Bacon Topped Pork Tenderloin and Potatoes

Hope your Valentine's Day was lovely. My sweet husband sent me beautiful flowers at work and made my day :)

And my momma sent these GIANT chocolate covered strawberries. We ate them all that night, well I ate about half LOL

I even wore my red pants to celebrate. Well... it was actually the day before. Friday is jean day and I was NOT about to give that up!

My mother in law actually inspired this dish. She used to make it for our after church luncheon in her Dutch oven. Slow cooked goodness that just hit your face when you walked through the door. My husband and kids are big fans, and it just so happens that it fits the nutritional needs for me too! Some steamed broccoli with house seasoning rounds it out perfectly! I adapted it to the crock pot because that is what worked for my schedule best during the work week.

Bacon Topped Pork Tenderloin and Potatoes

Serves 4-6

Ingredients
1-1.5 lbs pork tenderloin
1 lbs red potatoes, quartered
2 slices bacon
House Seasoning (equal parts salt, pepper, paprika, onion, & garlic powders)

What you do:
Coat the crockpot ceramic with non-stick spray. Place quartered potatoes in the bottom, lay the pork tenderloin on top. Lay the bacon over the tenderloin. Apply house seasoning liberally. Cook on low 8 hours.

Nutritional Stats

(per 3 oz serving of pork tenderloin and 1 medium potato)

• Calories- 299 cals
• Fat- 7g
• Carbs- 29g
• Protein- 28g

Butterscotch Apple Pie Greek Yogurt

This has been my go to treat this winter, sorry I have held out on you all this long! But with 23 g of protein, in less than 200 cals- it fits the bill for my sweet tooth on most nights. I am guilty of having it for breakfast too sometimes! Cheesecake, butterscotch, and apple pie all in one- who would not like it?! Oh and did I mention it is easy, quick, and only 5 ingredients?
 

It has been a colder than usual winter this year in the Texas Panhandle. On Thursday it was 5*F; we got blanketed in snow Wednesday night. I adore our new neighborhood in the snow, and so I posted these shots on Instagram. IG @mlgraham09

It is the most charming little neighborhood. I just love it. I still pinch myself...

Anyway by Saturday it was 65*F, and today (Sunday) it is 25*F. We have a saying here- if you don't like the weather, just wait until tomorrow!

 

 

Butterscotch Apple Pie Greek Yogurt

Serves 1

Ingredients

• 1 apple
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp SF Jello cheesecake pudding mix
• 1 tbsp SF Jello butterscotch pudding mix
• 1 cup 0% fat Greek yogurt

What you do

Remove the core and chop the apple into bite size pieces. Place into microwave safe bowl, top with cinnamon. Microwave 3 minutes until tender. 

 

 

In a bowl, mix cheesecake and butterscotch pudding mix with yogurt.

 

Top with apples. (And maybe a little whip if you are feeling especially festive, I usually am!)

 

 

 

Enjoy!

 

Nutritional stats

Per serving

Cals- 192 cals

Carbs- 29 g

Fat- 0 g

Protein- 23 g

No Bake Blueberry Banana Greek Cheesecake

No Bake Blueberry Banana Greek Cheesecake

While in Houston this past month for the half marathon, I got to meet up with one of my fellow fitness food freak bloggers- Fit Foodie Le! I have been following this girl for about 2 years, through her first comp and now her second pregnancy via her blog FitFoodieLe.com  This girl can COOK and her recipes have never disappointed :) Our meet-up did not go as planned! She had thought she registered to run the 5K on Saturday but somehow did not get registered and the race was sold out! (Relatable mommy moment- something I would totally do too) So she volunteered to work the half Sunday morning instead. The morning of the half, she was going one way and I was heading out to the start line. We were bundled up! I had on my "throw" sweatshirt to toss as I got warm out on the course- yup looking REAL cute! Haha! It was awesome to meet Leah anyway, even though it was just a sec!

 

Growing up my momma made this Blueberry Banana Cheesecake for various events. It was always a hit and everyone asked her to make it. I had a luncheon and it popped in my head for some reason. I figured I could attempt a healthy re-make. Why not?!

 

It was a success. I cut out almost all of the TONS of sugar from the original recipe, and halved the calorie count. I also managed to increase the protein by 800%.  I could rejig the crust with nuts and that would improve its stats even more. Might try that sometime ;)

 

And the luncheon? Yeah they loved it. It was even sitting next to homemade pound cake that had leftovers!

 

No Bake Blueberry Banana Greek Cheesecake

Serves 12

Ingredients

• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup sweetener (I used Splenda)
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 32oz container 0% plain Greek yogurt
• 2 boxes Sugar Free Cheesecake Jello pudding mix
• 1 can Blueberry Pie Filling
• 2 ripe Bananas, sliced
• 1 container Sugar Free Cool Whip Topping, thawed

Do this

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Spray a 9x13 container with nonstick cooking spray. Melt 1 stick of butter. Mix into graham cracker crumbs and sweetener. Press into the bottom of dish, evenly. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature. (You can throw it into the freezer to speed it up)

In a mixing bowl, mix the 2 boxes of Cheesecake pudding mix with the container of Greek yogurt. Evenly spread over the crust.

 

Toss the sliced bananas over the cheesecake yogurt layer.

 

 

Spread the blueberry pie filling over the bananas.

 

Spread the cool whip over the pie filling.

 

Chill until you are ready to enjoy!

 

 

Nutritional Stats-
Per 1/12th of 13x9 pan

• Cals-246
• Carbs- 31 g
• Fat- 11 g
• Protein- 9g
• Fiber 1.5g
• WW pts+ - 7 pts

Compare that to the original recipe at 519 cals per 1/12th and 1g protein! WOOHOO! Enjoy :)
 

Have Venus, Will Run

I am honored to have written the article for the Venus Factor website today. It recaps the half marathon that we ran last weekend and my suprising results :) Read the article here- http://www.venusindex.com/have-venus-will-run/

Chocolate and Berries Microwave Protein Pancakes

 

 

In training for this half marathon still, I am so glad it is next week. Even though I am just doing one long run a week, I hate that it takes time away from lifting- my true love <3

The half that we seem to be running annually as a family tradition is in Houston- the Chevron. It is always a great couples vacation time- and seeing friends and family that we do not get to see enough. The expo is fantastic, and the food is great. So I know after next week, we will be ready to go again. Haha! Training this year has been better now that we moved to the same town with my both my brother and sister in law. We have been doing our long runs together, and I really do enjoy that. A family that runs together, stays together- right?

I started cutting back down from my few weeks of holiday excess. I feel fluffy. Ugh. If you stay on top of it, it is never a big deal. Just a few weeks of calorie correction deficit days will take care of it. Much better than letting it get out of hand and having 30 lbs to deal with. Unfortunately, our weight never stays stagnant (oh how I wish it did!) so the idea is to learn to keep the swings as small as possible. That has been my key to maintaining Venus metrics for almost 2 years now!


These protein pancakes that I figured out how to do in the microwave late last year have become a favorite. I eat them almost daily. Their nutritional stats are AWESOME. And they are so delicious! So of course, variations are bound to occur. And I must share them!

 

Chocolate and Berries Microwave Protein Pancakes

Serves 1

The stuff

• 1 cup of frozen mixed berries
• 1/2 banana (can be frozen and defrosted)
• 1 scoop of chocolate whey (I used Optimum Nutrition Rocky Road)
• 1 tbsp dark chocolate cocoa powder (I used Hershey's)- Optional
• 1/4 cup egg whites
• 1/2 cup Non-fat Greek Yogurt

What you do

In a microwave safe bowl, microwave the berries for 2 minutes until soupy and hot throughout. In a microwave safe plate, mash together the banana, whey, cocoa, and egg whites until combined. Cook in microwave on high for 3-3.5 minutes until the middle is cooked through. Top the pancake on the plate with the greek yogurt and the berries. Enjoy :)

BTW- you can do these as traditional pancakes in a pan as well!

 

Nutritional Stats

Per serving

• Cals- 325 cal
• Fats- 1g
• Carbs- 36g
• Protein- 43g

Apple Pie Muesli

New workout clothes make me happy :) I have been enjoying wearing some of my new stuff from Christmas lately...

This top by Saucony even has a removable, blinking LED light on the sleeve so that I do no get squished on the road! You charge it with a USB port too. :cool:

I am in the thick of training right now for the Houston Chevron Half Marathon, it is coming up in two weeks! So.Tired.of.Running. Earlier in the week, Map My Run sent out my year of running- pretty cool!

Wish that there was something like that for lifting!

I also made my first wedding cake this week. It was very stressful but the couple loved it. That made it all worth it!

A little story about Bob's Red Mill Muesli.... My mom used to make it for me all the time growing up and I loved it. It is one of those things that brings me back to my childhood when I eat it. My mom was coming for Christmas, and I wanted to spurpise her by making a recipe with this muesli... And I thought this recipe up one night based on my Peach Cobbler Oatmeal.

So I made up some Apple Pie Muesli Crockpot for my mom when she came. She loved it! So did the husband- who is not into anything healthy generally speaking! So I thought it was a recipe worth sharing, and here it is.

Apple Pie Muesli

Serves 8

• 2 cups Bob's Red Mill Muesli (regular old fashioned oats would work great too)
• 4 Apples (I used Granny Smith since they hold up well during cooking)
• 1/2 cup Splenda (or any other sweetener)
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• Serve with plain non-fat Greek yogurt (1/2 cup per serving)

Crockpot method- (My fave) Grab your crockpot, and roughly chop the apples and spread into the bottom. Pour over 2 cups of muesli and 2 cups of water. Sprinkle splenda and cinnamon on top. Cook on low for 4-8 hours.

Baked- Prepare in 8x8" dish as above. Cook at 350*F for 45 minutes.

Microwaved- Prepare in microwave safe 8x8" dish as above, cook for 10-15 minutes on high.

Nutritional Stats

Per 1/8 Apple Pie Muesli recipe and topped with 1/2 cup of plain nonfat Greek yogurt

• Calories-218 cal
• Carbs- 37g
• Fat- 3g
• Protein- 16g