5 Ingredient Healthy Donuts

I am a FOODIE.  Let's just start by saying that.  I also LOVE my treats and desserts! So when I can find a chance to make what I love healthier and better for me, I do! Because donuts are a staple for me (especially Sundays after church!), I wanted to find an alternative so that I didn't ruin my eating plan every week! I was so excited to try this out, and I loves the results! My husband was a fan of them, too! Check it out and let me know what you think!

Here is the recipe for the cake part of the donut:

1 cup almond meal/flour
1/4 cup  honey (or maple syrup or agave)
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp baking soda

1.) Preheat your oven to 300F
2.) Grease your donut pan and set aside.
3.) In a medium mixing bowl, mix together all of your ingredients until smooth.
4.) Fill your donut pans with your mixture, filling each donut cavity 1/2 way full.
5.) Bake for 10-15 minutes, keeping an eye on them and taking them out as soon as your donuts are cooked and a toothpick into the middle removes clean. Be sure not to overcook them as they'll dry out!
6.) Allow to cool before removing from the tins.



And for the chocolate glaze:

1/2 cup of chocolate chips
1-2 teaspoons of coconut oil

1.) Heat up both the oil and chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl for 30 seconds.
2.) Stir mixture.
3.) Continue to heat up in 10-15 second intervals until a smooth chocolate glaze has formed.
4.) Once your donuts and glaze have completely cooled, dip the donuts in the glaze!

ENJOY!!!

Meal Prep Recipes

Hey mamas! I recently posted a picture of some meal prepping I did for Emma, and I had a lot of people ask for the recipes! I decided to create a post to share where I got the recipes from and how I made everything!

From start to finish (clean up included!), it took me about 2 hours.  I froze the majority of the items so that they last! I still mix in other things, but these are great to have on hand and use for when we need something quick and convenient! I hope you enjoy, and let me know if you try out these recipes!

So here are the recipes (pictured above) that I used from top to bottom.

1.) I chopped up some fresh fruit for a fruit salad (in the green container).  Added blueberries, strawberries, and bananas!

2.) Blended up a smoothie to have for the week. It has:
     - Fresh papaya (from our garden)
     - Fresh kale (from our garden)
     - Spinach
     - Greek yogurt
     - Unsweetened vanilla almond milk
     - Honey
     ***I pour a little in a cup for her and she drinks it through a straw!

3.) Pancakes (on white plate).  These were super simple to make! Recipe can be found here:
   
     Healthy Banana Pancakes

4.) Scrambled some eggs to have for the week! Emma loves these!

5.) Made some breakfast muffins to mix up her morning breakfast carbs.  Recipe can be found here:

     Spinach and Banana Muffins

6.) Lastly, I made these yummy quinoa bites to have for breakfast or lunch when we need to grab something quickly! I added shredded and chopped chicken to the recipe as well! Recipe can be found here:

    Broccoli and Cheddar Quinoa Bites

I hope this helps and gives you some ideas to help make your busy mommy life a little easier!

ENJOY!

2 Ingredient Pumpkin Spice Muffins

I love to meal prep, and I am starting to get into the habit of doing it for my toddler as well! These mini muffins were the easiest thing in the world to make! They were a hit for my toddler, my husband, AND myself! Emma may have to share a few with me. ;)

Now I will be the first to say, these ARE NOT the healthiest muffins you can make, but they ARE dairy free and not bad as a breakfast treat every once-in-a-while!

Here is all you need to make these mini muffins:

1 package of store bought spice cake mix
1 can of pure pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling!)

The directions are quite simple!

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray a mini muffin pan with non-stick spray or line with cupcake liners.
3. In a bowl, combine the boxed cake mix and canned pumpkin (NOTE: you will not be adding in anything else from the directions on the cake mix!).  Using a spatula worked best for me!
4. Fill mini muffin tin with mix.
5. Bake for 12 minutes (or until toothpick comes out clean).
6. Let cool for 5 minutes and place on paper towel to completely cool.

This recipe made 36 mini muffins!  I put a few in the fridge and froze the majority of them! Emma loved them and gobbled them up! I did cut them up into quarters to make them a little more bite sized for her (she is one year and two weeks).

If you try these out, let me know what you think of them! 

Ultimate Reset Experience

The Ultimate Reset

On March 21, 2016, my husband, Chris, and I decided to do the Ultimate Reset together and go ALL IN.  We fully committed to this program, and I wanted to share my experience with you! The program is three weeks long, so I’ll explain a little about each week! I will keep things short and sweet, as I’m sure you didn’t come here to read a novel! ;)

Week One:

During week one, you work on cleaning up your diet.  You take out red meat completely.  This wasn’t hard for me, as I am not a fan of red meat.  Chris does love it, but he found eliminating it to be pretty easy.  He said he didn’t miss it!  We still ate salmon, eggs, whole wheat toast, those sorts of things, so that was fairly easy, as it was similar to our normal diet.  HOWEVER, starting day one, you eliminate ALL caffeine.  Yes, ALL CAFFEINE IS ELIMINATED.  This was the hardest part by far for us both.  By day two, I was in such a haze that it was really hard for me to function.  I had no idea I was that addicted to coffee! Once that part passed (around day four), things got MUCH better.  Week one ended with both of us feeling really good! I had lost five pounds and Chris lost three and a half. 

Week Two:

In week two, you eliminate dairy and all meat.  You still eat some carbs and things like beans and lentils.  During week two, I really started to feel a difference in my energy levels.  I didn’t feel groggy or that I needed my typically “afternoon pick-me-up.”  However, I did feel like I physically was moving slower.  It wasn’t a bad feeling, but I noticed a difference in how much energy I exerted physically.  That being said, this did not affect my ability to keep up with my one year old! J I had plenty of energy to run, play, and take care of her, which was always my priority! After another week, I was down another six pounds and Chris was down another five!

Week Three:

By week three, you are eating mostly fruits and vegetables.   If you would have told me 2 years ago that someone could live off fruits and vegetables and not be so hungry that they wanted to punch someone, I would have laughed at you.  But, it turns out, fruits and veggies by themselves are VERY filling! Like, “I can’t eat anymore, my stomach is way too full” filling! Chris did say that he felt like he needed a little more (but he was really good and kept to the plan!), but I didn’t feel that way.  Week three was probably my favorite because I had an overall “light” feeling and was really happy with how my body was looking.  Now, this program is 21 days long, and Chris and I stopped at day 20.  Why? Because our daughter turned one on day 20 and, well, your daughter only turns one once.  On her birthday, we had a big party with all our friends and family, and we didn’t want to sit back and not join in on the celebration while everyone else did! At the end of our program, Day 20, Chris and I had both lost an additional two pounds!

Overall Experience:

We are SO happy with what the reset did for our bodies.  We were able to discover new foods, new recipes, and how our body reacted to certain foods and food groups.  We absolutely loved the recipes we made, and still continue to make them! The reset taught us a new way of looking at food and what it does for our bodies. 

Results:

Here are the overall results!

Me:

Pounds Lost: 13

Inches Lost: 10 inches overall

Chris:

Pounds Lost: 10.5

Inches Lost: 7 inches overall

Some other results that I experienced were:

*WAY less bloating

*Cellulite GONE (not the most fun thing to talk about, but hey, just keeping it real!)

*Skin clear and free of eczema

*An overall sense of happiness knowing that my body was being well taken care of and nourished by so many healthy foods

This journey was definitely tough at times, but it was SO worth it! I have learned so much and am continuing to learn from this experience even after we have finished!

If you want to experience the reset for yourself, or just get more details on it, just contact my at: lpettitempowerfit@gmail.com.

Thanks for checking out my journey! I wish you all HEALTH and HAPPINESS!

Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Cafe Latte

Don't knock it 'til you try it!

I know the title of this shake seems a little overwhelming, but I promise, the taste is anything but! It's so yummy and captures all the differently flavors without being too much.  Here's how you can make this yumminess in a cup (or mason jar)!

Ingredients:
1 scoop Cafe Latte Shakeology
1 cup Dark Chocolate Almond Milk
3 tbsp. Old Fashioned Oats
2 tsp. honey
Ice


Blend together in a Magic Bullet and sit back, relax, and ENJOY!