Well you can take credit for it… as long as you make it for me this weekend.
It’s weird, but we only have salads in the summer. And it’s winter here for 6 months! Something about cold food in the cold. But it’s about time to kick off the salads again. Dani has a great Greek salad.
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Made Dani’s protein banana bread recipe above using old-fashioned oats instead of quick oats. Worked great!
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BTW, this is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. Is that… Chex cereal???
Yes, it’s rice chex. It’s like croutons, only better! At least they are gluten free 
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Cauliflower Fritters
Anything you can eat without utensils tastes better. #Fact. This was a fun side. You don’t have to be too specific with the ingredient amounts. I just winged it. (Wung it? Wunged? Whatever.)
Ingredients
• Cauliflower rice (frozen, pre-riced is much easier). I used a risoto variety with some mushrooms and celery already in it, but plain is fine.
• Shredded cheese, whatever you have handy. I used mozzarella.
• Seasoning of choice, salt, pepper.
• Optional: Wheat-free panko or breading to act as an extra binder. I used a tablespoon or two.
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
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Cook your cauliflower rice as you normally would. Try to squeeze out any excess water.
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Add a cup or two of shredded cheese while the fake rice is still hot to melt it.
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Season and add panko/binder if using.
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Form into fritters or nuggets. Add extra cheese or binder if needed.
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Bake on a sheet pan until they start to brown and get crispy on the edges, maybe 20 minutes or so. You want them to be pick-up-able.
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Protein Carrot Cake
Here’s another one from Dani I found in my archives.
The Cake
Ingredients
• 1 large carrot (enough to make 1 cup shredded)
• 2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 cup Metabolic Drive® Protein, vanilla
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/2 cup Splenda (or sweetener of choice)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
Ingredients to prep your pan
• Coconut oil spray (or anything similar)
• A spoonful or two of Metabolic Drive® Protein, vanilla
Directions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees (165 degrees Celsius).
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Spray a 9x9 pan with coconut oil. Coat it evenly with a thin layer of Metabolic Drive® Protein to prevent the cake from sticking.
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Use a cheese grater to shred your carrot. Don’t buy pre-shredded carrot or shred one ahead of time because it ends up dry and gross. Get a fresh carrot and shred it yourself.
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Mix all the ingredients together in a big bowl.
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Pour the batter evenly into the pan.
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Bake for about 35 minutes… or until the top looks golden brown and you can jab it with a toothpick without any batter sticking to it.
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Let the cake cool off completely before putting any frosting on it.
The Frosting Part
Ingredients
• 1 block (8 ounces) of 1/3 less fat cream cheese
• 1 scoop Metabolic Drive® Protein, vanilla
• 1/4 cup light coconut milk
• 1/2 cup Splenda (or sweetener of choice)
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
Directions
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Using a hand mixer, mix all the ingredients together. If you don’t have a mixer and want to eliminate the cream cheese lumps, feel free to leave it sitting out at room temperature while the cake is cooling… then mix. (Don’t leave it out for more than 60 minutes.)
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Spread it all over your cake evenly distributing it until there’s no more frosting.
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Cut the cake into 9 pieces. If you have a square pan, make three equal cuts down and three equal cuts across.
Option for fun people: Use a thinner layer of frosting on the cake, and just eat the rest yourself with a spoon. Or a finger, you animal.
Calories & Macros
Per one serving (square of cake with frosting):
Calories: 209
Protein: 15 grams
Carbs: 24 grams
Fat: 8.5 grams
Fiber: 3 grams
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I highly recommend adding about a cup of pineapple chunks to this recipe. The cake was good, but slightly on the dry side, and pineapple would add enough moisture, plus a little punch in flavor.
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Vail Eat$
I cooked nothing, nada, zilch these past few days. Spent some time in Vail, Colorado doing the anniversary thing and letting other people do the cookin’ for Chris.
Not a big fan of buying other people’s food, which may or may not be goal-supportive, then paying way too much for it. So here’s what we did:
• Brought some Metabolic Drive goodies and Finibars with us. That took care of breakfast and road snacks.
• Picked up some turkey, string cheese, and boiled eggs at a local grocery store for lunches.
• Stayed VERY active. Walked for miles and miles, hiked in high elevation, and rode bikes for hours. (I trained once with weights.)
• Had one expensive meal out every day, whatever we wanted.
The idea was keep the diet in check for most of the day, get a lot of NEPA/cardio, save a few bucks on resort food, then have a splurge once a day, preferably something more exotic I can’t make myself. I think it all evened out.
Anyway, here’s some food porn:
Bone Marrow + Bourbon Luge
Probably the best thing we had. I also had to do a bourbon luge: eat the marrow out of the bone, then use it as a slide for a shot of fat-laced bourbon. It’s apparently a thing, so I did that thing.
Pork Shank
Felt guilty when they said it came with mashed potatoes and gravy, then I saw the portion size. I think I burned that off walking back to the hotel. Pork was amazing, as pork tends to be.
Tuna Sashimi
And what goes best with a Japanese appetizer? This of course:
Smothered Burrito
Did I mention that high elevation increases basal metabolic rate? God, I hope that’s true.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Gotta start adding pecans when I make them.
Wild Boar Chili & Buffalo Sausage Flatbread
I would’ve prefered to just have a big plate of that sausage, minus the bread. Good stuff.
Wagyu Burger & Truffle Tots
Not sure what kind of animal a wagyu is, but it was delicious. (Just kidding. I know that wagyu is a cow that spent most of its time at the spa.)
13 years and counting…
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Chewy Oatmeal & Dark Chocolate Cookie Balls
These are soft and gooey, contain no added sugar, and I’ve bumped up the protein a bit.
Ingredients
• 2 bananas (fork mashed)
• 1/2 cup almond butter (or PB if you prefer)
• 1 cup oats (old fashioned)
• 1/4 cup dark chocolate bits (I used 100% baking chocolate, like a real man)
• 1 scoop Metabolic Drive Protein (I used chocolate)
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup Splenda or whatever low-cal sweetener you prefer
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
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Mix everything together. Make sure those bananas are well mashed. You may want to use a fork to break up the nut butter if you’re using natural.
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Scoop the dough onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet. I used a small scooper, hence the cookie “balls” instead of cookies. You can make them into cookies too; just add a couple of minutes to the bake time.
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Bake for 10-13 minutes. Err on the side of slightly undercooked to keep them chewy. They’ll firm up a bit as they cool.
I want to increase the protein, so next time I’ll see how two scoops of Metabolic Drive works. If you try it, let me know!
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This is a dessert you can make for normies who don’t care about macros or body composition. It tastes like it’ll make you fat. (That’s a compliment.)
Extremely delicious. Great texture. 10/10
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Cinnamon Crunch Banana Bread
No added sugar, no wheat/gluten if you’re avoiding that, and a punch of extra protein.
Ingredients for the bread:
• 1 cup oat flour (buy it pre-ground or grind some oats in a food processor)
• 1 cup Metabolic Drive Protein, vanilla
• 3 mashed bananas
• 1/3 cup unsweetened Greek yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsps Splenda or equivalent low-cal sweetener (optional)
Ingredients for the crumb topping:
• 1/4 cup oat flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 to 3 tbsps melted butter
• 1/4 cup Splenda or equivalent low-cal sweetener
Directions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
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For the bread batter, mix up all the ingredients and add half of it to a loaf pan. Glass or foil will work.
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Separately, mix up the crumble ingredients. Add about half to the batter. (This will give you a little of that crumbly goodness to the center of the loaf.)
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Add the rest of the batter, then the rest of the crumble to the top.
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Bake for 45-50 minutes in the center rack. If the top gets a little too brown, top it with foil during the last 10 minutes of baking.
Options: Add a handful of chopped walnuts to the loaf batter. This should work with chocolate Metabolic Drive Protein too.
Update:
Cut into 6 slices and here’s about what you’ll get per slice:
• Calories 281
• Protein 18g
• Carbs 30g
• Fat 8g
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Chocolate No-Bake Cheesecake (ridiculously high protein)
This lowish-carb cheesecake is packed with about 30 grams of protein per tiny slice with no added sugar. No oven required either. Very filling.
Ingredients
• 8 ounces (one standard block) cream cheese. I used fat-free to lower the overall calories.
• 1 cup Greek yogurt, nonfat plain
• 2 cups Metabolic Drive® Protein (6 scoops), chocolate
• 1/2 cup walnuts or raw nuts of choice
• 1/2 cup Splenda or sweetener of choice
• 1 package (0.25 oz) gelatin, unflavored
• 2 pieces (14g) baking chocolate (unsweetened, 100% cocoa)
• 2/3 cups water for boiling the gelatin
Directions
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Finely chop the nuts. A food processor works well. Layer evenly into the bottom of a 6-inch springform pan. This is your crust.
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Boil two-thirds cups of water, add gelatin, and stir until dissolved. Add to blender pitcher.
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Add all other ingredients to the blender and pulse.
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Pour the mixture into the springform pan.
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Chop or slice the baking chocolate and sprinkle over the top (or throughout the mixture like I did here).
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Refrigerate for 3-4 hours to let it set.
No springform pan? Just use any pie dish. This would even work divided in coffee cups since there’s no baking required.
Calories & Macros
Cut into 6 slices and here’s about what you’ll get per slice:
Cals: 252
Protein: 30g
Carbs: 14g
Fat: 9g
BTW, this works without the walnut crust if you want to drop the calories a bit, but walnuts are great for you so I suggest keeping them in.
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Protein-Packed Peach Cobbler Baked Oatmeal
Peach cobbler. Protein. What more do you need to know? Make it on Sunday and breakfast is ready to go all week.
Ingredients
• 2 cups rolled oats (old fashioned)
• 4 scoops Metabolic Drive, vanilla
• 2 bananas, mashed
• 2 cups milk of choice (I used unsweetened almond)
• 2-3 sliced peaches or frozen slices (I used frozen, pre-sliced)
• Hefty dashes of cinnamon, a little nutmeg, a little ginger
• Pinch of salt
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
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Spray a baking dish with oil. I used coconut.
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Add oats and mashed bananas.
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Mix Metabolic Drive and spices into the almond milk. I just used a glass and poured the mixture over the top of the oats.
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Stir to combine.
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Top with peaches and give them an extra shot of cinnamon over the top.
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Bake for 30-35 minutes.
Don’t like peaches? Berries work too.
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I took the recipe HERE for gooey cookie balls, added an extra scoop of Metabolic Drive, used quick oats instead of old-fashioned, and mashed them flatter. Result? More hard cookie-like, a bit dry. Great dipped in milk though.
Im half tempted to offer to be your live in butler with my payment being all these treats you and Dani make
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Ha! Well, we do need the house power-washed and someone to walk to the dogs at 6AM in the dead of winter. Tempting…
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Product Review: BranchOut Avocado Powder
(Damn, I have hairy arms.)
Avocado… powdered? Weird, right? But I was intrigued. After all, avocados are tricky. Sometimes the store only has super green ones, which means no avocado for me for a few days until they ripen… which they will, all at once.
But what if we could powder it, add water, and have it ready to go anytime? That’s the idea here. Does it work? Mostly. Kinda.
BranchOut sells this primarily as a smoothie additive. It’s made using GentleDry technology so all the nutrients and healthy fats are retained and unharmed. So don’t think of it like PB2, which is defatted powdered peanut butter.
Two tablespoons equals 1/4th of an avocado. I mixed that into sour cream with lime juice and a pinch of salt to see if tasted like avocado creme. Not quite. (I think Dani’s words were, “That’s a travesty.”) I ate it anyway. It was… fine.
Next I tried it with water. This would work as part of a recipe, but I wouldn’t call it “guacamole” or my Mexican friends would use me as a piñata.
I’ll probably just use it as a protein shake additive for the healthy fats, as long as it doesn’t mess up the perfect flavor of Metabolic Drive. I could see the Keto Krew loving it.
Anyway, you can pick some up here: