Make White Fish more Tasty

Tilapia. Orange Roughy. Cod. Yellowtail.  You name the white fish and my nutritionist will tell you to eat it multiple meals a day.  Like anything, it gets old real fast and you start to hold a grudge against this super protein packed food.  Here's a couple of things I eat with my white fish to make it go down easier:

Green Pickled Jalapeno Peppers

It's sour and fire so it kills all resemblance of fish and it's smell. I mince it and mash it into my fish. Really tasty if you like spicy food.

Can't Believe it's Not Butter Spray

0 calories and it comes with Fabio.  Yeah baby!

 Sashimi Style

Soy sauce, wasabi, ginger.  Costco's fresh fish is top notch and ready to eat sashimi style if you do it the day of purchase.

If all else fails, I refer to All Recipes.com for inspiration.

Happy Valentine's Day! Some Romantic Ideas

Valentine's Day is about spending quality "Us" time together to show your partner that they are special to you.  Forget all the over the top splurging.... it's the sentiment that counts so I recommend to put a little personal touch and some effort into it to make it memorable.

As a fitness model and epicurian at heart, here's my suggested plan for a perfect Valentine's Day -

1. You worked hard for that sexy body so now's the time to make your partner's heart beat fast. Put on some killer F-me stilettos, black seam stockings, lingerie, smoky eye makeup, and sexy hair.
2. Layer on your favorite scent starting with the fragranced lotion then the perfume to make it last through the evening.
3. Prepare the meal in your hot outfit while he gets to sit back with some champagne and enjoy the view.  Remember that champagne is a wonderful aphrodisiac!
4. Serve it up by candlelight, take your time to enjoy every bite and drink.
5. I'll leave the dessert up to you! ;) 

Here's my recommended menu (all recipes found from epicurious.com, modified slightly to make them healthier):

Green Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette
Caramelized Cumin-Roasted Carrots
Halibut Brochettes Provençale
Roasted Plums with Greek Yogurt


Green Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette
ingredients

1/2 cup cider vinegar
4 teaspoons grainy mustard
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
8 cups mixed greens such as mesclun or a mix of romaine and Boston and Bibb lettuces


preparation

Whisk together vinegar, mustard, sugar, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl. Add oil in a slow stream, whisking until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper.
Add lettuce and toss to coat.
What to drink:
Josmeyer Les Folastries
Gewürztraminer '05


Caramelized Cumin-Roasted Carrots
ingredients

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
12 medium to large carrots, peeled, cut on diagonal into 1/2-inch-thick pieces
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt


preparation

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray large rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray.
Combine carrots and all remaining ingredients in large bowl; toss to coat. Spread in single layer on prepared baking sheet. Roast carrots until tender and lightly caramelized, turning carrots over once, 35 to 40 minutes.



Halibut Brochettes Provençale

The herbes de Provence blend is even better when it's made from fresh herbs. Here, it creates an elegant pairing for a colorful mix of summer vegetables and halibut. 

ingredients

• 1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh basil
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh marjoram
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh sage
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped fennel seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon finely chopped dried lavender blossoms*
• 1 1 1/2-inch-diameter zucchini, cut into eight 1/2-inch-thick rounds
• 1 unpeeled slender eggplant, trimmed, halved lengthwise, cut into eight 1- to 1 1/4-inch pieces
• 8 mini plum tomatoes or large cherry tomatoes
• 16 mini bell peppers in assorted colors (from one 5-ounce package) or 1 bell pepper cut into 1-inch squares
• 1 small red onion, cut into 4 wedges, each wedge halved crosswise, layers kept intact
• 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 1/2 pounds halibut, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
• 5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• Nonstick vegetable oil spray

Special Equipment: 12 metal skewers


preparation

Mix first 7 ingredients in small bowl. Place zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, and onion in large bowl. Add 1 tablespoon herb mixture and 1 tablespoon oil to vegetables. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Thread 1 mini pepper, 1 zucchini round, 1 eggplant piece, 1 tomato, 1 onion piece, and 1 more mini pepper onto each of 8 skewers. DO AHEAD: Herb mixture and vegetables can be made 4 hours ahead. Cover separately and refrigerate.

Place fish in medium bowl; sprinkle 2 tablespoons herb mixture over. Add 3 tablespoons oil, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, and garlic; sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Cover and chill at least 1 hour and up to 2 hours, tossing occasionally.

Simmer wine, remaining 1 tablespoon oil, and remaining 2 tablespoons lemon juice in small saucepan until reduced to 1/3 cup, about 3 minutes. Stir in remaining herb mixture. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Spray grill rack with nonstick spray; prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Divide fish cubes among remaining 4 skewers. Grill vegetable skewers until vegetables are slightly charred and tender, turning occasionally, 10 to 12 minutes. Grill fish skewers until fish is cooked through, turning occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes.

Place 1 fish skewer and 2 vegetable skewers on each plate. Drizzle sauce over.

* Also called culinary lavender buds; available at some supermarkets and farmers' markets, at many natural foods stores, and from deandeluca.com



 Roasted Plums with Greek Yogurt

• Parchment paper
• 6 dark plums, halved and pitted
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 cup 2 percent Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons hazelnuts, toastedin the oven at 375°F for 7 minutes, chopped
• 2 teaspoons honey

preparation

Heat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place plums cut side up on sheet, brush with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until soft and some juices run off, about 15 minutes. Divide among 4 bowls, top each with 2 tablespoons yogurt, sprinkle with nuts and drizzle with honey.

Greek Style Dill Caper Squid Recipe

Soooo delicious and high protein this recipe! I adore Mediterranean food and here's another fine example of very fresh and clean eating cuisine.



Greek Style Dill Caper Squid Recipe
- 1kg raw squid, rinsed and patted dry
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp dried dill
- 1/4 cup chopped capers
- fresh ground pepper
- dash of garlic powder
- 2 tbsp olive oil

Set oven to 170c or 325f. Mix all ingredients in a bowl and let marinate while the oven heats up. When the oven is ready, bake for 20 min.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Grilled Pollack Fillet and Roasted Veggies in a Tomato Italian Sauce Recipe

It started with my newfound yummy snack of Sardines. I never had this before until moving to Belgium. After my few trips to Spain and Italy, I definitely developed a liking for awesome Mediterranean food which reminds me of my travels. So now I like to munch on tins of Sardines in tomato/basil or citrus/basil sauces without oil. It's a heck of alot more interesting than tins of plain tuna.

Ok back to this recipe. My inspiration for this recipe were these Sardine tins. This week since I'm 4 weeks out from FAP I'm focusing my diet on white fish and roasted veggies until I get my nutrition plan from the Italian pharmacist/nutritionist wizard. I roast up 2kgs of pollack fillets (white flesh, cheaper than cod, sustainable fish, and not fishy at all) and 2.5kgs of a mixed bag of broccoli-carrots-cauliflower. I keep this in my fridge and work through it during the week, inventing different seasonings or toppings to meke it more palatable (who likes to eat the same thing every day? Yuck). If I can eat something that resembles something that I would snack on, more power to me. So here goes...

Grilled Pollack Fillet and Roasted Veggies in a Tomato Italian Sauce
- Few fillets of Pollack fish
- Frozen mixed bag of veggies
- 1 can of stewed tomatoes with either italian or basil seasoning
- 1 little can of tomato paste
- 1 clove of garlic or garlic powder
- 2 tbsp of dried italian herbs or thyme/basil

Set oven to 350F or 180C. Roast the fish and veggies in the oven for 25 minutes. In a frying pan mix the can of stewed tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic, and dried herbs. Saute for 5 minutes to reduce the liquid. Once the veggies and fish are done, arrange on plate and pour the mixture over everything.

Cheesy Veggie Casserole Recipe

No oil and I use powdered cheese sauce mix so it doesn't have the fat of real cheese. It was absolutely delicious, my perennial tester, my colleague Sarah, loved it. :)




- 2 zucchini
- 2 eggplant
- 1 onion
- 1 can of diced tomatoes
- 1 packet of powder cheese for sauce (Knorrs brand here in Belgium)



Set oven to 425F or 230c. Chop up the veggies into chunky pieces and toss into a baking pan. Pour the canned tomato over it and mix well. Sprinkle the cheese powder packet over the veggies as well and mix. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour.


-- Posted from my iPhone

SMD: Day 3

Day 1: 132lbs
Day 2: 127.2lbs
Day 3: 128 lbs

The weigh in is still very reasonable to me as it's a 4 lb change over three days. I did my morning and HIIT cardio as usual and finished off with some ab and chest work. My diet was pretty good although I deviated from the SMD a little bit in the evening to have another 2 slices of protein bread (total of 3 slices instead of the one prescribed by SMD) and 200g of fat free fromage frais (Belgium's version of cottage cheese but smooth and much easier to find). All in all I estimate that I had 1200 calories and a huge volume of exercise.

The main point that I got from the SMD is to keep your calories very low, carbs and fat low, protein high. I estmate that I'm burning 600-800 calories a day with exercise and my resting metabolic rate is around 1300 calories. It is normally recommended that I consume 1800 calories while on diet. Please note that this is certianly NOT a long term not sustainable program, like the SMD said. Most importantly, I'm listening to my body and making adjustment accordingly.

I practiced my walks in my competition bikinis as well, everything seems to look ok. Have to continue studying my routine for my themewear - it's going to be very special!

After the gym I worked pretty late on post processing the pics from Sardinia until 1:30am. Damn fat burners are keeping me awake!

This morning I overslept my alarm and will have to move my morning cardio into the evening for one long session. I typically try to break up the cardio into segments because > 1hr straight followed by weight training is just dreadful.

Breakfast today was 1/3 cup All Bran, skim milk, stevia, and cinnamon (so yummy) followed with 3 egg whites and 1 whole egg fried with spray oil. As usual, I got a new idea for making my eggs and kind of replicated a bearnaise tasting creation. It was pretty tasty!

Bearnaise Style Eggs

3 egg whites and 1 whole egg fried on medium heat with spray oil, sunny side up. Sprinkle with black pepper, garlic salt and terragon. Pop the yolk, pour in 1 tsp. red wine vinegar, and smear over the egg whites.

Packed lunch, gym bag, and then it was off to work.






-- Post From My iPhone

What To Do With All Of The Egg Yolks...

Today's dinner consisted of 3 slices of protein bread (my creation based on 9-grain flour and 4 big scoops of casein protein) and 4 egg whites seasoned with oregano, ground chipotle pepper, garlic, and ketchup (tastes kind of like a pizza).

I go through a ton of eggs and at times feel bad for chucking all of the yolks so today I decided to make something special for when I'm off diet:

Bearnaise Sauce!



* 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
* 2 tablespoons minced shallot or onion
* 1 tablespoon dried tarragon
* 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
* 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 4 egg yolks
* 1/2 cup hot melted butter or margarine


DIRECTIONS

1. Combine the vinegar, shallots, tarragon, garlic salt, and pepper in a small saucepan. Boil over medium-high heat until the liquid is boiling. Remove from heat.

2. Have the egg yolks beaten lightly in a cup and ready to roll.

3. Stirring the whole time, pour the melted butter into the mixture. Next, slowly beat in the egg yolks. The mixture will thicken and turn a pale yellow color.

Since I can't really have any while on diet, I let it cool, spooned it into a plastic sandwich bag, and stored in my freezer. Otherwise, if you are normal you can serve this on salmon, steak, etc. Delish!

Tarragon Pengasus and Asparagus with Basmati Rice Recipe

Pengasus is a very tasty whitefish that I picked up at the grocery store yesterday. The flesh is not dry at all, decent sized filets and it's in the same family as catfish. For those counting their macros, catfish has a similar P/C/F profile as salmon but with more protein per 100g.

Fish is a very healthy part of my regime and I like to eat all kinds (salmon, tuna, perch, cod, pengasus…). Growing up, my father was a fisherman so we would frequently eat the catch of the day, yummy memories!

As this whitefish is of a delicate flavor, I made up this quick recipe.

- couple filets of Pengasus
- Spray oil
- Garlic salt
- 2 tbsp of dried terragon
- 1 cup dry basmati rice
- 2 veggie bullion cubes
- 20 spears of frozen asparagus

In one pan mash the bullion cube to bits, sprinkle it over the asparagus and let simmer at medium high heat. Do not add additional water or oil as the frozen spears will release a lot of water. This will be done within 10 minutes.

Do the same thing the basmati rice of mashing the bullion cube to bits and cook the rice in a pot or rice cooker.

In a nonstick pan over high heat, spray the pan with spray oil and toss the filets in there. Generously sprinkle the tarragon and garlic salt to taste. After about 2 minutes, carefully flip the filets. You want to remove the filets from the fire before it is fully cooked in order to keep the fish tender.

25 Physique Friendly Recipes: Great Food And Great Taste!

Check out the link to get to all of these yummy recipes.

High Protein Breakfast Recipes
Chicken Sausage Frittata
Tomato Basil Omelet
Smoked Chipotle Cheese Omelet
Stuffed French Toast
Chai Blueberry Oatmeal
Protein Pancakes


Delicious Lunch & Dinner Recipes
Grilled Tuna Salad
Chicken Caesar Pita
Balsamic Chicken with Chickpea Puree
Dr. John's Chili
Greek Burger
Turkey Saag
Grilled Turkey Sausage with Apricot Salsa and Veggies
Turkey Kebabs with Spicy Beans
Asian Chicken Curry
Coconut Chicken


Low-Carb Desserts
Chocolate Cheesecake
Hazelnut Chocolate Bites
Mixed Nut Cookies


Super Shakes
Berry Blast Super Shake
Apricot Yogurt Shake
Chocolate Mint Shake


Protein Bars and Snacks
Almond Coconut Bars
Vanilla Meringue Trail Mix Bars
Apple Cinnamon Protein Bar

Spicy Fitness Meatballs Recipe

This morning I whipped up my version of meatballs. My tester was my colleague as usual and she gave it a thumbs up. Passed the taste test and good for your diet.



- 500g (1.25 lb) extra lean ground beef
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp dried oregano
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 mini tin of tomato paste
- 2 tbsp harissa paste (spicy Arabic paste)
- 1/2 minced medium onion
- 1/3 cup oats

Set the oven to 350f or 180c. In a pan, sauté the onions with a little water instead of oil until translucent. Combine all other ingredients in a separate bowl, including the onions.

In a shallow oven pan, make 10 meatballs out of the meat and pop in to the oven for 20 minutes.

-- Post From My iPhone

Shrimp and Scallops with Eggplant

I found this recipe on on Epicurious.com and slightly modified it to meet my needs by removing oil and sugar.

• 2 scallions
• 1/2 lb large shrimp (about 12), shelled and deveined
• 1/2 lb sea scallops, tough muscles removed
• 1 (1/2-lb) Asian eggplant or small Italian eggplant, halved lengthwise and cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 to 2 teaspoons artificial sweetener (I used Stevia)
  
• 1/4 teaspoon Asian chile paste
• 3 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 tablespoon small fresh basil leaves

Preparation

Cut scallion greens into 1-inch lengths, reserving white parts for another use.

Pat shellfish dry and season with salt and pepper.

Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then stir-fry eggplant with salt and pepper until golden brown on both sides and cooked through (add 1/4 cup of water gradually if eggplant is sticking to skillet). Transfer eggplant to a plate as cooked and keep warm, covered.

Add 2 tablespoons oil to skillet and sear shrimp and scallops in batches, without crowding, until just cooked through, about 4 minutes. Transfer to plate and keep warm, covered.

Add water, soy sauce, sweetener, and chile paste to skillet and simmer, stirring, until reduced by half. Stir in lime juice.

Serve shellfish and eggplant with sauce, scallion greens, cilantro, and basil.

Deconstructed Tzatziki Recipe *Healthy Snack*

I'm a fan of garlic and was looking for a way to make cucumbers a more exciting snack. So I came up with this.

1 cucumber cut into dipping sticks
1 little container (100-125g) of nonfat plain yogurt
1/2 - 1 clove of crushed garlic (depending on your taste) or use garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dill
squeeze of lemon juice

Mix the yogurt, garlic, dill and lemon juice together. 2.5 seconds later you have a super healthy snack. :)

I went to the Midi market this morning and picked up some incredible deals on fresh produce. The downside is that all of this food has to be cooked/eaten almost immediately since they are at their maturity. So what to do with a palette of raspberries..... hmmm! I'm thinking clafoutis!

Clafoutis is a french country dessert dish that can also be eaten for breakfast. I modified the recipe to be more suitable for a person on a diet. Here goes:

Diet Raspberry Clafoutis
- 6 egg whites
- 3 scoops vanilla protein powder (I had plain casien PP on hand so I used 2 scps vanilla/1 scp casien)
- 2/3 cup water
- 1 tsp baking soda or baking powder
- 10 packets artificial sweetener
- 3 packets of raspberries
- 1/2 cup oat flour or regular dry oats + food processor
- siicone round baking dish or a nonstick baking round pie dish + nonstick spray
- 1 tbsp almond powder (optional)


Preheat oven to 300F or 170c. In the food processor, mix together everything but the raspberries. Once the oats are pulverized and the mixture is smooth, pour into the silicone baking pan or sprayed nonstick baking pan. Drop the raspberries into the batter in an even fashion. Put in oven for 30-40 min. You can test if the middle is done by sticking a fork in the middle and check if it comes out clean.

Bon Appetit!

High Protein Recipes

While training for the Worlds in May/June, I changed up my diet a bit in order to include alot more protein, weighing my food instead of counting calories, doubling the amount of water I drink, and eating u pto 8x/day. Since I was eating double the amount of protein I was used to, choking down that much food gets kind of boring after a while. So, I started to make some recipes... enjoy. I'll be amending this list as I continue to invent in the kitchen.

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Cinnamon apple muffins
- 1 apple chopped fine
- 10 egg whites
- 500g of nonfat fromage frais or cottage cheese (~16-18oz)
- 2 scoops vanilla protein powder or plain protein powder and a dash of vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons of cinnamon
- (optional) 1 teaspoon baking powder
- artificial sweetener to taste

Mix everything together in a bowl. Spray a muffin tray with oil and pour into molds. Bake at 200c or 400f for 40 min. Let cool before eating.

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Egg white burrito
- 3 egg whites
- baked and chopped chicken breast, 3oz
- few pieces of green beans
- lettuce
- cilantro to garnish

In a nonstick egg pan, fry with only spray oil the three egg whites to make a round flat wrap for the filling. Toss in there the chicken, green beans, lettuce, and cilantro. I didn't say that this was as great as a regular burrito but if you are in contest prep this is a fun way to eat the same ingredients. :)

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Egg White Drop Soup
This is my mother's take on the classic chinese egg drop soup.
- 3 egg whites
- 1 liter water
- 1 or 2 bullion cube like herb or chicken flavor
- cilantro
- lettuce
- cup of chopped green beans or asparagus
- 1 cup of finely chopped chicken breast
- 1/4 cup chopped green onion
- (optional) chinese fried shallots for garnish (you can buy this at the asian store)

Boil water and throw in buillion cube, green onion, chicken , veggies. Once water starts to boil, slowly stir in the egg whites and they will cook in the water and like white strings in the pot. To serve, garnish with cilantro, lettuce, and fried shallots. The shallots give this warm flavor to the soup so it's not neccessary to use much.

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Banana Protein Pancakes
- 1 cup oatmeal
- 7 egg whites
- 2 big scoops of protein powder (I use vanilla or gingerbread cookie flavor)
- 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 banana
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (optional)
- artifical sweetner to taste (I used 5 spenda packets)

Throw everything in a blender and puree it. Heat up the pan at medium heat and make your pancakes in a nonstick pan with spray oil (not necessary though). This makes enough for two people. You can eat this plain or with some applesauce instead of syrup.

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Salmon spinach salad
- 6 oz filet of salmon
- spinach
- cucumbers
- tomatoes
- bell pepper
- some unsalted raw mixed nuts
- garlic powder
- italian seasoning
- lemon wedge

Steam (8 min) or bake (180c or 350f for 25 min) the salmon. For the salad dressing, mix lemon juice, italian seasoning, and garlic powder together.

Create the spinach salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, mixed nuts. Top with the salmon and your lemon juice dressing.
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I was dreaming about chocolate all day today but considering that I'm in contest prep, I had to get creative.... Check it out and let me know what you think!!

CONTEST PREP BROWNIE
- a microwave egg poacher (those plastic individual serving gadgets)
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
- 2 tablespoons of fat free cottage cheese or fromage frais
- 2 packets of splenda

In a bowl, add the egg whites, and all of the other ingredients together. Mix well. Pour into the microwave egg poacher until 3/4 full and cook on HIGH for 90 seconds. Voila!!! You have approximately 4 brownies from this batch.
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PROTEIN MUESLI
- 1 small cup of Activa plain nonfat yogurt
- 1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder
- 1/3 cup of organic meusli (the kind without added sugars or corn flakes)

Mix all together, this is a great breakfast pick me up!

Healthy and Hearty Chili!

This is my twist on chili. I added every veggie that I could find in order to make this very healthy and lower calorie. I omit oil and used the leanest minced meat I could find. This meal will serve alot of people so I packed everything up into individual meal sized plastic ziplocks and froze them for future use.

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon chili pepper flakes (I used chipotle chili flakes for more depth, I like spicy)
1 small can tomato paste
1 beef bullion cube dissolved in 1/3 cup water
10 packets of Spenda or some artificial sweetner
Few dashes of Worcester Sauce (American sauce to you Euros)
1 can crushed tomatoes or 4 coarsely chopped tomatoes

1 pound ground/minced turkey or super lean beef
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 bell peppers, diced
2 zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 small eggplant chopped
3 carrot chopped
5 chopped mushrooms
5 crushed garlic
2 drained cans of beans (I used red)


Directions:
In a giant pot, brown the ground meat at medium high heat with the can of tomatoes, coriander, cumin, chili pepper flakes, tomato paste, onions, garlic, Worcester sauce.

After the meat is cooked through, toss in all of the veggies. Mix the beef buiillion broth with the 10 packets of Splenda and pour into the pot. After about 10 minutes of simmering, add the drained cans of beans. Cook for another 45 minutes at medium heat.

You can serve immediately or let it sit for a day which intensifies the flavors.

Bon Appetit / Smakelijk / Enjoy!!

Avocado Banana Smoothie

It's the heat of the summer and I had some overly ripe banana and avocado that had to be used today. So I came up with a quick lip smacking smoothie recipe to use these great fruits.

Serves 4

- 1 banana broken into chunks
- 1 ready to eat avocado
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder (substitute with 1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 small cup vanilla yogurt otherwise)
- some sweetener to taste (I used 1/3 tsp Stevia powder = couple 2tbsp sugar)
- 1.5 cups skim milk

Throw everything into a blender and refrigerate for a nice cool dessert.

Shrimp Lo-Carb Spring Rolls

Hey Asian Food fans, it's me and I'm in the kitchen again!

How to eat a salad in 30 seconds: "Shrimp Lo-Carb Spring Rolls"

- 2 sheets of good quality thick rice paper
- Spinach or some type of flat salad
- 1/2 bell pepper
- 1/4 cucumber
- 2 mushrooms
- some sprigs of coriander/cilantro, mint leaves (both are optional)
- 8 peeled and cooked shrimp
- low sodium soy sauce, I like to add hot sauce as well for dipping

Get the rice paper wet on one side and lay down in a plate. Stack the roll with salad first, then the veggies and shrimp. While rolling the rice paper, close up the ends. Repeat for the second roll. Eat and dip in soy sauce.

The original recipe calls for vermicelli which I omit to save on calories/carbs.

This very filling snack is super low calories and carbs as the rice paper is only 30 cal/2.3g protein/7g carb/0 fat. I find it a better solution than using tortilla wraps.

New Test in the Kitchen: Tiramisu!

Who doesn't love Tiramisu, seriously. This was another recipe that I tackled to see if I could make this into something that was suitable for a clean diet. To my utter surprise, I think I did it.

This is an advanced recipe but the original recipe of Tiramisu is certainly no 5 minute job either so if you are in the mood to play in the kitchen, read on.

My girl Nath had some of this creation and she really enjoyed it so it passed the taste test. :)

- 6 large egg whites
- 1/4 cup ground oats (to make oat flour), or equivalent flour
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar (or if you don't have use 1 tsp baking powder)
- 3 tbs vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup sweetener or equivalent Stevia
- 500g of 0% fat fromage frais or 0% fat greek yogurt or (low fat ricotta cheese as last option IMO)
- 1 shot of espresso (I used instant expresso)
- big sheet of parchment baking paper or a big rectangle nonstick pan.
- 1/8 cup cocoa powder or if you are hardcore, use chocolate protein powder

This paragraph will have you create the "cake" part of tiramisu instead of using Ladyfingers. Set the oven to 350F or 180C. Using a hand mixer or equivalent attachment on a food processor, beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, oat flour, and 1tsp vanilla extract together until you have stiff peaks. Pour the egg white mixture onto the parchment paper which lines the big pan (or use a oil sprayed pan) and smooth the top of the mixture. Put into the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden.

In a big bowl, mix the fromage frais, remaining 2 tbs vanilla extract, and sweetener together. When the egg white mixture is done, pull out of the oven and evenly pour the expresso onto it. Once this is done, cut it down the middle so that you have two sheets.

Using another pan half the size of the one you used for baking the egg whites, lay down the first egg white sheet, then smooth 1/2 of the cheese mixture on top. Sprinkle on half of the cocoa powder. Then lay down the next sheet and repeat.