Best Protein Brownie EVER

These are honestly the BEST protein brownies I have ever had. And I have tried a lot of them in my search haha! ...the things I have to do for you ;) quit twisting my arm!

On an unrelated note, we just finished my new garage gym... yeah our old gym room was beautiful and all but it was the best room of our house and we never used our garage. It is a tiny (for a garage) 9.5 ft by 17 ft. You cannot fit a normal SUV in there! So this will allow us an extra gameroom/guest bedroom in the old gym room. And this new garage gym will now hold a rower too! And more weights! WOOT!

Before, unused garage

I actually did not almost post this brownie recipe. Originally, I had forgotten an important (and high calorie) key ingredient the first time I put this recipe in to check the macros. They were better before I remembered ummm yeah that solid nonsweetened chocolate needs to be in there. So I was kind of not as impressed afterward. But the recipe is really good, even if the total calorie to protein ratio is not my ideal 10:1. These are something you can serve to the whole family. Nobody will know any differently!

The BEST Protein Brownie EVER 

Serves 8 

Ingredients

8.00 tbsp Margarine Spread

2.00 eggs, Egg- Whole Large

1.00 Scoop (30g), Whey Protein (I used Optimum Nutrition Extreme Milk Chocolate)

2.00 oz, Baking chocolate, unsweetened, squares

0.50 cup, Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

0.25 tsp, Salt, table

0.50 tsp, Vanilla extract

1.00 cup, No Calorie Sweetener (I used Splenda)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325*F. Melt the margarine and baking chocolate together in a microwave safe bowl, stirring every 30 seconds. In a stand mixer, beat together the eggs, sweetener, and vanilla. Stream in the melted margarine and chocolate until combined. Stir in half the chocolate chips. (You can also sub in PB chips for this half and it is amazing!) Add in the salt and protein powder. Spray an 8x8 oven safe pan with nonstick cooking spray and place in the oven for 30 minutes. Top with the other half of the chocolate chips while the brownies are still hot. Note- you can double this recipe and use a 13x8 pan for a larger crowd or all your brownie needs for the week haha!

Nutritional information per serving

a one inch square

Nutrition Facts
Servings 8.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 209
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 15 g	23 %
Saturated Fat 7 g	33 %
Monounsaturated Fat 3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 3 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 48 mg	16 %
Sodium 224 mg	9 %
Potassium 75 mg	2 %
Total Carbohydrate 13 g	4 %
Dietary Fiber 1 g	5 %
Sugars 8 g
Protein 6 g	12 %
Vitamin A	8 %
Vitamin C	0 %
Calcium	2 %
Iron	8 %
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

High Protein Chicken & Dumplings

My momma made a mean chicken and dumplings soup growing up. So did my Grandmommy. My family can COOK ya'll.

One of my Venus friends Jenia posted her version of high protein chicken and dumplings in the Venus community the other day. She was surprised how reasonable the protein to calorie ratio was, and so was I when I read it!

So that got my wheels spinning and I had to make some, ASAP! I took her recipe and my momma's together to make this one. Next time I make it, I plan to leave out the potatoes which will save a few more calories.

Making this is also a good time to make a bone broth if you have any bones. Why bone broth? It is great for joint health, skin, nails, hair, and most importantly to me - gut health. Just throw the bones into another crockpot, top with water, and I like to add some root vegetable odds and ends such as the scrap parts from your chicken & dumplings prep.

 It will cook overnight. Then strain. I portion mine out into 2 cup servings and freeze until I need it.

Onto the recipe....

High Protein Chicken & Dumplings
Serves 10

3 lbs, Chicken breast (fresh or frozen)
3 cubes Chicken Bouillon
3 medium, Carrots, chopped
2 stalk Celery - chopped
1 large, Onions, raw - chopped
4 potato small  Potatoes, red, chopped
10 oz Peas - Green
3 tbsp Butter - Salted
1.50 cups, flour, white, all-purpose
2 tsp, Baking Powder
0.75 tsp, Salt, table
0.75 cup, Milk - Nonfat (fat free or skim)
0.25 cup, Parsley - Raw - chopped


I do this recipe all in a crockpot, but you can certainly do it in a Dutch oven as well!

Set your crockpot on low and place the chicken breasts, bouillon cubes, chopped carrots, chopped celery, chopped onions, and chopped potatoes. Cover with water and cook for 4-6 hours. Shred or chop your chicken and return to the pot. Put in the peas and the butter. Turn the crockpot on high. Add more water if needed.

In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, milk and parsley. Once the soup is boiling (my crockpot took about 15 minutes) drop the dumplings into the liquid. I make mine about 1-2 tbsp each which ended up with about 10 dumplings. Allow dumplings to cook 20 minutes and serve.

I ended up using 2 small whole chickens so I had bones for bone broth!

Prepping veggies

Chicken and veggies going into the pot!

Making our dumplings

My daughter helped drop in the dumplings!

Nutrition Stats Per Serving
~1 cup soup and 1 dumpling

Nutrition Facts
Servings 10.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 421
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 9 g	13 %
Saturated Fat 4 g	18 %
Monounsaturated Fat 3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 125 mg	42 %
Sodium 1110 mg	46 %
Potassium 908 mg	26 %
Total Carbohydrate 34 g	11 %
Dietary Fiber 4 g	17 %
Sugars 4 g
Protein 48 g	96 %
Vitamin A	73 %
Vitamin C	29 %
Calcium	8 %
Iron	19 %
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

Hourglass Extreme - My New Workout

I have been working on writing my own lifting program for the past 4 or 5 months and it feels SO GOOD to finally be ready to tell you about it!

I love this workout, obviously, I wrote it. But I have seen some pretty amazing results in my shape and strength from it, which is probably what excites me the most. I want to shout from the rooftops, "It works, it works!" Haha! Seriously, I am stronger than I ever have been and look better than ever too.

Above photos all shared on the Venus Coaches IG page - follow us there! www.instagram.com/venusfactorcoaches

About Hourglass Extreme:

• It has 48 different workouts - written to be done 4 days a week for 12 weeks. 
• The program is advanced, I would advise that the lifter has been in the gym for at least 6 months. If you are a Venus Index client, you will have done the basic Venus Factor 12 week program and then perhaps another 12 weeks of Venus Circuits or Final Phase. 
• The workout uses a mix of equipment- dumbbells, barbell, bands, cable, ab wheel, and stability ball.
• Each workout has a different focus, designed to hammer that part for optimal hypertrophy, rotating through shoulders, legs, arms, back, chest/calves, and back.
• Each workout rotates though a personal record (PR) lift so that you can actively monitor and progress in strength gains- row, squat, shoulder press, hip thrust, chin up, and deadlift.
• Each workout has unusual but effective ab and glute work.

So all the behind the scenes stuff if not quite done yet, guessing a few weeks out from the official launch; which, of course, you will be the first to know about. But as a gesture of my love to you, here is a preview of a workout you can try this week at the gym!

X- Liss

Tequila Lime Pork Stew

Well, here is ANOTHER way to redo leftover Crockpot Pork Butt :)

This is actually one of my sister-in-law's recipes; she happens to be a fabulous cook! I took this and redid it with what I have on hand. As I said in my last post, I do 3X the amount of pork that I need. Then I can create another meal with the pork. Check out the base recipe here - http://venuscrossing.blogspot.com/2015/09/crockpot-pork-butt-and-pullovers.html

Tequila Lime Pork Stew

Serves 8

Ingredients
1 onion, diced
1 can rotel
2 corn on the cobs, only kernels removed with knife
1.5 lbs  Crockpot Pork Butt, shredded
0.5 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
0.5 tsp paprika
0.5 tsp chili powder
0.5 tsp cumin
0.25 tsp red pepper flake
4 cloves garlic,
0.5 cup tequila
0.5 chicken stock
1 lime, zest and juice
3 tbsp cilantro, chopped (optional)

8 small red potatoes, quartered
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
0.5 tsp pepper
pinch paprika

Directions: Heat oven to 450 *F. Toss potatoes with olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika. Spread onto a cookie sheet and roast for 45 min,

In a large skillet, saucepan, or dutch oven over high heat- place onion, can of rotel, and corn kernels stirring until onions are soft and translucent. Deglaze pan with tequila. Add in chicken stock, pork, and spices. Stew over medium heat until potatoes are ready.

To serve, place quartered potato in bowl and top with pork stew. Enjoy :)

Made some BBQ chicken for lunches this week too!

Nutritional Stats per Serving

1/8 stew and 1 potato

450 cals
19.8 g fat
36.8 g carbs
24.8 g protein

Crockpot Pork Butt and Pullovers

This recipe is the base for SO many wonderful recipes. I cannot wait to share. But first here is a new video from my YouTube channel:

Pullovers

A few tips on pullovers:
1) your lats (back) and abs should drive the motion
2) this exercise is for anyone who has "greyhoundish" ribs and upper abs as it works the serratus 

So now to the recipe.... This recipe is a base from which I make 3X what I need. I buy a 15 lbs pork butt from Sam's club and then I cut in half so that I am doing 7.5 lbs each batch. I freeze the other half until I need it.

•  First meal is just meat with whatever veggies and carbs I decide on. I usually do slaw and some sort of potato.
• Second meal is nachos made with the pulled pork and cheese in the oven until melted. I make the chips from fresh corn tortillas and bake them crisp first. I like mine with lots of extra lettuce. It would also be good with mini bell peppers halved as your "chips"! We set out salsa, avocado chunks, sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt), and lettuce for toppings.
• Third meal is taquitos made with the pulled pork. I just chop down the pork finely and then roll it up in a corn tortilla and bake until crisp, 425F for 25 minutes or so. Again, I like mine with lots of lettuce when we eat. We like to dip these in salsa or sour cream.

Crockpot Pork Butt

7.5 lbs raw = Serves 30 - 4 oz servings

Ingredients:

1 bottle marinade (I really like Red Creek Marinade right now, but I have used many others)

7.5 lbs pork butt

large 8 qt crockpot

Directions:

In the crock, place the pork butt then pour half a bottle of meat marinade over the top. Cook on high 8-10 hours. Shred and enjoy!

Ugliest taquitos ever LOL they should be round! I swear the one night I take a pics, they do not cooperate!

Nutrition Facts

Per 4 oz serving of pork butt

304 cals

21.3 g fat

0 g carbs

26.7 g protein

PHOTO Comparison- is weight the best tool to measure progress?

The photo on the left was taken in May 2012 before I started training with Venus Index and the right photo was taken yesterday. 

I weigh 155 lbs in both these pictures. Weight is not always the end all be all of fitness. 

3 years of regular weight training and consistent nutrition focus separate these pictures. Both of which I learned from Venus.

For the past year, I have been living with my maintenance range high end (1 inch up from ideal) at my "before" weight. Talk about a mental trip, I felt like I was back sliding. You see, during my initial 12 week transformation, I lost 15 pounds to get to Venus ideal metrics (about 140 lbs). Another year of training after that, I was hitting Venus ideal metrics five pounds up from there (about 145 lbs). Last year and up until now, I have been hitting Venus ideal metrics about nine pounds up from there (about 149 lbs). As a side note, I have a shoot in 8 weeks which I am cutting down to Venus ideal metrics for. I plan to compare each year of progress side by side, should be interesting!

Take home message

I get lots of clients whose only focus is the scale. I say look then metrics trumps the scale- all day long.

Nobody looks at you and thinks "She weighs X lbs." They see a look. Which correlates better to a metric.

At the same weight now- my shoulders are 1" bigger. My waist is 2" smaller. My hips are 1.5" smaller. I dropped 3 dress sizes. My look is completely different. Same weight.

Point of the story is that I am after a LOOK which a DEXA cannot tell you... which metrics cannot tell you even exactly.... which obviously the scale cannot tell you. Focus on FRIGGIN pics!!! All along I had the right answer and I kept thinking it was in my head! So ....

LOOK > Metrics > DXA > scale

That is the deal ^^^^^^^^ never forget it. Learn from me!

X- Liss

Microwave Protein Brownie Mugcake and Full Body Travel Workout

We are on a little weekend get away. I have always struggled with rest. It SOUNDS great, don't get me wrong. But I cannot sit still for the life of me. I am always going and doing, But, we ALL need rest. To be able to care for others, we cannot give from an empty vessel. So I took a rest day yesterday.

This morning, I had an awesome workout with nothing but a chair and a band I packed in my bag. A girl could get used to this deck, the mountains, and the pines!

Anyways, this past week or two I have been craving CHOCOLATE and BROWNIES!!! But I am trying to get ready for a beach vacation and shoot on the beach (because the other shoot never happened LOL) And this recipe has HIT the spot. It is REALLY close to a brownie, easy to make, and nutrition is ON the money!

Microwave Protein Brownie Mugcake

serves 1

Ingredients
1 scoop chocolate protein powder (I used Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey in Extreme Milk Chocolate)
1 tbsp cocoa (I liked dark chocolate cocoa)
1 tbsp sweetener
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 egg white
2 tbsp nonfat milk
*optional 1 tbsp dark chocolate chips* add 70 cals, 4.5 g fat, 9.0 g carbs, 1.0 g protein (add to recipe total below)

Directions: Mix dry ingredients in a large mug sprayed with nonstick spray then mix in wet ingredients until blended. Mix in chocolate chips if desired. Microwave on high for approximately 1 minute until cooked. I like a little wet on the bottom edges still. Enjoy!

Nutritional stats per serving

1 serving

172 cals
2.3 g fat
13.7 g carbs
2.0 g fiber
26.7 g protein