Raspberry Lemon Protein Muffins

These muffins. Hearty, fresh, naturally sweetened and filled with 5 grams of protein per muffin and only 170 calories each. 

A friend of mine is the mastermind behind the recipe, but I changed things up a bit making them dairy free. The raspberry lemon combo is everything I want in a muffin. Slathered with shmear of almond butter in the morning and they make for the perfect breakfast. 

Not to mention these would be incredible on your Easter brunch menu, perfect for a shower, and even better for your everyday life. 

Raspberry Lemon Protein Muffins
yields 12 muffins

Ingredients:
2 cups oat flour*
2 scoops Arbonne vanilla protein powder
2 scoops Arbonne fiber powder (optional)
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup agave
3/4 cup almond milk
1/4 cup olive oil
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
zest from 1 whole lemon
juice from 1/2 lemon
10 oz fresh raspberries (reserve 12 raspberries for topping) 

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners and set aside.

*Take 2 cups of old fashioned rolled oats (steel cut will not work) and pulse in your blender until the texture of flower.

In a medium bowl, whisk oat flour, protein powder, fiber powder, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, whisk agave, almond milk, olive oil, eggs, vanilla extract, lemon zest and lemon juice. Stir wet ingredients into your dry ingredients. Fold your raspberries into the batter. Using an ice cream scoop, divide batter into muffin cups making sure you evenly distribute the raspberries into each muffin. Top each muffin with a raspberry. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the edges are just golden and a toothpick comes out clean. 

Annie 

*to purchase Arbonne's protein powder, please email me at annie@takeabiteblog.com!

Spaghetti Squash with Turkey Meat Sauce

I've officially eaten this meal three weeks in a row. Obsessed yes, overboard yes, but delicious enough to eat week after week. 

Over the past few months I've loved getting plugged into a new community group through my church. They found out I had a food blog and quickly decided that a cooking class was a must. I easily obliged. We finished our study going over this book (which I love, have read twice now, and highly recommend) two weeks ago. We used last week's meeting as a time to have fellowship over food and conversation instead of our regular study. 

Sticking to what I know, I led a them through how to make this beloved new dish of mine, and paired it with Perfect CCCs of course!

Spaghetti Squash with Turkey Meat Sauce
yields 6 servings

Ingredients:
2 - 3 spaghetti squash, halved
1 pound lean ground turkey
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium zucchini, shredded
2 medium carrots, shredded
1 (15 ounces) can tomato sauce, no sugar added
1 (28 ounces) can diced tomatoes
2 cups raw spinach, tightly packed
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
Dairy free or regular shredded mozzarella

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Microwave each spaghetti squash for 5 minutes (this makes it easier to cut in half). Take out of the microwave and slice in half. Scoop out the seeds. Arrange spaghetti squash halves on a roasting sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 25-30 minutes.

While your squash is cooking, in a large pan over medium heat, cook the turkey in the 1 tbsp. of olive oil until almost completely cooked. When just a little bit of pink is left add the zucchini, carrots, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, spinach and spices. Stir to combine and let cook until the spinach has wilted. Turn to low, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes. 

Once your spaghetti squash is done, use a fork to scrape the insides and create the “spaghetti noodles.” Layer a spoonful of sauce, draining some of the liquid of the sauce and using more of the meatiness, over the top of each squash. Turn on your broiler. Sprinkle the top of each squash with some cheese. Place under your broiler for 2 minutes to melt the cheese. Fresh cracked black pepper over the top and you are ready to serve!

*The sauce makes a ton. I like to pile on the sauce, but any leftovers store well in the fridge or freezer. When cooking for myself I prep one squash at a time and keep the sauce in the fridge. I take a cooked squash and the sauce and heat in the microwave. Then repeat the broiler step for a fresh hot meal each night. 

The meal went over well with the group and the cookies scored a win. Hope you love it as much as I do! 

Annie 

Lite Bite: Greek Chicken Quinoa Bowl w/ Crispy Chickpeas

OPA! It's all greek to me with this dairy free healthy greek quinoa bowl that I am still eating on a week later. 

Greek Chicken Quinoa Bowl w/ Crispy Chickpeas
yields 4-6 servings

Ingredients:
1 cup dry quinoa
1 can chickpeas, divided, rinsed and drained
1 rotisserie chicken, shredded
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 red onion, diced
1 Persian cucumber, divided
salt and pepper
Trader Joe's Zhoug Sauce*

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Pat dry 1/2 the can of chickpeas then place on a roasting sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt, pepper and sumac and any other greek spices (oregano, dill, thyme, garlic powder). Roast for 20-30 minutes.

Cook your quinoa according to package directions. In a large bowl toss together the quinoa, 1/2 the can of chickpeas, halved tomatoes, diced onion, 1/2 of the cucumber, sliced and quartered. Drizzle with a 1-2 tablespoons of zhoug sauce and season with salt and pepper. 

Portion out mixture and top with another small spoonful of zhoug sauce (it's spicy), a few slices of cucumber, a few cherry tomatoes and crispy chickpeas.

*If meal prepping this dish to eat throughout the week.. mix the quinoa mixture then store in the fridge. Portion out each night, re-heat for about 30 seconds. Top with sauce and crispy chickpeas.

**Tzatziki or hummus would be great to garnish this dish with.

Annie

Lite Bite: BBQ Chicken Quinoa Bowl

I've seen this recipe on What's Gaby Cooking's site many times. I've bookmarked it, screenshotted and pinned it many times too. After letting it hang out in cyber space I finally cooked up Gaby's very popular BBQ Chicken Quinoa Bowls. I love BBQ sauce, so this was a home run for me. Keep reading for the deats and hopefully this convinces you to make it this week. 

BBQ Chicken Quinoa Bowl adapted from What's Gaby Cooking
yields 4 servings

Ingredients:
1 cup dry quinoa
1  cup Trader Joe's Fire Roasted frozen corn, thawed
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 rotisserie chicken, shredded
1 avocado
shredded cheese of your choice, I used this almond milk cheese found at Whole Foods
BBQ sauce
scallions, chopped
salt and pepper

Directions:
Cook your quinoa according to package directions. In a large bowl toss together the quinoa corn, black beans and chicken. Drizzle with a 1-2 tablespoons of BBQ sauce and season with salt and pepper. 

Portion out mixture and top with another drizzle of BBQ sauce and a sprinkle of shredded cheese, scallions and chopped avocado. More cracked pepper too!

*If meal prepping this dish to eat throughout the week.. mix the quinoa mixture then store in the fridge. Portion out each night, re-heat for 1.5 minutes in the microwave (or eat cold). Top with BBQ sauce, cheese and avocado!

Annie

Healthy Funfetti Cake Balls + An Announcement

I hate cake balls, anyone else? Now you are probably like why the heck is this girl giving me a recipe for cake balls if she hates them? These Healthy Funfetti Cake Balls actually taste more like cookie dough to me, but when I think of funfetti I think of the box of Pillsbury Funfetti cake mix not cookies. So here we are with a cake ball instead of a cookie dough recipe.

But really, the moist, mushy inside of cake balls made from mixing cake and icing together just does not jive with me. Let's also all take a moment to cringe while we say the word, moist. OK, moving on. 

Protein balls, you've seen them all over Pinterest and instagram, protein bites, energy balls, energy bites whatever you want to call them. I even have a few recipes found here and here. They are basically just a cop out on a real dessert, but also pretty genius to have stored in your fridge when you need something sweet or need a tiny bit of substance before a workout class or something of that nature. I love how this funfetti version came out because 1. i mean how cute? and 2. the ingredient list is short and if you are a borderline health food junky like myself, you most likely have these ingredients in your pantry. If you don't...come over to my house, I'll make you some!

Healthy Funfetti Cake Balls
yields 9-10 cake balls

Ingredients:
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
2 scoops Arbonne Vanilla Protein powder
6 pitted dates
3 Tbsp. Almond milk
2 tsp. Cashew butter (or any nut butter, I use Georgia Grinders)
1.5 Tbsp. Multi-colored sprinkles 

Directions:
Add coconut into a food processor and blend until it becomes tiny grounds of coconut.

Add everything else but the sprinkles, pulse until it becomes thick crumbs (dough is pretty dry, you can add more almond milk if needed). Pour into a bowl and stir in sprinkles. Using a cookie scoop, press and roll into golf ball size bites! Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving! Keep in an airtight container in the fridge! Good for 1-2 weeks.

Now for the announcement. If you have been keeping up with Take A Bite, you probably are not blind to see that I have been incorporating some of Arbonne's nutrition products into my daily routine over the past couple months...hello protein shakes. Well, after thinking it over and going back and forth, I pulled the trigger and decided to start selling Arbonne myself. I truly love the products and use them everyday. Their nutrition line is something I completely agree with and have personally reaped the benefits of since starting to use them. I swore I would never sell something like this, but I just really love the products and want to be a source for others who are interested in trying them or who may already love them too. 

*I promise not to turn Take A Bite into a sales platform for my Arbonne business
*I promise not to spam you with only Arbonne
*I promise to stay true to myself and my brand and organically show you how I use Arbonne in my daily life
*I promise you will love these products and if you have any questions or want to hear more about the nutrition line please email me at annie@takeabiteblog.com

Annie