Pancakes!!!

I love food.  Plain and simple.  I love eating food, I love cooking food, I even love THINKING about food.  Before I started The Fit Beach Babe I was {and still am} The Fat Free Queen.  It's a fat free food blog for people who have issues with fat due to gallbladder removal or even if they are just trying to watch thier intake.  

With that being said, the hardest thing about preparing for this competition is the lack of variety in my diet.  Fish and veggie but only CERTAIN veggies, fish and carbs but only CERTAIN carbs.  Day in and day out.....UGH!  So, when I find a way to turn my boring meal into something different, I jump at the chance.  

If you've been following me on Instagram you've seen that I have been playing around with a pancake recipe.  It took me 3 tries before I got it right.  It's 2 ingredients and you can add whatever you'd like to it.  I keep mine really simple with cinnamon.

2 ingredient Oatmeal Pancakes

1 cup of cooked oatmeal
.25 cup egg whites/egg substitute
Seasoning of your choice

1. Stir together the egg and oatmeal.  
2. Spray a skillet with nonstick spray and heat over med-high or high
3. Place half the batter in the pan and cook for 5-6 minutes , flip then cook for another 4-6 minutes
4. Repeat with other half of the batter

See?  Simple!  It takes about 20 minutes to make.  You could even make these when you meal prep and just heat them up in the morning.  

The Burger Breakdown

Normally my coach has me on very strict macros.  Macros is short for macronutrients.  Those are fat, protein and carbs.  One day a week he tells me I HAVE to eat a burger and fries.  Well, obviously, I don't eat regular burgers and fries.

My burger?  Obviously not beef.  It's a double decker veggie burger with fat free cheese.

My fries?  Obviously not deep fried crunchy goodness.  I make myself a baked sweet potato.'

I'm not going to lie.  I occasionally use ketchup on my burger.  Normally I just top my burger with mustard.  {Mustard=0 carb goodness} 

For the bread I use the SandwichThins.  So, as you can see, I can turn something that is normally ridiculously UNhealthy into something fairly healthy.  My other blog isn't named the Fat Free Queen for nothin'!

Photo courtesy of:  123RF.com

Let's break a burger down piece by piece and I'll show you how to healthify it!

Bread -- normally people use buns that are VERY high carb
Whole wheat sandwichthins
Low carb bread (I use Sara Lee 45 calorie)
Lettuce 

Protein -- Here's where you can kind start to go wild
Veggie burgers (either store bought or homemade)
Fish (a nice thick chunk about burger size)
Portobello mushroom (grilled or broiled about 5-7minutes each side)

Toppings -- This is where you can REALLY go wild
Tomatoes
onions
lettuce
avocados
mushrooms
The sky's the limit!

Condiments -- Use these sparinly.  Condiments are normally filled with carbs and sugar
Mustard (0 carb goodness, like I said)
Salsa (low carb)
Ketchup
Barbecue sauce
Guacamole

What other ways can you think to healthify a burger?

Grocery List

As y'all know I'm prepping for my competition without much fat.

Here's my list of foods that I reguarly pick up at the grocery store.  I've included some food that isn't quite low fat also.

Fish (fresh or frozen)
Shrimp
Tofu
Eggs/Egg Whites/Egg Substitute
Chicken Breast
Ground Turkey

Oatmeal
Sweet Potatoes
Beans
Brown Rice
Multigrain Hot Cereal
Quinoa
Reduced Calorie Bread
Ezekiel Brea

Lettuce
Mushrooms
Spaghetti Squash
Broccoli 
Asparagus 
Cucumber 
Zucchini 
Cauliflower 
Celery 
Cabbage
Green Beans 
Spinach 
Kale 
Brussel Sprouts 
Cauliflower

Bananas
Apples
Berries

Fat Free Cotatge Cheese
Skim Milk
Fat Free Greek Yogurt
Spray Butter
Light Non-Dairy Milk

Avocados
Nuts
Nut Butters

Salsa
Vinegar
Mrs. Dash
Mustard

And there you have it.  My grocery list.  I will be doing a big box store (BJ's, Sam's Club, Costco, etc) list for y'all in the near future.