Pumpkin Pie TVP “Oatmeal” + WIAW

October 17, 2012 By Laura

Just when you you’re getting used to a “special” diet…

…you have to go on a business trip.

I actually like travelling for work. Airports and hotels don’t phase me one bit. Unless I’m 17 days from a figure competition and have a diet more strict than I ever thought possible. Between the protein, super-clean eating, and max of 500 mg of sodium per day the trip I’m taking today has been a lesson in food prep.

#sorryimnotsorry

I’m hoping to put all this together for a fun post… but that requires me remembering to take pics tomorrow! In the meantime, my friend Kat is going to write guest post for me tomorrow! She’s awesome – a rockstar endurance athlete, avid foodie, and law student. I think she unlocked the secret to adding hours to a day.

Kat is going to be doing a bi-weekly feature, so please drop by and say hi to her tomorrow when she introduces herself!

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We’re still rolling with this month’s Halloween-themed What I Ate Wednesday. I did alright for breakfast and meal 7…. I’m not sure if the rest ties in, but it was delicious and seasonal!

Check out my “special” low sodium, high protein, super-clean eats below, and then click here to head over to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons to get to see how festive everyone else got this week!

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Meal 1:

After my morning cocktail (mix of Apple Cider Vinegar, Glutamine, and Fitmixer Aminos), I downed a grapefruit while I waited for some deliciousness to cook (not that the grapefruit wasn’t delicious… but it can’t compare).

TVP Protein “Oatmeal” has become a low-sodium staple, but I’ve had this particular version 2 days in a row so far. It’s vegan, gluten-free, protein-filled, and involves pumpkin. What’s not to love?

The fall spiced TVP “oats” with a creamy protein pumpkin pie mixture swirled in… I can’t even describe. It’s the most decadent deliciouness! Full recipe is at the bottom.

Meal 2:

As much as I’ve been making salmon and fruit mixes lately, I don’t know if I can still call them #strangebutgood. Strange or not, this was a good mix!

In my not-so-strange but good mix: curried salmon, pepitas, blackberries, and arugula.

Meal 3:

It’s the steak of the sea again! Swordfish has become a weekly staple for me. This one I grilled with onion, Herbs de Provence, pepper, and lemon juice. Eaten with sautéed asparagus and shiitakes, and 1/2 a sweet potato. On a hippo plate ’cause I was a hungry, hungry hippo yesterday.

Meal 4:

So I braved raw chicken again. Last night I grilled a bunch to bring for lunch this week. As much as I hate touching it, I do like the taste when it’s cooked to perfection (read: not dried out).

I always prepare it 1 or 2 different ways. That way I don’t have a pound of chicken that all tastes the same. This piece had onion powder, pepper, oregano, cayenne, and lemon juice. Eaten with cucumber and carrots. dipped in a quick sauce made of nutritional yeast, paprika, and cumin. Yes, I recycled the plate.

Meal 5:

Apparently Tuesday night is pizza night. I’ve become addicted to making a “crust” out of Kamut flour (no sodium, relatively high protein). I make it just like socca crust, adding whatever flavors I’m in the mood for. Lat night I added garlic, rosemary, and paprika.

My Indian-ish Pizza:

Curried chicken
Mint ricotta spread
Red onion
Fennel
Zucchini
Arugula

The ricotta mixture of the week was simply fat-free ricotta with fresh mint, paprika, and a little water to thin. Like last week, I sautéed the veggies before topping the pizza and sticking it under broil for a few mins. That mint in the ricotta was awesome with the curry chicken!

Meal 6:

For once I wasn’t in to mood for something sweet yet! Probably because I was up prepping food for a business trip. (Holy mother of planning – travel on a “special” diet is interesting. More to come on this strategic extravaganza.)

I made one of my favorite simple salads. Arugula with asparagus tossed with lemon juice and freshly ground pepper. The protein on top is swordfish (the same pre-grilled batch from lunch). Three cheers for food prep.

Meal 7:

Guess who’s still under her sodium for the day. THIS girl. Woo hoo! Make that day 2 of successful sodium control. My reward was a Butternut Squash Pudding.

I mixed no-salt cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, and mashed butternut squash with cinnamon, nutmeg, maple extract, and vanilla stevia. Topped with melted cherries. #strangebutgood

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Pumpkin Pie TVP “Oatmeal”

1 serving TVP Protein “Oatmeal” (without the egg whites)
2 T pumpkin puree
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder (1T)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
Pinch of cloves
5-6 drops liquid stevia
1.5 T water (or other liquid)

Cook TVP oatmeal as instructed here.

Meanwhile, mix together remaining ingredients in a small bowl to make your pumpkin pie “filling.”

Once TVP is cooked, transfer to a bowl and swirl in the pumpkin filling. Top as desired (I used cinnamon and cacao nibs).

Serves 1.

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The protein count for the day: 166.1g. The all-important sodium count: 535.7mg (a little over, but I get some allowance for naturally occurring sodium in veggies).

Quick shameless plug: in case you missed it, check out yesterday’s post for another way to vary your workout. It’s the 2nd in my “Work It Out” series!

Has anyone started tracking or cutting back on sodium since last week? Is it harder than you expected?

What is your favorite food to pack for the road?

Curried Apple Tuna Salad

October 15, 2012 By Laura

Did you see Friday’s Strange But Good?

The mystery stranger was a Curried Apple Tuna Salad. You guys know I’m a fan of the sweet and savory. This recipe is a perfect storm!

The tuna salad my mom made for lunch after church on Sunday’s always included apple. I stopped eating seafood for years, but I always enjoyed the crispness of chopped apple in salads. When I was looking for a new way to jazz-up my tuna salad, it was an obvious addition.

Mom also added a boat-load of mayo to our tuna (Hellman’s not Duke’s). Mayo is certainly NOT on my diet these days. No big deal – I haven’t liked the stuff for years. But I do need something to add moisture to my tuna, and to make the flavor less like… errrr… canned tuna.

The sauce I came up with is a rich tahini curry. Tahini’s sweet sesame flavor is perfect with a little nuttiness from nutritional yeast. Both are natural pairs with the warm, almost ginger-like curry powder.

Turmeric is a big component of yellow curry powder. I’ve always loved the flavor, but it is also a great source of antioxidants. Just a teaspoon of curry powder has as many antioxidants as ½ cup of red grapes!

Arugula is one of my favorite greens. In fact, it may be my absolute favorite. Its peppery taste is perfect with curry, and the sweet apple balanced those stronger flavors.

This is an awesome tuna salad for those who don’t particularly like tuna salad.

Recipe at bottom.

Workout Recap

This week we moved up to doing 15 reps of each exercise. You wouldn’t think 3-5 more reps would make a big difference, but I assure you it DOES! Between that and the 100 pull-ups, I stayed sore all week. It hurts so good.

Saturday I picked out my suit (if you follow me on Instagram you may have seen the fabric), and this week I need to go find costume jewelry and get some super-dark make up for my soon-to-be orange skin. The sodium cut and the pull-ups are working. I’m really starting to see a difference in my body. It’s pretty cool… though I have a lot to work on in the next 19 days. Time is flying!

Workout Recap (10/8 – 10/14):

Monday – Chest/Bis, 100 pull-ups, Calf raises, 2 mile incline walk
Tuesday – Shoulders/Glutes, 1.5 mile incline walk
Wednesday – Back/Tris, 100 pull-ups, Calf raises, 1.75 mile incline walk
Thursday – Shoulders/Glutes, 100 pull-ups, 2 mile walk
Friday – Chest/Bis, 100 pull-ups, Calf raises, 1 mile walk
Saturday – Legs (with trainer)
Sunday – Back/Tris, 100 pull-ups, Calf raises, 2 mile walk

Curried Apple Tuna Salad

2 oz canned Albacore tuna*
1/2 apple, diced
1/2 C arugula
1 T nutritional yeast
1 tsp tahini
1/4 tsp curry powder
Red pepper flakes, to taste (optional)

Combine the tuna, apple, and arugula in a bowl.

In a small bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients with enough water to form a sauce. Pour sauce over the tuna mixture and stir to combine.

*Note: Tempeh would work well here to make this vegan.

Makes 1 serving, easily doubled.

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I need a weekend to recover from my weekend.

Do you like tuna salad?

Was there a dish your family had on certain days of the week?

Strange But (Mostly) Good

October 12, 2012 By Laura

Strange is good, but not always.

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

I don’t know if I can get on board with this. Maybe the Cinnamon & Sugar. Pumpkin Pie Spice is really pushing it. Certainly NOT the White Chocolate & Peppermint.

The Huffington Post agrees with my assessment. They compared the Cinnamon & Sugar to Cinnamon Toast Crunch. They couldn’t take more than a bit of the White Chocolate & Peppermint, calling it a “horrible abomination to humanity.” These interesting chip flavors are set to debut in November.

Who am I to judge? Some of you may think items on this Friday’s “Strange But Good” list are just as revolting.

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1. Banana-Cottage Cheese Toast. With Bacon.

I mixed up some no-salt cottage cheese, 1/2 a mashed banana, cinnamon, peanut flour, and just enough almond milk to keep it from being dry. Then I slathered it on top of a toasted piece of P28 High Protein Bread… and topped it with a teeny bit of crumbled bacon.

Sweet, salty, creamy, and crunchy. This breakfast was everything I could want. Clearly this was before the great sodium cut.

Side note: one of my favorite ATL chefs, Kevin Gillespie, now has an online show. Check out “The Bacon Show.”

2. Dilly Salmon and Raspberry Salad

After the blood orange and curried salmon salad success I posted on Wednesday, I decided to keep going with the salmon combos. This salmon was pre-coked in dill and lemon, them I shredded it and mixed it with raspberries, fresh basil, and crushed Marcona almonds. Ah-mazing.

That bite from the raspberries was perfect with the salmon and the crunch factor from the almond sent me over the edge. A healthy fat win.

3. Vegan Softserve with Sriracha

While Allie was in town last weekend, we hit up Dough Bakery, one of my favorite vegan spots in Atlanta. They offer vegan softserve cups, cones, or shakes. I opted for the cone with sprinkles… and then I eyed the Sriracha left over from our biscuits.

Sweet and spicy… I wanted it to be better than it was. It needed another component. Maybe if it had been a sriracha chocolate sauce? Strange… still mostly good.

They also had zombie cupcakes. I refrained, but I had to share this picture of Halloween strange But Good-ness:

4. Semi-Homemade Hotel Breakfast

PSA: The Homewood Suites in Ft. Worth, TX doesn’t serve oatmeal everyday. They alternate them with grits (welcome to the South).

Luckily I had a BYOP (bring your own protein) back up plan. ~~I’m surprised the TSA didn’t take my bag with all the goodies I packed.~~

Into my bowl went:

1/2 a mashed banana
Mini-box of Cheerios
1 serving protein powder (pre-mixed with flax before I left)
Sugar-free syrup (first time I’ve seen that on a b’fast bar!)
Peanut butter

It wasn’t half bad! I wish there was cinnamon, but the stuff they had was pre-mixed with sugar. Remember to mash the banana first if you’re working with one bowl. It gets messy if you try mashing with the cereal in the bowl (not that I would know…).

My awesome boss didn’t even blink an eye. 🙂

5. Vegan PB & Zeggs*

I know I posted this with the recipe on Wednesday, but I have to give it another shout out. Since the loss of egg whites, I needed a new way to enjoy my PB& Jeggs creations.

Scrambled tofu is a great, low sodium alternative to eggs! I am so in love with my Peanut Butter and Carrot scramble (PB& Ceggs)… naturally I had to try it with zucchini too. New favorite Meal 6 is PB & Zeggs.

My only changes were to use grated zucchini in place of carrot and used almond extract in place of the maple. Topped with extra cinnamon because ~~I’m an addict~~ it’s good for you.

*I suppose I should name this PB & Zofu… but that just doesn’t sound as good!

Bonus Round:

This is a bonus because I’m not telling you what it is until Monday! Let’s just say it was delicious. Any guesses? 2 hints: it was for Meal 2 on Thursday…. and it contained 20g of protein. 🙂

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I’m thinking of hosting a bi-weekly (weekly?) “Strange But Good” round-up. Would anyone be interested in participating?

Would you try those funky Pringles flavors?

What’s the strangest thing you’ve eaten this week?

Attack of the Killer Sodium + WIAW

October 10, 2012 By Laura

Sodium is in everything.

Except peanut flour, thank god.

With less than 4 weeks to go until my figure competition, my diet has gotten more strict. The latest adjustment it sodium. I’m only allowed 500 mg a day. No more bacon, sorry.

It turns out sodium is everywhere – even in thing that aren’t processed Egg whites, for instance. My trainer said I don’t have to cut egg whites until 2 weeks out, but if I eat them my sodium for the day will most certainly be over. And the super expensive crab in my fridge? Forget it.

We’ve seen a lot in the media lately about sodium, and how much is added to our foods. Too much sodium can lead to problems like high blood pressure, heart failure, osteoporosis (this one was news to me), kidney stones, dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, and hormonal imbalance. You don’t need to cut to the extent that I am, but The Institute of Medicine recommends limiting sodium intake to less than 2300 mg per day.

When I first started watching my intake, I was shocked to see how much was in items you’d never think to check. Protein powder is a culprit – I had one egg protein that was about 500 mg! Other unusual suspects: coffee drinks, bread, cereal, and pretty much every condiment known to man.

You don’t have to have salt (or fats, or sugars…) to add flavor to foods! Try some making your own blends for use on protein, veggies, and beans…

Italian: I make my own sodium-free tomato sauce with garlic, onion, basil, oregano and, parsley
Thai: For a spicy peanut sauce, try peanut flour mixed with rice vinegar, lime, sriracha, garlic, and cilantro (similar to what I did here in my: Chili Nutty Tofu)
Mexican: This is an easy one – toss in some lime, cumin, cilantro, garlic, and cayenne like I did in this Mexican “Rice” Bowl
Mediterranean: This is a staple-combo in my kitchen with its lemon peel, garlic, mint, oregano, dill, and onion
Indian: I rubbed a simple mix of lime, garlic, ginger, onion, curry, cumin, coriander, and garam masala on the salmon I used in Meal 2 below

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Another sodium-free item is pumpkin. Perfect for this month’s Halloween-themed What I Ate Wednesday. See if you can guess how much sodium I took in…

Check out my low-sodium, #strangebutgood (that’s scary, right?) eats below, and then click here to head over to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons to get to see how everyone else is scaring up their food this month!

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