Double Chocolate Creamy Custard Pudding

Double Chocolate Creamy Custard Pudding

Total Calories: 271      Protein 10g | Carbs 30g | Fat 9g

This is an insane snack. Let yourself be carried by the decadent taste of chocolate pudding the healthy low-calorie guiltless way.


Q:Why is it healthy?


A: We are using unsweetened cocoa powder which is low in fat yet high in antioxidants to fight free-radicals and boost feel-good hormones the chocolate induces, but without the calories. Also the strawberries are delicious, boast tons of health benefits and are incredibly low in calories.



Perfect if you have a sweet tooth and you're trying to cut down on sugar and sweets to meet your fitness goals.


It's very simple and quick to prepare. Let's go!


 Ingredients                                                                            

• 200 grams of fat-free Lebanese yogurt (Plain Laban)
• 30 grams of unsweetened cocoa powder 
• 3 heaping tbsp of powdered sweetener of choice (can use more/less depending on your taste)
• 100 grams of strawberries 
• 15 grams of raw nuts

 Directions                                                                              

1. Spoon the laban into a bowl 
2. Add the cocoa powder in and mix them together to get a creamy pudding
3. Add the sweetener and mix the pudding again with a spoon
4. Top with sliced strawberries and raw nuts
5. Optional but recommended: Place in freezer for 20 minutes then remove, mix again with a spoon, and put in freezer again for an additional 15 minutes to get half an ice-cream like consistency.
6. ¡Buen Provecho! Your guiltless chocolate pudding is ready to tickle your tummy!

Pictures:

200 grams of fat-free yogurt (laban) in a bowl

Mix in around 30 grams of unsweetened cocoa powder until it completely dissolves 

How to Eat Cinnamon Rolls Everyday Without Getting Fat

I know these sweet and fluffy cinnamon rolls look too delicious with their heavenly drizzled icing; Imagine them hot and tender, bursting in heavenly aroma of spice and dreams. Healthy recipes of this treat float around the web, but what if I share a much better alternative high in protein, contains almost no sugar and full of fibres? Do we get a round of applause around here? Thank you!

Meet the next best thing:

Quest Protein Bar - Cinnamon Roll Flavor

To understand why it's so good, let's take a good look at its nutrition panel and ingredients profile:

Check the ingredients: Mostly just protein isolate, prebiotic fibre, almonds, water and erythritol!!

Facts:

• Contains only 1 gram of sugar
• Contains a whopping 17 grams of fibre, which is nearly half of the recommended daily value. Fibre will promote healthy bowel movement and provide satiation making you feel fuller for longer when consumed
• The protein in the quest bar is sourced only from whey protein isolate sources, which are among the purest available in the market. Most other protein bars derive their protein from concentrates, which are less pure, cheaper and much inferior in quality.
• The whole bar contains just 3 grams of carbs! 

Now, let's compare Quest Bars to other available quest bars on the market:

Pick most protein bars and you'll find huge list of ingredients; mostly chemicals and artificial ingredients that you can't even pronounce. Quest bar on the other hand is the healthiest you could find on the market and is my protein bar of choice; whenever you're on the go and want a healthy and nutritious snack that is actually good for you and helps you in your body recomposition and fat loss efforts, it's the right choice.

Also, most other protein bars are masked sugar candies and their makers add useless gelatine to their bars in order to bump the protein profile while making the bars very cheap to produce to raise their profit margins!

So, there you have it, Quest Bars are a great to snack on whenever you want a healthy and tasty treat full of protein, fibres and very low in carbs! In good health!

Literally swimming in a sea of Quest Bars of all flavors

6 Healthy Tips to Enjoy Sushi in Lebanon or Japan

6 Tips for Eating Sushi in Lebanon or Japan

In the last years, sushi restaurants in Lebanon have mushroomed everywhere. Scattered at every corner you look, there's one to please every taste: some of them serve sushi, while others, you guessed it, serve sushi too. Japan invades our national heritage? No need to feel threatened. Soon enough someone is going to start serving hummus makis. 

It's widely thought that sushi is truly healthy, but that's not entirely true. Not if 80% of the pieces we order are makis rolled with white rice and the famed crispy that is fried in more oil than a woman tanning under the summer sun. I looked around a lot trying to find a sushi restaurant that serves makis rolled with brown rice and, till the time of writing this article, I did not succeed. But if anyone has any information that could help me in my quest, please leave a comment below.

So, here I came up with some tips to enjoy sushi blissfully in Lebanon without adding pounds of fat to our belly:

Tip # 1:

• Always start with a green salad. I Enjoy Sushi Bento's Fibrous green salad. It contains broccoli and green peppers which not only are a vitamin powerhouse, but their fiber content also signals to the brain to start the satiation process. 

The salad helps prepare us for the sushi by appeasing the hunger and preventing us from overeating

Tip # 2:

• Careful with the salad dressings. They often include a lot of empty calories and unnecessary fats. I usually order mustard sauce mixed with lemon juice. Very low on calories and adds a flavor to the salad while eliminating all those empty calories. Remember no need for oil because you'll be getting plenty of healthy omega-3 fats from the salmon.

Salad dressings often hide a large amount of unnecessary empty calories

Tip # 3:

• Try to eat more Sashimi than makis. Salmon sashimi contains plenty of healthy omega3 fats while packing zero carbs.

Sashimi is always a better option than makis

Tip # 4:

• Order makis that include mostly real fresh fish and not crazy makis with fake crab.

Crazy and California makis contain what is known as imitation crab, which is a highly processed seafood that is in reality a finely pulverized white fish flesh (surimi) mixed with differing proportions of additives such as starch, egg white, salt, vegetable oil, humectants, sorbitol, sugar,soy protein, seasonings, and enhancers such as transglutaminases and monosodium glutamate (MSG).

I don't know about you, but I'd rather stick to real fish.

This is not really fish or crab but a fiesta of industrial highly-processed surimi

Tip # 5:

• Easy on the soy sauce (even the low sodium variety) as it's still relatively high in sodium and known to cause water retention. A trick I do is slightly dipping my sushis in one tablespoon of soy sauce.

The less the soy sauce, the more you'll taste the fish anyway.

The Less Sodium Soy Sauce variety contains as much as 600 mg of sodium per Tbsp

Tip #6:

• Everyone loves salmon temakis. But normally they're loaded with rice. A trick that I do is always ask to replace the rice with avocado. That way, I turn the temaki into a carb-free protein powerhouse.

A lot of time goes into preparing the recipes and writing the articles. If you enjoyed reading and want me to keep writing useful articles like this one, please click on like and share it among your friends. 

Should you have any question, feel free to post it in the comment section below and I'll answer them as soon as I can.

Healthy Low-calorie Double Chocolate Protein Brownies

I've been preparing those true delicacies for a couple of years now and many people have been asking about them, so here I share the recipe.


Q:You're fooling us. How can brownies be actually that healthy?


A: Now you're going to be surprised. These brownies are prepared with black beans. Yes, you heard that right. I promise you won't even taste them. Black beans are complex carbs, which means they will enter your bloodstream slowly and will not cause insulin spikes. Instead, they will give steady energy and they're high in fiber.


Q: What else?


A: They also contain virgin coconut oil. A quick search on google will brief you on the myriad of its benefits. Coconut oil is rich in saturated fats which are good for the hormones in the body. A person should consume no less than 20% of their daily calorie budget from fats; healthy fat sources including monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and saturated fats. 



That being said, they're perfect if you're trying to cut down on sugar and sweets, or simply if you're working out and following a healthy lifestyle these will not derail your efforts - provided you don't eat the whole batch.


Let's get baking!


 Ingredients                                                                            

• 1 scoop chocolate whey protein (about 30 grams)
• 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 5 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (25 grams)
• A pinch of salt
• 3 whole eggs
• 15 grams of Stevia Natural Sweetener
• 1 tbsp of natural honey (or 2-3 if you like it sweeter)
• 3 tbsp of virgin coconut oil (about 33 grams)
• Two small cans of black beans (about 400 grams)
• half an apple (around 70g)
• 25 grams of rolled oats

 Directions                                                                              

1. Wash and rinse the black beans 
2. Add all the ingredients above (including the black beans) into a food processor or a blender until a consistently smooth and nice brownies batter forms.
3. Layer a baking dish (pyrex) with non-stick cooking spray (PAM).
4. Spread the batter in the baking dish.
5. Put the baking dish in a preheated (medium heat) oven for about 25 minutes.
6. After you take the brownies out of the oven cut it into 10 equal pieces.
7. ¡Buen Provecho! Your guiltless decadent brownies are ready to be devoured!

Pictures:

From top left to right: honey, stevia, apples, unsweetened cocoa powder, virgin coconut oil
black beans, pure vanilla extract, protein powder, rolled oats
eggs, cinnamon powder, salt

Blending the ingredients 

spraying the baking dish with PAM. This product can be found at most Lebanese supermarkets

The batter spread into the baking dish and ready to hit the oven

Delicious Low-calorie Chocolate Chip Mocha Frappucino

Summer is here. So is the extreme heat of the day. Mocha Frappucino at Starbucks is loaded with a lot of sugar, fat and unnecessary calories. Here I show you my own delicious version that will keep you refreshed and satisfy your cravings without adding a pound of fat to your belly or burn a hole in your pocket.

What makes this so good?

1. It tastes divinely delicious.
2. Great to have pre-workout or anytime you're running out of fuel during the day because of the natural stimulating effects of caffeine.
3. A lot of antioxidants come from the unsweetened cocoa powder.
4. It's super easy to prepare and a joy to drink.

So let's get down to business. Here's the recipe!

 Ingredients                                                                                                                     

• 1 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa
• 100ml of non-fat milk or almond milk
• 1 tablespoon of chocolate whey protein powder (can be omitted)
• 1 teaspoon of nescafe instant coffee
• 1 tablespoon of a sweetener of your choice (I use Stevia natural sweetener)
• 1 tablespoon of Hershey's semi-sweetened chocolate chips
• A cup of ice (or a bit more as necessary)

 Directions                                                                                                                   

1. Blend all the ingredients together in a mixer.
2. Pour into a tall glass.
3. Top with a dash of cocoa powder.
4. ENJOY!

Notes

1. If you drop the Hershey's semi-sweetened chocolate chips, the calories will drop even more
2. you can add more whey to boost the protein content of the drink
3. you can use a vanilla flavored whey protein if you don't have chocolate
4. consider adding some seeds to the mix! Flaxseeds for example (more on the awesome benefits of flaxseeds in future post).