Oatmeal Carrot Cake Muffins

Hey Everyone!  It has been a while since I posted a new recipe so here is one for you to try out this week.  A great breakfast option for a family on the go.  Healthy ingredients and tasty too.  Breakfast is so important for getting your metabolism burning and minimizing those late morning cravings, so make these on the weekend and enjoy an easy and quick breakfast all week!  Take good care of yourselves out there!

Oatmeal Carrot Cake Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 cup oats
• ½ cup almond milk
• 2 ½ cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup Splenda
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 ½ cups carrots, shredded
• ½ cup raisins
• 1 cup crushed pineapple in 100% juice, with juice
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine oats with milk,  mix well and set aside
3. Combine flour and brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt, mix well and set aside
4. Combine oat mixture with carrots, raisins, pineapple with juice, eggs, applesauce, and vanilla and mix well
5. Add to dry ingredients and mix just until moist
6. Scoop into muffin tins sprayed with cooking spray
7. Bake x 30 minutes or until desired doneness

Make 16 muffins

Each muffin has approximately: 123 calories/4 grams protein/3 grams fiber

Standardized Eating…what?

Eat Without Feeling Deprived…Standardized Eating

 Eating for Success

Standardized eating has been a huge part of me getting my nutrition/calories/snacking in order.  When I say “standardize eating” what I am referring to is choosing a couple balanced meals and snacks that become a regular part of your daily eating routine.  This approach saves time and mental energy and makes healthy eating easier to fit in to hectic schedules.  Having your go to meals and snacks available eliminates some of your food choices helping you make healthy choices with less effort.  Instead of figuring out what sounds good, you just prepare your meal and get on with your life.  This puts food in its proper place in your day…needed but not the focus.

Here are some examples of meals and snacks that are a part of my daily life to give you some ideas.  The important thing to understand as you formulate your standardized choices is to include foods that you enjoy in a balanced way so you don’t feel deprived which usually leads to overeating and impulsive decisions.  I like lots of different textures, so adding crunchy topping to my morning yogurt satisfies that craving for me.  It is too easy to add a cup of crunchy goodness when I don’t need all those calories, so I have a 1/4 cup measuring scoop in the cereal so a correct portion is easy-peasy.

 Some ideas to get you thinking:

1^st right out of the gate:  big glass of water!  Just chug it and make your first choice of the day a healthy one!

My Standard Breakfast:  1 Carbmasters (Kroger brand that is higher in protein and lower in sugar than a Yoplait type yogurt) yogurt with ½ cup fresh berries or half a banana & ¼ cup of Ancient Grains cereal.  1 Whole grain sandwich thin toasted with 1 TBSP peanut butter.

Option 2 for breakfast:  Hot 5 minute Oatmeal with raisins, 1/4 cup almond milk, 1 TBSP. brown sugar and cinnamon, Apple slices with 1 TBSP. peanut butter.

Usual Lunch:    Spinach salad with whatever veggies I have on hand (shredded carrots, cucumbers, peppers, etc.) and ½ cup lean protein of some sort (chicken, pinto beans, hard-boiled egg whites).  ¼ cup low fat cheese and I use salsa for dressing.  I like one serving of Triscuits or other whole grain cracker with my salad.

Option 2 Lunch:  Sometimes it is too cold for salad, so I opt for a burrito.  1 whole wheat tortilla, ¼ cup pinto or black beans, ¼ cup low fat cheese.  Toast in the toaster oven and then add salsa and spinach.  1 serving Tortilla chips with salsa and Carrot sticks

Quickie Lunch:  Protein shake:  ¾ cup almond milk, ½ scoop whey protein, 1 cutie, ½ banana, 2 Strawberries and ice; blend and off I go!

My go to snacks: (eat every 3-4 hours while awake to maintain steady blood sugar and burn fat instead of store it)

• Small handful of almonds (6-8) with fun-size pack of peanut M&M’s (my fav!)
• Sugar-free fudgsicle (another fav)
• Luna Bar
• Nature Valley Peanut butter and Dark Chocolate Protein bar (fav)
• 1 cup popcorn
• Celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins (fav)
• Apple slices
• Baby carrots

For dinner, often we eat vegetarian. I focus on veggies and lean protein and finish with a wine spritzer and a fudgsicle!  There you have it, no feeling deprived and lots of yum!  Be creative and plan for success by creating standard meals and snacks.

Shift your focus to living instead of eating.

Eat for Success

Happy New Year!  I’ve started a monthly newsletter for the gals I work with and I’ve decided to post it here too!  2014 is upon us and so it is time to get a plan and meet goals and make this the year you want it to be!  A health lifestyle includes so much more than just weight management, but I know weight management is the hot topic right now, so that is the topic for today.  I’ll be putting out more posts that go into more specifics related to the ideas presented in this newsletter, but I wanted to get some tips our there for you to start playing with.

Eat Without Feeling Deprived…Get Lasting Results

Nutrition 101

A healthy diet consists of balance and a combination of different types of nutrients.  Advertised programs that eliminate a category of nutrients should be avoided; our bodies were created to function best with a variety of foods.

Carbohydrates:  Primary fuel and energy source for the body.  4 calories/gram

Complex Carbs are carbohydrates that include starches or fiber.  These types of foods are processed more slowly through your body facilitating nutrient absorption and steady blood sugar levels.

Simple Carbs or carbohydrates that are comprised of natural and artificial sugars; they are an immediate source of energy broken down rapidly by our bodies.

Protein:  Important for moving and balancing fluid, nutrients, waste, and electrolytes throughout the body; important for immune system health, and a component of bones, muscles, and tendons.  4 calories/gram

Healthy Fats:  Secondary energy source, component in many hormones, aids in vitamin absorption, and supports brains and nervous system development. 9 calories/gram

Eating for Success

This is one of my favorite topics because I believe there is so much misperception related to food choices and what healthy eating really means!  I hear it regularly in my circle of friends; they are sure I won’t eat a cookie because “I’m healthy” or they believe that I never indulge in fattening foods or sweets because I’m committed to a healthy lifestyle.  Well, let me dispel the myth right now!  I love sweets and I eat chocolate just about every day!  And yes, it is part of my healthy lifestyle.  So, now that I have your attention, let’s talk about how to incorporate the foods you love into a healthy lifestyle.  Here are some places to start:

• Strive to eat healthfully 80% of the time.  This allows for special occasions and indulgences without feeling guilty or “bad”.
• Modify your favorite recipes using healthier ingredients to increase nutrition and decrease fat.  Here are a few tips:

*Wheat flour instead of white flour

*Skim milk instead of 2% milk

*Egg whites instead of whole eggs

• Portion Control!  Watch labels and know the serving size prior to indulging in a snack.  Buy portion-sized packages on “high-risk” foods.  You know what your high-risk foods are!  I buy the “fun size” packs of peanut M&M’s to get my chocolate fix rather than having a bowl sit on the counter…that would not be helpful!

 

• Standardized Eating.  Find a couple combinations that you enjoy for breakfast and lunch and just rotate through them.  This reduces some of your decisions and makes it easier to keep pushing towards your goals.  If you plan ahead of time what is for breakfast, you are more likely to eat a healthy breakfast instead of skip it or make a choice you’ll regret.

 

• Plan for success.  Plan for your eating throughout the day.  If you will be running errands all day then pack a couple healthy snacks in your purse so you won’t be tempted to make an impulse decision involving a drive thru that adds too many calories to your day.  If you are working all day (night) plan for your eating to facilitate healthy choices even when you are tired or busy.

Remember that all Calories Count     You can eat all healthy food and still be overweight!  The science behind weight management can’t be overlooked or re-written.  The fact is that if your calories in are more than your calories burned each day you will gain weight, even if the excess calories are healthy choices.