Tag: protein

breakfast, coffee, healthy, parfait

Coffee Almond Breakfast Parfait With Protein Cookie Balls

caffeinatedcarly

Good morning, everyone! I was woken up WAY too early today. My husband’s phone went off at 6am and I just could not go back to sleep. Oh well! At least I get to sit around for a while. That is the best part of Saturdays for me. Coffee, fun breakfasts, and laying around with my husband. Do you guys have any fun weekend plans? Today we are painting our bedroom, then we talked about going for a jog to the park by our house and playing some basketball. I love getting weekend workouts in with my husband, especially when we have some friendly competition.

I have so much to look forward to that I just have to share.

  • 9 days left with the kiddos and then it will be summer break! WHOO HOO! I truly will miss the kids, but I have to be honest and say that I am ready for summer.
  • My trip to Nashville! My co-worker and I are taking a mini, end of the year, Nashville trip to visit my cousin. I CAN’T WAIT. I am a country music lover, and am so excited to explore the city more. If you have any suggestions of what to do there, I am open to ideas!
  • Gun Lake! My husband’s family has a huge lake vacation in Michigan and we always have a BLAST! Boating, drinking, games, family, friends and so much laughter happen there and I am so ready! FB_IMG_1495287129220
  • Outer Banks, North Carolina! This is my family’s summer vacation every year and I must say it is one of my favorite places to be. We have so many irreplaceable memories there. My dad looked so forward to planning this every year, and he always did the best job. After he passed in 2012, we scattered his ashes along the beach. My husband proposed to me on the beach as well. Part of my soul is there.FB_IMG_1495287366212

Okay, so back to the reason you are here: Breakfast! I eat a lot of yogurt because it is filling and you can do so much with it. Having it plain is fine, but boring, so I came up with this delicious, filling parfait to fuel your morning. The parfait itself is so simple! The only thing that takes some prep is the cookie balls (but they are worth it)!!

The cookie balls are made from the same recipe as my cookie cups, just prepared a little differently.

INGREDIENTS:

For the parfait:

  • One container of Oikos triple zero coffee flavored greek yogurt
  • 2 Tbsp of almonds
  • 1 Tbsp of chia seeds
  • 3 chocolate peanut butter protein balls

For the protein balls:

  • 1 scoop of chocolate peanut butter protein powder (I used idealshake)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup of oats
  • 1/4 cup of melted coconut oil
  • 2 Tbsp of dark chocolate chips

To cook the protein balls:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
  2. Mix all ingredients into a bowl
  3. Form little balls with your hands and place on a baking sheet with cooking oil
  4. Bake for 10 minutes
  5. Remove from oven and they will be ready to add to your parfait20170520_09042520170520_090700

PARFAIT DIRECTIONS:

  • Place yogurt, almonds, and chia seeds in a small bowl or jar and mix together
  • Top with protein balls
  • Add anything else you desire
  • Enjoy with a cup (or 2) of coffee!

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This was such a great breakfast to start my day! I hope you all enjoy as much as I did. I am having trouble staying away from the rest of the cookie balls. Must resist!

I hope you have a fabulous weekend! I am off to read some of your blogs, then spend time with my hubby and get house work done.

Talk to you all soon!

With love,

Carly

cookies, healthy food

Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Cups

caffeinatedcarly

Good morning and happy hump day, everyone! How is your week so far!? Mine has been busy and slightly exhausting, therefore Starbucks has been my saving grace. The addiction is real! 

Anyway, I have been having a huge craving for cookies lately! Yesterday, I knew I wanted to make some, but didn’t want to run to the store after work for extra ingredients (hello lazy). As I was sitting at work, I thought about what I had at home, and came up with a recipe on the fly hoping the end result would turn out well. Somehow, they turned out even better than I expected, and it satisfied my craving! I even had one with breakfast this morning! 

This recipe made 6 cookie cups. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 scoop of chocolate peanut butter protein powder 
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup of oats
  • 1/4 cup of melted coconut oil 
  • 2 TBSP of dark chocolate chips or cacoa nibs
  • Any other mix ins you like 
  • Any filling ingredients you want (I made a cheesecake version with equal parts vanilla greek yogurt and greek yogurt cream cheese plus a touch of truvia. I also made one with almond butter and mixed nuts).


DIRECTIONS:

  • Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit 
  • Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl 
  • Roll batter into balls and flatten with hands
  • Place each cookie into a muffin tin and press in the middle to make a divet in each one 
  • Bake for 12 minutes  (I started checking after 10 minutes. It might take more or less time depending on your oven)
  • Remove from oven and put any filling you desire into cups
  • Enjoy!


Before going into the oven!

Fresh out of the oven! One with my healthy cheesecake filling!

My breakfast this morning; a cookie cup with almond butter and mixed nuts, yogurt and nuts, and of course a Venti Starbucks coffee!! 

I hope you guys try these because they were delicious! Have a wonderful Wednesday and rest of your week! 

With love, 

Carly 

breakfast, healthy food, pancakes

Almond Butter Protein Pancakes

caffeinatedcarly

Happy Saturday, everyone! I feel like this is the first time I have been able to relax all week. Fixing up a new home has been more work than I ever imagined. I am so thankful for my husband and the way he stays positive throughout the whole process.

We have a lot to do today, but this morning I spent some time focusing on myself by making healthy pancakes, drinking coffee, and opening the windows to enjoy the BEAUTIFUL weather we are finally having.

I LOVE pancakes. I have since I was little. My mom always made them in the shape of Mickey Mouse. The only thing I don’t enjoy is the painfully full feeling once I am finished eating. I have been super into healthy eating for some years now and decided to make an almond butter protein version of my favorite comfort meal. This was SO easy because I have a protein mix called BIRCH BENDERS (just add water) pancake mix. It has 16 grams of protein and only 180 calories per serving. SCORE! These are filling, but don’t make you so full that you can’t move.

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I love this mix so much! I would absolutely recommend it. I bought mine at Whole Foods.

INGREDIENTS:

This recipe serves 1 person.

For the pancakes:

  • 1/2 cup of Birch Benders pancake mix
  • 1/4 cup + 2 TBSP of water
  • 1 TBSP almond butter (creamy-I used Trader Joe’s version because it mixes so well)

For the topping:

  • 1 TBSP almond butter
  • 1 TBSP honey
  • 1 TBSP cacao nibs

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Place a pan on the stove over a medium heat.
  2. Meanwhile, mix together pancake mix, water, and almond butter until smooth.
  3. Once the pan is hot, spray with cooking spray.
  4. Take 1/4 cup of mix and place into the pan. Cook until the top bubbles slightly and flip. Cook side two until slightly brown.
  5. Repeat step 4 until you have 3 pancakes.
  6. Assemble pancakes on a plate and drizzle with almond butter, honey, and top with cacao nibs.
  7. Dig in!!

This was SO tasty and easy to make!! I enjoyed mine with two cups of dark roast coffee!

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Isn’t it beautiful?!?! Haha! Also, how pretty are my flowers? My sweet nephews and niece sent them to me for my birthday! I love them so much!

I hope you guys get a chance to try these pancakes. Now I am off to have a little run outside, then work on the house before my family comes over tonight! Have a wonderful rest of your weekend!!

With love,

Carly