Coffeccino - perfect coffee substitute!

How AWESOME would it be to enjoy a warm coffee frappuccino drink without all the sugar, fat and calories!! Well, I'm here to tell you that I know where you can get just that!!

I'd like to introduce you to Coffeccino! 

Coffeccino is actually a vitamin and mineral supplement drink that I drink frequently. It provides key B-vitamins and amino acids to enhance mental focus and alertness and supports your body's natural energy production. It also helps manage appetite in conjunction with proper diet and exercise. 

Another bonus about this drink is that you can prepare it three different ways:

1.  For a hot beverage (great during the chilly days of fall and winter), you simply blend, shake or stir the contents of one pouch into six ounces of very hot (not boiling) water. Stir thoroughly. Flavor extracts can even be added at this point.

2.  For a cold beverage, blend, shake or stir the contents of one pouch into six ounces of cold water. For an iced drink, shake thoroughly.

3.  For a frappe, add with ice cubes to a blender and blend until smooth. Flavor extracts can be added as well. 

After having some pretty intense workouts the past two days, I took a breather this afternoon and had an enjoyable warm epson salt bath and wanted to relax a bit before picking the kids up from school. I decided to spend some time in my compression socks to help with the recovery from my long run yesterday and speed work today. Seemed to only make sense that I heat myself up a warm coffeccino and not only enjoy the delicious taste, but also the vitamins, minerals and amino acids that come with it, and get a little pep in my step this afternoon! 

Better yet, when you compare it to one of the high end coffee drinks you buy at your local coffee shop (Starbucks grande frap for example), you can really start to see the benefits of this supplemental drink, outside of the fact that it simply tastes delicious.

Theirs:

Calories:  400

Fat: 15g

Sugar: 60g

Caffeine: 110 mg

Advocare's Coffeccino:

Calories: 80

Fat: 4g

Sugar: 3g

Caffeine: 120mg

If you are so inclined to want to try this delicious drink, you can visit my Advocare site. And if you have any questions about this product, or any of the other Advocare products, please feel free to contact me.

Be Fit! Be Healthy! Be Inspired!

~Debbie

Green grilled cheese

I love grilled cheese sandwiches, and while it's not the healthiest of food options, it's certainly also not the worst. Especially the way I like to make it!  Take some whole grain bread, fresh mozzarella, spinach and avocado and you have a grown help, healthier version of a kid favorite! Give this a try and let me know what you think. This is also good with sliced tomato added to the sandwich, or subbing out the spinach with baby kale.

It's very quick and simple to put this sandwich together. Butter two pieces of whole grain bread (to make gluten free sandwich, simply use GF brand - I prefer Udi's)

Place one slice of bread, butter side down, in preheated nonstick skillet. Pile the bread with some sliced fresh mozzarella cheese, baby spinach, sliced avocado and sprinkle with some red cayenne pepper flakes and a little salt and pepper. Let the bread get toasty on one side. Should take about 2 minutes on medium heat.

Place the other piece of bread, butter side up, on top of the sandwich.  Like a stealth ninja, flip the sandwich carefully in the skillet to brown the other side. This should take about another 2 minutes over medium heat. Enjoy!!

Be Fit! Be Healthy! Be Inspired!
~Debbie

Coconut whipped cream

I made some Banana Pumpkin Chocolate chip muffins two days ago and there were a couple more left today. I wanted to jazz them up a bit, because honestly I was in the mood for a cupcake (true story). But, cupcakes really aren't a staple in my lifestyle, so I decided to make a healthier version of a cupcake, and made up a quick batch of coconut whipped cream to put on top of my healthy muffin. It was simply divine and I highly recommend you doing the same the next time you make up any of my muffin recipes.

Here are step by step instructions on how to make coconut whipped cream.

There are many brands of canned coconut milk out there, but this is my favorite one. It's non-GMO and organic and it whips up very nicely. It's imperative that you buy the full fat version and NOT the light version.

Place the unopened can in the refrigerator and let it sit overnight. I actually had this can in the fridge for over a week in anticipation of making some whipped cream at some point.

When you are ready to make the whipped cream, remove the can from the refrigerator and flip it upside down. The reason for this is because while the coconut milk is in the fridge it will separate. The coconut milk liquid will fall to the bottom and the hardened cream will be hanging out at the top. Simply pour the liquid into another container and save it for another use. I put it in a lidded container in the fridge and use it added to my smoothies. Delicious!

 

Scoop out the hardened cream from the can and place in a bowl to be whipped up.

I added 1 tsp of vanilla and 1 tsp of pure maple syrup to the bowl before mixing on medium speed for approximately 2 minutes with a hand mixer. (Other alternatives you could add to the cream would be cinnamon or liquid stevia for example.) 

Here is your yummy finished coconut whipped cream!

Really kicked my muffin up A LOT and curbed my sweet tooth with no problem at all!

Have a YUMMY DAY folks!!!

Be Fit! Be Healthy! Be Inspired!

~Debbie

Copycat Pecan Pie Larabars (Laraballs)

I really like pecan pie larabars. When I looked on the ingredients and saw there were only three (pecans, almonds and dates), I did what I always do.....made my own. Super easy and the perfect treat when you are craving something a little sweet and nutty. I made mine into balls instead of bars simply to keep it easy. Enjoy!!


It's just this easy........
Take 14 Medjool dates (pitted), 1 cup of pecans and 1 cup of almonds and process them all together in a food processor.  Roll them into balls and store in the refrigerator for a quick sweet and nutty (like ME!!! Bad pun......) pick me up!!!

This will make between 12 and 15 balls depending on the size you want.

Be Fit, Be Healthy, Be Inspired!
~Debbie

Pumpkin Banana Protein Muffins

Here is my latest healthy muffin recipe.  I adapted it from my original Pumpkin protein muffin recipe and I have to say that it is just as good if not better!  As with most of my muffin recipes, this one contains no white refined sugar or flour and has some extra nutritional benefits as well with the addition of the ground flax seed.  I hope that you enjoy it as much as the kids, my Mom and I did! Both of my boys each had 2 muffins and some fruit for their after school snack.  I feel so much better serving them home made nutritious food over processed boxed goods. Yes, it is definitely more work, but so worth it!  Make up a batch of these delicious morsels for your next fall gathering and let me know what your friends and family think.  I guarantee you, they will NEVER believe these are considered "healthy treats!"  And you can give yourself a huge pat on the back for feeding your friends and family food that you have made with only the best intentions in mind.

 Ingredients: 

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Banana Oatmeal Protein Pancakes

I love pancakes!  But gone are the days of making them with white flour with some chocolate chips thrown in (unless of course it's time for a good cheat meal).  But on any normal, given day I just prefer to make them with oats and pack them full of protein.  They serve as a great pre or post workout meal and they are SO GOOD!!  I almost feel guilty eating them because they are that good. Recently, I made just a few minor changes to one of my favorite protein pancake recipes and came up with the following.  I enjoyed these for breakfast today while my kids enjoyed their special chocolate chip pancakes.  Everybody won.

Ingredients:

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Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Muffins

My friends over at Gaspari Nutrition recently were kind enough to send my some of their MyoFusion Elite Protein Powder.  Not just any protein powder, but PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE DOUGH y'all!  I couldn't WAIT to try it.  I immediately made a post workout smoothie with this stuff as soon as I got it.  I mixed a scoop of the 25g protein powder with a cup of unsweetened almond milk and 1/2 of a frozen banana with a few ice cubes.  I blended it all together and it was incredibly delicious.  Very much a sweet post workout treat.  I knew right then and there I just had to bake with it.  And today, that is exactly what I did.  I decided to use it in an existing muffin recipe to kick it up a notch.  So I took my favorite Healthier Dark Chocolate Muffin recipe and added a scoop of the protein powder to it before baking.  The result was so much better than my original recipe that I had to blog about it.....immediately!  Sadly, they are all gone because my kids had some friends over today and they enjoyed them to the end.  Must.make.more.tomorrow.

So here is the recipe for your baking pleasure:

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