Gardein

I like going out to eat with my husband, but I hate that I can never find much to eat from the menu...I love a good salad, but they always have chicken, steak, or fish on them.  Yes, I order one without it, but then I am paying $12 for a salad and not even getting my protein! 

I am so thankful for companies like Gardein! They have high quality, yummy tasting, and healthy meatless options for vegetarians.  I saw the products in Target for the first time and was intrigued! The company sent me some coupons to pick a few products to try and review.

I always love when they include a hand written note!

It was hard to choose, but I narrowed it down and finally picked three.

BBQ Wings, Beefless Grounds, and Crispy Chick'n.  

Before I got to tasting, I had to check out the nutrition facts.  

Everything looked great, but I really with they had the stats for the sauce.  I am pretty particular when it comes to my food so I usually like to know the macros.  It would have been nice if they had numbers without sauce, but then had numbers for the sauce as well.  

The good thing is that the sauce comes in a seperate packet.  

That way you can use all of it, none of it, or just a taste.  

I tried the Sweet & Tangy BBQ Wings first. My husband actually asked me if they were boneless...ha...last time I checked soy protein didn't have bones...silly silly carnivore...

Each serving is 120 calories 5F 5C 14P.  

The directions said to cook in 1 T of oil, but I ignored that part.  

I just used a little non stick spray and they cooked up perfectly!

The directions also said to cook the sauce in with the wings, but I decided to keep it on the side.

Looks good to me! Gotta have some celery with my wings!

I wanted to be sure to do a thorough review, so I did try the sauce.  

It was really really tasty! Nice and sweet! Not spicy at all which I love.  I thought it was great for dipping. 

The bag has 2.5 servings, but I ate them all for lunch! 

The texture of the wings was really nice.  Not rubbery or chewy at all.  I would be very happy if these were on the menu next time I went out to eat!

Mandarin Orange Crispy Chick'n was up next.  

These also came with a sauce packet which I decided to keep separate.  

I cooked them up the same way, omitting the oil.  

 These have a very light breading which got nice and crispy!  The chick'n had a really nice texture once again.  My husband even took a little nibble and said that it had more flavor than real chicken!! 

The orange sauce was very good as well.  

It was a thinner sauce with just the right amount of sweetness.  This would be great over some brown rice.  Vegetarian Chinese food!

I ate one serving just like this. 

It was a great little snack coming in at 150 calories 7F 6C 17P.  

I didn't have any rice on hand, but I wanted to try something else with the remaining Chick'n. 

Why can't restaurants have this Chick'n Salad on the menu!? I would pay $12 for this dinner!

I drizzled a little balsamic vinegar on top and dug in.  

This was a great lunch! I loved having all the added protein to keep me full and satisfied.  

Last but not least...

Basically ground hamburger meat.  Except it didn't come from a cow :)

I cooked up half the bag in a skillet on the stove just like before.  

Half of it went on this glorious plate of nachos for a movie snack!

Chips, salsa, low fat cheese, and lots of meatless grounds!

I like that the grounds aren't greasy like real meat would be.  

I am quite sure you don't have to be a vegetarian to enjoy this bite!

Breakfast wrap time!

This might have been my favorite creation.  Nice and simple.  Soft tortilla, fat free american cheese, and some grounds.  

Such an amazing breakfast! The grounds have a nice, mild flavor.  I like that because you can add whatever seasoning or sauce you want to fit your taste!

Each serving only has 80 calories 1.5F 5C 12P.

So what do I think of Gardein?! I think restaurants need to start using their products so I have yummy things to eat when I go out with my husband!!

They have lots of other products too! Fishless filets, Beefless tips, Crispy chick'n patties, Burgers, and more!! Check out all of their products here.  

I got my Gardein products from Target, but I have seen them at my local grocery store too.  Use their store locater to see where you can buy them near you.  Vegetarian or not, I suggest you give them a try!

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Quest Creation - Salted Caramel Brownie Bites

So in love with Quest Bars! I love eating them out of the wrapper, microwaving them, baking them into teeny tiny cookies, and experimenting with them! I recently made the best treats out of the Chocolate Brownie bar!

Yes, these taste as amazing as they look! Best part is they are quite healthy!! As Quest would say, they are the perfect way to cheat clean :)

So simple too...all you need is a Chocolate Brownie Quest Bar, some caramels, and some sea salt!

I just used regular caramels, but you can also use sugar free.

Unwrap the bar and place it on a microwave safe plate or parchment paper if you have some. Microwave for 10 seconds.

Do NOT try to microwave these bars on a napkin, paper towel, or paper plate! You will have a mess and a wasted Quest Bar!! People go to jail for wasting Quest Bars...

Break the bar into 3 pieces.  Flatten out one piece and place the unwrapped caramel inside. 

 I probably don't have to say "unwrapped", but ya just never know with some people... 

Roll the bar into a ball.

Make sure the caramel is completely covered so it doesn't ooze out.

Do the same with the other two pieces of the bar and place on a baking sheet. I highly recommend using parchment paper.  

Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes.

 As soon as they come out of the oven sprinkle some sea salt on top. 

You could leave the salt off, but they are so much better with it!!

Let them cool a tiny bit before taking that first bite!! 

I know...it is very hard to wait!! I made the mistake of tasting too soon and that caramel is hot!

If you don't have the Chocolate Brownie bar, you can definitely try with some other flavors! Cookie dough, double chocolate chunk, cinnamon roll, peanut butter supreme...you get the idea!

So go buy some Quest Bars, make these, and then tell your friends all about it!

Salted Caramel Brownie Bites

• Chocolate brownie Quest Bar
• 3 caramels
• Sea salt

1. Place bar on microwave safe plate and microwave for 10 seconds.

2. Break bar into 3 pieces.

3. Flatten each piece and place caramel inside.

4. Roll dough into a ball with caramel in the middle.

5. Place on baking sheet with parchment.

6. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

7. Sprinkle with sea salt as soon as they come out of the oven.

8. Let cool for a few minutes and enjoy!!

3 Bites for 250 calories 

8g Protein

 40g Carb 

21g Protein

**Check out the video for making these tasty treats!! Salted Caramel Brownie Bites

Strawberry Protein Muffins

Summer is coming!!! It was 82 degrees and super sunny in Pittsburgh yesterday.  You will never ever hear me say "It's too hot!" I love summertime! So what would be the perfect summer breakfast?? How about strawberry muffins?! 

Ya, I would say that looks like summer to me.

Once you have your fresh strawberries, you only need a couple more ingredients!

Strawberry or vanilla protein powered, egg substitute, baking powder, vanilla, and sweetener.  Normally I would just use vanilla protein powder because I don't usually buy a big tub of strawberry. I just happen to have this great sample so I figured it would be perfect! 

We are going to use 2 cups of strawberries.  

I had to snack on a few while prepping.  Too good!

We are going to puree 1 cup...

And chop 1 cup into little pieces...

 If you wanted, you could puree all the strawberries, but I prefer the texture of having pieces of fruit in there.

Mix everything together in a bowl.  Easy!

You already know these muffins are going to be super pretty! That color!

Use muffin liners or silicon baking cups.  You can fill the cups up just about to the top because these won't rise much.

Into the oven for about 28-30 minutes at 350.

They smell awesome!

They are going to taste even more awesome! 

In case you had any doubt, all 6 muffins are considered one serving! You could always double the recipe if you wanted to share.

All 6 muffins are only 245 calories! I made two batches to freeze for on-the-go breakfasts.  

Each muffin is only about 40 calories.  

These would be so good topped with a little non fat greek yogurt!! Like a strawberries and cream summer treat!  Looks like I will be making a third batch to try that right away.  Good thing strawberries are on sale this week :)

Strawberry Protein Muffins

•  2 c strawberries (300g)
• 1 scoop strawberry or vanilla protein powder (30g)
• 3 T egg substitute (46g)
• 1/2 t vanilla
• 1/2 t baking powder
• sweetener to taste

1. Puree 1 cup strawberries.
2. Chop 1 cup strawberries into little pieces.
3. Mix all ingredients together.
4. Use liners of silicon cups.  Fill almost to the top.
5. Bake at 350 for 28-30 minutes.

Makes 6 muffins - 40 calories each

225 calories for all 6

0g Fat

16g Carb

32g Protein

**What's your favorite summertime food??

My Oatmeal Review

Oatmeal is such a great thing!! It's super healthy and so versatile.  You can eat a bowl of it for breakfast and you can bake all sorts of yummy treats with it! Cookies, bars, muffins... I got the opportunity to volunteer to do a review for a great oatmeal company. Free oatmeal?! Sign me up! The company is called MyOatmeal.  They have such a great concept.  You go online and create your very own oatmeal flavor! Every order is custom made.  Any flavor you can think of, you can make! Seriously! S'mores, apple pie, blueberry cheesecake, oatmeal raisin cookie, double fudge peanut butter brownie, and so many more!

I kept it somewhat simple and ordered carrot cake and red velvet cake.

These are huge bags by the way! Each bag has 11+ servings.  The ingredients list is super simple. Oats and natural flavors.  

You can add basically anything to your own order.  Dried fruit, nuts, seeds, and sweeteners.  You can also choose between quick oats, 5 grain rolled oats and flax, steel cut oats, smash blend oats, gluten free, and organic gluten free thick rolled oats.  I like quick oats the best, especially when I use them in baking.  

First up was the carrot cake oatmeal.  It smelled amazing! I could smell the carrot cake goodness as soon as I opened the resealable bag.  I knew I was in for a real treat. I kept my first meal with the oats pretty simple.  

Just a nice warm bowl of carrot cake oatmeal.  I just cooked the oats with water for 1:30.  I then stirred in a little unsweetened almond milk and a little fat free cream cheese.  After all, what is carrot cake without the cream cheese?! I topped it off with a drizzle of sugar free syrup.  

Amazing!!! I felt like I was eating carrot cake! Only this is way better for you :) So glad I ordered this flavor.  

Now for the red velvet cake.  Once again, I kept is somewhat simple so I could get the flavor of the oats.  

I cooked the oats the same way with only water.  No added milk this time but I did top this bowl off with some fat free reddi whip! 

Dessert in an bowl!!  I don't know exactly what they added to make this flavor, but they sure know what they are doing! Wow, just wow!

After enjoying some oats the "normal" way, I decided to have a little more fun.  We all know I love pancakes, I have made just about every flavor pancake you can imagine.  So of course I was going to make some carrot cake pancakes.

I just mixed 1 cup of the oats (40g) with 1 cup pureed carrots (240g), 3 T egg substitute (46g), 1 scoop cinnamon protein powder (30g), 1/2 t baking powder, 1 t cinnamon, a dash of salt, and some sweetener. 

Cooked them up like regular pancakes and boom!

That is one awesome breakfast!! Or lunch, dinner, snack, dessert...These were so good I could eat them any time! I have made carrot cake pancakes before, but these made my other ones seem like store bought frozen ones (ok, not that bad...) 

I had one more fun idea in mind...How about some Carrot Cake Cookie Sandwiches!?

Complete with cream cheese filling! These were soooo good!! I ground up the oatmeal into oat flour to make these delicious treats.  Perfection!! Check out my video to make some of these for yourself.  You will be glad you did :)

They turned out so good that I made a batch to eat plain too. 

These cookies are healthy, low fat, low carb, high protein and just plain yummy! 

I am so glad I got the chance to review some products from MyOatmeal!!  Such a great company.  I love them even more now because I found out it is run by a husband and wife! How cute is that?! You can really tell they put their heart and soul into this business!

I highly suggest you go order some.  Make sure you set aside a bit of time before you go to their site because you may be a little overwhelmed when you see all the flavor possibilities!! Seriously, I wanted to order so much more! As soon as I finish off these two bags (which won't take long) I think I want to try cookie dough and strawberry cheesecake :)