Weighing new options

I have been slacking on my posts lately and I am feeling the need to catch up!!!

As I am taking my health and fitness journey more and more seriously, I am finding that the only way to avoid boredom with workouts or food is to try new things. This past week, not only did I try two new recipes, but I also bought a new kitchen item to help us better measure our portions.

First let me start with this new item – our kitchen scale. We have been talking about purchasing one for a while, but we kept putting it off. At Bed, Bath & Beyond, you will find kitchen scales ranging in price from $5.00-$60.00…so where do you begin? How are you supposed to know which will work best and if it is worth spending the money on? Well, I did a little research online first. On my down time, I tend to research things first before following through, especially if it is potentially a decent size purchase. After spending only five minutes on a product review site, I knew which scale I would be purchasing. The Biggest Loser kitchen scale goes for $20.00 and I never enter BB&B without a coupon. After using it only once, we both knew it was worth buying.

The only thing I really measure (unless I’m cooking/baking) is meat. Typically I eat (or thought I was eating) 4 ounces of chicken for a meal, while Brendan eats about 6 ounces. We had no idea how off we were by eye-balling what 4-6ounces of meat looked like! Sure enough, we are both now eating the CORRECT amount. J The best part is, the scale needs zero directions to use – press on and then put the food on top.

As far as trying new recipes go, I have a few go-to websites of health and fitness advocates I constantly refer to. I am not good at creating my own concoctions so these are a lifesaver! I have wanted to try more recipes with pumpkin in them so I made pumpkin pancakes and protein pumpkin bread within this past week. (On a side note, why is it so hard to find “raw pumpkin” or “pumpkin puree” at the grocery stores lately?) Over the weekend I tried Jamie Eason’s pumpkin protein pancakes and they were surprisingly good! It wasn’t until the batter was on the frying pan that I realized I used baking SODA instead of POWDER – oops – one of my blonde moments. It didn’t seem to affect the taste, though.

One morning this week I made Little B’s (Brittany Davila) protein pumpkin bread. Her recipes I have tried in the past have caught me off guard…sometimes she uses a good amount of stevia, which makes cringe. I know now in the future to use less of what her recipes say (for my liking)…luckily, this recipe did not have stevia as an ingredient. I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised with the turnout on this too. The bread was pretty moist (considering most ingredients were dry) and tasted pretty good too. It doesn’t have a strong taste of pumpkin, but rather a hint of it. So if you don’t LOVE a huge taste of pumpkin, this could be a good recipe for you to try.

Who says baking can’t be healthy? Why miss out on fall flavored goodies in order to not break your healthy diet when you can make them with less fat, less sugar and more protein! Happy fall baking!