No one wants to spend all their time cooking on vacation.
And when you don’t have a stove, it’s impossible.
Breakfasts have been quick and easy for us. We only have a microwave and a fridge in our studio… so when I bought eggs Vegas gave me a weird look. Apparently she’d never had microwave eggs before. It sounds strange, but it’s actually really good.
This Egg McMuffin didn’t stand a chance:
Please note my lioness bed-head in the microwave reflection. #bighairdontcare
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Cinnamon rolls kill me.
That smell in the mall… Pavlovian response.
It’s been years since I’ve gotten one, but walking past a certain cinnamon roll chain had me craving a cinnamon roll. I swear they put crack in those things.
In my shipment from About Time, I received a few proteins to sample. I decided it was the perfect opportunity for a little mug cake experiment! Mug cakes may seem normal to many of you… but to the “normal” world I think it qualified as strange. But good. 😉
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Baking comes in all forms.
And in all sorts of strange methods.
You may argue, but I maintain that the microwave is a totally legit way of baking. Especially when you’re craving cake at 8am. I have to work – instant gratification is the only option. 🙂
My favorite mug cake is my 150 Calorie Chocolate Protein Cake. It really is like cake, and I normally have it as dessert for my last meal of the day. While you could have it for breakfast, I wanted something strange fruity in the morning.
The combination of blueberry and thyme has been in my head since I saw it in martini-form on a menu during my Napa Valley trip. That’s right – my breakfast was inspired by a cocktail.
This cake was good on its own… but breakfast calls for syrup. I mixed some sugar-free syrup with cinnamon, thinned it slightly with almond milk, and poured it over my creation. Like a non-pan cake!
I loved the bright, slightly sweet thyme with the blueberries! Berries have been incredible this season – they added a fun burst to this moist (sorry… there’s no other word!) cake.
Place dry ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine. Add remaining ingredients and mix until smooth.
Transfer to a large, greased (I use coconut oil) coffee mug and microwave for 2 mins (may vary depending on your microwave).
Tip the cake out onto a plate and top as desired. My cake was topped with additional berries and a mix of cinnamon and sugar-free syrup
Makes 1 cake.
How have you enjoyed making co-workers, friends, or family stare with strange but good creations this week?
The link up rules can be found here or by clicking on “Strange But Good” in the menu bar above. In short, I want to see what concoctions have earned you weird looks from co-workers, family and friends!
Post your Strange But Good creations, grab the logo below for your blog, and link up here.
Remember to use #strangebutgood in any Tweets and Instagrams of your creations. 🙂
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I later made this for a snack too. Breakfast, post-lunch dessert… whatever… 😉
Do you have a go-to microwave cake?
Have you combined herbs and fruit? I love rosemary and berries too!
My Mam Maw made the best carrot cake.
I know we all say this, but I’m not kidding. I think it could have won awards.
It’s probably her I have to blame for my carrot obsession. Oatmeals, shakes, protein batters, overnight oats… I put carrot in EVERYTHING.
I’ve even been making my own cake. Healthy and with protein, of course. Mam Maw is turning in her grave.
The traditional cake is loaded with oil and sugar. It’s iced with cream cheese and more sugar. How could it NOT be good?
Anyway, this isn’t one of those cakes. This cake won’t make you feel like you need to run a marathon the morning after AND it still tastes good! 2g of fat and 6g of sugar, plus a whopping 24.5g of protein. That’s without the “icing.” I have been whipping these up with my Designer Whey protein powder post-workout.
Carrot Cake you can feel good about in under 10 mins. That wins in my book! This cake has all the spice of a traditional cake, and is incredibly moist!
It took me a few tries to make this. It kept exploding in the microwave! Did I mention I hate cleaning the microwave?
Making it in a cereal bowl vs. a mug really helped. I did that and adjusted some measurements to finally get a cake in one piece. The first explosions still tasted good though:
I really liked having the icing on there too. It’s a simple cottage cheese mix, but that creaminess takes the cake. Hee hee.
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Based on my Chocolate 150 Calorie Protein Cake recipe.
Grate carrot and set aside.
Place dry ingredients in bowl and stir to combine. Stir in wet ingredients. Mix in grated carrot.
Transfer to a greased (I use PAM) cereal bowl and microwave for 2-2.5 mins (mine took 2:15). Tip the cake out onto a plate and top as desired.
My cake was topped with a cheese cake icing made by combining cottage cheese with stevia and maple extract.
Makes 1 cake.
Approximate Nutritionals (will vary based on protein powder brand used): 154 calories, 2.1g fat, 183.7mg sodium, 13.4g carbohydrates, 0.7g fiber, 6g sugar, 24.5g protein.
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As for Mam Maw’s cake… I have the recipe. It may make an appearance on here for some holiday… 😉
What is your favorite cake?
Did you have any odd names for your grandparents? I called my other grandmother “money” for a while. She worked at a bank. 😉
Two things make me euphoric: good food and hard workouts.
Yesterday I was on the receiving end of both. My spreadsheet delivered today!
Breakfast was mind-blowing. Meal 2 is a new go-to protein source. Lunch – although it was inhaled – was delish. Meal 4 wasn’t exciting, but the GNC Vanilla Whey tastes cake batter-ish when mixed with water. Dinner… well, if it was legal to marry pizza I would. Meal 6 was fun and close to being a new staple. Dessert was a new (to me) recipe from one of my fav bloggers.
On the training front, I had a GREAT workout with my trainer. I squatted 1.5x my body weight. That’s a HUGE jump in just over a month of training.
Click for source
During a workout it can be overwhelming to push and go all-in. That’s when you know you’re doing it right – when you are out of your comfort zone and breathing hard (provided you are using a good form and common sense). I hit that point during my 4th drop sets of horizontal leg presses.
I looked up at my trainer and said “I don’t know how I’m going to do this.” Then, with his encouragement, I just kept going.
Click for source
It was HARD, both physically and mentally. I was careful not to say “can’t,” but I won’t say the thought didn’t cross my mind. I shoved it out of my mind, and after the workout was incredibly proud of myself.
Which leads me to the 4th installment of the Fitness-themed What I Ate Wednesday. If you’ve been following, I’m aiming to get ~150g of protein each day as I train for a figure competition (hopefully in NOVEMBER!!!).
In an effort to vary my protein sources, I try not to repeat meals throughout the day (ex: I don’t want to have 7 protein shakes, or 4 servings of scrambled egg whites). Today’s eats included a whopping 5 different sources of protein!
Check out my vegetarian protein-loaded day below; then click here to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons to see everyone else’s fitness foods!
Like I do every morning, I enjoyed a glass of my aminos mixed with ~2T of apple cider vinegar and water. I swear it gives me more energy than a cup of coffee… in fact, I no longer make coffee in the morning.
30 mins later I did enjoy a coffee-laced breakfast parfait:
It was a fabulous as it looks. No joke. Recipe tomorrow because I cannot hold this one in much longer.
A new go-to: Peanut Butter & Jeggs. I do enjoy savory eggs, but sometimes you just want a PB&J. Meal 2 doesn’t get a carb, and PB&J doesn’t pack 20g of protein (the minimum I need at each meal)… so I got creative.
Egg whites, peanut flour, berries… it’s not as weird as it sounds. Really. Recipe at the bottom.
This might be weird: dose anyone else like the little crunchies left over from scrambles? They’re especially good when they are laced with PB.
Lunch was wolfed down. I was slammed at work and running out the door for a lunchtime appointment with my trainer for the afore mentioned leg day.
This was a tasty combo… but I spent the drive to the gym wondering if eating all this so close to a workout would make me hurl.
On my plate:
Thankfully, I didn’t vom during my workout.
This is what eating for fuel looks like:
GNC Whey Vanilla Protein I received as part of this Fitfluential protein powder review, mixed with water to form a “pudding.”
Followed by a giant carrot when I got home.
I’m still swooning over this meal. It’s one of the best I’ve had in recent memory… and that’s saying a lot.
Cauliflower pizza perfection (recipe here).
Topped with baby bellas, red onion, garlic, red pepper, French sorrel, and purple basil, and drizzled with nooch “sauce” (1 T nutritional yeast + 1 T water) before placing back in the oven for 15 mins.
Once cooked, I topped it with a balsamic reduction, red pepper flakes, and this KASS vegan grated parm (which is actually really good!):
After being corrected by Coach last week (seriously… he busted me in the comments section), I did NOT skip meal 6. This is a new creation… one I’m still working on. As soon as it’s 100% I’ll share. 🙂
No coach, these aren’t protein macaroons.
Served with celery sticks and “honey” mustard. I say “honey” because it’s just Dijon with a drop of lemon Stevia.
I read this one someone’s blog but now I can’t remember where… please claim it if it’s your idea. Sorry!
Dessert was this Blueberry Protein Microwave Cake I’ve had bookmarked from my friend Sarena @ The Non-Dairy Queen.
Just a couple of modifications: I left out the oats, reduced the egg whites to 1/4 C, and used just 1/8 tsp of baking soda. I added 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and used lemon stevia in the coconut “frosting.” Mine only needed 4 mins in the microwave.
It was friggin’ fantastic.
In a greased pan on med heat, scramble egg whites until 3/4 done (still a bit runny, ~2-3 mins).
Meanwhile, mix together peanut flour, water, cinnamon, and stevia to form your peanut butter (note: you could always use 2 T of your favorite nut butter here).
Add peanut butter and fruit to the eggs. Scramble together and allow egg whites to complete cooking (~1-2 mins).
Plate and enjoy!
Serves 1.
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This day of eats was entirely vegetarian, and I managed 156g of protein. And it included 2 of the best meals ever. OMG.
Have you made a cauliflower pizza?
Any guesses about what meal 6 is?
