White Pizza with Broccoli and Garlic

Broccoli is rich in vitamin C & fiber

I love white pizza. I love garlic. I recently came across a flatbrad wrap that Aldi makes that has 90 calories per wrap and 9g of protein combined with 9g dietary fiber. By the way, if you haven't been to Aldi, you need to go. I've been shopping there for as long as I can remember and now with their addition of organic produce and all-natural items to their already great lineup, I find myself shopping there more often. It's very easy on the purse strings, too! In this pizza, I used one flatbread for the crust. It takes about 15 minutes to prep and another 15 to bake. This recipe will make 2 pizzas. The nutritional information to follow is for each pizza.

White Pizza with Broccoli & Garlic:

2 Fit & Active Original Flatbreads
3 C broccoli florets, cut in lengthwise quarters
1/2 C part-skim ricotta
2 Tbsp whipped cream cheese
2 Tbsp grated parmesan
1/2 C part-skim mozzarella
2 gloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

In a large bowl combine broccoli, cloved garlic, 1 tsp garlic powder and olive oil. Toss to combine and set aside.

In a smaller bowl, combine ricotta, cream cheese, parmesan, 1 tsp garlic powder. You can add more or less garlic powder to taste. You can also add a sprinkle of ground black pepper, to taste. If the mixture is thick, which it most likely is, heat in the microwave for 30 seconds at 50% power. This will "melt" the cheeses so that you can spread them easier on the flatbread.

Preheat your oven to 400. Toast your flatbreads on level 2 for a toaster over or for 3 minutes in the conventional oven. Remove & let cool. When cooled, spread cheese mixture over flatbreads & layer with broccoli mixture. Top each pizza with 1/4 C of shredded part-skim mozzarella. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Oven times may vary, so check after 10 minutes for doneness.

Each flatbread pizza yields:
Calories: 436
Carbs: 30.39g
Fat: 27.5g
Protein: 27.6g

Tasty Tuna & Sweet Kale Blend Salad with Chia & Cauliflower

This was so, so delicious! A few weeks ago, someone in my group had posted something about Costco selling this sweet kale salad blend made by Taylor Farms. It has 7 superfoods and is a blend of kale, cabbage, chicory, brussel sprouts, cranberries & pumpkin seeds. It has been one of the greatest finds to date. This blend is crunchy and has so much flavor that FINALLY salad is exciting again! Today, I am having said salad and included 4 oz of solid white albacore tuna in water (which was drained), added 1/2 Tbsp mayonnaise, and 1 cup of raw cauliflower. The salad comes with it's own poppyseed dressing, which is equally delicious. I also added 1 Tbsp of chia seeds. Today's lunch was filling and tasty. Just because you're eating healthier, doesn't mean your food needs to lack taste. This was the perfect example of how you can make a quick, nutritious lunch that won't leave you feeling bloated and guilty. For the amount of time you would be waiting in a fast food drive-through, you can whip up this pile of tastiness. Just remember, "You are what you eat. Don't be fast, cheap, easy or fake"! The only one I'll exclude out of that is "cheap" because at $4.99 per bag, this salad blend is super affordable!

Below you will find the nutritional information and portions used:

Vanilla & Salted Caramel Protein Cake Bites

This is one bar, cut in half.

These little bars are a dream! They're moist and have a pound cake consistency. Topped with homemade caramel sauce & sea salt, they satisfy both a salty and sweet craving. They are made with vanilla LRW protein powder. I'll post another blog post about that, until then, you can visit Life Recovery Wellness at their website here.

For the bars:
2/3 C LRW protein powder (2 scoops)
3 eggs
1 15oz can garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
3 Tbsp coconut or canola oil
1/3 C sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp vanilla



Caramel Sauce:
1 C packed brown sugar
4 Tbsp butter
1/2 C half & half

*You will also need a sea salt grinder or large, flaky salt for garnishing.

Rinse and drain beans, set aside. In a blender, blend eggs, protein powder, oil, vanilla, salt, sugar & baking powder. Slowly add beans. If you used coconut oil, the batter may appear as though it is separating, but that is just the coconut oil returning to it's original state (solid) when mixed with cool ingredients. Grease a 6" square pan (I use the Wilton one) and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cooking times may vary according to oven.

For the caramel sauce, bring sugar, cream, & butter to a boil, constantly stirring. This is very important as it only takes a few seconds to burn.  Boil for 3-5 minutes and let cool.

Once cooled, flip the pan and cut into 9 segments (like a tic tac toe board). Drizzle 1/2 tsp caramel sauce on top and top with sea salt.

In each 2" square:
Calories: 141 (169 with caramel sauce)
Protein: 5.3g
Fat: 5.67g
Carbs: 16.8g
(dietary fiber - 3.25g)
(sugar - 7.73g)

Zucchini Banana Muffins

3 medium zucchini
3 small bananas (you could most likely substitute this for 2 small baked sweet potatoes or 1 ripe avocado)
2 eggs
2 C oatmeal (I used quick cooking)
1/4 C honey
1 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp ground flaxseed
2 Tbsp brewer's yeast
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Peel & grate zucchini in a large bowl. In a separate large bowl (or in my case, I used a mini food processor) blend bananas, eggs, baking powder, flaxseed, brewer's yeast, salt, honey, & vanilla. Add liquid mixture to shredded zucchini. Add oatmeal to zucchini mixture, one cup and a time, blending thoroughly.

Spoon (I used an Oneida serving spoon so you have even amounts in each cup) mixture into greased or non stick muffin pan. You can also use cupcake liners, but make sure they are fully cooled before taking the paper off.

Bake at 350 for approximately 15-20 mins or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Serving size: 1 muffin
Each batch makes 12

Each muffin yields:
Calories: 128
Fat (g): 2.3
Carbohydrates (g): 23.5
Sugar (g): 9.9
Dietary Fiber (g): 3.6
Protein (g): 4.8