A Few Yummy Recipes!

Well, I'm eight weeks out from my competition today (eek!) and I'm trying to prevent any food adversions from popping up.  I'm very bad about eating the same things constantly and then getting to a point where I can't stand to even think about eating it.  Not cool when it gets to crunch time.  So, I've been fiddling around with some recipes and trying to find things that are healthy and fit into my macros.  Here are three that I came across this week that I'll keep around even after competition season is over:

Buffalo Chicken
1/2c nonfat plain Greek yogurt
2tbsp nonfat buttermilk
2tbsp white wine vinegar
1/3c low fat feta cheese
1/4tsp salt
4tbsp hot sauce
1tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1tbsp paprika
4 4-6oz chicken breasts

Wisk together yogurt, buttermilk, vinegar, feta and salt.  Cover and refridgerate.
Combine hot sauce, oil, and paprika.  Cut chicken into strips and place in large ziploc bag.  Pour hot sauce mixture over chicken, close and shake to coat chicken.  Marinate for 30min.
Preheat oven to 400.  Spray baking sheet with Pam and place chicken strips on sheet.  Bake for 8-10 min until chicken is done.  Top chicken with feta sauce and enjoy!  Serves 4.

I got this from an old Clean Eating magazine. These are SOOO yummy!  I'm not even a big wing person, but these are the bomb in my opinion. :)  I had them for dinner with salad and some celery sticks, and then used the leftovers to make a buffalo chicken wrap and used the sauce as dressing.  SO good! 

Salmon and Blackberry Salad
12oz salmon
2c chopped asparagus
2c blackberries
2tsp raw honey
4tsp lite soy sauce
2tsp sesame oil
1/4c orange juice
6c spinach or argula

Preheat oven to 400.  Divide salmon into 4oz portions.  Spray baking sheet with spray and bake salmon for 18min.
Steam asparagus for 2min until crisp-tender.  Rinse and chill in refridgerator.
Take 16 blackberries, add honey, soy sauce, oil and o.j. and stir to combine breaking up the blackberries slightly - they will be chunky.
Arrange spinach on plates, top with asparagus, salmon and 1/4 reserved blackberries.  Drizzle with blackberry sauce and enjoy!
220cal, 9g fat, 17g carbs, 21g protein

This also came from the Clean Eating magazine. I made this on a hot afternoon and it was so refreshing!  I'll definitely be having more of this over the summer months!

And last but not least:

Chocolate Pancakes - Oh yeah!!
4 egg whites
1/4-1/2c oatmeal
1/4-1/2c low fat or fat free cottage cheese
1/2tsp vanilla
2tbsp unsweetened cocoa
4-6 packets (or tsp) stevia/splenda
Dash of salt
Optional:
Coconut oil
Fat free whipped topping
Sugar Free Hershey's Chocolate Syrup
Dark chocolate chips

Put egg whites, oatmeal, cottage cheese, vanilla, cocoa, sweetener, and salt into a blender and blend until creamy. 
Heat skillet to low-med heat and spray with cooking spray.
Pour batter onto skillet and cook until done, flipping once.
Top with coconut and any of the above toppings.
Makes 2 pancakes or 1 giant pancake.

Ok - there is a lot of options with this.  I put 1/4-1/2c on the oats and cottage cheese so you can adjust it to your needs.  I can't have a lot of carbs at the moment, so I used 1/4c of each.  These cook up real fluffy just like a pancake.  Eaten alone, they aren't super sweet, but topped with the syrup or whipped cream is probably AMAZING.  I have to settle for plain at the moment. :)  I also added chocolate chips as an option.  You can sprinkle on top, or stir into the batter after it's been blended. Yummy!!  So many options!  Be creative - but healthy! :)

Speaking of pancakes...the recipe above is a very common "bodybuilding/fitness junkie" recipe - therefore I don't really know who to give the credit too.  You can make pretty much any kind of pancake you can think of, so make it your own.  Just keep the following 5 ingredients:
4 egg whites
1/4-1/2c oatmeal
1/4-1/2c cottage cheese
1/2tsp vanilla
stevia - usually you only need about 2, but the cocoa makes the chocolate recipe a little harder to sweeten - just start with two and sweeten to taste.

Here are some other options to add to the pancake recipe:
1/2-1 Banana: blend with the batter, and add to the regular recipe or the chocolate
1-2tbsp natural peanut butter
1/2c sliced strawberries - add after blended
2tbsp chopped walnuts/pecans/almonds
1/2c blueberries - add after blended
1/4c raisens and cinnamon
1/3c applesauce and cinnamon
1/2can pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon

The possibilities are endless here!  These pancakes are a staple for me.  I love them with different fruit toppings or sugar free syrup.  I also like to top with coconut oil rather than butter.  So good, and kids love them too.  Have fun with it!