Snickerdoodle Protein Almond Butter

My Review: Buff Bake Snickerdoodle Protein Almond Butter Spread

Review: Pure Deliciousness
Rating: A+
Tasting Notes: Like a melted Snickerdoodle cookie, well-balanced, not overly sweet

My love of all things peanut butter led me to discover Buff Bake products. I think I stumbled across this at a Vitamin Shoppe and when I saw there was more out there than regular almond butter I jumped at the opportunity to try it!

This was my first go at a "flavored" almond butter spread (Meaning anything other than plain) as well as a protein spread. Well, I have to say my first introduction into this new almond butter spread did NOT disappoint! As soon as I licked the first little bit off the stirring spoon I knew I had found a new obsession. 

Growing up I was not a big fan of snickerdoodle cookies, but as I have gotten older I have a new appreciation for the cinnamon, sweet flavor. This almond spread has only magnified my love for the delicious flavor.

So, I bet you're wondering what you can pair this with?? Well, let me tell you....

My pairing for the Snickerdoodle Almond Spread:

1) A dollop on top of oatmeal (pictured above)

2) Spread on whole wheat toast & dusted with cinnamon

3) Overnight oats with banana, almond milk, & chia seeds

4) Mixed with plain greek yogurt 

5) By the spoonful! 

However, when it comes to almond butter you can really pair it with anything! Try it for yourself & let me know what you like to eat it with. Overall, I will definitely be buying this jar again!

Have a funky, delicious peanut/almond/pecan spread you think I should try? Tell me below and I will add it to my list! I am always on the lookout for a new flavor to add to my pantry. 

*Disclaimer: These are my own reviews and I am not endorsed by Buff Bake or anyone else. Just want to share my love of peanut butter with the world!

Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Energy Balls

I have 3 words for you: Easy. Delicious. Sweet tooth curer. 

Okay, so maybe that was more than 3 words, but still! I was so excited to throw these ingredients together the other night during meal prep time. I usually make the same kind of energy balls every time so I decided to scroll through Pinterest for inspiration. I combined a few recipes together these bad boys! Also, this is my first time making them with dried fruit and it did not disappoint.

Can we go off on a tangent for a minute and talk about how delicious dried fruit is? Oh.My.Gosh. I have been missing out! We were at Costco last weekend and of course we had to try the sample and it was so delicious and sweet that I realized it would be the perfect, natural healthy treat for me to have when I have an inkling for something sweet. 

Okay, back to the main topic here. These energy balls are perfect for a pre-workout snack, an afternoon snack, mixed with yogurt, dipped in peanut butter, dessert after dinner, etc. They are the perfect 2-bite treat and I don't feel bad about eating one...or two. 

Ingredients:

1 cup of oats (old fashioned or steal cut oats)

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup diced Sunsweet Dried Plums

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, melted

1/4 cup of honey

1 tablespoon chia seeds

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Directions:

1) Put all ingredients in a bowl

2) Microwave peanut butter for 20-30 seconds or until nearly melted. Pour melted peanut butter over the ingredients

3) Mix everything together with a spatula. If you find the ingredients aren't sticking together, add a little more peanut butter. You want the mixture to be sticking together, but not too sticky that it's a wet mixture.

4) Roll into 1 inch balls and store in an air tight container in the fridge. Good for 1-2 weeks. 

Enjoy!

Did you make this recipe? I would LOVE your feedback! Comment below with how they turned out. 

6- Ingredient Peanut Butter Protein Granola Bars

I LOVE granola! I am not kidding when I saw I could sit and eat a whole bag of it.

I enjoy snacking on granola, putting it in my yogurt or oatmeal, or just dipping a few pieces into peanut butter for a sweet treat.

Unfortunately, granola bought from the store can contain high amounts of sugar, fat, and should only be ate a few times a week. However, I like to eat it A LOT more than that!

That is when I decided to make my own granola bars, and they WORKED! 

These granola bars are perfect to break up and put in yogurt, an after workout snack, or to cure a sweet tooth. I always crave a sweet after lunch and this comes in handy!

These 6-ingredient granola bars take less than 10 minutes to make and take a total of 1 hour before they're ready to eat (Don't worry all of that time is them chilling in the freezer!).

Ingredients:

2 cups Old Fashioned Oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup of honey
3/4 cup Vanilla Shakeology (Any Vanilla Protein)
1/2 cup Chocolate Chips 
1 cup Creamy Peanut Butter

1. Add the first 5 dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and combine.
2. Put 1 cup of peanut butter in a microwave safe bowl and put in microwave for 30 seconds. Remove and stir.
3. Pour peanut butter into the mixing bowl and stir until all ingredients are equally coated.
4. Line a rimmed pan with parchment paper. Pour mixture onto parchment paper and spread evenly into a square. Use a spatula to get an even level and to create the square shape.
5. Optional- top with shredded unsweetened coconut.
6. Place pan into freezer for 45 minutes to an hour.
7. Remove pan from freezer and cut into individual bars, about 2 inches long and 1 inch thick. Individually wrap each bar in plastic wrap and store in a gallon zip lock bag in the freezer. They will be good for at least 2 weeks, if you don't eat them all first :-)

Enjoy!

Protein Chocolate Chip Muffins

I love muffins just as much as the next person, but lets face it, when you're trying to eat healthy muffins don't usually make the cut. I mean, what is so unhealthy about eating a huge muffin the size of your 2 fists, toasted and then slathered in butter?? Yup, you got me, nothing!

Unfortunately, we can't all be in denial. A fresh blueberry muffin from the bakery can have upwards of over 400 calories, 18 grams of fat, 61 carbohydrates, and 37 grams of sugar. I can't imagine what the nutrition would be for a double dark chocolate or a apple cinnamon sugar muffin! 

Enter Kodiak Cakes Power Cakes. I had heard of this brand before, but I didn't want to buy it from the grocery store because a tiny box of their pancake mix was over $5. So when I saw Costco had a HUGE box of sale for $7 I grabbed it right up. Their Kodiak Cakes it mainly for making waffles and pancakes, but you can also make pizza, pot pies, and many other food items with their mix. Their mix can be substituted as a healthy alternative in recipes: swap 1 cup of flour with 1 cup of Kodiak Cakes Mix and omit the salt and baking powder. When I saw that you could make muffins, I was all over it.

Before I dive into the recipe, there are some substitutions I wanted to share with you. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 1/4 of melted butter. I did not follow that and instead I added 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of applesauce, and 1/4 cup of honey; that way I was still getting the sweetness without the extra processed sugar. 

Ingredients:

2 cups Power Cake Mix
1 cup of milk (I used Unsweetened Almond Milk)
1 egg
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
Handful of chocolate chips.

Directions:

Mash 2 bananas in a bowl until they looked pureed. Combine all other ingredients in the bowl. Grease all muffin cups with cooking spray to prevent sticking (Even if you use the muffin liners spray them as well). Fill each muffin cup 3/4 full. Bake at 350 for 14-18 minutes (I cooked mine for 16 minutes and they came out perfect). Makes 16 muffins. 

Note: I did not add chocolate chips to the batter. I filled each muffin tin 3/4 full and they I add 3 chocolate chips on top and then pressed them into the batter. Either way is fine though. 

Servings Size: 2 muffins have 12 grams of protein. 

Enjoy! 

Vegetable Egg Cups

Eating breakfast during the week can be challenging. I usually start my day off with my daily dose of Shakeology because it provides all of my nutrient needs, but sometimes I want to switch it up! I started flipping through one of my cookbooks called FIXATE, it provides recipes based on the 21 Day Fix portion control container system, and it has some great recipes. I turned to a page labeled Vegetable Egg Cups and thought perfect!

These little vegetable egg cups are perfect to put together on Meal Prep Sunday or Monday. They are great for a quick breakfast or packed in your lunch for a mid-morning snack. The vegetables I chose for my egg cups were spinach and diced orange peppers. You could also add chopped mushrooms, diced green or red peppers, broccoli, maybe a little cheese...anything you would put in your omelet! Also, you could make these with meat by adding crumbled bacon pieces or crumbled sausage. 

What you will need is a muffin tin, cooking spray, and the following ingredients below:

12 Large Eggs

1 medium orange pepped, diced

3 cups of fresh spinach

Salt and Pepper to taste 

Medium Salsa (Optional)

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 375.

2. Coat a twelve-cup muffin tin with non-stick spray

3. Crack eggs into a large bowl and whisk until blended. 

4. Add in your chopped vegetables (and meat preference is you desire). Season with salt and pepper to taste.

5. Evenly pour egg mixture into muffin cups (See below for desired level of fullness).

6. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a fork inserted into the middle comes out clean. 

7. Top each egg with 1 tbsp of salsa if you desire. 

Reheat Directions- Place on a microwaveable plate and microwave for 45 seconds. If using a toaster oven, set to 350 and bake for 3 minutes. 

If you are following the Beachbody portion control container system, 2 egg cups equals 1 red container. 

Enjoy!

7 Halloween Themed Recipes

Pumpkin, Jack-O-Lanterns, Costumes, Witches, Trick-or-Treating, 13 Days of Halloween, Spider Webs, Hocus Pocus, Candy, Candy, And MORE candy. That pretty much sums up what I think of when I think about Halloween!

Halloween is the first holiday that kicks off the holiday trifecta...followed by Thanksgiving and Christmas. Holidays bring unexpected amount of refined sugar, fat, alcohol, and lots of baked goods (not trying to make you depressed, but it's the truth!). Having all of that in the mix is what inspired me to come up with 7 healthy-ish Halloween Recipes. They're fun, spooky, and appeal to your sweet and savory taste buds without having to eat a whole bag of snickers.

Check them out below!

7 Healthy Halloween Recipes:

1. Jack-O-Lantern Stuffed Peppers
2. Sweet Potato Witches Fingers
3. Candy Corn Bark
4. Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread
5. Pumpkin Coffee Swirl Smoothie
6.Gluten-Free Protein Pumpkin Pancakes
7. Graveyard Taco Bake

Feel free to save your favorite recipe! If you make it, give me a shout out! Have a Spooky Halloween Season!

Graveyard Taco Bake

Halloween Themed Recipe #7- Countdown to Halloween!

Happy Halloween! We have reached our final day in this countdown to Halloween. 

Tonight's recipe brings us back to when we were kids. When we were younger we would dare each other to walk through cemeteries, especially since there was one really close to school. Cemeteries are creepy enough as it is, but on Halloween night they become even scarier. It's one of those places that is intriguing, but there is almost an invisible fence around it keeping you from entering. 

As I was putting dinner together, trying to figure out what spooky name to call dinner, I thought about this childhood memory all the while I was watching Tim Burton's A Nightmare Before Christmas. My boyfriend looks at me and goes it kind of looks like a graveyard with the meat and chunks of peppers on top. And walah! We had our name!

This recipe is extremely easy to make and perfect for Halloween night! Between getting home from work and getting the kids dressed up for trick or treating, you can throw this in the oven and in 20 minutes you have a healthy dinner to feed your family before getting out the door. What you will need is brown rice, ground turkey, multicolored peppers, an onion, and cheese. 

Cook the brown rice according to the package instructions. I made 4 servings of rice. You are going to want enough to cover the bottom of your pan. Next, in a skillet I drizzled olive oil and tossed in the chopped onion and 1/2 of a red pepper and 1/2 of a yellow pepper, just to give it more color. I sauteed the onions and peppers for a few minutes. Then I added in the ground turkey meat. Stir occasionally until cooked all the way. I like to use my stirring spoon and chop the meat into smaller pieces that way is spread evenly over the rice. Having big chunks of meat won't do the trick. 

Once the ground turkey is cooked I add in my taco seasoning and dried cilantro. Stir and let simmer for 2-3 minutes to allow for the meat to soak up the flavors, then remove from heat. Your kitchen will smell delicious by this point!

Using a 9x13 pan spread the rice out evenly on the bottom of the pan. Next, layer the turkey meat on top of the rice. If you are planning on eating this graveyard taco bake the same night as you are making it the next step is to top with a Mexican cheese blend and throw it in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. If you are prepping this meal the night before, allow the dish to cool before covering with aluminum foil and putting it in the fridge. When you are ready to bake it, remove the aluminum foil, top with cheese, and place it in the over for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Serve with warm tortilla on the side and some roasted vegetables. Optional topping include: salsa, greek yogurt (or sour cream), jalapenos, extra cheese, avocado, etc. Serve immediately and enjoy! 

Ingredients:

1 package of ground turkey meat (or ground beef or shredded chicken)
2 cups of brown rice 
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 red pepper
1 small onion
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 cup of Mexican cheese blend
2 tbsp dried cilantro
1 packet of McCormicks taco seasoning
Additional toppings. 

Directions:

1) Place skillet over medium heat with olive oil. Dice onions and peppers and add to skillet. Stir occasionally.
2) After 5 minutes, or until onions & peppers become translucent, add in the turkey meat. Stir frequently and use your stirring spoon to break up clumps of turkey meat. You want the meat to be in small pieces, kind of like Taco Bells' meat (don't worry this is just for visual purposes!).
3) Boil water according to the package instructions of rice to water ratio for cooking your brown rice. Follow the cooking instructions on the box.
4) Once rice is done, spread the rice out evenly on the bottom of your pan. Next, layer the meat mixture on top of the rice. Allow dish to cool before covering with aluminum foil and placing in the fridge.

On the day you are ready to bake this, preheat oven to 350. Top the dish with cheese and place in oven for 20 minutes. Serve with any additional toppings and serve immediately!

Recommendations:

~I found taco bake to be a little dry, due to the rice soaking up the moisture, top with a jar of salsa before placing in the oven, or while cooking the meat add a jar of salsa.
~Another idea is cover the bottom of the pan with a large can of refried beans, then layer the rice on top, and then finish by layering on the meat mixture. 
~If you want to make this dish scarier, cut gravestones out of tortillas. Bake on a sheet in the oven for 10 minutes at 350, or until edges are brown. Before serving stick the tortillas into the dish as if it was an actual graveyard. 

I hoped you enjoyed this healthy recipe countdown to Halloween! Thanks for following along and have a spooky evening!