Double Chocolate Protein Muffins

I've been trying to get more protein in my diet, because I am an absolute carb-fiend--ESPECIALLY this time of year.  Even my favorite "go-to" protein sources are a little carb-heavy--I have to have fruit with my cottage cheese, and Chobani Flips (Coco Loco OMG....) while delicious, still have a TON of sugar. 

Srrsly, sOooooo good.

We’re doing a Wellness Challenge at work, so I made one of my goals “Get at least 75g of protein every day”.  After some initial struggles, I’ve fallen into a bit of a routine:
Breakfast:  hard boiled egg, cottage cheese w/fruit, skim chocolate milk (sometimes I go with shredded wheat cereal instead of the cottage cheese…I know, I know…WILD CHILD!!!)
Lunch:  typically leftovers (a protein & some veg or pasta)--like today, it's chicken parm & whole wheat spaghetti from last night
Afternoon snack: yogurt and some veggies, or some microwave kettle corn
Dinner: usually fairly balanced--protein, veg, and a starch
...which is good for tracking nutrition, but a little boring at times.  Plus, I mean...egg burps.
So I decided to skim through Pinterest and find a tasty protein-rich muffin option.  I bought some soy-based protein powder a few weeks ago...chocolate flavored.  Which is cool--so long as it's being mixed into something that is SUPPOSED to taste like chocolate. I know I could make myself protein shakes or smoothies each morning, but really, I need something I can just grab-n-go in the mornings.
Know what's supposed to taste like chocolate?  Chocolate chip muffins.

(That idea may or may not have been inspired by a trip to Sam's Club over the weekend.  Did you know their double chocolate muffins back in the deli are 680 calories a pop?  And for that splurge, you get 8g of protein and 37g of fat.)  We can still get 8g of protein--but with WAY fewer calories.
I was a little skeptical about these at first because the batter didn't taste that sweet.  Or super-chocolately.  But the final product?  AWESOMESAUCE.  Light and moist and plenty chocolately.  The cinnamon, coffee and vanilla really help the chocolate flavor pop--without adding a bunch of sugar.  I made a batch of 12 and then stuck them in a gallon Ziploc in the fridge.  Pop one in the microwave for 15 seconds, then nom while you head out the door.  Perfection for a gal like me who typically eats breakfast on the way to work or at her desk.

INGREDIENTS: (modified from the recipe here)

• 1 cup of whole wheat flour
• ½ cup old fashioned oats (if you want to up the fiber, you could sub in extra oats for some of the flour)
• 1 3.9 ounce package dry pudding mix (I used Mounds--the coconut adds a nice layer of flavor)
• ⅓ cup protein powder (I used chocolate flavored--a chocolate PB would also go really well in this)
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 3 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tbsp unsweetened coconut flakes
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3  cup cold coffee
• ½ cup semi sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat your oven to 350F.  Then, in a large bowl or stand mixer, combine the dry ingredients.
Now beat in the wet ingredients until thoroughly combined, but don't over mix.  The batter will be slightly thick--this is okay.
Line a standard muffin pan with cupcake liners (easier cleanup and helps them store better in the fridge--less of the muffin is exposed to air so they won't dry out as quickly) and divide the batter evenly into the cups.  Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick placed in the center comes out clean.  Should make exactly 12 muffins.
Next batch I may try integrating some Greek yogurt in place of some of the wet ingredients to bump up the protein even more!  I think there are a lot of different spins you could put on this recipe---add peanut butter, try a different type of pudding mix, add in some chopped nuts...There are tons of possibilities!



NutriFacts: (per muffin)
Calories 183.0
  Total Fat 4.1 g
  Saturated Fat 1.9 g
  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.3 g
  Monounsaturated Fat 0.4 g
  Cholesterol 31.0 mg
  Sodium 362.0 mg
  Potassium 127.2 mg
  Total Carbohydrate 29.1 g
  Dietary Fiber 1.1 g
  Sugars 14.5 g
  Protein 7.7 g

The Galloway Greenway: aka Spinach-Green Apple Smoothie

Today, I took a health assessment on my insurance company’s website.  Not necessarily for “fun”…more for the $25 gift card that was promised to each employee that did so before July.  I’m glad they gave us that incentive, truly I am.  Because I hadn’t done a real “wellness exam” since I moved away from Louisiana (where my employer brought in a mobile clinic once each year to give us all fitness tests and do a blood panel because we can’t be trusted to make it to the doc’s office of our own free will).

So last week I got a well-woman exam, a tetanus booster, a blood panel, and a bone density scan.  And then today I entered all my data into the fancy-schmancy website feeling pretty good about myself, since my numbers were all good… no more high cholesterol (probably because I’m not eating delicious fatty Louisiana fried food anymore), normal glucose numbers…

But then, the health assessment gave me a whole different number of its own:  46.  FOURTY-SIX out of ONE HUNDRED.  That’s my health score.  Typical for my age is 58.

My over-achieving self looks like this on the inside.

Why the low score?  Well, even though I have good blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol numbers, I apparently also have poor eating habits and don’t go to the gym enough.  Shocker, right?  And eating all that ice cream has made me a little soft around the middle…to the point that a stinkin’ computer had to tell me “You have a calculated BMI of 25.4.  Unfortunately, this means you are overweight.”  Thanks, Computer.  Thanks a LOT.  Also, my stress levels are too high, based on “job stress” from buying the business and dealing with the death of a loved one last year (I’m one of the executors of the estate).

Thankfully, Mr. Computer also had lots of suggestions for how to correct my issues and raise my overall health score.  And I’m all about increasing that score, because frankly, 46 is failing.  Ask any teacher.

So I took stock of my situation.  And one of the big issues with my personal diet right now is breakfast.  I’m a total zombie in the mornings, so breakfast has to be easy. Which means I’m notorious for NOT having a protein for breakfast (unless I get fast food, which really shouldn’t count).  I’m a cereal/cinnamon roll/yogurt kind of gal.  Sometimes I have the forethought to cook up 5 hard-boiled eggs over the weekend to tide me through the work week…but most of the time, no.

So when the Health Assessment asks me how many fruit/veggie servings I eat per day, I find myself wondering if the bits of onion & pepper in this morning’s Sonic breakfast burrito count as a “serving”… yeah.  I’m in trouble.  Wait---what category do the tater tots fall into???

Umm…is there a veggie in there somewhere?

But hey…I own an ice cream shoppe…that makes smoothies.  And part of my JOB is to create a new delicious smoothie every month. 

So I’d like to share with you my solution to the Breakfast Protein fiasco: The Galloway Greenway.

This was our Smoothie of the Month for May.  And it’s AWESOME.  I was skeptical of the green smoothie craze, but not anymore.  This thing is loaded with goodness.  Without protein powder, this smoothie packs 11g of protein, and only 188 calories, in a 16 oz serving.  WITH protein powder, it adds an extra 20g of protein and only 100 more calories.

We named it the “Galloway Greenway” because, well, it’s GREEN, and the series of trails that traverse across our city are called the Greenways.  And the one that starts right across from our shoppe is the Galloway Creek section.  You follow, right?

 

INGREDIENTS:

1 handful fresh spinach

4 oz fat free vanilla Greek yogurt

4 oz apple juice

6 oz frozen green apples, peeled & sliced

Protein Powder (optional) – I’d recommend unflavored if you go this route.

 

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a blender and pulse until smooth.

“Hi.  I’m famous on Instagram.”

You won’t taste the spinach.  I promise.  It’s all about the apple.  The tartness of the apples and the Greek yogurt go SO well together.  And it’s really light & refreshing.

Another delicious option?  Swap the apples for pineapple and the apple juice for OJ.  Freakin’ HEAVEN in a glass.  And it counts as 1 protein serving + 2 fruit/veggie servings!  SOOO much better for you than a greasy fast food burrito!

And when it comes to making smoothies, there’s no end to the great things you can add in. Buy some flaxseed at your local health food store (about a buck a pound), grind it up in a coffee grinder, and you’ve got a nutty add-in with tons of Omega-3s!

 

NutriFacts: (without protein powder)
Calories: 188

Fat: 0.3 g

Potassium: 475 mg

Carbs: 35 g

Fiber: 3 g

Protein: 11 g

Vitamin A: 28%

Vitamin C: 11%

Calcium: 16%