Carla, our athlete client’s BLUEBERRY MUFFIN RECIPE:

I devised these myself from all of my various cookbooks. Vegan and carne alike.

Blueberry Muffins

2 1/2 cups flour (whole wheat, spelt, oat or mixes)
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup wheat bran
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 packets xylitol or 4 T. stevia/splenda (optional)
1 T. vinegar
1 1/3 cup warm water
1 T. oil (options: olive or coconut)
1/2 - 1 tsp vanilla
3 egg whites
2 3/4 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a muffin tin (dozen) or line with papers.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, wheat germ, wheat bran, baking soda and sweetener. Stir well.

In a medium bowl, combine the vinegar, oil, water, vanilla and egg whites. Whisk or stir thoroughly.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Mix until just incorporated. Add blueberries and gently combine.

Spoon batter into muffin tin, filling each cup evenly.

Bake 20 – 40 mins. Check at 20 minutes. Bake until muffins are golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Completely cool on a rack, if possible.

These definitely aren’t sweet, but the blueberries give it enough sugar. Sigh. Very good. Thick and bread-y - if that’s your taste.

THE EAT-CLEAN DIET Vegetarian Cookbook’s NO-CHEESE RASPBERRY CHEESECAKE

Our FitnessPrint client, Rav, put Tosca’s NO-CHEESE RASPBERRY CHEESECAKE to the test! Read her review below.

“The other day I decided to make the no cheese cheesecake from Tosca’s new vegetarian book and all I can say is “Amazing”, especially since I am not a fan of cheesecake. It is very easy to make. For the graham crackers I used gluten free graham style crackers called “S’morables” by Kinnikinnick Foods. I do have to say that it is very important that you check the cooking time when baking the actually filling part and it is very important to let it cool completely before taking it out of the pan. I don’t like raspberries so I used strawberries instead. I think that the topping is what makes it taste so good. When I am eating it I feel like I’m having a cheat. I would definitely recommend this recipe to others”

Ingredients:

• whole wheat honey graham crackers
• sea salt
• unrefined coconut oil
• brown rice syrup
• pure vanilla extract
• firm tofu
• yogurt cheese
• lemon
• baking soda
• arrowroot starch
• frozen raspberries strawberries
• lemon juice

As Tosca says, “This is a sinful treat brought down to a Clean level with healthful ingredients and a killer taste that will definitely have you coming back for more.”

Who’s wants to try this slice of heaven?

Theresa, our athlete client’s SPROUTED GRAIN FRENCH TOAST RECIPE:

Depending on your hunger level you can tweak this recipe as needed.

Ingredient:
- 2 slices of sprouted grain bread
- cinnamon to your liking
- 5 egg whites
- unsweetened cocoa powder (optional)
- sugar-free syrup (during on-season) or pure maple syrup
- fruit of your choice (I usually use bananas, strawberries, or blueberries)
- Stevia (optional - I don’t use this but you might want to to make your french toast sweeter)

Method:
- defrost your bread the night before
- add egg whites to a flat bowl or rounded plate (add cinnamon and/or cocoa power to this mix or add it on your toast once it’s cooking)
- dip one side of bread in your mixture (use hands), coat it, flip it, repeat
- place in frying pan, cook until your liking (both sides)
- repeat with other slice
- when finished place both slices on plate and add your fruit, syrup, and/or 1 TBSP of Peanut Butter

Enjoy!

FAVOURITE COMPLEX MEAL

Smoked Paprika Chicken and Roasted Potatoes

By Kerri, our Team Blessed Bodies’ competitor.

In a roasting pan add chicken breasts scored with new baby potatoes.
Mix in
1 tsp smoked paprika
black pepper
Thyme
Garlic
1-2 tsp olive oil

Roast together at 400 degrees until potatoes are soft and browned and chicken is cooked (Chicken may cook first, if so remove and tent in foil)

Top with a squeeze of fresh lime, fresh pepper, and serve with fresh garden salad.

Favourite Scallops recipe by our lifestyle client, Zain

Scallop Seafood Salad

Ingredients:

Marinade:
Juice of 1 lime (optional)
2 Tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste

Seafood and Mushrooms:
6oz fresh sea scallops
5.2 oz fresh tail-on prawns
3 sliced portobello mushrooms

Italian Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs (basil, oregano and thyme)

Salad:
4 cups fresh mixed baby greens
380g cup baby tomatoes
450g cucumber, cut in half lengthwise and sliced
130g red bell pepper, cut in julienne strips
130g yellow bell pepper, cut in julienne strips
160g cup shredded carrots
2oz avocado
1oz low fat goat’s cheese or feta cheese (optional)

Directions:

1. Whisk together marinade ingredients in a bowl.

2. Add seafood and sliced mushrooms; turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.

3. Combine all vinaigrette ingredients in a blender or magic bullet.
Process on high speed until the mixture is well blended. Set aside.

4. Spray pan with cooking spray; heat to medium high heat. Remove seafood and mushrooms from marinade; discard marinade.

5. Grill shrimp and scallops 2 to 3 minutes per side or until seafood is cooked through and has browned highlights. Remove from pan and set aside. Add mushrooms; grill 4 to 5 minutes, turning once. Remove from pan.

6. Arrange salad ingredients on a medium platter. Top with grilled seafood and mushrooms. Drizzle dressing as desired over the salad. Top with fresh ground pepper.

YOGURT CHEESECAKE by our Team Blessed Bodies’ competitor, Veronica.

Part of this recipe is from The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbooks. First, I made yogurt cheese (strained yogurt) but one day I experimented with my sugar-free jello and it tasted and had the consistency of cheesecake!

Yogurt Cheesecake Dessert

What you need:

• 1 container of liberty fat free plain yogurt

• cheese cloth

• a fine mesh strainer(sifter)

• bowl

• package fat free/sugar-free cheesecake jello pudding

To make yogurt cheese:
Put strainer over bowl, line strainer with cheese cloth, place yogurt in strainer and let sit in the fridge overnight.

To make one serving:
Mix about 3 tbs of the powdered jello mix with approx. 4 to 5 tbs of your choice of milk (skim, almond, soy). Basically just enough to make it look like pudding. Then mix in your dairy serving of yogurt cheese (I use approx 1/3 of a cup) and enjoy!

By Mindy, our fitness model competitor

2 simple recipes:

BLUEBERRY PEACH ICED TEA is one of my favourites

-Crystal Light peach iced tea (singles packet)
-some REAL black tea added (I steep a strong, half-mug of black tea ahead of time and let it cool.)
-a handful of frozen blueberries

Shake ingredients in a shaker cup with ice and water until the blueberries change the colour. Adding frozen blueberries to most crystal light flavours tastes better.


Recipe #2
Sweet Coconut & Dill Yams (kind of a treat.)

-About a 1/2 cup of coconut milk (1/3 cup might do)
-A medium-sized yam cut length ways, and then sliced - 1/4” thick slices.
-FRESH dill chopped - to taste. I use a small handful.

Steam the yams partially first before mixing with the milk. When they are softened, but still very firm, place them in a small saucepan with the coconut milk and dill. Heat on high until almost bubbling, then reduce heat to medium. Stir regularly to make sure the dill gets broken up a little bit. Keep an eye on them, as you may have to reduce heat again to low, depending on how fast the milk becomes sticky. Keep stirring and lowering heat until the yams are desired firmness. if you are making them to refrigerate and eat the next day, I recommend under-cooking them. They will soften a lot when re-heated the next day. I think this tastes better with regular potatoes because it isn’t so sweet, but yams are obviously healthier.

Robin’s ECD Vegetarian Cookbook’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Backpack Kisses RECIPE REVIEW:

1.) Are you a lifestyle or athlete client? If you’re an athlete client, how many days until your competition?
Athlete Client - next show is this season.

2.) Are you a vegetarian? NO.

3.) Did you have to make any changes to the recipe so it could fit into your Fitness Print program? If so, what changes? Why?

• Yes: 2 tbsp hemp seeds > 2 tbsp rolled oats > not allowed hemp seeds right now due to competition diet

• 2 tbsp flaxseeds > 2 tbsp rolled oats > not allowed flaxseeds right now

• 1/4 cup dried cranberries > did not include > could have included but wanted to use my fruit elsewhere in my meals

• 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips > I made my own with No Sugar Added Maple Syrup and 1 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa powder (see below)

• 2 tbsp brown-rice syrup/yacon syrup/pure honey > used No Sugar Added Maple Syrup instead

• Chocolate Chip Recipe as follows (I used the recipe on how to make maple syrup candy and then added 1 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa powder):

http://homecooking.about.com/cs/atozfoo … mcandy.htm
1) Boil 2 cups of pure maple syrup over very low heat without stirring. > I used 1/2 bottle of syrup + 1 tbsp of cocoa powder
2)Let it reach late thread stage, 233 degrees F. on a candy thermometer.
3) Allow to cool to 110 degrees F. on candy thermometer, about 1 hour, without stirring.
4) Add 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.
5) Beat until it until it is light in color and fluffy in texture; hard enough to hold its shape.
6) Put into forms or molds or shape into patties. > I put the chocolate mixture into a piping bag and piped out little chips
Tips:
Use pure maple syrup, not imitation or maple-flavored.
Use a candy thermometer to judge heat.
This candy will dry out quickly when exposed to air. Pack in an airtight container as soon as it is cool.

4. Was this recipe easy to follow? SUPER EASY!

5. Did the recipe turn out like you had imagined it would? I didn’t have a candy thermometer (I used a meat thermometer) so I don’t know what temperature to chocolate chip mixture was at when I started to cool it. AND I was impatient and definitely didn’t wait 1 hour to allow the mixture to cool. AND I just read that trying to make chocolate chips when adding cocoa powder won’t work because it won’t hold…which is probably why mine began to soften at room temperature.

6. Would you make this recipe for guests? YES!!! But probably would make it with real chocolate chips.

7. Will you make this recipe again for yourself? Why or why not? YES YES YES!!!! I want a candy thermometer so I can nail the chocolate chip recipe and find a way to make the chocolate chips harden at room temperature.

THANK YOU ROBIN for taking on this challenge even though you’re on-season preparing for your very first fitness competition! Now that’s team spirit!

Chocolate Protein Pancakes

By Stephanie, our athlete client

Pancakes
- 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
- 9 egg whites
- 1/2 tsp of cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp sugar free chocolate syrup
- 42g of cooked steel cut oats
- 1/4 tsp of vanilla

Chocolate Peanut Butter Spread
- 1/4 scoop chocolate protein powder
- 1/2 tsp cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp peanut butter

This takes some time to make as you have to cook the steel cut oats first… and then blend all the ingredients then put on a pan to cook. But it is so worth it!!!