Raspberry Cheesecake Protein Pops

Hiya! So how was your weekend? Are you as glad to have survived that humid heat wave as I am?? I was starting to feel downright miserable. Hot is one thing, but the air was so thick and damp last week, I could hardly stand it.

If only we  could all lay in our own l'il pile of ice!

Source: Pinterest via Angie F.

My heart truly went out to all of those people suffering from respiratory issues --- it would have been a hellish few days for them!

My weekend was utterly relaxing and blissful :-) Derek was away at a baseball tourney in Saginaw, MI, so I was left to my own devices from Friday night 'til Sunday afternoon. Okay, so I feel the need to note right here that my weekend wasn't blissful because Derek was away, but it was kinda nice to just do my own thing. Once in a while I love a little "me" time! On Saturday I went to see Magic Mike with my girlfriends. Yowza....girls, if you love hot men, hot bods and hot moves, you will love this movie! The rest of the day was spent puttering around the house and hangin' with the dogs. On Sunday, I went for brunch with my grandparents to celebrate my grandpa's birthday. I had a buckwheat crepe with spinach and white cheddar and a big ol' bowl of fruit. SO GOOD! When I got home, I went to see the progress in my veggie garden (things are growing like crazy my friends!) and then went through a huge pile of bills and papers that really needed to get sorted and filed. It was one of those jobs that neither Derek or I wanted to do, but it felt so good once it was done.

I also managed to squeeze in some kitchen time this weekend. Not only did I give it a really good scrubbin', but I also was able to create some new and fabulous iced treats. All I've wanted to snack on lately is anything that can be described as cold and refreshing and I swear that I've been dreaming of popsicles on more than one occasion! {Are you a dream interpreter???? Does this mean I'm a crazy freak haha?!}

This is one of my favourite iced treats so far. I wouldn't have believed you if you'd told me that we can eat clean and have our cheesecake too because it just seems to good to be true, but I assure you that it isn't ;-)

I've found a way my friends and I am so happy to share.....

Raspberry Cheesecake Protein Pops

Inspired by Tosca Reno's Protein Popsicle Treats

Makes 6 popsicles

1 heaping c of non-fat Greek Yogourt

3 tbsp stevia (Truvia)

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/3 c fresh or frozen raspberries

1 scoop vanilla protein powder, optional

Combine all of the ingredients except for the raspberries and mix well.

Gently fold in the raspberries.

Spoon the mixture into your popsicle mold. Gently tap the mold on the counter to ensure the entire mold is filled.

Insert your popsicle lids/sticks and freeze.

Once frozen, help yourself to this healthy CLEAN treat! My popsicles were a little tricky to pull out of the mold; I really needed to wriggle it around to get it out!

*Note - I added protein powder so that the popsicles fit within the LiveFit diet I am currently following. Personally, I prefer the flavour of the popsicles without. If you aren't following any type of plan right now, I think these would be awesome if you added a bit of crumbled graham crackers instead of the protein powder.

Greek yogourt is so versatile --- it's quickly becoming one of my favourite ingredients!

My favourite all natural sweetener is definitely Truvia.

I got a great deal on a bag of frozen raspberries, but fresh will definitely work as well.

My 6 popsicle molds held exactly 2 cups. Figure out the volume of your cups before you make this and adjust the recipe as necessary so there isn't any waste.

Popsicles are best when enjoyed outside in the sunshine!

Holy mackinaw ~ these are so cold and refreshing and absolutely sinless!

You can enjoy them without one ounce of guilt. 

{YOU.ARE.SO.WELCOME}

What do you do to stay cool in the middle of a heat wave?

Have a great day!

Andrea

xoxo

What I Ate Wednesday

Happy Wednesday!

I made some really great recipes this week, so I'm going to cut the chit chat short and get right to all my yummy eats.......

Breakie

Greek Yogourt sweetened with honey and topped with Pumpkin Harvest Granola

Lunch

Loaded baked potato soup. This is a crockpot recipe that will be coming very, very soon! We think it tastes even better the second day, so we've had this for a couple of lunches now :-)

Dinner

Honey mustard roasted veggies over quinoa (recipe by Kris). Best veggie recipe I've tried lately!!! If you love honey mustard, you will LOVE this recipe --- I took the leftovers to work the next day and had them in a wrap for lunch. SO. GOOD!

So there you have it! Short and sweet and sooooooo delicious! If you're looking for more meal inspiration, head on over and check out Miss Jenn's What I Ate Wednesday page.




I suspect we might even find some awesome recipes for the holidays over there!!!

What have you been munching on this week?

Have an awesome day,

Andrea

What I Ate Wednesday

I've been totally loving Wednesdays lately! I love sharing my good eats, but I really love seeing and reading about what everyone else eats as well! Sometimes it is so easy to fall into the rut of having the same meals week after week and I'm constantly finding inspiration from my friends for new and exciting meals. Hopefully you'll get some inspiration from me to  make easy and healthy meals as well!

I've been having some awesome eats lately. Check it out.






Of course, being the creature of habit that I am, I start my day off drinking a warm glass of lemon water with a dash of cayenne pepper.

On mornings when I go to the gym before work, I've been laying off the green smoothies because that requires the blender, which creates a whole lotta doggie chaos at 5:30 a.m. My dogs love the kitchen and are always lurking around hoping that I'll drop something. If they hear the blender come on, they both come running. The problem is, they are in our bedroom and Derek doesn't exactly appreciate being woken up jumped on by 2 rottweilers at that time in the morning :-)

So, instead of a green smoothie, I make myself and quick and easy breakfast of strawberry-flavoured greek yogourt with some chocolate coconut granola. Soooo delicious!

For my mid-morning snack, I've been sticking to fresh fruit. Pears have been my fruit of choice lately.

So sweet, so juicy....I CANNOT wait until we start getting some fresh, local fruit!

For lunch, I had some of the super-filling energy boosting protein salad I made on Sunday. I still am totally loving this salad ~ it's awesome because it keeps me satisfied until dinnertime.

For dinner, it was a honey veggie stirfry with a piece of panfried teriyaki tofu.

This was soooo good!! I used to think I always needed to have some sort of grain (rice, pasta, etc.) with stirfry, but this was delicious and satisfying all on its own!

I was late eating dinner because I went to a 6 p.m. spin class right after work, so I didn't even have a snack before bed!

Have I made you jealous?? I had some seriously good and healthy eats lately!! Believe me, if I could, I would come and cook for each and every one of you :-) At the very least, I hope I've motivated you with some healthy meal ideas. Check out Jenn's WIAW page for even more motivation!

What was your fave meal of the day??

Happy Hump Day!

Andrea