Thursday, March 19, 2009

Egg Whites Encourage Creativity...



OK so maybe eggwhites don't exactly give us the brain power of oatmeal, but for some reason I was able to muster up enough creativity this am to come up with a new recipe sooo good I had to share :)

As most of you know I compete in fitness competitions and it's that time again to buckle down on the diet in order to get my physique in competition mode. For me this seems to be the time of year I come up with new fabulous recipes because I am craving certain things but my training diet might not allow them on a particular day or at all during the training process. For example today my diet didn't allow for starchy carbs (meaning no oatmeal, brown rice, sweet potato etc.) SIGH :( and since I was craving oatmeal pancakes I decided to try to mix all the things I would’ve added to them minus the oatmeal and add in crushed nuts to give it some substance. and WHALA! I came up with the recipe below.

No doubt I will be taking these on the go and trying other variations of these... lemon blueberry anyone?

I hope you will try them out and let me know what you think.

ENJOY!

Nutty for Carbless Cups (still searching for a name, open to suggestions)

INGERDIENTS:
1 1/4 Cups egg whites (I use 100% liquid egg whites from the carton)
Handful almonds (1 oz), crushed
Handful walnuts (1 oz), crushed
1/2 Cup strawberries, diced
2 tsp Splenda
1 scoop vanilla whey protein
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp Cinnamon
dash nutmeg
For a little fluffier texture add 1/4 tsp baking soda

DIRECTIONS: Crush the nuts by placing in a Ziploc bag and pounding with a mallet or hard spoon) Add everything together into a bowl and mix (you may need to use a wire whisk to separate the cinnamon and whey). Line 6 baking cups on a cookie sheet (or use non stick muffin tins) and fill each cup half way with mixture.

Bake on 350 for 15-20 mins until toothpick comes out clean. They will collapse slightly once taken out- this is normal.



Makes 6 cups
Nutritional breakdown per cup:
Calories- 90
Carbs (non-starchy)-3 grams
Protein-9 grams
Fat-5 grams (from the nuts-all good fat)

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Back from the Arnold Classic Sports Festival!



I just returned from the famous Arnold Classic Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio. The festival featured an EXPO with 700 fitness-related booths and more than 17,000 athletes competing in 37 events, including 12 Olympic sports. All in all there was an estimated 170,000 people in attendance throughout the weekend. It was an amazing experience and I was able to meet some of the best in the business and the one and only Arnold Schwarzenegger :)

Being a competitive fitness and bikini athlete, this fitness and figure shows amaze me! If you are interested in seeing the results and photos please go to: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/2009arnold.htm

I encourage you to all take the trip next year as it is a weekend you will never forget!