Raspberry Lemon Protein Muffins

These muffins. Hearty, fresh, naturally sweetened and filled with 5 grams of protein per muffin and only 170 calories each. 

A friend of mine is the mastermind behind the recipe, but I changed things up a bit making them dairy free. The raspberry lemon combo is everything I want in a muffin. Slathered with shmear of almond butter in the morning and they make for the perfect breakfast. 

Not to mention these would be incredible on your Easter brunch menu, perfect for a shower, and even better for your everyday life. 

Raspberry Lemon Protein Muffins
yields 12 muffins

Ingredients:
2 cups oat flour*
2 scoops Arbonne vanilla protein powder
2 scoops Arbonne fiber powder (optional)
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup agave
3/4 cup almond milk
1/4 cup olive oil
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
zest from 1 whole lemon
juice from 1/2 lemon
10 oz fresh raspberries (reserve 12 raspberries for topping) 

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners and set aside.

*Take 2 cups of old fashioned rolled oats (steel cut will not work) and pulse in your blender until the texture of flower.

In a medium bowl, whisk oat flour, protein powder, fiber powder, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, whisk agave, almond milk, olive oil, eggs, vanilla extract, lemon zest and lemon juice. Stir wet ingredients into your dry ingredients. Fold your raspberries into the batter. Using an ice cream scoop, divide batter into muffin cups making sure you evenly distribute the raspberries into each muffin. Top each muffin with a raspberry. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the edges are just golden and a toothpick comes out clean. 

Annie 

*to purchase Arbonne's protein powder, please email me at annie@takeabiteblog.com!

Bites of My Life

A few snow (ice) days kept us trapped at home last week, followed by pouring rain as we ventured down to Dallas for best friend and pre-wedding celebrations, followed by gorgeous 60 degree weather. Oklahoma you keep us on our toes, but I don't mind!

-Protein shakes aside, the mascara, face primer and CC cream from Arbonne's makeup and skincare line are gold. 
-My favorite shake to keep me full and satisfied. Vanilla Almond amped up with a little almond extract!
-New Lite Bite post is up! Crushing on this meal from last week!
-Sneaking in greens on our "snow day" despite really wanting s'mores, popcorn, chili and all the treats.
-So far I have finished 2, almost 3 books in 2018 and it's only February. I don't even know who I am anymore. #TeamDoesn'tRead.
-The most delicious eats and drinks at José to kick off our 24 hour stint in Dallas. Highly highly recommend this spot next time your are in Dallas. 
-Weekend 1 of celebrating #KatieFoundHerMattch, can't wait for round 2 this weekend.
-Tea and Food Network in bed. How every Sunday should start.
-Quinoa has come back for vengeance recently and I'm loving it. Working on getting this greek quinoa bowl posted this week!

Annie

Bites of My Life

I hate/love the word galentine. But when you don't have a valentine but love Valentine's Day, I'm happy to celebrate with all my best gal pals. Galentine was apparently the theme of last week by the looks of this bites post. That and food, my real valentine if we are being honest. 

-Salads, vino and a VIP Valentine event at Salata. 
-Galentine since '93.
-Fun fact: . When I was younger I wanted to grow up and be an artist. So much so, that my password for everything growing up was artistAFT. Brought out my inner Artist AFT at Tuesday's wine & palette event. 
-Chocolate Covered Strawberry protein shakes for a healthy but festive start to Valentine's day. 
-I <3 CCC's!
-Pictured: the delicious new Korean bowls at Gogi Go in Midtown, not pictured: the Benadryl and medicine induced nap I took after this meal. I'm finding out more than I would like that my love for ethnic and asian food means that I should always ask if peanuts are in a dish. Apparently peanuts are the OG nut of ethnic cuisine.
-Fight or flight? I'll choose flight every time, especially when we are talking about beer. If you haven't been to Twisted Spike Brewery in OKC, I highly recommend. 
-Belated breakfast for dinner galentine party called for everything to be in the shape of hearts. 
-Sweet treats and healthy treats at our galentine party!

Annie

Bites of My Life

I took a week off of instagram last week and it felt gooooood. Does anyone else ever do that? I made a mental resolution with myself to take 1 week off, every month for (hopefully) the rest of the year. It was such a mind clearer. Similar to a body detox where you rid your insides of toxins, this was a mind detox. For one week, the comparison game was over, the feeling of having/wanting to document my every moment was gone, the mindless hours spent staring at my phone were minimized. I challenge you to try a week off here and there. 

I logged off instagram last Monday through Saturday. I then sat in church Sunday morning to hear our pastor touch on the effects of social media. How it can lead to depression due to the over comparison, how it can lead to us losing sight of our values. How important it is to know God, know his stories, and walk with him, in order to keep our values in line. Especially in this ever changing world and comparison game we live in. #FoodForThought going into the new week! ...already looking forward to my next insta detox!

-Green salad on repeat again last week! Added a soft boiled egg for extra protein after an amazing lunch class at Union with Chelsea! My favorite way to break up the day. 
-Blueberry coconut cucumber protein shake is my fave right now! The combo may seem strange but it's weirdly refreshing. The recipe is on my instagram highlights!
-Posted these insane brownies last week. I'm just going to make you go read the post because like I said, they are insane. And borderline healthy! 
-Almond milk capp at TJA while grinding through some work. I love having a built in coffee shop right at my fingertips!
-Addicted to this breakfast. Protein, fiber and probiotics coming from soft scrambled eggs on GG crackers topped with kimchi!
-Dinner with my Stacey girl but really celebrating that Trin has moved back from Florida!
-Batch of steel cut oats for me and for Sarah Beth! SB texted me last week looking for some breakfast inspo. She loves oatmeal but has to be at work super early, so oatmeal is just microwaved from a packet (which honestly I love), but it's nice to indulge in thick and creamy homemade steel cut oats sometimes! I made a big batch of McCann's with cinnamon for her to re-heat at work! I suggest topping with more cinnamon, some blueberries and a spoonful of almond butter! If you need it sweeter add some brown sugar!
-I was trying to re-create these for sunday night dinner, but the frozen shrimp I pulled out of my freezer was more than questionable. Luckily I had some leftover shredded chicken aslo in the freezer so I adapted and ended up with a really delish dinner. 
-Did you read yesterday's post? I'm doing somethin' and celebratin' with healthy protein cake balls!  

Annie

P.S. I updated my OKC City Guide last week! Catch the new new here. 

Healthy Funfetti Cake Balls + An Announcement

I hate cake balls, anyone else? Now you are probably like why the heck is this girl giving me a recipe for cake balls if she hates them? These Healthy Funfetti Cake Balls actually taste more like cookie dough to me, but when I think of funfetti I think of the box of Pillsbury Funfetti cake mix not cookies. So here we are with a cake ball instead of a cookie dough recipe.

But really, the moist, mushy inside of cake balls made from mixing cake and icing together just does not jive with me. Let's also all take a moment to cringe while we say the word, moist. OK, moving on. 

Protein balls, you've seen them all over Pinterest and instagram, protein bites, energy balls, energy bites whatever you want to call them. I even have a few recipes found here and here. They are basically just a cop out on a real dessert, but also pretty genius to have stored in your fridge when you need something sweet or need a tiny bit of substance before a workout class or something of that nature. I love how this funfetti version came out because 1. i mean how cute? and 2. the ingredient list is short and if you are a borderline health food junky like myself, you most likely have these ingredients in your pantry. If you don't...come over to my house, I'll make you some!

Healthy Funfetti Cake Balls
yields 9-10 cake balls

Ingredients:
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
2 scoops Arbonne Vanilla Protein powder
6 pitted dates
3 Tbsp. Almond milk
2 tsp. Cashew butter (or any nut butter, I use Georgia Grinders)
1.5 Tbsp. Multi-colored sprinkles 

Directions:
Add coconut into a food processor and blend until it becomes tiny grounds of coconut.

Add everything else but the sprinkles, pulse until it becomes thick crumbs (dough is pretty dry, you can add more almond milk if needed). Pour into a bowl and stir in sprinkles. Using a cookie scoop, press and roll into golf ball size bites! Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving! Keep in an airtight container in the fridge! Good for 1-2 weeks.

Now for the announcement. If you have been keeping up with Take A Bite, you probably are not blind to see that I have been incorporating some of Arbonne's nutrition products into my daily routine over the past couple months...hello protein shakes. Well, after thinking it over and going back and forth, I pulled the trigger and decided to start selling Arbonne myself. I truly love the products and use them everyday. Their nutrition line is something I completely agree with and have personally reaped the benefits of since starting to use them. I swore I would never sell something like this, but I just really love the products and want to be a source for others who are interested in trying them or who may already love them too. 

*I promise not to turn Take A Bite into a sales platform for my Arbonne business
*I promise not to spam you with only Arbonne
*I promise to stay true to myself and my brand and organically show you how I use Arbonne in my daily life
*I promise you will love these products and if you have any questions or want to hear more about the nutrition line please email me at annie@takeabiteblog.com

Annie