Friday, July 31, 2009

Almond Apricot Oatmeal

I don't normally like oatmeal, I find it quite bland. However it is good for you; high in fibre, low in fat and complex carbohydrates. I love almonds and fruit, so this recipe was a perfect winter breakfast!

Almond Apricot Oatmeal

5og rolled oats
50g natural almonds or ground almonds
200ml low fat milk
1/4 cup Splenda or Sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
100g apricots, chopped + one apricot half
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Shredded coconut to garnish


Place almonds in food processor and process until it forms a fine crumb texture. Place oats in a pot with milk and simmer until oats are softened. Add almonds, splenda, vanilla essence, nutmeg, cinnamon and apricots. Cook until oatmeal reaches desired texture.

Remove from heat and pour into bowl. Garnish with an apricot half and shredded coconut. Enjoy!

Nutritional Information
Calories = 639
Fat = 29.1g
Carbohydrates = 70.3g
Fibre = 13.2g
Protein = 30.7g

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Breakfast Berry Mousse with Almond Crumble

I stood in my kitchen this morning wondering what to have for breakfast. I didn't really feel like eggs, I'd had oatmeal quite a few times this week, but I did need to finish up the canned apricots I had opened the other day. I decided I wanted something fruity and as I started to get things out of my cupboard and fridge, this new recipe was created:

Berry Breakfast Mousse with Almond Crumble









200g mixed berries
100g chopped apricots
2 egg whites
200g low fat cottage cheese
1-2 Tbsp low fat milk
1/2 cup of Splenda or Caster Sugar (fine sugar)
50g rolled oats
40g raw almonds
20g butter (chopped)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

Mix berries and chopped apricots in a bowl and set aside. Place egg whites in a bowl and beat until they form stiff peaks. Beat in Splenda/sugar in batches until all mixed. Blend cottage cheese with low fat milk until smooth and then fold into egg white mixture. Fold in fruit and pour into an oven dish.

Place oats, almonds, chopped butter, cinnamon and nutmeg into a food processor and process until it forms a crumb-like consistency. Spread evenly over the fruit, egg white & cottage cheese mixture. Place dish in oven and bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 minutes.

Nutritional Information (Total Recipe)
Calories = 901
Fat = 39
Carbohydrates = 87.7g (Fibre = 21g)
Protein = 54.7g


Saturday, July 11, 2009

Chocolate Brownie Cake

This is a good one. I found it on a fitness forum almost a year ago and have only just made it now! I modified it slightly to suit what I had in the pantry.

No flour, a good amount of fiber and a rich chocolate taste. Using coffee accentuates the chocolate taste, so even if you dislike coffee do not omit it! Using Splenda cuts down on calories and carbohydrates but if you're wary of using artificial sugars you can substitute with regular sugar.

1 can of black beans
1.5 cups of Splenda (or sugar if you wish)
1 Tbsp baking powder
3 Tbsp Baking Cocoa
3 Tbsp espresso or strong coffee
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
3 Tbsp nut butter
1 handful of chopped nuts

Rinse the black beans well in water and set aside.

Separate the eggs and place the yolks in a food processor. Add baking powder, coffee, cocoa, vanilla bean paste and nut butter (your choice - I used cashew butter as that's what I had in the pantry). Blend until smooth. Add the black beans and blend again until smooth. Transfer the chocolate mixture to a clean bowl.

In a clean, dry bowl, beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks.

With a clean metal spoon, fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture.

Pour cake batter in a greased cake tin and cover with chopped nuts (your choice - I used macadamia nuts, but walnuts would also be good). Place in an oven @ 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 35 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. Wait until slightly cooled before cutting and serving.

Voila!

Monday, July 6, 2009

Almond Cherry Choc Cookies



These cookies are delicious. They are flour less so great for people that may be intolerant to gluten and also a little lower carb than regular cookies. They aren't low calorie though! The below recipe makes about 12 cookies and each cookie works out to be around 240 calories, 7g protein, 20g carbs and 15g fat. They are best savoured one a time!

2 cups of almonds
150g glace cherries
1 teaspoon vanilla paste
1 egg
100g organic dark chocolate
1/2 cup Splenda
1/2 cup Caster Sugar or Brown Sugar

Roast almonds in oven and remove to let cool. Place roasted almonds and vanilla paste in a food processor and process until mixture has formed a butter like consistency. Remove almond butter from food processor and in a bowl add sugar, splenda and the egg. Stir mixture well with a spoon. Roughly chop the chocolate and glace cherries and stir into the doughy mixture.

Divide the dough into ping pong ball size balls and slightly flatten on a baking sheet. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 10-15 minutes.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Workouts for July - Week 1

Monday 29th July
Bench
warmup then
70kg x 3 - 6 sets

Inverted Rows
3x8

Neutral Grip Pullups
1 set of 6 reps (bodyweight)

I cut it at that. I had a splitting headache and it wasn't improving any

Tuesday 30th June
Rack Pulls
warmup, then
130kg x 3 - 4 sets

Deficit Pulls
120kg x 1 - 6 sets

Split Squats
3 x 10 x 55kg

Standing Leg Curl
3 x 10 x 20kg

Cardio: 30 mins walking on treadmill - 10% incline @ 6.0km/hr

Wednesday 1st July
50 minute aerobics class
15 mins incline walking on treadmill - 7% @ 6.5km/hr
3 x 10 x 10kg rolling tricep extensions

Thursday 2nd July - Rest Day

Friday 3rd July
Flat Bench
65 x 5
67.5 x 5
70 x 5
72.5 x 5
75 x 5

Bench Rows
50 x 8
55 x 8 x 3

Seated Dumbell Cleans
3 x 10 x 7kgs

Lat Pulldowns
5 x 6

Cardio - 25 mins treadmill, 4.16km total

Saturday 4th July - Rest Day

Sunday 5th July
Box Squats
warmup, then
100kg x 2 - 6 sets

first few sets I had my feet a bit wider and it felt much harder. On the last two I kept my stance a little closer and I felt much much stronger on the exercise. The power cage and bar I was using SUCKED. I had 100kg on the bar and I could see the bar slightly bending even from that. The power cage was just all wrong. *sigh*

Standing Leg Curls
4 x 8

Lying Leg Curls
2 x 8

Cardio - 50 minute Step Class