I used to start my celebrating my birthday at the beginning
of April and would ride it through all the way to the end of the month. These days, though, with keeping up with two
toddlers, laundry, house chores, and all sorts of other chaos I don’t get to celebrate
it as much as I did in the past.
However, there’s one thing everyone should want and expect on their
birthday; GOOD FOOD!
Now I did start planning my birthday dinner weeks ago. I got out my ‘Super Craving’ list, (yes, I
really have a list of all the food I crave but can’t have) and started
deciphering through to see what I wanted to treat myself to.
Pizza and Mac & Cheese!!
Oh yeah, that’s right.
The worst of the worst, total carb and cheese overload sounded like the
perfect birthday dinner. But the more I
planned, the more I already started feeling guilty about the crap I was
planning on putting into my body. I
wanted something that I don’t get every day, something tasty, but something
that wouldn’t leave me regretting the whole thing.
So what did I eat for my birthday dinner?? PIZZA and MAC & CHEESE!!
What????
You can always find a healthier version to any of your
favorite meals. Not always ‘healthy’,
but definitely ‘healthier’. Any time you
make something yourself you can use substitutions and healthier ingredients,
making it with all of the taste but little to no guilt!
BBQ Chicken Pizza
This was amazing! I
used the Artisan Whole Wheat Pizza Crust from Pillsbury (not completely clean,
but at least its whole wheat), and I will say we will be making pizza’s a
little more often with this. It had the
cheesiness of a pizza, but packed with more protein from the chicken and
amazing flavor from the BBQ sauce and cilantro.
I did cheat a little and used store bought BBQ sauce, but hey, I’m not
super women.
Mac & Cheese
This was no Kraft, but it definitely satisfied my craving for mac & cheese, and allowed me a small portion of seconds. Made with whole wheat pasta, a little low fat evaporated milk, and a small amount of full flavored cheese, this was exactly what I wanted. Could actually add cooked ham or broccoli to this recipe and make it an entire meal.
It was a perfect birthday dinner. I though about adding some greens or a salad just to get some veggies in there, but you only have your birthday once a year. I got exactly what I wanted with very little guilt.
AND FOR DESSERT...
Sorry to burst your bubble, but no amazingly healthy cakes (at least not in this post). I had some cake this past weekend, and did a little extra celebrating so I decided to keep it light tonight. I still overindulged making all my efforts to go light slightly pointless, but if you're going to over-do it, its better to over-do it on light and healthy, than big and heavy. (Again, its my birthday, so its not an everyday thing).
My cake: don’t worry; I did not eat all of this! White and Milk Chocolate Covered Strawberries,
mini chocolate protein muffins, and protein chocolate chip cookies.
Chocolate covered strawberried are one of my favorite treats. Its a perfect combination of sweetness! I usually perfer dark chocolate, but I had to use all my dark chocolate chips in my muffins and cookies. (The white chocolate is for my husband, his favorite too).
Mini Chocolate Protein Muffins
These are perfect bite size treats but also have a good amount of protein in them so they can also be a great between meal snack if you're having that chocolate craving. Plus they're perfect size and sweetness for my toddlers.
Protein Chocolate Chips Cookies
Made with all natural sweeteners (except the chips of course), whole wheat flour, and very little oil, these tasty cookies are the perfect 'no cheat treat'. And again, these are full of protein too and would even be a good pre-workout snack.
All recipes will be posted to my recipe tabs later tonight because right now I need to workout!
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