Recent Happenings

I've really jumped off of the blogging bandwagon, and I really want to hop back on. With writing being a passion of mine, I really need to get better at keeping up with this! I've mentioned before that I have some catching up to do! What better way than to catch up in pictures?

I'm always in the mood for pancakes, and I've posted about them before in sweet potato form. I wanted to make my life a little simpler and have a little less prep time.

Enter egg and protein powder pancakes, probably the easiest combination in the world! Mix 1 scoop of protein powder, I use Sun Warrior vanilla, with 2 eggs and 1/2 tsp baking powder. They're much fluffier than I expected. I've been throwing in different mix ins (blueberries, strawberries, sunbutter, etc) but chocolate chips have definitely been a recent fav.

Another recent fave that I've mentioned before is the chocolate mug cake. I wanted to make a knock off version of PaleOMG's chocolate mug cake. Her cake is wonderful, but I felt that it could definitely be modified to be "one serving friendly."

Mix together:  1 egg, 2 tbsp cocoa powder, 1 tbsp almond flour, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tsp oil, and a pinch of cinnamon. I always throw in a few chocolate chips to make it more of a treat. Microwave for 2 minutes!

This past weekend was filled with fun with friends. Friday night I went to Tigerama, a pep rally held by Clemson, for the very first time. Yes, the first time I got to go was my senior year.. and I loved it! My favorite part was when a few of our guy friends, the "320 Blues," performed the national anthem. After hanging out at Tigerama for a few hours we decided to play a few rounds of Catch Phrase, and it got INTENSE. Guys v Girls never fails to be entertaining. A fun night with friends isn't complete without some type of treat, so the girls and I headed to the store and got a huge package of cookie dough and vanilla ice cream.

Can you guess what we made?

Yep, you guessed it.. PAZOOKIE

It was totally dominated in a matter of 3 minutes, tops.

Saturday was the Clemson v Maryland game, also known as Homecoming. We spent the day tailgating around campus and eating our little hearts out. I love game days:  football, food, and friends are just a few of my favorite things. Might I add that I have the best (sassiest) friends on the planet?

Seriously, I couldn't ask for a better group of encouraging and fun people!

That's all for now!

Until next time, Happy Tuesday!

Paleo On The Go

Since starting Paleo I've been trying to make recipes that Braden would enjoy, and ultimately gain his approval for Paleo-esque foods. After a few weeks he finally jumped on the bandwagon with me, so we are doing our Crossfit gym's 30 day Paleo challenge. Naturally, as soon as we decide to do a whole foods only diet we also decide to go on a week trip to three different beaches.

At first I was a little intimidated because food for me is usually a task, but making food for two.. and for someone who eats twice as much as me, now that was a challenge!

Friday night before we were leaving for beach stop #1 we went on a food shopping spree. We decided that breakfast and lunch meals were crucial, but dinner could be more flexible since we were going on vacation after all.

We packed a few of the usuals. 

After putting together the obvious essentials we needed, we embarked on our cooking extravaganza! I've never really made food in bulk but I've got to admit that I was pretty excited. We bought a montage of things at the grocery store, and we decided to make a few recipes I've mentioned in previous posts.

We started out with egg, sausage, green pepper, and spinach fritattas. These were super easy to make! I got the idea from Katie's recipe and modified it a little to add in some more protein.

We made a big batch of protein pancakes. These ended up being eaten at every point in the day.. breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks! They're so good cold or reheated. The next trip we take I know to make more pancakes, they're essential for travel ;)

We also went round two on the sweet potato and spinach turkey burgers. These were great reheated, we had them for lunch one day while at Pawley's Island. Still great paired with some dijon mustard ;)

Last but not least, I heated up a large spaghetti squash and packed half of it for the road. I made a turkey marinara from tomato paste, basil, oregano, garlic salt, and ground turkey. We never ate any of this meal which is kind of disappointing, but I know that it would have been delicious!

It was so great knowing that we always had food on hand, and that we were also saving a ton of money by not eating every meal out. Each night we ended up getting dinner out with friends, but we still stuck to our strict Paleo style eating. 

I'm glad we prepared all of our meals, but I was happier about spending some time with Bray and getting to have some quality cooking time with him!

That's all for tonight, be on the look out for a recap of our 4 day road trip to South Carolina beaches!

Sweet Potato Pancakes

I don't know about yall, but I LOVE sweet potatoes. Baked sweet potatoes, sweet potato fries, you name it and I probably love it. I've been exploring with pancake recipes and came across this one, and it's actually really good!

The first time I tried making these I just mashed the sweet potatoes.. I wouldn't suggest it haha. Definitely puree or blend the ingredients before you put them on the griddle.

Sweet Potato Pancakes

What you'll need:
1 small sweet potato
1 scoop vanilla whey protein
1/2 cup egg whites
Cinnamon
1 packet Stevia or Splenda to taste

Step 1: Put sweet potato in microwave for about 5-7 minutes
Step 2: Add egg whites, protein powder, cinnamon, and Stevia in blender (in that order!)
Step 3: Peel skin off sweet potato (careful, it's hot) and put everything but the skin in blender
Step 4: Blend/puree well, then spoon batter onto griddle

Spray with non-stick cooking spray -- Keep griddle on medium heat

The pancakes are ready to flip once edges firm up. Cook another 2-3 minutes until the undersides are also golden brown. Sometimes they'll get a large air bubble, no worries, just press it down with a spatula!

Mmm sweet and healthy, drizzle with maple syrup and enjoy!