Pancake Sunday! Apple Pie Protein Pancakes

Every Sunday will now be Pancake Sunday! With every week a new pancake recipe ... hmm, let's see how long that will last.  But I do love pancakes.  Today's recipe: Apple Cinnamon Protein Pancakes made sugar free and with spelt flour and protein powder.

Apple Cinnamon Protein Pancakes

3/4 cup spelt flour
1/4 cup roll oat flakes
1 scoop of organic raw rice protein powder (any brand will do)
1/2 - 1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 cup almond milk
1/2 large apple, grated

In a medium size bowl mix together the flour, oats, protein powder, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt until well combined.

Add the grated apple and mix well before adding the almond milk.  Mix until all combined well but do not over mix.

Portion batter onto a hot non-stick pan (I used organic coconut oil for cooking).

Let sit on medium-high heat until the center starts to bubble. With a spatula, flip over to the other side and cook further for about 1-2 minutes or until desired crispiness.

Repeat process until batter is gone.  Makes about 6 medium-size pancakes.

Serve with fresh apple slices and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Happy Sunday!

Wet 'n' Wild Toronto Marathon

Today was the Goodlife Toronto marathon which thankfully, I did not have to run in but I did however volunteer as a Bike marshal.  It was cold, wet, rainy, dirty, and did I mention, freaking cold!

Well, it's Sunday evening now and the races are long over so hopefully all runners are now warm in their beds and probably passed out I imagine.  After a hard marathon or even 4-5 hours of bike riding around the cold weather helping the runners, rest and good nutrition are key elements to great recovery.

One of my most favourite pre- and post-work-out drinks to have are protein smoothies (all vegan of course), super delicious and nutritious, here are two of my favourite, easy mixes.

 Cranberry Protein Smoothie

3/4 cup almond milk
1/4 cup water
1/2-3/4 cup of frozen (or fresh) cranberries (however many you like)
1 tsp sunflower butter
1 scoop of vanilla flavoured brown rice protein powder like Sunwarrior

Blend all ingredients together in a good blender and enjoy!

I like mine with ice.

 Green Banana Protein Smoothie

3/4 cup almond milk
1/4 cup water
1 medium ripe organic banana
1 tsp almond butter
1 scoop of vanilla flavoured Vega Sport Performance Protein

Blend all ingredients together in a good blender and enjoy!

I don't discriminate, I personally love most all raw vegan protein powders and sometimes like to mix it up to get the full benefits from each throughout the day.

Congratulations to all the amazing runners today!

Boxer's Diet Week 3 - Gotta Have Protein

When you're not eating meat or fish and trying to eat a low-carb, low-sugar diet getting enough protein can be a tricky one.  Where I get most of my protein? Egg whites, tofu and beans ... mmmm beans.

However, for a quick snack it is sometimes easier to eat a protein bar.  There are SO many of them out there on the market but honestly, I personally dislike most of them.  Besides lacking in good flavour most of them are loaded with carbs, fat and are so unnaturally processed and loaded with chemicals that you really don't know what you're eating!

Recently I discovered one of the best protein bars - all natural, gluten-free, low-carb, low-sugar, low-fat, vegan, with a somewhat high amount of protein - just amazing!  They're called The Simply Bar and for me they're perfect.  They are light and taste great, I sometimes eat two at a time especially before a workout cause I know I'll burn it off easily.

Besides protein bars, the other alternative is protein shakes or drinks, which again I personally have a hard time swallowing because most of them taste digusting! One brand I do like however, because it is again all natural, healthy, gluten-free and entirely plant based is Brendan Brazier's Vega brand.

I buy the small 27g packets first to see how I like the flavour, there are many flavours to choose from so I would suggest starting with the one serving packet to see which flavour you like best.

Since I am not a fan of drinking protein drinks, natural or not, I decided to be clever and make my own protein/engery bars or in this case hearts!  I used two berry flavoured Vega protein powder packs (54g total) and followed one of Brendan Brazier's recipes in his Thrive Diet book, with some slight alterations to fit my diet.  Here's the recipe:

Green and Lean Protein Heart Bars
(original recipe Chocolate Blueberry Energy Bars from The Thrive Diet by Brendan Brazier
- 3/4 cups soaked dates
- 1/4 cup almonds
- 1/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
- 54g Vega Berry flavoured protein powder
- 1/4 cup quinoa (uncooked)
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice

1. Blend all ingredients together in a food processor until well combined and the mixture balls up into dough form.

2. Over wax paper, press the batter down flat but keeping a thick layer.  I used a heart shaped cookie cutter to make my bars

They came out mostly dark green because of the vega powder, it's entirely plant based so although the colour may seem strange these babies taste amazing!

They also make a fantastic raw dessert (post-workout)!

Boxer's Diet Week 1 - Rainbow Lunch

For those who know me well they know that I am training full-time right now, which means eating super healthy full-time too.  My diet is high-protein, low-carb and almost 0 sugar/sodium/fat - unless it's "healthy" fat.

So in order to stick to my no-meat, no-dairy, no-gluten year I have to get a little creative. Beans are my new best-friend and I've rediscovered my love affair with colourful vegetables!

With that said here's a dish I've been typically eating for lunch this past week, I called it:

Rainbow Lunch

The Salad: Romaine greens, spinach, red cabbage, and carrots topped off with Mrs. Dash Chipoltle spice and a balsamic vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil and lemon juice mixture for dressing.

The Protein: Black beans, red pepper and corn (to sweeten).

This dinner is so packed full of nutrients that although it may not seem like much I feel quite satisfied after this dish and keeps me full for at least 3 hours.

I fill my plate with salad the greens salad and enjoy it with 1 cup of the bean salad.

NEXT WEEK: Why breakfast truly is the most important meal of the day!