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I love my blender! It can make meal times very exciting. Well some times. Other times it can be a disaster, but those recipes don’t end up here!

And when it comes to quick and easy nutrition, it is hard to go past throwing a few ingredients into a blender and churning it for 60 seconds.

Here’s the recipe for the Ultimate Chocolate Peanut Butter Blender Bomb.

• 1 Cup Water
• 3/4 Cup Chocolate Protein Powder
• 1/2 Cup Blueberries
• 1 Tbsp Cacao Nibs
• 1 Tbsp Peanut Butter
• 1 Tbsp Peanut Oil

Chuck it all in the blender and give it a blast for about 60 seconds. You might want to give it a few ‘pulses’ at the end to make sure the nibs are fully mixed in.

The above recipe would be perfect for most guys, and you’d almost get two serves for the girls. I will work out the numbers on it and post them ASAP.

Let me know what you think.

First up put the cashews and the water/green tea into a blender and give it up to 60 seconds of blend time. You don’t really want any chunks of cashew in your drink so it’s best to do a little more if you are unsure. Once you have given that a god thrashing, throw in the blueberries and protein powder and blend until its all mixed, but nice and thick as well.

Should take you all of two minutes to make, drink and clean up. No more “I don’t have time to eat well excuses” my friend!

Let me know what you think.

You can never eat too many blueberries. Well maybe you can, but I don’t think anyone has yet.

But you can eat too much cheesecake. And I’m sure plenty of people have!

So what’s the alternative? I want to have my cake and eat it too!!

Enter the Blueberry Cheesecake Pudding courtesy of Allie from Pimp My Protein Shake.

It’s blueberry, it’s cheesecake (minus the fattening crumbled biscuit base), it delicious and it’s good for you. What more could you want?

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1/2 cup lowfat cottage cheese
• 1/4 cup vanilla whey powder
• 1/2 cup blueberries (frozen works best for thickness and cost)
• 1 oz. lowfat cream cheese
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (depending on your protein powder)

Allie has an order of adding the ingredients and blending, but true to my style of keeping it simple, I like to chuck it all in the food processor and just blend it until it’s all mixed together. Choose your own path here!

It will only need a few hits of about 30 seconds in the food processor, checking that its all mixed in and you don’t have pockets of ingredients that haven’t joined the party.

If you want to thicken it a bit more, throw it in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes while you clean up and it will be perfect.

Depending on the actual ingredients you use, you will be getting about 35 grams of protein, 5 grams of fat and 12 grams of carbs.

Yum yum, enjoy.

Carbs, carbs, carbs. Good for you one minute, bad for you the next. Part of one fad diet and left out of another.

If you have spoken to me about food, you will know I have some pretty simple rules to follow. Now generally speaking, if it comes in a bag, box or can then it’s not going to be too good for you. The less processed a food is, the less preservatives it contains, the closer it is to the way nature intended it to be, the better it will be for you.

Take a look at the list below, each food has a serving amount beside it. Print it out if you want to, it can be very handy when preparing your meals.  In general you want to get four serves per day. One for each main meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and half each for morning and afternoon tea.

Vegetables

• Beans 1.25 cups
• Beetroot 3/4 cup
• Broccoli 2 cups
• Cabbage (shredded) 2 cups
• Brussels sprouts 5 sprouts
• Carrots 3/4 cup
• Chick peas 3 tbsp
• Celery 3 cups
• Cauliflower 1.5 cups
• Chinese cabbage 6 cups
• Kidney beans 1/4 cup
• Cucumber (sliced) 3 cups
• Leeks 2/3 cup
• Lentils, raw 1 tbsp
• Capsicum (chopped) 1 1/2 cups
• Hummus 3 tbsp
• Pumpkin (cubed) 1 cup
• Pumpkin (mashed) 1/2 cup
• Lettuce, Mixed (chopped) 6 cups
• Mushrooms (chopped) 3 cups
• Snow peas 30 pods
• Onions (chopped) 1 cup
• Spaghetti squash (cooked) 1 cup
• Salsa 1/2 cup
• Spinach 4 cups
• Tomato (chopped) 1 cup

Fruit/Berries

• Apple (medium/large) 1/2
• Apple (small) 1
• Banana 1/3
• Blackberries 2/3 cup
• Blueberries 1/2 cup
• Cantaloupe (cubed) 3/4 cup
• Cherries 1/3 cup
• Grapefruit 1/2
• Grapes 1/2 cup
• Honeydew 1/2 cup
• Kiwi 1
• Mango 1/3 cup
• Nectarine 1/2
• Orange 1/2
• Peach 1/2 large
• Pear 1/3
• Pineapple (cubes) 1/2 cup
• Pineapple (rings) 1
• Plum 1
• Raisins 1 tbsp
• Raspberries 2/3 cup
• Strawberries 3/4 cup
• Tangerines, small 1
• Watermelon (cubed) 1/2 cup

Here’s the good stuff. I know you probably looked through the list above and wondered ‘where’s the bread, potatoes and rice?’ Well never fear, you can eat some of these. In fact they could also help you lose some extra belly fat by doing so. But make sure you read this through before you go stuffing your face with these starchy carbs and singing ‘James said it was ok!’
The only time you want to be eating the foods on the list below is 30 minutes either side of an intense fat burning workout. This is a fair dinkum, wish it would end soon type of workout, not a walk around the block or a few light weights, swim and a spa. If you have earnt it, feel free to eat between two and four serves listed below afterwards, or split it up and have half either side of the fat burning workout.

Starchy Foods

• Bread, whole grain 1/2 slice
• Couscous 1/2 oz
• Gatorade/Powerade (powder) 1/4 cup
• Oat bran (dry) 2 tbsp
• Oatmeal (cooked) 1/3 cup
• Oatmeal (dry) 3 tbsp
• Orange juice 1/3 cup
• Potato (mashed) 1/3 cup
• Rice, brown (cooked) 1/4 cup
• Rice, white (cooked) 1/4 cup
• Sweet potato 1/3
• Sweet potato (mashed) 1/4 cup
• Tortilla, corn 1
• Tortilla, flour (whole grain) 1/2

The absolute key here is timing. 30 minutes is non negotiable. If you can’t stomach food that close before a workout, opt for the juice or sports drink. Instead of having to cook afterwards, have the starchy carb of choice cooked and ready to go in a Tupperware container or the like.

Stick to these foods in the most natural form possible and both your health and your waistline will thank you.

If your favorite food isn’t listed above, and you truly think it deserves to be, then leave a comment below. I am more than happy to add to this list if warranted.

Next time we will look at another controversial food subject – FAT.