Mini Fridge Mysteries

WHAT'S IN MY

 MINI FRIDGE?

Yes I have a mini fridge, 

No I do not live in a dorm.

I just so happen to live with 3 other girls who ALSO love to cook, so I took

one for the team and departed from the main fridge. 
…roomies if you're reading this, you're welcome.

TOP SHELF:

Flax Meal

Homemade Salsa

 (blended diced tomatoes and green chiles)

Unsweetened Almond Milk

Pre-Made Meals

Sweet Potatoes

Brown Rice

Chicken

MIDDLE SHELF:

Lettuce

Kale

Spinach

Zucchini

Clementines

Avocado

Cauliflower

PreMade:

Chicken

Spaghetti Squash

BOTTOM SHELF:

Fage Non-Fat Plain Greek Yogurt

Random Yoplait Red Velvet 

Homemade Almond Butter

(processed roasted almonds, THANKS MOM!)

Roasted Garlic Marinara Sauce

Yoplaint Non-fat Plain Greek Yogurt

Left:

Strawberry Jam

Walden Farms:

Marinara Sauce

 (I do not recommend)

Chocolate Sauce

Sesame Ginger Salad dressing

Srircha

Honey BBQ sauce

Bottom:

Lemon Juice

Egg Whites

Parmesan Cheese

Sparkling Water x2

Walden Farms chocolate sauce

Sriracha

Unsweetened Apple Sauce

Right:

Frigo Cheesehead Mozz. Cheese Sticks

Kraft Cheese Slices

Eggs

Turkey Pepperoni Slices

Pretty small fridge, but

 can fit a lot of stuff huh? ; )

I wanted to give ya'll a little insight on my go-to foods

and what is most likely to be found on my grocery list!

With these items i have made..

Zucchini Pizzas:

Zucchini

Marinara Sauce

Cheese Stick

Turkey Pepperoni

- Cut Zucchini in Half

- Layer Marinara sauce, cheese and pepperoni

- Place on cookie sheet

- Bake at 350 for 12 minutes

Sesame Ginger Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti Squash

Pre-made Chicken

Sesame Ginger Dressing

-Put all together in a bowl and microwave : )

Lemon Riced Cauliflower

Cauliflower

Lemon Juice

-Process Cauliflower

-Saute riced cauliflower in a skillet 

with lemon juice

De-Constructed Breakfast Burrito

Brown Rice

Salsa

Egg

Egg whites

Cheese

Sriracha

Combine Brown rice, salsa, 1 egg + 2 egg whites

(scrambled with cheese)  in a bowl

- Microwave :)

- Cover in sriracha sauce (best part)

Super Food Shake (BOGO Protein Deal!)

FRUIT CAKE SHAKE

INGREDIENTS

1scoop BPi Protein Powder Strawberry Cake

3oz Blueberries

1oz Kale

1tbsp Chia Seeds

WATER

SUPER FOOD BENEFITS

BPI WHEY HD: 

This protein is UNREAL. I purchased the

BUY ONE 5 SERVING TUB GET ONE FREE

 deal to see if I like it, before investing in the buggy bucket. 

It truly tastes like STRAWBERRY CAKE, so far I have mixed it with: water to make a "dip" consistency with apples, this smoothie, and I've also

 added it to yogurt for my parfait.

WHEY HD BPi PROTEIN

- 25g of Protein per scoop

- Supports the digestion of protein

- Delivers 5 BCAA's per serving 

- Promotes recovery

- Satisfies Hunger

- Helps build STRONG muscles

- UNREAL FLAVORS!:

BPi 5 SERVING PROTEIN 

BUY 1 ($6.99) GET 1 FREE

BEFORE THE SALE ENDS!

Broth Bowl Brief

Panera Bread has created the new BRILLIANT

broth bowl and I am totally game with this decision.

4 New Broth Bowls: 

SOBA NOODLE: With CHICKEN or EDAMAME

LENTIL QUINOA: With CHICKEN or CAGE-FREE EGG

Being a Post-Workout meal I needed to focus my meal around

protein and carbs SO, after research around

these bowls, ingredients, and nutrition facts

Soba Noodle Bowl W/ Chicken

390Cals // 9g Fat // 47g Carbs // 31g Protein

Soba Noodle Bowl W/ Edamame

370Cals // 12g Fat // 52g Carbs // 17g Protein

Lentil Quinoa Bowl W/ Chicken

400Cals // 9g Fat // 49g Carbs // 33g Protein

Lentil Quinoa Bowl W/ Cage-Free Egg

370Cals // 13g Fat // 48g Carbs // 18g Protein

I decided on the 

Lentil Quinoa Broth Bowl
 WITH Chicken

Here is what my plate looked like: 

I love all of the ingredients thrown into these

bowls, it was very delicious with a vast array

of seasonings and spices! 
(I also ended up switching my baguette for the

sprouted roll. Way softer & WAY yummier)

INGREDIENTS:
Chicken, ORGANIC quinoa & brown rice, lentil blend, tomato sofrito,
KALE, SPINACH, and LEMON in a soy-miso broth 

like WHATT !?!?!? Organic, natural, power foods, etc.
Panera has hit the nail on the head in the midst
of all of the health and organic fads.

I would TOTALLY recommended 

trying one of these 

Well Played Panera ; )

---------------------------------------------------------

HOWEVER, they are quite high in sodium. 

This may be the only downfall, along with the inconveniently

sized (MASSIVE) spoon that they serve with it. 

MEAL PREP: Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

I am always on the search for super 

easy and delicious meal preps.

You can only take so much 

Chicken, Broccoli, Rice… am i right?! 

So-- I decided to wing it and create my

own version of the

STUFFED SPAGHETTI SQUASH

Ingredients:

1 Small Spaghetti Squash

4tbsp Whipped Cream Cheese

(You can use any type of cheese. I have used ricotta, mozz., 

and cottage cheese before. They all turn out wonderful!)

1 egg white

1/4c Marinara Sauce

 (BIG FAN of Organic Full Circle Marinara Sauce )

6oz Ground Turkey 

( I used LightLife Vegetarian Ground Beef Style just to be adventurous :]  )

Directions:

1. Start cooking ground turkey on a skillet 

over medium heat, as you would for tacos or

 any other entree involving ground meat.

2. Cut squash in half & remove inside seeds. 

3. Place halves face down on small cake pan. 

4. Add about 1/2in. of water to the dish 

& microwave for 10 minutes

---- MEANWHILE ----

5. Preheat oven to 350

6. In a bowl combine egg white and cheese 

7. Once squash is finished, top each half evenly

 with meat, cheese mixture and marinara sauce

8. Bake in oven (@350) for 25 minutes!

HOW TO EAT:

grab a fork.

devour squash insides.

repeat.

repeat.

repeat.

Inspired by Lasagna Turkey Zucchini 

BBCOM Recipe 

 MORE MEAL PREP IDEAS HERE!

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

FIRST! IN THE SPIRIT

 OF VALENTINES DAY

i thought i'd educate you on taking care of that

little precious heart of yours : )

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Healthy Hearts Beat For A Long Time;

Here's How to Improve Yours---

SMALL DIETARY CHANGES

EAT: Monosaturated fats, Polysaturated fats, Omega-3 fatt acids

and Vitamin A & B

EXAMPLE: nuts, salmon, blueberries, eggs, oatmeal, beans, tuna

STAY HYDRATED

WATER helps your heart pump blood through your blood vessels and your 

muscles to remove waste so both can function more efficiently

PUMP SOME IRON

TRAINING WITH WEIGHTS increases blood flow to the limbs and h

as positive effects on blood pressure. It also helps shift your body 

composition from fat to muscle, which,

 in the long term, is good for heart health too.

COUNT SOME SHEEP

Lack of SLEEP has been shown to contribute to

heart disease like High Blood Pressure High Cholesterol, 

and Impaire Glucose Tolerance.

CHOLESTEROL LEVELS

When there is too much cholesterol in your blood, it builds up the walls of 

your arteries, causing a process called atherosclerosis (form of heart disease). 

This causes the arteries to become narrow and blood flow to

the heart is slowed/blocked. 

CONTRIBUTORS: Diet, Weight, Age, Gender, & Genetics

SAYONARA TO SALT

Sodium increases blood pressure because it holds excess fluid in the body,

 placing burden on the heart. The American Heart Association recommends 

no more than 1500mg of sodium a day

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With all of this being said,

I was AMAZEDDDDD at the amount of sodium found in

 soup for how LITTLE the cans of soups are. 

I couldn't PHATHOM buying these, but I had such a craving for soup…

 so I made my own.

It was WAY easier than I expected and the nutrition, compared to

store-bought soups, was TOTALLY worth the effort.

HOMEMADE CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

[[4 INGREDIENTS]] 

Okay so before sharing 

SOUPER SECRET RECIPE

 [[see what i did there ;) ]]

with all of you, I would like to do a 

SOUP THROW DOWN

KAYLA VS. CAMPBELL

NUTRITION 

(for entire can 1.5C)

150Calories

5g Fat

2225mg Salt

20g Carbs

7.5g Protein

NUTRITION

(For entire batch 3C)

240Calories

34g Carbs

1g Fat

225mg Salt

24g Protein

NOTICE:

My batch was DOUBLE

the amount that is served in the can

THEREFORE

lets compare at same portion size

WINNER WINNER 

CHICKEN (noodle) DINNER

 : ) 

INGREDIENTS

1C Broccoli Cuts

3oz Baby Carrots

3oz Chopped Chicken

1/2C Smart Taste Elbow Noodles (already cooked)

DIRECTIONS

- Fill large pot with water, heat on medium

-Cook Frozen Chicken in separate pot of boiling water

- Throw Broccoli and Carrots into pot with only boiling water

- Once chicken is fully cooked, add into 

pot with broccoli and carrots

- Once vegetables and chicken are throughly cooked,

add in elbow noodles for 3-5 minutes

( Season with whichever seasonings you prefer! I used

Mrs.Dash Garlic & Herb ) 

FIND MORE SOUPER SOUP RECIPES 

HERE HERE SOUPER SOUP RECIPES HERE

READ MORE WAYS TO A HEALTHIER HEART

HERE HERE HERE HEALTHY HEART HERE

FLOURLESS Banana Nut Bread

FLOUR-LESS

BANANA NUT BREAD

Myself along with James, 

(the UW- Madison Male BBCOM Campus Ambassador)

had a BCAA's sampling at the local Anytime Fitness

 on Campus last night.

I figured, in the spirit of VALENTINES DAY, I'd make

a little sweet treat for my fellow gym-goers

THESE MUFFINS, were a complete hit.

 I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of people to

 show interest in this recipe.

 SO, HERE IT IS--

INGREDIENTS

1 Scoop Banana Nut Protein Powder

(I used plant based RAW FUSION SANNATION)

1 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder

(I used plant based RAW FUSION SANNATION)

3 Egg whites

1/2tsp Banana Extract

(I used Vanilla extract)

1/4c Splenda

1/3c Water

DIRECTIONS

1. Whisk egg whites, extract and water.

2. Combine dry ingredients

3. Slowly mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients until

fully blended together

4. OPTION: Pour into mini loaf pans OR pour

into a muffin tin (like I did)

5. Bake for 12 minutes at 325 degrees F. 

RECIPE FROM bodybuilding.com

KAYLA's SALAD SECRETS

SALADS ARE HEALTHIER

 THAN SANDWICHES right?…WRONG!

America loves to offer HUGE portion sizes,

fat-loaded dressings, and false-advertised "healthy" add-ons

So therefore, salads are not ALWAYS your healthiest option

First, let me show you my dinner from last night,

what the macros are, and what I did differently

My imitation Taco Salad

MACROS

153Calories, 20g Carbs, 6g Fat, 19g Protein

INGREDIENTS

Dole Lettuce Leafs

1.5oz Peppers

60g Black Beans

1/4c Salsa

1 light mozz String Cheese Stick

1tbsp Dannon Plain Greek Yogurt

2 Simply Pinto Bean Beanito Tortilla Chips

WHAT DID I DO?

SALSA instead of DRESSING

LIGHT CHEESE STICK instead of SHREDDED CHEESE

PLAIN YOGURT instead of SOUR CREAM

HOW DID I DO IT!?

SALSA: Can of ROTEL Diced Tomato W/ Green Chiles

CHEESE STICK: Used food processor to make shredded cheese

WHY DID I DO IT (salsa)!?

Lets do a little SALSA COMPARISON

ROTEL Tomatoes with Green Chilis

VS.

PACE Chunk Salsa

OKAY SO.. Rotel serving size is 1/2C and Pace serving size is 2tbsp

Being that there are 8tbsp in 1/2C.. we need to times PACE 

nutrition label by 4. 

WHICH BRINGS US TO

PACE (1/2c Serving)

40Calories

0gFat

 8gCarbs

8gSugar

920mg Sodium

ROTEL (1/2c Serving)

20Calories

 0gFat

 4gCarbs

3gSugar

529mg Sodium

ROTEL HAS 1/2 the calories, 1/2 the carbs, 

1/3 the sugar, and about 400mg less Sodium

WE'LL DISCUSS THE REPLACEMENT OF

DRESSING WITH SALSA AT THE END OF THIS POST

WHY DID I DO IT (cheese) !?

Cheese sticks are easy to use in anything.

- Cut it up for eggs

- shred it for a salad

-take it along with you as a snack!  

i LOVE putting it in the food processor to make a shredded cheese when 

I'm having tacos, salad, or making a pizza (or pizza crust)

Cheese sticks allow the perfect portion size and make it

easy to NOT over do the dairy!

WHY DID I DO IT (yogurt) ?!

 SOUR CREAM (Daisy LITE sour cream) 30g

Dannon Greek nonfat Plain Yogurt (150g) 

OKAY SO, dannon yogurt is 5x the serving size so we'll

have to divide the nutrition label by 5!

DANNON HAS (per 2tbsp/30g):

16CALORIES, 0gFAT, 1.2gCARBS

1.2gSUGAR, 10mgSODIUM, and 3gPROTEIN

DAISY HAS (per 2tbsp/30g):

40CALORIES, 2.5gFAT, 2gCARBS

2gSUGAR, 25mgSODIUM, and 2gPROTEIN

So in that case, DANNON is winning on ALL levels.

The only thing you need to do is

STOP

the mind games and the whole "but its yogurt, wahhh"

no, it tastes EXACTLY the same, especially GREEK yogurt

because it still has the thick consistency

DONT KNOCK IT, TILL YOUVE TRIED IT!

SALAD 

& SALAD DRESSING 

FACTS

KENS RANCH

RANCH

AMERICA's GO-TO SALAD DRESSING,

CHICKEN NUGGET DIP, CHIPS & DIP…don't deny it.

2tbsp

140CALORIES, 15gFAT, 280mgSODIUM, 2gCARBS

(… do I need to explain why, PASSS)

HIDDEN VALLEY RANCH

OOH OOH, IT'S LIGHT!!

 That means it's healthy!!!

2tbsp

80CALORIES, 7gFAT, 260mgSODIUM, 3gCARBS

(,..yes it's half the grams of fat than KENS in only TWO TABLESPOONS

there's still 7gfat and 260mg SODIUM !?!?…passs)

KRAFT ITALIAN

OOH OOH ITS FAT FREE

ANDDDD ITS ITALIAN (non-creamy)

SO THAT MEANS IT'S EVEN MORE HEALTHY

2tbsp

25CALORIES, 0gFAT, 540mgSODIUM, 5gCARBS

(YAY NO FAT.. but holy sodium!!! This dressing almost 

doubles the amount of sodium in Ranch…PASSS)

SOOOO.. lets refer back to the salsa that I used

as dressing in the featured salad above!

ROTEL

2tbsp

5CALORIES, 0gFAT, 130mgSODIUM, 1gCARBS

1/5 the amount of calories, 1/4 the amount of sodium, 

and 1/5 the amount of carbs than KRAFT italian

TA DAAAAAA : ) 

like i said before,

DONT KNOCK IT, 

TILL YOU TRY IT!