for 2-3 minutes or stick bell pepper boats onto a non stick baking sheet in the oven at 300 degrees for 15-20 minutes (or until all of the cheese is melted)

6. Remove boats from oven (or microwave) and top with your choice of vegetable (such as minced onions, lettuce, etc.)

You can also top these bits with low fat sour cream or plain Greek yogurt.

By substituting the chips for the bell peppers you are able to cut out a huge overload of carbs without sacrificing the quality or flavor of this dish.

By using lean meat, this will also allow you to cut the amount of fat that is traditionally in this dish.  You can get creative and add diced tomatoes, olives, and other things that you will traditionally find in nachos.  Please be mindful when you add more items.  That can compromise the healthy nutritional value of this meal.

Bon Appétit

Infinite Life Fitness Recipe: Chocolate and Cinnamon Breakfast Bites…

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There are a few ways that you can make this, but I decided to make mine in a unique way.

This is a GREAT breakfast option for those who need to grab food and GO in the morning.

Ingredients:

  • I tbsp. cinnamon
  • 1 scoop protein or 1 pack or 1/4 cup (*** PLEASE be aware that different protein powders will produce different results. For this Recipe I used the Advocare Vanilla Meal Replacement Shake***
  • 1/4 cup of honey
  • 1/2 cup of oat flour
  • 1/4 cup of Chocolate peanut butter (BUT you can use regular peanut butter)
  • 3/4 cup of whole oats
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract

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You can MAKE your own oat flour! All you need is rolled oats and a food processor OR blender.  Put a few cups of rolled oat into the food processor/blender and mix it until it becomes fine like “Flour”. You can also purchase it BUT I just decided to make my own.

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together and a bowl.  Contents in bowl will start to clump together BUT it will not be a paste or batter.  You will want to grab small amounts of the mixture and roll them into small balls (about the size of a ping pong ball). Stick them in the freezer (Leave them in the freezer LONGER FOR BEST RESULTS! I stuck mine in the freezer overnight but around 4 hours should be good enough) and then enjoy.

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Like I stated in the video, I also dipped my breakfast bites with Greek Yogurt! You can use 1 cup of plain Greek yogurt and drizzle about 1 tbsp of honey to make a dip. You can also find caramel, chocolate, or other flavors at your local store and use those prepackaged yogurts to dip your bites.

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You can make these several different ways! You can use regular peanut butter with cinnamon. You can use other spices, you can use other types of nut butter, you can pretty much get as creative as you would like!

…Infinite Life Fitness Recipe: FroYo Bites…

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Seeing as there are only a few weeks left of summer (insert cheering from parents who have had to stay home with kids all summer) it can get hard to find health and fun treats for the family to enjoy.  I do my best to try to find treats that will be healthy, affordable, and fun for every member of the family to help create.

For this recipe I decided to make FroYo bites.  This is a simple, easy, and tasty treat that can be enjoyed by all members of the family!


Ingredients:

  • 1 cup Any flavor of Greek yogurt that you like. (you can even use plain unfloavored Greek Yogurt).
  • 1/2 cup Fresh fruit/berries
  • 1/2 cup Granola crumbs (you can even use graham cracker crust)
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil

Directions:

  • In a mixing bowl mix the granola, honey, and coconut oil. This will make the granola clump together
  • In cupcake paper (you can use actual paper of silicon cups) pack in a thin layer of the granola/honey/coconut oil mix.
  • Once you create a small base layer dollop on top of the layer your favorite flavor of Greek Yogurt.
  • This is where you can get creative! You can mix in nuts, chocolate chips, fruit, berries, or pretty much anything you want into or on top of your Greek yogurt.
  • Fill your FroYo cup to the top (making sure that it DOES NOT overflow).
  • Place your FroYo cups in the freezer and freeze for about 4 hours (sometimes it does not take as long and sometimes it will take longer! I froze mine over night to make sure they would freeze completely.)
  • Once frozen peel the treats out of the cupcake wrapping.
  • ENJOY!!

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Like I stated above you can get as creative as you would like with this treat! And, it is quick, not very messy, and great to allow kids to help you make.  You can make a whole batch of them and everyone can have their very own unique FroYo Bite.

As a disclaimer: YOU WANT TO WATCH WHAT YOU ADD TO YOUR FROYO BITES! If you add a ton of sugar and added things, it can quickly decrease the health value of this snack. You will also want to use GREEK YOGURT. I tried making this treat with regular yogurt. Yes it was good, BUT having the thick consistency that Greek Yogurt offers makes the treat better (in my opinion).  

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REMEMBER TO REMOVE THE CUPCAKE WRAPPING BEFORE YOU EAT IT. You do not want to get a mouthful of paper/plastic/rubber while trying to enjoy these treats.

…infinite life fitness recipe: Protein Fudge…

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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!

 

…Infinite Life Fitness Recipe: Zucchini Lasagna…

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I don’t know about you…but there are just some things that I can not give up.  BUT the key to reaching your health and fitness goals is FINDING A BALANCE.  You may not have to completely give up on the things that you enjoy the most. All you have to do is slightly alter them.

I came up with a zucchini lasagna that taste JUST AS GOOD as the real thing…minus the pile of noodles that come along with a lasagna.  Not only does it taste just as good…there are fewer calories and MORE protein!

What you will need:

  • 1 lb lean ground turkey (or lean beef or any other chopped up lean meat)
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1/2 dices onions
  • dash of salt
  • dash of pepper
  • 1 tbsp basil
  • 16 oz contain of low-fat cottage cheese
  • 1 can of tomato paste
  • 1 can of tomato sauce
  • 3 cans of diced tomatoes (i used the fiesta lime Rotel)
  • 1 pack of low-fat shredded cheese
  • 1 LARGE zucchini  (or enough zucchini to cover the various layers that you want)

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What you will do:

  • Pre-Heat your oven to 350 degrees
  • Cook and season meat in a pan and set aside for later step
  • wash your zucchini (some people have even skinned the zucchini…so you can do what you prefer)
  • you can slice the zucchini into long thin strips OR you can cut your zucchini into round slices such as I did:

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  • Next you HAVE to grill or saute your zucchini.  Zucchini is a vegetable that retains a lot of water. If you do not pre-cook the zucchini when you cook the lasagna it will become a watery/soupy dish.
  • After you cook your zucchini pieces start to layer your dish:

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  • Now layer your lasagna with the other ingredients:

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  • This is when you can get creative and mix up how you put together your layers. I wanted to have a total of two layers on my lasagna so I just cut all ingredients in half and mixed them up between the two layers.

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This dish can make approximately 8-10 servings.

I was able to make this dish, separate the squares of lasagna out into containers and freeze the extra pieces. This lasagna was AMAZING flavorful. I would have to say having the lime Rotel added a new burst of flavor. I also enjoyed having the tomato past because that also added to the flavor of the meal.

The fun thing about these casserole is that you can mix and match ingredients and add or change anything that you would want.

Another great thing about making a dish like this is that you will be able to set aside portions of this lasagna to have later during the week. With the added cottage cheese and lean meat, this dish is packed with protein while still leaving you feeling full and satisfied.

Meal preparation is KEY when it comes to helping you stay on track with healthy meal planning and eating.  If you have food prepared and ready to eat you are more likely to make healthier meal choices during meal time.

 

……INFINITE LIFE FITNESS RECIPE:Protein Cookies…

Being someone who has to watch what they eat can be difficult when you are tempted with delicious sugary treats every day.

There are so many HEALTHY alternatives out there  but the hardest part is finding them!

Well…i was lucky enough to stumble upon a great healthy treat that can be a healthy treat.

Introducing Quest Chocolate Chip Cookie’s

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Here is what you will need:

Here is how you make it:

  • Turn your oven onto 250 degrees

  • Open your quest protein bar and cut it into however many pieces you would like (i cut mine into 8 small pieces).

  • Place a piece of foil on the cookie sheet (this step is optional)

  • Place the cut pieces of protein bar on the cookie sheet

  • Place cookie sheet WITH protein bar in the oven

  • MAKE SURE TO WATCH THE protein pieces because they will cook very fast.

  • Allow them to cook in the over for 10-20 minutes (depending on how long it takes them to rise and cook)

  • Once they are brown take them out of the oven

  • Allow them to sit for about 10 minutes to cool off

  • Last step….ENJOY! 🙂

 

These protein bars taste JUST LIKE warm chocolate chip cookies once they are fresh out of the over.  Don’t get me wrong…these protein bars taste just as good without baking them BUT they are even better once you toast them.

These are for sure of my healthy guilty pleasures.  When something taste this good it is so hard to believe that it is actually healthy for you.  You can also do this with other Quest bars (such as the chocolate brownie and peanut butter supreme bars).  Try this out with any other their bars and find which one is your favorite!