Mozzarella stuffed homemade chicken burgers

Hello!

Back again today with a recipe for a main dish that's just... YUM!

It's packed full of protein, very low in carbs (as in 0 carbs) and calories (about 230kcal for a fairly large burger) and super duper tasty so that it has become one of my favorite recipes hands down!

It's fairly easy to make and doesn't take a lot of time, it just needs you to be willing to get your hand dirty :-)

It consists only of chicken breasts and mozzarella cheese so there are not a lot of ingredients nor are they hard to find.

Here goes the recipe, give it a try and let me know it you enjoyed it!

Mozzarella stuffed chicken burgers

Makes just about 9 big ones :-)

Ingredients:
- 4 large chicken breasts;
- 2 low fat mozzarella cheese balls cut into medium width slices;
- 2 tsp of Cayenne pepper;
- 2 tbsp garlic powder;
- 1 tbsp salt & 1 tbsp white pepper;

How to:
- In a food processor place chicken breasts and all the seasonings and blend until it has become a big ball of protein goodness;
- Grab a little chicken (I’d say about 1 ice cream scoop) and with your hand form a little ball and flatten it. Then place one of the cheese slices and then grab another measure of chicken and shape the burger until the cheese is covered thoroughly (TIP: flat burgers cook faster and better);
- Repeat until you are out of chicken & cheese;
- Heat pan at medium heat with non-stick cooking spray and place burgers, letting them cook very well before removing (I’d say at least 10 minutes each side).

Done! Enjoy the cheese goodness when you slice into them :D

Nutritional info (1 burger = approx. 150g chicken breast + ±40g mozzarella cheese):
230kcal
0g Carbs
6g Fat

41g Protein

Love,
Lu *

25kcal & 3 ingredient flourless Chocolate Peanut Butter chip cookies: feels SO chocolat-y!

Hello hello guys!

I know that on my last post I promised you this:

But I changed my mind and today I want to share something else with you. This:

Flourless chocolate peanut butter chips cookies

Yes you read right, flourless.

As in, with no flour or substitutes of any kind.

I personally am a big big fan of cookies and chocolate chip and chocolate chunk and everything cookies but I just get annoyed that they have such high caloric density that I can only eat one and not 22 like I want to.

These are not your typical cookies but are just as chocolaty, tasty, deep and amazing, I loved them (and ate about 11 of them) and so did my family (they ate the rest).

They have no butter, no oil, no fat and no flour, period. They consist of main 3 ingredients: sugar (aka Sweetener in my house), cocoa powder & egg whites.

They're also fast and easy to make and the chocolate flavor just erupts in your mouth when you first try them. I added in peanut butter baking chips but only because I like peanut butter in everything, you can add plain chocolate chips or nothing at all.

Here goes the recipe:

3 ingredient Flourless chocolate peanut butter chip cookies!

Makes just about 30 small ones :)

Ingredients:

- 2 cups powdered sugar (ou 1 1/2 cups Stevia sweetener + 10g cornstarch turboed together on a food processor);

- 3/4 cup cocoa powder;

- 4 egg whites (ou 1/2 cup packaged egg whites);

- 1 tbsp vanilla extract:

- 3 tbsps Reese’s peanut butter baking chips;

- 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

- Pre-heat the oven to 375ºF;

- Prepare two baking trays (lining them with parchment paper or greasing them);

- In a large bowl whisk together sugar (or sweetener + cornstarch mix), cocoa and salt;

- Add in vanilla and egg whites and mix until batter is very well mixed and moist (it’ll be  thick);

- Add in baking chips and mix well again until they are evenly distributed;

- Use a tbsp to place batter in trays leaving enough room in between each one (I’d suggest about 1”);

- Bake for about 10 minutes or until cookies look a bit cracked on top (feel them: if them feel soft but though they’re done!);

- Let cool completely before removing from tray and eating all of them!

Nutritional info (remember: numbers are rounded up and nutrition changes with brands and etc):

27 kcal

3g Carbs

1g Fat

2g Protein

Try them out and tell me how you feel about them!

Tomorrow I promise to give you the recipe for the yummy burgers I promised yesterday :-)

Love, 

Lu*

Quick, easy & low calorie Cinnamon-Apple French Toast

Hello everyone!

I was away all through the weekend but I needed to take some serious time to study because this is my finals season and things are getting though... (see, even being a musician I need to study hard!)

This morning I didn't go to the gym because today I have a very important and hard exam in a couple of hours but I woke up early anyway, made myself a generous nutritious breakfast and spent the entire morning and afternoon studying.

That's right: I made myself Apple stuffed Cinnamon topped french toast (and it was my first attempt ever at french toast)!

I wasn't even planning on posting it on here but it was so simple, easy and fast I thought I had to share it with you guys so I grabbed my camera real quick and took some shots of the result.

All you need to make these is an apple, 2 slices of bread, cinnamon, one egg, a little milk, and some optional Stevia sweetener to sweeten the apples and powdered sugar to sprinkle on top.

Oh and a pan and some baking spray (or any other kind of grease), obviously.

They take just about 10 minutes prepare and make and are super filling and taste amazing, I became a fan of french toast and am now looking for more variations to try it (if you have any ideas please let me know!) :-)

Here goes the recipe and nutrition:

Ingredients:

- 2 slices of bread

- 2 Tbsp of milk

- 1 large egg

- 2 tbsp cinnamon

- 1 tsp powdered sugar

- 1 apple peeled and sliced

- 1 tsp of Stevia sweetener

How to make them:

- First start by heating your pan and greasing it and throwing in the apples and the sweetener and letting it simmer until the apple is soft and becoming brownish;

- Crack the egg into a deep dish and add in the milk and 1 tbsp cinnamon and whisk it all together;

- Drown both slices of bread into the egg mix very well until they are very soggy;

- Remove the apples from the pan to a dish and put the bread onto the re-greased pan;

- Cook the bread slices both sides until they are golden brown and remove to the dish;

- Place the apple in between the slices of bread, close the sandwich and sprinkle the rest of the cinnamon and the powdered sugar on top.

All done!

Macros (don't forget macros vary with brands and amounts!):

250kcal

33g Carbs

8g Fat

12g Protein

I like to enjoy them with a little skimmed milk and a lot of coffee to power up my studies but you can also try tea or just plain black coffee.

Hope you try them and enjoy them, let me know if you have any other french toast toppings and fillings ideas! 

Love,

Lu *

P.S.: Here's a preview of my next recipe.... Come back tomorrow!!

5 minute mini & maxi chocolate cake-in-a-mug

I like cake.

And I like easy.

I like fast.

And I like cake.

This was a poem.

Or not maybe not I don't know but there will be cake in this post, fast and easy cake(s).

Ever since I started flexible dieting I have learned a lot about oowey goowey desserts that *fit my macros* and tried them (almost) all but my favorite of all day and that I have been consuming on a daily basis are mugcakes. Chocolate ones. Toped with some more chocolate.

With these cakes there is no "I can't cook", "I haven't got the time", "I am too lazy" or "I don't know how to use my oven". You don't need anymore than 5 minutes and you don't need to even look at your oven, you just have to step in the kitchen and grab a bowl and a spoon. Done.

They practically make themselves.

I make them in all kinds of sizes to fit not only my macros but also my hunger levels (which are almost always very high but sometimes just mild - not very often though)

Another amazing fact about these cakes (besides the fact that they are cakes and have chocolate) is that they require 0 to no clean-up except for the mug/dish/bowl with cook and eat them in and the spoon you use.

In this post I'll share with you the recipe and macros for 2 sizes of soft and warm mugcakes so you can fit them to whatever you wan't, and I'll also post some options for topping combinations I have tried and love. Like these:

Single serving 5-minute-mugcake - 2 sizes!

If you’re not very hungry or dining alone...

Ingredients:

• 20g self-raising flour
• 10g cocoa powder
• 10g sweetener
• 65g egg whites (or 1 egg - if mix is too think add about 1tbsp of milk)

Macros (for the recipe with egg whites):

117kcal

18g Carbs

1g Fat

10g Protein

OR

If you’re a big eater like me OR are sharing with someone who deserves it:

Ingredients:

• 40g self-raising flour
• 20g cocoa powder
• 20g sweetener
• 130g egg whites (or 2 whole eggs and about 2 or 3 tbsps milk)

Macros (for the recipe with egg whites):

240kcal

31g Carbs

3g Fat

19g Protein

How it works:

1. Prepare and weigh ingredients;
2. Toss dry into a microwavable mug and mix very well - add liquid and mix again;
3. Microwave for 1 minute straight and then 30seconds boost until it’s fully risen and the middle is not soft (check with your fork);
4. Apply toppings of choice;
5. Eat!!

Topping ideas I have tried and LOVE:

- Banana & a drizzle of peanut butter,

- Vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup,

- Jell-o pudding (vanilla, butterscotch, chocolate or chocolate fudge) paired with any of the above;

- All of the above with Reese's pieces and/or M&Ms or Reese's miniature cups,

- Any kind of fruit with chocolate syrup;

- Be creative!!

Notes

• Microwave powers may vary, ALWAYS keep an eye on your microwave while the cake is cooking;
• If not using self-raising flour add baking powder - about 5g (1tsp)

Try them and get addicted like me... I just can't have enough of them.

Love,

Lu *

P.S.: AH gotcha, no preview today!

My personal (skinny and macro friendly) twist on Smore's brownies

Yes, I am currently suffering from massive brownie & baking addiction.

I am a raging food addict (anyone could've figured that out already) but lately & since I am on vacation (lies, I should be studying for my finals) I am having more time to bake and create and am loving it.

I am also addicted to chocolate but that's another story.

Anyway, today's recipe consists of my own personal twist (due to being in a country where Smore's aren't a thing) on Smore's brownies and even though they came out not even looking slightly like Smore's they sure are pretty damn tasty.

This recipe is, like my Oreo brownies, super simple and fast to make and turns out to be super rich and tasty (yes, it also has Mayo in it), the only difference is that you put crackers scattered inside instead of Oreos and drop some marshmallows on top and voilá, kind-of-Smore's-brownies on your plate!

Unfortunately when I made them the first time (in the pictures) I put my marshmallows in too early so they melted completely and the brownies ended up kind of ugly (but tasty anyway!) and I ended up having to dress them up for the pictures :-)

I thought about adding chocolate chunks and/or chocolate chips on top but the brownie batter itself is pretty darn chocolaty and I don't want these to become calorie monsters so I resisted the temptation.

Here goes the recipe all laid out for you:

110kcal Smore's brownies!

Makes 15 :-)

What you’ll need:

• 180g (1 & 1/2 cups) self-raising flour
• 15g (1 & 1/2 tbsp) baking powder
• 1 large egg
• 70g egg whites
• 80g (3/4 of a cup) cocoa powder
• 130g (1/2 a cup + 4 tbsp) Stevia sweetener
• 10g (1 tsp) vanilla paste or liquid extract
• 80ml (1/3 of a cup + 1 tbsp) skim milk
• 50g (4tbsp) fat free mayo
• 150ml (2/3 of a cup) room temperature water
• 15-20 plain cookies (I used a typical brand from my country because we don’t have graham crackers here but you can and should use graham crackers!)
• 15 Marshmallows

How to:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180ºC / 350ºF and grease a rectangular baking pan;
2. In a stand mixer mix together the egg, the egg whites, the vanilla paste and the sweetener until fully mixed;
3. Add in the milk and then the mayo;
4. In a separate bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and mix well together;
5. Start mixing into the stand mixer the flour mixture and water one at a time, starting and ending with the flour mixture;
6. Crack all the cookies roughly and unevenly and pour in the batter incorporating with a spatula;
7. Pour the batter in the prepared baking pan and put in the pre-heated oven for about 25/30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out crumbless and clean BUT in the final 5/10 minutes open the oven, drop the marshmallows (I cut each marshmallow in half to use less marshmallows and make them look like more) on top of the brownie, close the oven and finish cooking.

Macros (remember, macros differ with brands and ingredients!):

110 kcal

18g carbs

2g fat

4g protein

(4g fiber)

(6g sugar)

Hope you try them out and let me know how they went!

Love,

Lu *

P.S.: And for tomorrow...