{Round up of my favorite recipes}

Hello cupcakes!

I thought it would be fun to round up my favorite recipes just in time for the holidays!

{Mini Protein Banana Cupcakes}

{Vital Proteins Mug Cake}

{Healthy Mint Cookies}

{Protein Cheesecake}

{4 Ingredient, Macro Friendly, Protein Mug Cake}

{Protein Buckeyes}

{Healthier Fruit Pizza}

{Healthy PB Freezer Fudge}

{Healthy Apple Muffins}

{Baked Protein Oatmeal}

Happy Baking!

Later Taters

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away." 

{How to Stay Fit & Healthy While Traveling}

Hello cupcakes!

Let's jump right in...

How to Stay Fit While Traveling:

1) Plan ahead-
Things to think about while planning ahead: will you have access to a fridge, microwave, etc? Will you meal prep or go to the grocery? Will the place your staying serve complimentary breakfast? Pack any supplements and/or vitamins you take. My go to: Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides, Nuzest Protein Powder, Fish Oil, Glutamine, Probiotic, Calcium, & Health Warrior Bars. 

2) You can save money by going to the grocery store instead of eating out every meal- 
If you get a per diem through work, you can pocket that money. I was able to save up to buy myself new work clothes with the money I saved. For example, if you eat at Wendy's and get a grilled chicken sandwich and a large drink it is about $7 (my go to if I need to get fast food). OR you could go to the grocery and buy a tuna packet, a banana, and a cucumber for around $3. 

3) Don't make excuses-
It is so easy to make excuses while traveling. I will be 100% honest, it is harder to eat healthy and stay fit while traveling, but it is also 100% possible to continue your healthy lifestyle. During my full 2 months of travel, I only ate out 3 times. Once was Wendy's grilled chicken sandwich, another was tacos in downtown Chicago with my co-worker, and brunch egg burritos with another college representative that became a good friend on the road. Those were the only times I ate out. It could have been so easy to say, "Oh I got to my hotel late, I don't feel like going to the grocery. Maybe I will go tomorrow." Excuses! Same goes for working out. There were days when I worked 10-12 hours, but still found time to get at least a 30 minute workout in at my hotel. If it is important to you, you will make time for it!

4) Get creative with your workouts-
I always travel with my resistance bands because you never know if there will be enough equipment in hotel gyms OR if the hotel will even have a gym. For the most part, most hotels now-a-days have hotel gyms. Resistance bands can enhance a workout in so many ways and you can use them with little space. Some of my favorite moves while using the bands- hip thrusts, sitting hip abductions, side lying abductions, donkey kickbacks, fire hydrants, band pull apart, bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, etc.

5) Ask the front desk if they can bring up a fridge/microwave if there isn't one-

simply go to the front desk and ask the front desk if they have any in the back that they can bring up to your room... I did this 4 separate times during my travel season. The worst they can say is no.

6) Lastly, don't stress-
If you don't maintain your fitness or nutrition goals for a day, simply move on with them the next day. I feel like when people dwell on the negative, the negative cycle continues. Notice the negatives, notice how your body feels when you don't exercise or eat healthy, then get right back on track!

Later Taters

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away." 

Diary-Week 2 of Travel

Hello cupcakes!

It's officially week 2 of travel in Chicago!

Here are the things I bought at Target to get me through this week:

1) Rotisserie Chicken

2) 4 packs of frozen vegetables

3) Salad mix

4) Almond milk

5) Peanut Butter Oreos

6) Honey BBQ Tuna packets

7) Wheat Thins

8) Diet Cranberry Juice

9) Dove Dark Chocolate Pumpkins

Things I brought with me:

1) Prepped oven roasted potatoes

2) Prepped brown jasmine rice

3) Nuzest Strawberry Protein Powder

*use code "thesweetlife" to get $ off & free shipping*

-p.s. easier on the stomach than whey protein powder

4) Vital Proteins Beauty Collagen Water

5) Amazing Grass Watermelon Energy Superfood

6) Water bottle & protein shaker

7) Food scale

8) Probiotic & Calcium

9) Tupperware containers & reusable silverware

10) Lunch box & Ice packs

11) Protein bars from Costco

12) Health Warrior Chia Seed Bars

*use code "toriswholelife30" to get 30% off*

13) Workout clothes & shoes

14) Resistance Bands

Now I had about a 6 hour trip between getting my car for travel and then actually traveling to Chicago, so it was necessary to pack lots of snacks that were easy to eat while driving. Here's what I had:

Nuzest strawberry protein shake made with almond milk

1/2 Nuzest Green bar

1 Health Warrior Vanilla Almond Chia Seed bar

 1 cucumber

apple

a few potato slices


Meal Diary


*I planned my macros around the food I bought for the week, therefore my meals for the whole week will be very similar*


Breakfast:
2 boiled eggs
1 whole wheat bagel with 1 pkg. of PB
calcium supplement
probiotic supplement
Amazing Grass drink
Coffee with almond milk

Snack 1:

Banana

Lunch:

Brown Jasmine Rice

Chicken

(not pictured: frozen veggie blend)

Workout Room-

workout was weights for an hour- let me know if you would like me to share a week of hotel workouts

Dinner:

1 pkg of tuna creations honey bbq

4 oz. of red skin potatoes

1 serving of frozen vegetables

16 pieces of wheat thins

Snack 2:

1 protein shake with Nuzest Strawberry Protein and almond milk

1 PB oreo

1 pkg. of PB

1 dark chocolate pumpkin

LOTS OF WATER!

*I am still tracking macros with AVATAR NUTRITION and currently on a reverse diet*

Stay tuned for next week's meals and grocery haul!

Later Taters

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away."

Traveling for Work and Staying Healthy

Hello cupcakes,

I have been MIA recently, but I wanted to start a travel series on my blog. First, let me give a little history...

I am an Assistant Director of Admissions at a public university. Part of my responsibility is to travel to Chicago and Milwaukee to attend high school visits and college fairs. I recruit students to attend our university. This means I will basically be living out of a hotel for two months. If any of you know me personally, you know I will always find a way to eat healthy and workout. For this reason, I wanted to share my tips and tricks for staying healthy on the road. I will be blogging about my experience every week, so let's start this journey.

Here is my list of items I brought with me for week 1 of travel:

1) workout bands

2) workout clothes, shoes, & headphones

3) food scale (only necessary if you count macros)

4) rice cooker (anything to cook food in)

5) water bottle

6) protein bars from Costco

7) protein powder

8) HealthWarrior Bars & Nuzest Bars

9) almonds

10) tupperware, ziplock bags, and silverware

11) uncooked oats

12) gum

Here are the items I purchased once I got to Chicago:



1) hummus

2) carrots

3) celery

4) 1.5 lbs of chicken breast

5) almond milk

6) Apple Pie Oreos- because sometimes you need to treat yourself & it fits my macros

7) seasoning for chicken

8) small dish soap

9) 90% dark chocolate

10) gallon of water

11) 1 pkg. microwaveable brown rice (because I forgot my dry rice at home)

12) beef jerkey

In total, I probably spent $30-$35 on groceries and supplies for the week. This means I am actually saving money by not eating out all of the time. One nice thing is that many hotels have a fitness area, free breakfast, fridge, and microwave so take advantage of those things. Sometimes you have to get creative, but it is possible to stick to your health goals while living out of a hotel.

Take advantage of the free breakfast if your hotel provides it.

Here is what I had for breakfast one morning:

1 serving of oatmeal

1 pkg of peanut butter (about 2 T.)

2 hard boiled eggs

coffee with my own almond milk

a bite of a doughnut

Snack 1:

banana

 small box of Special K cereal

*I took each of these from the free breakfast at the hotel*

For lunch:

4 oz of chicken

1 serving of brown rice

Snack 2 (pre-workout):

1 oz. of beef jerky

1-2 T hummus

10-15 carrots

2 Apple Pie Oreos

5-10 almonds

Dinner:

4 oz of chicken

1 serving of celery

1 serving of carrots

1-2 T of hummus

2 pieces of dark chocolate

How to cook your chicken in a rice cooker:

I put all of my uncooked chicken in my rice cooker with a little water and seasoning. I choose the slow cooker setting and then close the lid and let everything cook! That's it! It's super simple and easy.



Other tips and tricks from this week:

1) always take extra food from the free breakfast at the hotel as a snack for later in the day.

2) always take snacks with you if you are not going to be at the hotel during the day

3) majority of hotels have an ice maker in the hallway

4) if your room doesn't have a fridge or microwave, ask the front desk for them

5) You can make hot water in the coffee maker and use it to make oatmeal

6) get creative in the gym- this gym only had a cable machine and cardio equipment

7) bring a book or two to read- I am reading a new book about bodyweight strength training


Now I am on to week 2 of travel. I am hoping to get some pictures this week!


Later Taters


"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away."

{Healthier Fruit Pizza}+ lactose free

Hello cupcakes!

I have an awesome recipe to share with you: 

{Healthier Fruit Pizza}

Ingredients for Cookie:

1/2 c. Anthony's Goods Brown Rice Flour

1/2 c. Anthony's Goods Coconut Flour

1/2 c. white whole wheat flour

1/2 c. Splenda Brown Sugar (can sub regular brown sugar)

1/2 c. Earth Balance Spread (or butter of choice)

2 eggs

1/4 c. Silk Light Vanilla Soy Milk (can sub milk of choice)

2 tsp. Torani Sugar Free French Vanilla Syrup

dash of pink Himaylan salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

Ingredients for Frosting:

1 container or Trader Joes Vegan Cream Cheese

1/2 scoop of Dymatize Cinnamon Roll Casein powder

2 tsp. Torani Sugar Free French Vanilla Syrup

splash of Silk Light Vanilla Soy Milk

Fruit of choice:

I used bananas, applies, & peaches

Directions:

Mix all dry ingredients for cookie in a bowl. Once combined, stir in wet ingredients. Stir until dough forms. If the dough is too stiff, you may add a little bit more milk until a cookie dough consistency is reached. Add dough into a pan sprayed with cooking spray (I used a 4 X 8 pan). Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until the sides of the dough turns golden. 

While the dough is cooling, mix ingredients for frosting. Once dough is cool, top the cookie with the frosting. Add cut up fruit to the top. 

Enjoy!

This is a fun dessert you can take with you to your next get together or party!

I may or may not have eaten a piece for breakfast this morning.

Later Taters 

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away."

{AVATAR NUTRITION}

Hello cupcakes!

*Avatar Nutrition just released their new & improved version, so make sure you check that out! Some of the features will include a new app to track food that links to the website*

I know I have posted a lot about Avatar Nutrition, so I wanted to write a blog post to explain everything to you. I started tracking my macros with Avatar Nutrition in March. Before I get ahead of myself, let me tell you about macros and the founders.

Macros are: protein, fat, and carbs (and alcohol). All three of these contribute to the total number of calories in food. Protein and carbohydrates (carbs) each have 4 calories per gram. Fat has 9 calories per gram. Lastly, alcohol has 7 calories per gram. Macro tracking is known in the fitness industry and is a great way to track food for different goals. For this reason, Avatar has different goal settings: Fat Loss, Muscle Gain, and Reverse Dieting. Each of these three settings has settings within them: conservative, moderate, or rapid. Therefore, there are a total of 9 settings to chose from. Each person is going to vary on their specific macros based on many things: age, gender, muscle mass, body fat, activity level, diet history, goal, etc. 

I use myfitnesspal (an app) and a food scale to track my food according to the specific macros Avatar gives me. 

Now a little bit about the founders:

Dr. Layne Norton (CSO)- Layne has his Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences, was the trail blazer of flexible dieting, and owns Carbon Supplements. There are many other things Layne is known for, but he is amazing and knows the science behind nutrition (**no longer with Avatar Nutrition).

Katie Coles (Editor in Chief and Quality Control)- Katie has her master's degree in Nutrition, a registered dietitian/ nutritionist, and a certified personal trainer. 

Mark Springer (CEO)- the brains behind the operation. He knew from many years that the world needed a change, out of this Avatar Nutrition was born.

Now I want to talk about my journey...

Like I said, I started with Avatar in March. My goal was conservative fat loss. I wanted to cut before starting a reverse diet. I chose to use high and low carb days. My low carb days were around 100 grams of carbs and my high days were around 120 grams of carbs. I used this setting for six weeks. I dropped about 5 pounds. Below is a picture before my fat loss (right) and after my fat loss (left). 

That's when I decided my calories were too low for myself and I switched to conservative reverse dieting. Avatar will adjust your weekly calories based on your goals and your weigh ins. This is why Avatar is so specific and individualized. 

I have been on this setting since I ended my cut. I love the reverse diet setting. Many people have yo-yo dieted their whole life and their metabolisms are shot. Reverse dieting helps build your metabolism back up. Change takes time though, so a reverse diet needs to be more than a few months. My high carb days are up to over 150 grams of carbs and my low days are about 140 grams of carbs. I am currently lifting weights and I have completely cut cardio out of my workouts. I am at my lowest weight today of 129.6 lbs (which is less than I was during my cut). I am going to continue with this reverse diet setting until My calories reach over 2000, when food gets uncomfortable, or when my weight reaches above my starting weight of 135. 

My plans post- reverse dieting is to keep my macros the same for 1-2 months. After that my plan is to do 6-8 weeks on the fat loss setting and then switch back to reverse dieting. 

Now let me show you what Avatar looks like... below is the member profile:

Above shows your progress over time. I love visuals! It's also important to look at change over time rather than letting one higher weigh in bring you down. Below is a larger version of the body weigh graph. You can make each one bigger by clicking on it. 

Another great thing about Avatar is the Member Resources. There are articles, videos, and lots of recipes. There is also a FAQ page. 

Here is the closed group for Avatar Nutrition. One thing that makes this program successful is the community. Many people post questions, recipes, progress, etc. on this page. It is awesome to see everyone interact and come together. Avatar is $9.99 per month and is way cheaper than hiring a coach. I have looked at many different coaches, but I could never afford to pay for one. Avatar gives me the chance to have a coach and something to keep me accountable. 

I could talk on and on about nutrition, macros, and Avatar, but I know everyone doesn't want to read it all. So, please comment below if you have specific questions for me.

*I pay for my own membership to Avatar Nutrition. I truly believe in this company and the founders. My body is changing every day and I LOVE IT!*

Later Taters

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away." 

{Vitamin Chocolate Cookies}

Hello again Cupcakes!

It's been awhile since I've shared a recipe with you. We finally got moved in and settled into our new apartment in Indianapolis. So far, I absolutely love it! Of course I had to break in the kitchen by creating some recipes. If you follow my Instagram: @toriswholelife, you will see that I created a Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe. It was a huge hit at a family gathering. To see that recipe, follow this link: {Chocolate Chip Cookies}

I also made S'more Pancakes. To see that recipe, follow this link: {S'more Pancakes}

 Okay, now on to the new recipe: 

{Hidden Vitamin Chocolate Cookies}

Ingredients

6 scoops of {Nuzest Cacao Banana Quick Vita Kick}

1/4 c. {EatingEvolved Collagen Hot Chocolate Mix}

1 c. almond butter

2 eggs

dash of salt

3/4 c. {Anthony's Goods Coconut Sugar}

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all ingredients in a food processor until combined. 

Scoop dough with an ice cream scoop to make even cookies & place on a a cookie sheet.

Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are set.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes & transfer to a serving plate. 

Enjoy!

Here are some of the products I used to create the cookies...

Here are the links again if you would like to get some for yourself:

{Anthony's Goods Coconut Sugar}- 

They also sell on Amazon for affordable prices in bulk. This coconut sugar is a 5lb bag!

Today through June 16th the newest Anthony's Goods Cookbook ebook is FREE on Amazon Kindle, just follow this link: {Anthony's Goods Recipe Book}.

{Nuzest Cacao Banana Quick Vita Kick}- 

What is Quick Vita Kick? 

"More than just a multi, Quick Vita Kick is a complex multi-nutrient drink designed to give you that extra boost of vitality when you most need it. With 60+ recognizable ingredients, it’s a potent blend of carefully selected greens, fruits, vegetables and berries; plus, pre and probiotics, digestive enzymes and a full range of essential vitamins and minerals to support health and vitality."

I love all the different ways I can use Quick Vita Kick. One of my favorites is to combine warm almond milk with Cacao Mint Quick Vita Kick for a minty hot chocolate. 

{EatingEvolved Collagen Hot Chocolate Mix}

This is a dairy free hot chocolate mix that has the added benefit of collagen. You know I talk about my love for collagen all the time so I won't bore you with that. Just know that I love this hot chocolate mix because it is hard for me to find a hot chocolate that is lactose free. 

Later Taters

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away." 

{Life Update | Making Changes| Moving}

Hello cupcakes!

I wanted to dedicated a piece of today to writing a blog post for you!

Wednesday was my last day of work before moving back to Indiana. For my new readers, I moved to San Diego, California in August 2016 (right after graduating with my master's degree in counseling from Ball State University in Indiana). I love San Diego! It's beautiful, I love the hiking, I love the food, I love the ocean, I love so many things here. My boyfriend and I have made friends and many memories here. With that being said, my boyfriend was promoted within his company and it is allowing us to move back to Indiana. I have missed my family and friends so much!

My boyfriend and I will be starting our road trip back to Indiana in less than a week. It's been a little crazy over here getting things ready for the move: figuring out a new apartment, switching addresses, settling things in San Diego, applying to new jobs in Indianapolis, etc. I am excited to actually start our road trip so I can stop being so anxious about the move. Personally, I get really stressed with moving. It drives me crazy to not have things organized or in place. There is something refreshing about moving... getting rid of old things and re-organizing/decorating a new place. 

See this post for our last post about our road trip west: {Journey to Cali}

This road trip, we are planning on stopping at some different National Parks. We are definitely stopping at Zion National Park. I think we are also going to try to stop at the Sequioas and Yosemite. I still need to do some research to see if these places allow dogs. I can't wait to share pictures!

An update on my journey with Avatar Nutrition. I started with Avatar Nutrition in a slow fat loss program. I LOVED it! It wasn't terribly hard for me to cut. I love seeing progress both with my check ins and also with progress pictures. I lost about 6 lbs over the course of 6 weeks. 

To see my transformation picture, follow the link to my Instagram: @toriswholelife

At that time, I knew moving was going to be coming up, so I switched to conservative reverse. So far, I feel like the reverse is harder for me at the moment because I feel so hungry! My metabolism is working harder now. I have increased my carbs by about 30 g. which I am loving. I am planning on sticking to my macros the best I can during my road trip. I know it's not going to be perfect, but I know I have goals for myself. I will be bringing lots of snacks with me: tuna, lunch meat, bread, oatmeal, protein powder, peanut butter, protein bars, rice cakes, apples, green beans, granola bars, protein bagels, psyllium husk pancakes, and lots of water. I will be placing my Avatar Nutrition profile on "Vacation Mode" since I will not be able to weigh in. 

That's all I have for now, but I hope you all have a fantastic weekend. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures or recipes to share. 

Later Taters

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away." 

{Macro Friendly Brownies}

Hello cupcakes!

I want to share a new recipe with you: 

Macro Friendly Brownies

Ingredients:

2 eggs

30 g whole wheat flour

30 g Splenda Brown Sugar

100 g light Silk soy milk

22 g Jello sugar free, fat free pudding mix

1/2 tsp baking powder

10 g cocoa powder

30 g Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Mix ingredients together and pour into a greased baking dish. Bake at 325 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Makes 9 brownies

Macros per brownie: 79 calories, 2.4 g fat, 9.5 g carbs, 2.6 g protein

Later Taters

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away." 

{Healthy Brownie Cheesecake}

Hello cupcakes!

If you haven't noticed, I have a huge sweet tooth! With counting macros with Avatar Nutrition, I have to make "healthier" treats that can easily fit into my plan. I created this Protein Brownie Cheesecake and it is a huge hit with my boyfriend! 

{Healthy Brownie Cheesecake}

 Brownie Ingredients:

14 g. Challenge Life, Lactose Free butter

14 g Splenda Brown Sugar

10 g cocoa powder

30 g Anthony's Goods Peanut Flour

30 g egg whites

1 T almond milk

Cheesecake Ingredients:

25 g Nuzest Cappucino Protein Powder

10 g Splenda Brown Sugar

60 g Tofutti Cream Cheese 

1 container (5.3oz) Kite Hill Vanilla Yogurt (plain or vanilla would work)

Optional Topping:

10 g Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips

Directions:

In a bowl, combine all ingredients for brownies. Stir until mixed together. Spread batter into a small greased baking dish. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until brownie is cooked through. 

Next, add ingredients for cheesecake to a bowl. Stir until combined. Once the brownie is done cooking, let it cool and then top with Cheesecake filling. *If you want the brownie to cool quicker, place them in the freezer* Next, top with chocolate chips & place container in the freezer to harden. Leave in for about 30 minutes-1 hour. Remove and slice into 6 pieces. 

Serves: 6

Macros: 1 piece= 131 calories, 5.9 g fat, 10.5 g carbs, 7.8 g protein

*This recipe is lactose free*

*Don't forget to use the code "Thesweetlife" for $ off your Nuzest Order.*

Later Taters 

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away." 

{Maca Peanut Protein Balls} + Giveaway

Hello cupcakes!

Who's ready for another giveaway?!

If you can't tell already, I am loving Anthony's Goods products. They sell big bags of some of my favorite products for an affordable price. To check out their website, follow this link: 

{Anthony's Goods}

I used peanut flour and red maca powder from Anthony's Goods for this recipe. 

A few quick facts about red maca:

1) Native to Peru with a long culinary and medicinal purposes

2) Helps improve energy and stamina

3) High in Vitamin C

4) Can help improve mood, reduce anxiety,

5) May help improve exercise performance

6) May have some benefits for mental functioning

For the giveaway...

I am giving two lucky winners a bag of their own red maca powder

There are two different ways to win:

1) follow @toriswholelife & @anthonysgoods on Instagram. Tag 2 friends in the comments on my giveaway post

2) Like & Follow my Facebook page: The Sweet Life: Diary of a Health Nut & like {Anthony's Goods} Facebook page. Comment on my giveaway post & tag a friend

There you go! So enter both if you wish!

Now for the fun recipe... {Maca Peanut Protein Balls}

Ingredients:

10 g Splenda Brown Sugar Blend

1/4 c unsweetened cashew milk

1/2 serving of {Nuzest} Vanilla Protein Powder

30 g (1/4 c) {Anthony's Goods} Peanut Flour

1 tsp of {Anthony's Goods} Red Maca Powder

1 T Challenge Lactose Free Butter

Directions:

Mix everything in a bowl until combined. Roll dough into 4 balls. 

Macros per ball: 83 calories, 3.4 g fat, 6.3 g carbs, 6.4 g protein

*Remember that if you change the protein or butter you use it will change the macros slightly*

These are so addicting! I literally had to put them in the fridge right away or I could have easily eaten them all in one sitting. 

If you make some Maca Peanut Protein Balls, be sure to tag me and #thesweetlife so I can see all of your fun pictures!

Later Taters

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away." 

{Protein Cookie Dough}

Hello cupcakes!

I have a huge sweet tooth if you haven't already noticed. I am not a huge fan of pizza or fries, but give me all the brownies, cookies, & doughnuts!

Growing up, I loved helping bake cookies. One of my favorite parts was getting to lick the cookie dough off the beaters. It's funny how simple things in life can bring back such great memories. I decided to create a healthier cookie dough that could easily fit into my macro budget for the day. 

Here is what I came up with:

Ingredients

24 g Challenge Butter (lactose free)

10 g Splenda Brown Sugar

17 g Good Karma Flax Yogurt 

1-2 tsp sugar free, fat free Vanilla Jello pudding mix

10 g whole wheat flour

10 g {Anthony's Goods} Coconut Flour

15 g {NUZEST} Vanilla Protein Powder

unsweetened almond milk

10 g Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips

*Please note, you can substitute different butter, protein, & yogurt for the recipe, but keep in mind it may change the macros for the recipe*

Directions:

Combine yogurt, butter, & sugar in a bowl. Mix until combined. Next add pudding mix, whole wheat flour, coconut flour, & protein powder. Mix until combined. Add almond milk to the batter until your desired consistency. I made mine a consistency that allowed me to roll the dough into balls so I could keep track of a serving. Lastly, add chocolate chips and stir to combine. 

Serves: 4

Macros for 1 serving: 104 calories, 5.3 g fat, 9 g carbs, 5.1 g protein

If you want to learn more about why I choose to bake with Nuzest as well as see other recipes I have created,  follow these links:

Why I choose Nuzest + Healthy Apple Crisp

Nuzest Protein Puppy Chow

Nuzest Protein Cupcakes

Nuzest Pancakes

Protein Buckeyes

Some quick facts:

-Nuzest is pea protein powder

-Free of gluten, dairy, soy, and GMOs which makes it perfect for people with food intolerances or allergies

-100% natural vegetable protein

-Easy to absorb and digest

-Complete protein for energy, recovery, & repair

-Mixes smoothly

-comes in vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, cappuccino, and natural

As always, you can use the code "thesweetlife" at Nuzest check out to get $ off your order 

Follow this link if you want to get some for yourself: {Nuzest Shop}

NOW GO MAKE SOME COOKIE DOUGH!

Later Taters

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away."

{Quest Protein Cookies}

Happy Sunday Cupcakes!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend. I love to create and bake on the weekends, and of course I am always craving cookies. These protein cookies turnout so similar to the consistency and texture of normal cookies (which is sometimes hard to do with healthy cookies). I ate half of this cookie before my workout this morning. Okay, now you probably want the recipe so here it is...

Ingredients:

28 g Challenge Butter (lactose free)

10 g Brown Sugar Splenda

17 g Good Karma Flax Yogurt, plain

1 egg white

10 g old fashion rolled oats

20 g whole wheat flour

10 g Anthony's Goods Coconut Flour

1/2-1 tsp sugar free, fat free instant vanilla pudding mix

1/4 tsp baking powder

Frosting:

30 g Quest Cinnamon Crunch Protein Powder

water

Directions:

In a bowl, combine butter, yogurt, and sugar. Mix until combined. Next add in egg white and pudding mix. Stir until combined. Then add in the oats, wheat flour, coconut flour, and baking powder. Mix until a dough forms. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lay foil on a baking sheet and spray with oil. Scoop the batter onto the baking sheet in 4 rounded cookies. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until the cookies are cooked through and starting to turn golden on top. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes while you make the frosting. In a bowl, add the protein powder. Add 1 tsp. of water and stir. Keep adding water a little bit at a time until a frosting consistency forms. Next, top the cookies with the frosting. 

Serves: 4

Macros per serving: 125 calories, 5.3 g fat, 11.5 g carbs, 7.6 g protein

*Feel free to substitute with different butters or yogurts, just note it may change the macros on the recipe*

Here are some tips for baking when you are tracking macros:

1) Get a food scale. I bough mine off of Amazon for about $13 dollars. This will make your measurements more precise (that's why the ingredients are in grams)

2) If you create a recipe, write down the ingredients & then enter them as a recipe in Myfitnesspal and you can easily add the serving to your daily food log & macro budget.

3) HAVE FUN! Macro budgeting is like a puzzle. I love playing around with different food choices until I reach my daily macro allowance.

4) If you are creating recipes while using macros, you may need to use artificial sweeteners to keep the carbs lower. This is not a bad thing, anything in moderation is fine! If you want to know the science behind artificial sweeteners & how your body processes them, you can watch Dr. Layne Norton's video in the Avatar Nutrition Video Resources. Basically he says consuming small amounts of artificial sweeteners will not kill you! 

5) Share your recipe with others!

As always, if you make my recipe tag me in your creation photo @toriswholelife #thesweetlife

Instagram: @toriswholelife

Facebook: The Sweet Life Diary of a Health Nut @toriswholelife

Also, I created a Facebook page where I post the links to my blog posts. I will be running a giveaway on that page, so head over and Like/follow the page so that you have a chance to win!  I will also be running a giveaway on my Instagram, so head over there & follow!

Later Taters 

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away."