Good day = Chocolate

Despite the kids leaving and it being a Monday, today was actually a pretty good day.  I hit the gym early and did a heavy lifting day (chest and shoulders) thanks to the new pre-workout supplement that came over the weekend.  I didn't have time for cardio, so I got in two miles on the track at school during my sports conditioning program and then got in another two miles during planning this afternoon. 

I had leftovers from Sunday night for lunch and half of my mini loaf for a snack along with one of my freshly picked apples from Carter's Mountain.  This evening I whipped up sweet potato turkey meatloaf and some more sweet potato wedges.  Rich had quite the sweet tooth so I made some healthy black bean brownies. I altered the recipe from All-Recipes pretty darn dramatically to make them as healthy as I could.  The result? Rich LOVED them.  I think I may have to hide the rest tonight.

Good carbs and protein all in one!

YUM!  I may have some on whole wheat bread for lunch tomorrow;)

Sweet Potato Turkey Meatloaf
Ingredients

• 1 lb. lean ground turkey (can substitute ground beef if preferred)
• 1 large sweet potato
• 1 egg
• 1/2 c. oatmeal
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp.  mustard
• Slightly less than 1/4 c. ketchup
• Slightly less than 1/4 c. barbeque sauce
• 1/2 tbsp. garlic salt

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cook sweet potato. (I do this by wrapping a sweet potato in a damp paper towel and microwaving it for 7 minutes on high.)
• Remove sweet potato peel before or after cooking, depending on cooking method. (I just scooped out the sweet potato flesh when it was done cooking.)
• Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
• Spray loaf pan with cooking spray and place meat mixture in pan.
• Cook for approximately one hour or until meat is done. 

*Adapted from http://www.pbfingers.com/

Looking good...

Gotta have those chocolate chips!

  Black Bean Brownies

Ingredients:

• 1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3 eggs
• 3 tablespoons apple sauce (in lieu of oil)
• 4 tablespoons of milled flax seed
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup Stevia natural sweetner (in lieu of white sugar)
• 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips 
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray an 8x8 square baking dish with baking spray.
2. Combine the black beans, eggs, apple sauce, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla extract, flax seed and Stevia in a blender; blend until smooth; mix in walnuts; pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top of the mixture.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the top is dry and the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes.