High in protein, low in fat and carbs, this fun Halloween food is both delicious and nutritious. Eat your bloodshot eyeballs as a snack or serve them to the kids for some good laughs.
 Bloodshot Eyeballs |
Halloween season is coming and we are going to need some healthy recipes to go with the fall season. As always at Project Swole we prefer to focus on recipes that can help us either gain muscle or lose fat. This high protein, high fiber black bean recipe will go a long way in satisfying your craving for chips and dip.
 Black Bean Dip |
Black bean dip is quick and easy, and tastes great with yellow or blue corn tortilla chips. Look for baked versions of your favorite tortilla chips in order to save additional fat.
Black beans are a very good source of fiber. In addition to lowering cholesterol, the high fiber content in black beans prevents blood sugar levels from rising rapidly after a meal. This means beans are an excellent choice for folks with diabetes, insulin resistance or hypoglycemia.
 [Get] Optimum Nutrition Protein Powder |
Here are 70 different (mostly) protein shake recipes. I have also included a link to purchase one of the best protein powders on the market. Optimum Nutrition produces the best quality protein powder for the price you pay. They have 1 lb, 2 lbs, 5 lbs, 10 lbs, and packets. Choose from 16 flavors.
I always choose either Optimum Nutrition or Biotest Metabolic Drive when I buy protein powder. You can choose your favorite. And without further ado…
On the way out the door to a meeting or an appointment, you feel a twinge of hunger. You really need to grab a quick snack, but you are sick of fruit and protein bars. The solution is simple: grab two peanut butter protein balls and you’ll be good to go for the next 2-3 hours.
The exact ratio of ingredients will depend a little on the kinds of protein powder and peanut butter you use. I used a low carb, French Vanilla flavored protein for this recipe, but other flavors work fine as well; in fact I think next time I will try chocolate.
Some natural peanut butters have more or less oil than average, so you might need to increase or decrease the amount of protein powder based on your PB. You can choose to use the vanilla extract or the additional ingredients. I would advise experimenting.
At times there can be a benefit to scheduling some zero carb, high protein, high fat eating in your diet. You might consider going on a 3 week Atkins-style super-low carb diet to kick start a hardcore fat loss phase in your training. For this, you will need to eat lots of meat, cheese, and vegetables, and not much else. I have the perfect recipe for this; it’s called Matt’s Meat and I wish to share the story of Matt’s Meat with you.
Back in 2004 I was living in a house called “The Deuce” with 5 other guys. These were the college days, so I was pretty dedicated to training and nutrition. Aside from class and homework, I didn’t have much else to focus on. One day one of my roommates, we’ll call him Matt, tossed a bunch of meat and spices into a frying pan and cooked it up. We ate it with cheese and either blue cheese or ranch dressing and it was like a party in my mouth. The meal was henceforth dubbed “Matt’s Meat”, and today I would like to share the recipe with you.
First thing’s first, dump the meat in a frying pan and cook it on medium until the fat starts to separate and boil around the meat. While you are waiting, cut the peppers into small squares. Once there is considerable fat in the pan, point you want to hold the pan at an angle, push all the meat to the top, and try to dump out as much of the fatty grease as possible. Now that the grease is gone you can add the peppers, spices, mustard, and hot sauce.
The final ingredient is optional if you are going for a die-hard zero carb meal, but it really makes the meat tasty. Sort of gives it a sloppy joe flavor. Anyway, add the ketchup and mix it up.
To serve, top 1/2 cup of meat with a sprinkle of shredded cheddar cheese, heat for a couple seconds to melt the cheese, and finally top with 1-2 tbsp of chunky blue cheese dressing.
I have no idea how much fat and protein is in this meal, but I’m betting it’s high. This is a good meal for a strict low carb diet and will probably satiate your appetite for at least 4 hours due to the fat content. Just remember, do not add anything with carbs other than the peppers and ketchup or you will lose the whole purpose of the meal.
When you’re on the run, a protein shake could be your solution for hunger. What better way to kill the doldrums of protein shakes, than to whip up something unusual? Sick of strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla? Try this wholesome pistachio protein shake that could even entice a kid. Get shredded with the water recipe or bulk up by using cream or whole milk; you can even use skim or low-fat milk to add calcium and a little extra protein to the shake.
The instructions for this shake are very easy. Blend all the ingredients together and pour into cup. The shake is light green even without the food coloring but if you want it to be Hulk-green just add a few drops.
Hulk Out: turn this guy really green with a few drops of the green food coloring
The Spicy Hulk: add a kick with 1 mint leaf or a few drops of peppermint extract
Hulk Bulk: blend the ingredients with cream or whole milk instead of water or skim
Cottage Cheese is a great high protein snack that is often underestimated for its usefulness in a high-protein, low carb diet. Just one half cup serving of 2% cottage cheese has 16 grams of protein. For those of you who closely monitor their carb intake, you will be happy to know that a serving of cottage cheese contains only 4-5 grams of carbohydrates. This nutritional profile is perfect for those of us watching what we eat in order to lose fat, gain muscle, or just eat healthy food.
The taste of chicken, tuna, protein shakes, and protein bars gets old after a while. Since we need these kind of high protein, low carb foods, we are forced to look around for any possible food alternatives. Enter our friend cottage cheese. By snacking every 3-4 hours on foods like cottage cheese, we are able to further our goals to look good naked, set personal records, or whatever your fitness goals might be.
Cottage cheese can be a tasty addition to your protein choices. If you’ve avoided cottage cheese because you’ve envisioned the only way of serving it was plopping it on a lonely lettuce leaf, here are a few flavor combinations for you to try with your next scoop.
Cottage Cheese and Tuna: A mixture you can take anywhere or eat with anything. I used to survive on this stuff. Just mix a half can of tuna with a half cup of cottage cheese and eat. Top salads with it, make a sandwich, eat it plain, experiment with various spices.
Pepper: Sprinkle cottage cheese with a few dashes of fresh crack pepper.
Pseudo Tapioca Pudding: If you like tapioca pudding, try this low-carb alternative. For each ½ cup serving, mix in ½ tsp vanilla flavoring and 1 packet artificial sweetener.
Fresh Fruit: A few blueberries, diced peaches, strawberries, chopped banana, or pineapple chunks sprinkled on top go a long way with cottage cheese. Stick with the berries if you prefer low-glycemic fruits. If the fructose is a concern, try using dash of tropical or strawberry-banana flavored sugar-free drink mix as an alternative fruity flavoring.
Jelly and Curds: Add 1 tbsp no-added-sugar jam or jelly per ½ cup cottage cheese.
Chocolate Delight: Add a ½ scoop of chocolate flavored protein (or 1 tsp of cocoa + 2 packets artificial sweetener), 1 tbsp sugar-free chocolate instant pudding mix and whip in blender (you may need to add a little water or milk to thin it a little bit). Top with diced walnuts or almonds if desired and chill until set or ready to eat.
Cottage Cheese Over Potatoes: Combine 1/2 cup cottage cheese, freshly chopped herbs (suggestion: oregano, basil, chives), a pinch of salt, and an optional splash of lemon juice in a blender. Serve over hot baked potatoes.
Fruit Dip: Combine 1 cup cottage cheese, 1 packet of sugar substitute (I like Splenda), 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract in a blender. Serve with fruit or use as a topping on other desserts like nut bread or banana bread.
Bean and Avocado Salad: Mix together 1 part chopped cooked green beans, 1 part cooked kidney beans, 1 part chopped avocado, 1 part cottage cheese, a splash of lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. Serve cold. Leave out avocado if you don’t like it, the bean salad is still excellent.
Now go eat your curds and whey!
The first part of this recipe provides your workout for the day. Step 1: go out into the woods and find yourself a fat wild turkey. Step 2: run after him until he grows tired from flying away from you, then jump on him. Step 3: now submit him with a well placed triangle choke and drag him home for dinner.
OK, I kid. But seriously, turkey is a very healthy meat. You should choose turkey over beef, pork, lamb, and other darker, fattier meats. Tonight we will make some nice turkey burgers on the grill, and this is how we will do it:
 Turkey Burger |
1 pound of lean ground turkey
4 tablespoons of fat free or low fat mayonnaise, you could also try miracle whip but it is sweeter
4 tablespoons of barbecue sauce
1/2 cup fresh, diced or sliced tomatoes
4 large leaves of green leaf lettuce
a pinch or two of salt
a pinch or two of freshly ground black pepper
whole grain sandwich buns
Start by preheating the grill to medium-high. Mold the ground turkey into 4, 1/2 inch thick patties. Season with salt and pepper. Grill the burgers for about 6 minutes per side, or until they are cooked through. In the meantime I recommend also toasting the rolls on the grill. In a small bowl, stir the mayonnaise and barbecue sauce together. When the burgers are done, top them with the mayonnaise sauce, lettuce, and tomatoes and serve on the toasted rolls.
Calories – 270
Carbs – 25 g
Fat- 4 g, 1 g saturated
Protein – 32 g
Fiber – 2 g
Turkey In My Salad – You could also chop up the turkey burger and toss it in a nice salad with low fat dressing.
Alternative Dressing Options – Consider any of your favorite dressings instead of the mayo and BBQ sauce. I recommend reduced fat ranch. Never tried blue cheese on a turk burger, but it might be worth a taste.
Tuna is an athlete’s best friend. What else can you whip up in a matter of 15 seconds, which provides the benefits of fish with 0 carbs and 1 gram of fat? This easy cookin’ tuna burger has a touch of lemon with a spicy kick. Add in the breadcrumbs if you don’t care about the carbs or if you just want the burger to be a little heartier.
1 can drained, solid white albacore tuna
2 small egg whites or 1 jumbo egg white
a squirt of lemon juice or a dash of lemon-pepper seasoning
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
Mix all ingredients together in small bowl. Form two patties and cook on a non-stick pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray like PAM until tuna patties are slightly browned. Served on top of a small salad, on a whole wheat bun, or on whole wheat bread. Serves two regular athletes or one hungry powerlifter.
Optional Upgrades:
The McTuna Meal: serve with oven-baked steak fries, a touch of ketchup, and a super-size Diet Coke. =P
Extra Hearty Tuna Burger: make the burgers with 1 tablespoon of bread crumbs.
Cheesy Fish Burger: either slap a piece of 2% cheese on there, or sprinkle on some shredded cheddar.
Nutritional Information Per Serving:
Calories- 205
Carbs- 5g
Protein- 28g
Fat- 7g
Here is a healthy protein fortified meal that you can share with your kids!
 Protein Pancakes |
Remember when you were kid and your parent or guardian grilled up some pancakes for you in the morning?
Remember the smell of the pancakes cooking and how they taste with fresh butter and warm maple syrup?
Well now you can have that again but you don’t have to feel bad about it. I have been enjoying protein pancakes for the last 10 years of my life and now you can too. So, without further delay allow me to introduce you to… the protein pancake recipe!
Preheat a frying pan or skillet on the stove or oven, coat lightly with non-fat cooking spray.
Blend egg whites, cottage cheese, and water in a blender until it reaches a liquid consistency.
Mix the protein powder with blended ingredients in a bowl. Stir until lumps are gone.
Next add the pancake mix and stir until mixture is fairly uniform.
Do not over stir!
Add additional water only if mixture is not to your desired consistency.
Pour onto skillet, cook until edges start to turn brown, then flip and cook for a couple more seconds.
Do not overcook!
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Pancakes and fruit - eat fruit with your pancakes; put no sugar added jelly on them; drink some OJ with the meal; just get some fruit in you. I recommend strawberry.
Pancakes and syrup - feel free to use all natural maple syrup if you wish to add 40g of sugar per serving to your meal. Otherwise use a light syrup or a sugar free syrup. I still prefer to spread no sugar added jelly on mine.
PB and pancakes – if you have any leftovers you can make a high protein peanut butter sandwich later on. Add jelly to make a protein fortified PB&J.
Protein flavors – experiment with various flavors of protein. Often, then chocolate protein powder does not make for great protein pancakes. Try vanilla, strawberry, banana, or anything else you can find.
I recommend Optimum Nutrition protein powder. It’s good stuff and it’s cheap!
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