Dairy Free & Gluten Free Pumpkin Protein Donuts

 

So, a couple weeks ago, I shared an easy Pumpkin Protein Balls recipe and then I found this donut recipe. I've never made my own donuts, but watching the video gave me confidence that if I was ever going to try, this was the recipe to go for it. It was much easier to make these donuts than I thought it would be.

It did require buying a donut baking pan. I picked mine up at Target, but this is the same one on Amazon.

Donuts are one of my favorite treats on leg days, but it can be hard to find some that are gluten free, dairy free and good. I am lucky to live near a shop that makes really, really good GF and DF donuts, but making my own lets me know EXACTLY what is going into them and figure out the macros.

Ingredients:

2 bananas

1 egg

1/2 cup pumpkin purée 

1/2 tsp vanilla extract 

3/4 cup GF flour - I used buckwheat and held back enough for protein 

1 scoop protein - I used FASTer Way hydrobeef vanilla 

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder 

1 tsp pumpkin spice

Steps:

Mix all wet ingredients together.

Mix all dry ingredients together.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir. 

Add batter to nonstick donut pan -> I did the batter in a baggie hack…it was messy getting in, but worked. Don’t be afraid to cut a bigger opening!

Bake at 350 for 18 minutes!

These are tasty on their own, but I liked mine dribbled with some maple syrup 🙂

Shred Day 9: It's All About Lifting

It was gym day around here today.

My stepmom dropped me off at the fitness center for my feast day workout. After my 10 minute warm up on the treadmill, it was all about the lifting.

I had one goal in mind...GO HARD. My 30 Day Shred coach told us "FEAST day is most effective when you go HARD for the workout."

Today's weights workout was broken into sections: shoulders, chest, quads, hamstrings, and glutes. Since I was all about embracing the weights, I challenged myself to grab the next higher weighted dumbbell than I'm used to.

10 pounds for military press

My dad helped me prepare for the workout, so I knew how to do all of the exercises. The upper body workout looked like this:

• ●  SHOULDERS
  
  • ○  Arm circles for warm up (small, medium, large for 60 seconds each)
    
  • ○  Military Press: 3 sets of 12­-15 reps 
    
  • ○  10 to 1s with 5,8, or 10 lb weights
    
  • ○  Dumbbell front raise or weight plate front raise: 2 sets of 8­-10 reps to failure
    
  • ○  Bent over lateral raise: 2 sets of 8-­10 reps to failure
    
  • ○  Face pulls with cable cross: 2 sets of 8­-10 reps to failure
    
• ●  CHEST:
  
  • ○  Dumbbell press: 12­-15 reps with lighter weight for warm up, then two working sets (higher weight) with 8­-10 reps to failure
    
  • ○  Dumbbell Flies: 12­-15 reps with lighter weight for warm up, then two working sets (higher weight) with 8­-10 reps to failure 
    

I felt pretty confident doing the upper body portion. My weights ranged from 8-15 pounds and I went for the maximum reps. I loved that although the fitness center is small (considering the size of the community), it does offer a wide range of dumbbells and hand weights.

12 pounds for chest press

My experience on leg machines goes back one whole week (if you don't count ACL rehab 25+ years ago!). Again I did my homework and received a helping hand on the equipment from a couple gentlemen doing their own workouts.

• ●  QUADS
  
  • ○  Leg extensions with low weight: 2 sets of 12­-15 reps
    
  • ○  Squats with Smith Machine or Regular Barbell Squats: 2 sets of 10 reps
    
  • ○  Goblet Squats with dummbell or kettlebell: 2 sets of 8­-10 reps to failure
    
  • ○  Leg extensions: 2 sets of 8­-10 reps to failure
    
• ●  HAMSTRINGS:
  
• ○  Leg curl with low weight: 2 sets of 12­-15 reps
  
• ○  Dumbbell Romainian Deadlift (bend slightly at the knee, keep back straight, bend
  through the hips, feel it pull through the hamstrings. 2 sets of 12­-15 reps
  
• ○  Plie Squats with dumbbell or kettlebell: 2 sets of 12­-15 reps
  ○  Leg curl: 2 sets of 8­-10 reps to failure
• ● GLUTES:
  

  • ○  Leg press: 2 sets of 8­-10 reps
    
  • ○  Use the machine for calf raises in between sets. Straighten your legs and push up with your toes to stimulate your calves. At least 2 sets of 10. 

After two gym workouts, I'm growing to like some of the machines: leg extension, leg curl, and standing calf machine. I still don't know how to use the Smith Machine though (and it looks scary).

My cool down was to walk back to the house. Even though it was all sun and I forgot my shades, it felt good to move my legs after all the lifting.

What I Ate on Feast Day:

Breakfast: polenta with honey, scrambled eggs with ham, coffee

Snack: grapes ---> I'm so loving these red grapes and could eat a whole bag (but that would be rude!)

Lunch: leftover eggs and polenta

Dinner: gluten free pizza

Dessert: gluten free brownie

Do you prep for your workouts?

DO you have a favorite grape? I used to love white, but lately I'm loving the red.

Sweaty Saturday Workout and New Feast Day Treats

The gym is a good place to be on a rainy day. I started my workout by catching up on my #ultimateplankchallenge. The full plank heel lifts are tough.

My main workout can be broken into three parts: arms with body weight only, arms with weights, and legs with cardio.

The first part, arms with body weight only, is actually the hardest for me. There are three exercises to do 10 sets of 10: push-ups, forearm plank push-ups, and tricep dips. I've been doing these one at a time to completion, but today I did a circuit hoping it would make it go faster and be easier. Nope. Still hard.

What I ate on Feast day

Breakfast: fruit, French toast, and hash browns 

As a treat, we decided to have the breakfast buffet at the Hilton after our workout. With our membership, we get a 10% discount and well, I was too tired to think about cooking when we got back to the apartment.

Snack: GF "cheetos"

A new gluten free snack created by Luke, who has Celiac's disease, that I found in Hong Kong yesterday. 

Lunch: smoothie bowl and turkey slices

This will always be a treat!

Snack: crackers and cheese

More treats from my Hong Kong shopping spree. Mary's Gone Crackers are gluten free (so happy to have found them) and the port wine cheese is a favorite from time spent with my grandparents. 

Dinner: quinoa pizza bake and green beans

Sadly that was the last of my favorite pasta sauce brough here from Cincinnati.

Dessert: strawberries 

Macros: today was a good day. A couple hundred calories short, but I did very well on my carbs. 

This carb cycling plan encourages participants to do a gluten free and dairy free diet for six weeks. I admit that I think I'm seeing positive effects from staying away from dairy, but I'm weak. I love my cheese! 

Do you prefer circuits or completing each exercise one at a time?

What is your food weakness?

Leg Workout and Getting Settled

There is always a ton of things to do when we return from an extended trip away.

Turn the water and gas back on in the apartment

Restock the fridge

Order water bottles for delivery
Sort the mail and newspapers

Unpack and do laundry

Workout

I took full advantage of the comfortable morning weather for an outdoor workout. It won't be long before the high temps and humidity make this option less appealing. mrC and I found a nice little area with a breeze to do our thing.

It was all about leg strength using body weight. I could still feel some soreness from my last full body workout, but I was able to do most of the exercises. I only had to modify one that bothered my knee. And holy squat jumps and lunge jumps! My legs were jello! I don't even know how I was able to do a 20 minute walk after.

That was a nice amount of calories burned for a twenty-ish minute workout.

My grocery order arrived right on time. It is seriously convenient! This order was filled with mostly fruits and veggies (and a little Coke zero for my occasional caffeine craving).

When I had a chance, I took all the separate lettuce that I bought (iceberg, romaine, and red leaf) and created a little DIY mixed salad just like I buy pre-made in the US. I'm all about convenience.

What I ate for Regular Calorie Day

Breakfast: scrambled eggs with ham, pb&j rice cake, and coffee

mrC made this post workout breakfast for us. The eggs were extra good with the addition of Jane's Crazy Mixed Up Seasoning that I brought back with me. 

Lunch: dairy free protein smoothie, 3 turkey slices

This is my nice and pretty smoothie but before this it was a mad mess all over the kitchen walls. Long story short: stick with what works. Smoothie ingredients: frozen blueberries, frozen raspberries, almond milk, coconut oil, spinach and protein powder.

For the protein powder, I tried another sample from Naked Nutrition. I admit that I am partial to whey protein, but this brand has so many positives that make it stand out from others I have tried: one ingredient only, gluten free, non-GMO, grass fed in the USA. It's worth the money in my opinion.

Dinner: spicy chicken salad, water

I put that DIY salad to use. The only thing I forgot to buy was dairy free dressing, so I splurged with the Ranch that was in the fridge. 

Snack: grapes

I only ate these to try to increase my carb intake for the day. It didn't help much and I wish I had been hungrier so that I could've enjoyed them more.

I was way under my total calories goal for the day (but not hungry) and my macros were not quite up to par either. 

Tomorrow I get another try at it. 

Ever watched your smoothie ingredients fly across the room??

Today I'm linking up with www.marathonsandmotivation.com & www.ilkasblog.com. 

Yoplait Greek 100 Taste-Off

When Yoplait invited me to participate in the Yoplait Greek 100 Strawberry yogurt versus Chobani Simply 100 Strawberry yogurt, I couldn't resist. All across the nation, consumers have been taking part in this taste-off.

I saw the opportunity as a win-win for me. I love Greek yogurt and both brands are gluten free. Plus, I'm a sucker for good tasting snacks that come in 100 calorie packaging. GUILT FREE!! 

After recruiting youngestC to join me, we decided to set up a blind taste test for each other. The loyal hound volunteered to remain in the room to ensure 100% authenticity of the taste-off!

After careful consideration and multiple tastes, we both agreed that the Yoplait versus Chobani yogurt had a clear winner.

We both thought that Yoplait was definitely sweeter and clearly tasted like strawberry. Going into the Yoplait Taste-Off, I thought that I would prefer the Chobani. It just goes to show that I should grab a spoon and try new products more often!

This yummy 5.3 ounce cup of 100 calorie yogurt comes in 12 flavors and is available nationwide. Good thing because in a national taste test, Yoplait Greek 100 Strawberry beat Chobani Simply 100 Strawberry. To find Yoplait Greek 100 near you check out the Yoplait website.

So I've taken the Yoplait Greek 100 Yogurt #TasteOff, now it's your turn! Let me know what you think!

I want to thank Yoplait for sponsoring this taste test and allowing me to express my honest opinion.