BLT Salad + Mayo Vinaigrette

When I was growing up we ate BLT's A LOT and I LOVED them! They are easy and HELLO who does not LOVE bacon. If you don't I am not sure we can continue to be friends. It's life! As I got older and have wanted to focus on being healthy. I have learned 1 SUPER important thing about myself 

I LURRRRVVEEE carbs. Like ALL of them. 

My body HATES the carbs

Let me clarify. We ALL need carbs, in fact, you will have brain fog and suffer from low energy without them. In my 2.5 years as a fitness coach, I have seen my own body and clients of mine see a huge shift in success when we lose the crappy carbs and incorporate better ones like Sweet Potatoes, Red Potatoes, Beans, Corn and Edamame to name a few. 

One day when I was craving a good old BLT I decided to make it fit my meal plan and goals so that is where this salad was born! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! I think this will become a summer classic I mean fresh sweet corn and some beautiful vine ripe tomatoes what is better!? foodie for life here! 

If you follow Portion Fix the containers for this is 1 Red, 1 yellow, 1.5 green, 1 orange

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup of mixed lettuce, I used spinach and arugula but I also love romiane here too'
• 1 hard boiled egg sliced into quarters
• 2 strips of turkey bacon or regular bacon cooked ( I am a regular bacon girl, no nitrates, hormones or steroids added)
• 3-4 slices of fresh tomato ( grape tomatoes can be used as well summer is great for heirloom)
• 1/4 cup fresh corn cut off the cob
• 3 tablespoons mayo ( I use dukes because there is no added sugar)
• salt + pepper to taste
• juice of 1 lemon
• scant 1/4 tsp garlic powder 
• scant 1/4 tsp onion powder

( This salad is GREAT for lunches if you prep a bit on the weekend. Making a batch of hard-boiled eggs and bacon and cutting up some corn storing all of these in the fridge makes this a SNAP)

DIRECTIONS

1. Place lettuce, tomato, egg, and corn and bacon on a plate and set aside
2. For the dressing add 3 tbs of Mayo, salt, and pepper to taste, ass garlic powder and onion powder plus the juice of 1 lemon, I sometimes use half if it is a super juicy one. Taste as you go. Wisk together taste and adjust seasoning as needed per your taste.
3. Top salad with 2 tablespoons of Mayo Vinaigrette and ENJOY

Sneaky Pancakes

OK as you all know I have taken on timed nutrition and it has presented me with some challenges but in the face of them, I have developed some new recipes to help me make the most of it! When I found out that I needed to have a Veggie, protein and a fruit with a teaspoon of fat all as my pre-workout meal at 5:30 am I was instantly worried and then I got to work on what I like to call Sneaky Pancakes.

Yep they are green, nope you don't taste any veggies thanks to baby spinach. I have adored having these each morning. They fill the need in my meal plan and I look forward to them. One of my biggest concerns was feeling too full and not having a great workout because of it. These FIT the bill leaving me energized for my workout not weighed down! 

Please check out my tips at the end of the recipe :) I hope you love them as much as I do and PS if you are wanting to try these for your kids maybe calling them the hulk pancakes might help.. xo 

Makes 4 servings- about 4-5 pancakes per serving depending on the size. If you use portion fix I count 1 serving as 1 Green, 1 red, 1 purple, 1 teaspoon for the butter

INGREDIENTS 

• 4 cups of fresh baby spinach
• 2 ripe bananas
• 8 eggs
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 packets stevia or 1 Tablespoon of Pure Maple Syrup
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries 
• Olive oil spray for the griddle or pan
• Butter for serving on top 

DIRECTIONS

1. Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor EXCEPT the blueberries and blend until smooth
2. Heat pan or skillet on medium-low heat. I do about 325 on my griddle ( you may have to play with the heat a bit. Cook them too fast and hot and you will have a mushy burnt mess) Slow and steady ok. No walking away from these. The batter is thin so expect that an pour slowly. Wait until they are set up before flipping.
3. Spray with no stick spray and pour batter into a fairly small pancake about 3-4 inches drop on a few blueberries while the batter is still liquid.
4. Flip pancake once after it is bubbled up a bit and slightly firm. They should be lightly browned when you flip. ( picture below)
5. Store leftovers in a tight container in the fridge for up to a week. These reheat amazingly! 
6. Serve with teaspoon of butter over top and ENJOY! 

I love adding the berries because as they heat up they burst and it is almost like a warm jam! YUMMMM! 

PROTEIN PACKED PUMPKIN MUFFINS

As many of you know I have taken on a new booty and ab program that calls for some timed nutrition which is AMAZING! It is was also really different from what I was doing and I found that prep was the KEY to being successful with the program. 

Naturally, when I learned I would need to eat a combo of  Protein ( red) Carb (yellow) and veggie ( a green) in the am I got to work on thinking what can I do to make this something OTHER than eggs. Because that will get old for me REAL quick.. am I right or what !?!?!?!? I need variety in my life and I NEED to love my food. This one hit the spot for a fast, easy portable meal that eats like a snack! 

This muffin is not sweet like you would expect for a typical muffin. SO if you are not used to eating clean I would add 3 Tablespoons of 100% pure maple syrup to this recipe and work you way down as your taste buds change! 

Makes 12 Muffins - 3 muffins is 1 serving

For my peeps following my meal plan, this is 1 Yellow, 1 Green, 1 Red 1 teaspoon ( to learn more about my meal plan and to join our accountability group apply here www.btyafitnessjourney.com/getfit

INGREDIENTS 

• 1 cup quick oats
• a rounded 1/2 tsp of salt of half tsp with a heavy pinch added ( do not skip this) 
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 2 packets of stevia
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup plain greek yogurt. ( if you like a sweeter muffin you can use Okioks Triple Zero vanilla yogurt) 
• 1 cup of pumpkin puree

DIRECTIONS

1.  Preheat oven 350
2. Line a muffin pan with silicone liners ( these were perfect and no sticking, or spray pan)
3. Place oats in blender or food processor and blend until it resembles a flour
4. Add the rest of the ingredients blend until smooth 
5. distribute the batter evenly in muffin pan
6. Bake for about 20 min
7. enjoy!  I serve these slightly warmed with a teaspoon of butter

Bell Pepper Pizza Bites

As soon as I made the decision to try timed nutrition I was excited and also really scared because as you know I am a foodie of all foodies and YES I want results but I also need to eat food that I absolutely enjoy because if I don't ... well, I will just fall off the wagon.

This new program that I am trying out tells you exactly how to place your foods through the day and when I saw that my blue container was placed with a veggie I was instantly heartbroken. This meant no more tortilla pizzas on Friday night so I GOT TO WORK and THIS recipe was born and my oh my and I so happy I came up with this one! 

It is like having pizza with zero guilt and ALL of the results and it is AMAZING oh and it reheats really well! I am sharing all of my time nutrition meals in my IG stories so if you would like to follow along check it out at Lisa_m_Hauck 

I am gonna give you the recipe to make 1 servings and you can double or triple this as you need too! 

INGREDIENTS 

• 1 green bell pepper. with 4 sides cut off to leave a little divet to add sauce and cheese into ( you can use any color you like, I prefer green)
• 2 tablespoons of a clean Marinara sauce ( no added sugar) 
• 1 oz of fresh mozzarella cut into small chunks 
• A pinch of dried oregano
• Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring a small pan of salted water to a boil,  add the bell peppers and boil for 2-3 min just until slightly tender. ( do not overcook these or they will be too soggy)
2. On a paper towel place cooked bell pepper and pat dry, salt and pepper as desired
3.  Preheat oven to broil and get out a sheet pan placing the bell peppers right on the pan
4. Add marinara sauce, cheese, oregano and pepper to the bell pepper pizzas
5. Place under broiler just until cheese is bubbly and brown about 3 min. ( keep a close eye on these and do not walk away)

If you are making more than 1 serving ( I always do) then place them in a shallow storage dish and allow to cool. Place in the fridge and reheat in the microwave until warmed through and ENJOY!  

Sweet Potato Hash

I LOVE carbs it is not a secret ha! I know for a fact that is how I became 50 lbs overweight and I also have learned the difference between good carbs and carbs that are not so good for you. Nope, they are not all created equal and YES we ALL need carbs..... Literally, your brain functions on carbs so take them away from your diet and you will be foggy and let's not forget HANGRY. 

The #1 carb that you should be eating more of is sweet potatoes. They are so yummy and will keep you full and your body happy! Think I can chase my toddler around all day kinda energy. 

1. I have been LOVING these for breakfast paired with some carmalized red onions and eggs. I have made these into a SIMPLE meal by pre-cooking the sweet potato because when the mood strikes and you need food the last thing I want to do is wait too long to make it. By that time I will end up grabbing something I should not have. 

SUPER SECRET NINJA TRICK is to scrub the skin, stab a few time ha, and then cook in the microwave. once cooled enough just cut them into little disks so they are ready when you are! 

INGREDIENTS 

• 1 medium sweet potato
• 1 tsp olive oil 
• Salt and pepper to taste
• OPTIONAL thin sliced red onion 

DIRECTIONS

1. Scrub the sweet potato, poke a few holes with knife or fork.
2. Place in Microwave ( I use the Potato feature ) cook until soft
3. Allow a few minutes for cooling so you can cut the potato into disks leaving the skin on because there are so many nutrients in the skin. ( PREP TIP: you can stop here and once cooled put in the fridge then pop them out any time you want them)
4. Preheat nonstick pan to medium-high heat, add oil. Once the pan is hot add your sweet potatoes ( I love to cook onions with this at the same time too) sautee for about 3 minutes on each side flipping until both sides are toasy brown and slightly crispy. 
5. Salt and pepper to taste and ENJOY!