Mini Chocolate Chip Protein Muffins! (You need these in your life!)

The Cookie & Cocoa Swirl was an afterthought,
but ended up working out perfectly!

I am super excited about this little treat!!! I stumbled upon Kodiak Cakes Power Cakes Mix in the store today and couldn't wait to come home and begin experimenting with them!

1 cup of mix packs 28 grams of protein! If you are using the Smart Points on Weight Watchers, you know how valuable protein is for creating recipes with low points!  I began scouring Pinterest for the perfect recipe, but most of them contained too many ingredients (let's keep it simple people!), donut pans, other miscellaneous protein products, etc.  Finally I landed upon a donut recipe that I figured could be adapted to mini muffins.

Each mini muffin was approximately 1 Smart Point before adding the Cookie & Cocoa Swirl drizzle and only 43 calories!!!

Naked!  Something is missing...
good thing I've been keeping a jar
of Speculoos Cookie & Cocoa Swirl
Spread on my counter for inspiration!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Kodiak Cakes Power Cakes Whole Grain Buttermilk Flapjack and Waffle Mix
• 2 Tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 1 Egg
• 1/4 cup unpacked Brown Sugar
• 2 Tbsp unsweetened Applesauce
• 1/2 cup unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
• 2 Tbsp Mini Chocolate Chips (optional)
• 2 Tbsp Speculoos Cookie & Cocoa Swirl Spread (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Combine Kodiak Cakes Mix, Cocoa Powder, and Brown Sugar.
3. Mix in Egg, Applesauce, & Almond Milk.
4. Fold in Mini Chocolate Chips.
5. Lightly spray mini muffin pan with cooking spray.
6. Spoon 1 Tbsp of mixture into pan (Mine made approximately 20 mini muffins).
7. Bake for 20 minutes at 350F.
8. Let cool then drizzle with melted Speculoos Cookie & Cocoa Swirl (microwave the Cookie & Cocoa Spread for 30 seconds).
9. Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts:

Makes Approx. 20 mini muffins.

Without Cookie & Cocoa Swirl - 43 calories & 1 Weight Watchers Smart Points

With Cookie & Cocoa Swirl Drizzle - 52 calories & 2 Weight Watchers Smart Points

In all their chocolate-y glory!

Trader Joe's Weight Watchers Haul Part 1

Since beginning Weight Watchers (and utilizing the new Smart Points system), I've been returning to some of my favorite grocery spots with phone in hand and ready to scan!  (Unfortunately, the Weight Watchers label scanner is not the best... so it has added time to my grocery trips!)  Hopefully this list of items will help cut some time out of your next grocery stop!  This was a quick trip to Trader Joe's so I'll keep updating the list as I discover new finds that are worth the points!

Apple Cranberry Fiber Mini Cakes 

I was stoked to find these!  With the new points system, lots of sweet items like muffins went up in points, so finding ones that were pre-made AND only 2sp made my day!

Calories: 80 per cake

Weight Watchers Smart Points: 2sp

13g of Fiber & 5g of Protein!

Speculoos Cookie & Cocoa Swirl

This is a no-brainer! Do yourself a favor, melt a 1/2 Tbsp of this and drizzle on some fruit!  Or add a dollop to your favorite oatmeal or overnight fridge oats!  You can thank me later. :)

Calories: 90 per 1 Tbsp

Weight Watchers Smart Points: 4sp per 1 Tbsp so use sparingly!

             

Savory Thin Crackers

I love cheese, I love meat, I love crunchy little vehicles to eat both of these items.  However, most crackers take up too many of my daily points!  These are the perfect solution to this dilemma.

Calories: 130 for 17 crackers

Weight Watchers Smart Points: You can have up to 15 crackers for only 1sp! Woo!

Lite Shredded 3 Cheese Blend

It's light, it's cheese... need I say more?

Calories: 80 per 1/4 cup

Weight Watchers Smart Points: 2sp per 1/4 cup

The cheese above had a purpose... turkey tacos!  I love Trader Joe's Taco Seasoning mix & one packet will make 2lbs worth of meat for tacos!

Organic Tomatoes

Calories: 30 per 1/2 cup

Weight Watchers Smart Points: 0sp

Stay tuned for more awesome items from Trader Joe's!  Check out my old blog post for some of my favorite items from Costco!  I will be updating it with Weight Watchers points and adding it to this blog soon!

Embarkation

Drinking Pina Coladas this past Summer on our cruise to the Eastern Caribbean!  I came home engaged and 10lbs heavier!

So I guess I should begin with an introduction.  I am a 29 year old soon-to-be bride and have embarked on a health and well-being journey!  For most of my life, I could eat whatever I liked and didn't have to worry about my weight.  Well, the past 3 years has finally confirmed what I knew to be true - slowing metabolisms, gaining weight when in a happy relationship, and that I can't eat a whole pizza by myself forever without facing the repercussions of cheese & bread (ughhh whyyyy not!).  Over a year ago I decided to give Fit Girl's Guide a try and I really enjoyed it!  You can read a little bit about that journey at my old, failed blog!  Anyways, it was fun, I enjoyed it, and it worked pretty well (well it worked to the extent of the amount of effort I put in, which dwindled as I finished my final semester of my graduate degree).

So here we are, 24 days into 2016 and I've decided to give this healthy lifestyle and blog thing another go!  This time, I've decided to sign up for Weight Watchers, so I will be sharing my experiences, recipes, and meal plans along the way!  I do still use recipes from Fit Girl's Guides and I love the support from their online community, so you will see some of that as well!  So far, I am down 7lbs since January 1st! (Woo Hoo!)  I'm already seeing changes in my energy level and sleep patterns!

Anyways, I hate long, babbling blogs (like hellllooooo, I clicked a link to see a recipe, not a novel about how you found these organic blueberries while browsing the Farmer's Market and it inspired you!  Get to the point!) So here it goes, find some recipes, read some of my tips, and have a good time! :

Feeling a little less squishy after only 12 days!  Stayed within my Weight Watchers points, hot lemon water upon waking up, limiting myself to 1 cup of coffee per day, drinking a minimum of 64 ounces of water daily (usually with 8oz. of 100% unsweetened cranberry juice to help de-bloat!), no alcohol (ok that didn't last long after this pic, but I'm doing a lot better than before!)  Oh yeah and exercise, they say that part is pretty important!  I keep it simple, 30 minute workouts in my living room in the morning and cardio a few times per week (some weeks more than others!)