Birthday Cake Protein Smoothie!

 

Happy Birthday to......?

If it's anyone's birthday out there -- then happy birthday to you!

 

If not and you're like me... then make yourself one of these fun and festive smoothies just to celebrate a random weekday ; )  

Prepare yourself for loads of pictures. The sprinkles + the decorations were just too fun to pass up!
P.S. All pictures taken by yours truly : )

Let me first start off by saying no, it is not my birthday.
Do I want it to be? Yes.
Well then why did you make this, Morgan?

Since you asked...I had a pack of Birthday Cake AboutTime Protein Powder staring at me in my kitchen and I thought it was be fun to do some cool decorations + have a smoothie photo-shoot.

This smoothie was full of protein, 27g of protein actually! Only 240 calories for the entire batch! What is shown isn't actually the entire batch -- there was about 1 cup left in the blender, just FYI.  

But seriously, I think I may decide to nix the cake this year and just have a birthday cake smoothie instead!
Did I mention that this was a clean smoothie too? All of the ingredients were natural!
I used my Birthday Cake AboutTime Protein Flavor that only has 4 ingredients (that you can pronounce): Cold Processed Ultra Micro-filtered Whey Isolate, Natural Flavors, Xantham Gum, Stevia.






I was curious to see how AboutTime's Protein stood up against leading Whey Proteins on the market. So I Googled "protein powder" and these were the ingredients from a random company I chose:
Whey Protein Blend [Micro-Filtered Whey Protein Concentrate (providing ß-lactoglobulin, a-lactalbumin, Immunoglobulins, and Serum Albumin), Ion-Exchanged Whey Protein Isolate (providing ß-lactoglobulin, a-lactalbumin, Immunoglobulins, and Glycomacro Peptides) and Enzymatically Hydrolyzed Whey Protein Concentrate], Fructose, Cocoa, Natural Flavors, Free-Form L-Glutamine, Soy Lecithin, Xanthan Gum and Organic Stevia Extract (Stevia rebaudiana) (Leaf). Contains milk and soy derivatives.
 

Looking at the ingredients, what would you rather consume?

Something you can pronounce or fancy gunk you can't?

 

That's what I love about AboutTime Protein -- if you are on a clean + healthy eating plan, you can still eat this without filling your body with loads of junk.

I had this smoothie for Breakfast and it held me over way past lunch -- it actually helped me stay full so at lunch I didn't over eat!

Now for the fun part -- what actually went into this beauty of a breakfast!

Ingredients:
1 single serving pack of Birthday Cake flavor AboutTime Protein
1 medium frozen Banana
1/2 cup frozen Strawberries
1 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
1 TSP Vanilla Extract
1 squeeze Liquid Stevia (I used Skinnygirl's Brand)
1 TSP Rainbow Sprinkles -- for fun : )

Directions:
1. Combine frozen fruit with 1/2 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk -- to get the blender going.
2. Once frozen parts are blended, combine the remaining ingredients into the blender.
3. Serve immediately and garnish with sprinkles + a few candles for decorative fun : )
4. Make a wish + ENJOY!

Hope you all pretend today is your birthday and enjoy it!
And if today actually is your birthday then live it up and drink your cake in the form of a smoothie!

  

Nutrition per Serving:

240 Calories, 34g Carbs, 0.6g Fat, 27g Protein

 

 

 

 

 

Have a fit + fantastic day!

Oh, Happy Birthday to whoever you are out there ; )

 

 

 

 

 

 

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*Disclaimer: The AboutTime products were sent to me as a promotional item for my review. I love the products anyway and was more than happy to promote them on my blog. I received no compensation and my opinions are mine and mine alone. 

Low Calorie Spinach + Artichoke Chicken

Aside from Eggs Benedict, I LOVE Spinach and Artichoke dip.

 

I mean, who doesn't? 

 

Yesterday morning, before I left for work, I started thinking about what I wanted for dinner. I spotted a huge container of Spinach that I hadn't used yet and decided I wanted to try out a recipe I had seen on Pinterest a while back.

 

Obviously I was up for it since anything covered in Spinach and Artichoke had to be delicious. I adapted my recipe from here but I changed mine up and decided to make Low Calorie (non-Paleo) Spinach + Artichoke Chicken!

 

And it was good.



This recipe is great for making a lot of good food that you can eat for different meals! You could even throw it on a salad if you wanted to! It makes 4 large servings with only 324 calories and 46.9g protein in each. And that's not including the green beans! For something so savory and delicious you can't pass that up!

 

Ingredients:

4 Boneless, Skinless frozen Chicken Breasts

1 bag fresh Spinach

1 bag frozen Artichoke Hearts or 3 cups Artichoke Hearts (I used a bag of frozen one's from Trader Joe's)

2 ounces Low Fat Cream Cheese

1/3 cup Plain, Non-fat Greek Yogurt

1/4 cup Italian Shredded Cheese

1/4 cup Mozzarella Cheese

1 TSP Olive Oil

1 TBSP Crushed Red Pepper

1/2 TBSP Garlic Powder

1/2 TBSP Onion Powder

1 TSP Garlic Salt

1 TSP Black Pepper

1/2 cup Water

Worcestershire Sauce (to taste)

 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. In saucepan combine Olive Oil, 1/2 bag of Spinach, Frozen Artichoke Hearts + 1/4 cup water.

2. After the Spinach and Artichokes have started to cook down combine the remaining Spinach and water to the pan. The mixture is ready when the Spinach is a dark green color and wilted + the Artichokes are warm.

3. By this time the oven should be preheated. Place defrosted chicken breasts in greased glass baking pan. Cover chicken with Worcestershire Sauce to your liking (I like Worcestershire Sauce so I put a good amount on mine). Place in oven for 15 minutes.

4. While chicken is in oven combine Spinach + Artichoke mixture with Cream Cheese and Greek Yogurt. Mix until the texture is thick and creamy. Mix in Garlic Powder, Black Pepper, Onion Powder, Garlic Salt, and Red Pepper into mixture. Once combined, it should look like the picture below.  

*I tend to like things heavily seasoned and spicy, this mixture was very spicy + peppery. I recommend starting off light on the seasoning and taste as you go along until it is to your liking.

5. After 15 minutes, take the Chicken out of the oven. Next, pour the Spinach + Artichoke mixture evenly across the chicken.  Return to oven for 15 more minutes. 
6. Once done the top should be a nice golden brown and the sides should be bubbling. Remove from oven, let cool for 5 minutes and serve.
While the Spinach + Artichoke Chicken was in the oven I of course made my favorite green beans for the side dish. I could eat these green beans for the rest of my life I swear... They are that darn good.

This recipe turned out better than I ever expected -- especially since I kind of just winged it. It was spicy, creamy and so delicious. Even Peter said it was good and had some for lunch at work the next day! Now I definitely know this one is a keeper. This recipe is definitely one of those meals that you don't want to end and you start eating it slower and slower because you don't want it to end.

Maybe that's just me?
Anyway, it's that good. 

While I was making the Chicken I was a little skeptical about how it would look/taste because I did not season it at all. I had seasoned the spinach + artichoke mixture so much that I didn't want that much spice to it. When it was done cooking, I cut open the Chicken and it was perfect! It was extremely juicy + tender + completely cooked through!

Winner, Winner, Spinach + Artichoke dinner. ; )

 

This meal was definitely something I am going to use as one of my go to, low cal, filling meals from now on! It was so simple and super flavorful you can't not like it!

 

Oh and did I mention that one serving of this chicken is 46.9g of protein -- WOAH. Yeah, there's no typo there. 46.9g of protein... try it out y'all! You won't regret it!

 

 

Nutrition per Serving

324 Calories, 11.5g Carbs, 11g Fat, 46.9g Protein

*Recipe makes 4 servings

 

 

 

 

 

Have a fit + fantastic day!