Bring the "better bite" to you with buff brownies!

This past weekend I got my trial order of Buff Brownies DIY mix packs in the mail from the awesome people working at the company BuffBrownies.com  where they just recently started offering a shipped to you DIY version of what has been so far, a VERY successful local (Perry,OH) pick up services of their popular health and fitness  friendly flavored brownie loaves. They make 5 flavors of which I got to try 4 of this past Saturday as part of my 6-day high carb/refeed day I use within my contest prep strategy. Now 6 weeks out from my first show and 8 weeks from my 2nd show this fall, I am always looking for foods that taste good, fit my nutritional plan needs and are relatively easy to make. I saw a picture comment on Facebook linked to their page from a friend of mine. I checked over the Buff Brownies Facebook page  and in about 10 minutes of picture viewing, I was emailing Jeremy Goldizen, the owner and head chef behind these unique protein packed brownie loaves. 

They ship you the mini baking tins and the packets you need to make the brownies. All you need to do is add water and egg white, spray your tins, mix and bake! That's it! I baked all 4 of my mini loaves at once using the directions below and the picture shows you the outcomes.

Do note that the serving they suggest is half a loaf which matches the macros above. If you eat the WHOLE loaf, double the macro numbers and calories. For me, this worked great as I was able to have 1/2 of each loaf to sample all 4 flavors and hit the macros I needed by adding some fat-free Chobani vanilla greek yogurt over the top of each. Talk about a guilt-free meal that feels like cheating!

Top to bottom: 

-Lemon
-PB Cookie
-Cinnabon (best one of all)
-Mint

As one who LOVES all things cinnamon it was not a shock this one stood out for me. True cinnamon flavor like a cinnamon roll in both smell and taste. Very impressed with this one. 

All 4 flavors were authentic and delicious. Strong aroma and flavors from each in their own right. Texture was moist, chewy and very....well, brownie-like!

I now plan to be using these almost daily on my lifting days when my carb intake is higher and fats are lower. I will certainly have several of these as part of my refeed days now that I know just good they are and how macro friendly they can be. I love that I can make 4-5 or more at one time and have them ready to go for on the go treats or mini meal snacks as well.

So although this post was not directly about a food find in San Diego, this may be even better, you can have these shipped right to you be it San Diego or any other city you may reside in. A Better Bite now finds you!

New sushi spot "rolls" into Point Loma

Just this past Friday night about 8pm I came on into the new, just opened (like 2 weeks ago new) Sushi Lounge on the west end of Rosecrans Blvd at the corner of Dickens St. I had seen all the hype on social media about its opening, the pictures, the strong, positive reviews and the fact it was just a mile from where I live pretty well sealed the deal for me......I was going and soon! 

Being I am 14 weeks into my contest diet with 6 weeks to go yet it is soooo nice to have a cravable food like sushi that's all rice carbs and lean sashimi grade fish protein I can use on my higher carb intake days and really indulge both my palate and my nutritional needs/limits. That being said this was a real treat as I had not had sushi of any kind for a month....far too long to go in this town. 

Read and on peruse the pictures below to see how this debut visit went for me on this hopping busy Friday evening......

SUSHI LOUNGE SD

My first bite of sushi in over a month......that's unheard of!!

(Photos shot with Cannon PowerShot G7X)

Classic Miso!

Garlic edamame with an amazing cinnamon glaze!! Must try item!

My go-to roll to test new spots true quality.....rainbow roll! Spot on the $$ here!

Vegetarians will go nuts for this.....Green Monster roll

Speciality roll, Hawaii-5-O Roll, winner in my book! Even more so while dieting!

My grand finale selection.....The Tsunami Roll......has a kick and I like it!!

Katie and Frank, Co-Owners of the new Point Loma Sushi Lounge location . Both are amazing people, doing sushi the right way, traditional, quality assured, flavorful and fresh. The customer service I got from my waitress Katelyn was outstanding, super friendly, informative to the menu and on point all night during my visit. Alison the GM was there to greet me right at the door and assure I was welcome to the new location and explained the full menu and drink specials to me.

Knowing they have half price Monday's on select rolls and apps as well as half off sake' Tuesday AND a daily Happy Hour gives anyone reason to make this regular spot any day of the week as I see it.

Being they are a mile down the road from where I live......there is a very good chance your going to see me "rolling" on into this place to find "A Better Bite" near home! And so should you!

Josh's Muscle Muffins

"Josh's Muscle Muffins"

(Flourless, Low Fat)

Vanilla Creme' Brown Sugar Muffins

• 50g light butter
• 2 large egg
• 150g unsweetened applesauce
• 50g vanilla whey (protein content, not dry weight) concentrates work better than isolates
• 20g fat free sugar free vanilla JELLO pudding mix
• 120g quinoa flour
• 4tbsp brown sugar
• 4 packets stevia
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup unsweetend vanilla almond milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt butter in a large mixing bowl. Stir in applesauce and let cool until mixture reaches room temperature or slightly warm.
3. Beat eggs into mixture and then mix in vanilla whey, pudding mix, flour, stevia and baking powder. Add in almond milk last and mix well.
4. Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with non-stick butter spray. Fill each mufin cup almost to the brim with batter. Yields 9 large muffins.
5. Sprinkle brown sugar on top of each filled muffin cup.
6. Bake for 15 minutes until you can place a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean. Enjoy!

Enjoy this homemade BETTER BITE!

Tasty Tuesday's Shift from vlog to blog!

Hello gang! News for you! Been almost 2 weeks since I posted and not because I have not been busy eating amazing foods, trying new recipes and finding ways to bring you A Better Bite but rather because my vlog series over on YouTube has been siphoning off some of the content I could be, should be and now, will be posting up and writing about right here for you all to see.

Every week starting next week Sept 20th, I will post up a "Tasty Tuesday's" feature that will show 2 of the best recipes I have found, made and enjoyed. Understand that I find 20+ recipes a week but only half are within my nutritional needs, taste preferences, time availability, and skill level etc.....and of course, I must enjoy the end product as well. If any recipe falls short of those 5 parts I will not feature it as it's not worth your time or effort to make.....it is not truly A Better Bite.

I will also put up pictures and summaries of my every 6th-day re-feeds as well. These are those days as I discussed before where I almost triple my normal daily carb intake over the other 5 days to keep progress rolling in my contest prep dieting for Nov 5th and Nov 19th contest coming up this fall. These are always fun and delicious days for me as I often allow myself flour and wheat based carbs into my diet which I normally omit 100% due to blood sugar issues I have with almost all such products. My top foods you can expect to see me do refeeds with are:

• pancakes minus butter and syrup
• french toast minus butter and syrup
• waffles minus butter and syrup
• kids cereal with almond milk
• bagels minus cream cheese
• classic sushi rolls
• yams with honey
• oatmeal with fruit

Note once again that a refeed day is NOT a cheat day or a cheat meal. I dumped those out after 11 weeks into prep. This is why I still have limits to how much carb I have on refeed days, what kind, how much fat I consume on these days and how much protein I consume on the days. It's not a free for all just to be clear. I give a pretty good review summary of how a refeed day benefits me physically in my vlog series Tasty Tuesday Episode II so check that out for full insights.

So without going too much longer let's get to the food and show you what grubs I am putting down the hatch this past week!

Recipe 1 for the week I made on my own and really like is here:

Crustless Protein Pumpkin Pie

Recipe 2 for the week I found online, made it and really liked, is found here:

Brown-Sugar Butterscotch Cookie (made mine into 1 giant cookie and cut into 8 slices)

Recipe Link

And of course....... the big kahuna! The refeed/carb up meal that took place Saturday evening.......

3lb turkey burger (2lb burger and 1lb fresh made in house wheat bun) and 1lb wedge cut fries!

 My 4th year in a row partaking in the annual national burger day event at Fudds! In it to win it!

Close up shot of the goodness before I went to town on it....that's deli mustard by the way......I love ALL mustard types!

Here we go!! Grub Gains time!

And here we have a 4-pete win at my best time yet without really trying to eat very quickly at all......26 minutes (34 minutes remained) to pound down the delicious burger that no else makes quite like Fuddruckers can.

I am told the key to their unique one of a kind turkey burgers is that they sear it for 4-5 mins a side then finish it in the oven for time to assure its cooked through and has a nice finished sear but does not dry out as most turkey burgers often do. And of course, I would argue that Fudds has the best burger buns anywhere all due to the fresh baked in house buns they whip up daily. How do you top that!?

Tasty Tuesday II- The Pancake Encore

Hello blog fans and followers! I write this blog post from Madison, WI vice the room of my home in San Diego, CA. I am home on leave during my own 32nd birthday and my younger brothers upcoming wedding day Sept 10th! Lots going on but none the less.....I come to you with a blog post update and this time you get some live video action to go with it!

As of last week I started featuring a Tasty Tuesday feature to my vlog on YouTube which basically is me filming a summary video of my weekly re-feed/carb-up day which I now employ as part of my final 9 weeks of contest prep for my Nov 5th fitness performance. Every 6 days I include a large carb-up or "re-feed" day/meal into my dietary program. Last week was pancakes and this week was.......yes, more pancakes! As a true pancake-aholic of the most sincere kind I can never get enough of them but sadly because of my wheat (not gluten) sensitivity I rarely get to indulge with them unless I make my own from scratch at home (which I do very often!).

However when its carb-up day I flex the rules a bit and since its done later in the day as my last meal post training, the aftermath of getting super sleepy is a moot point as I can crash and sleep like a baby all night without issue. The video below will explain this more so listen carefully to see how this works exactly.

In this video I compare a short stack (3) from 4 of the largest chains in the USA.

Dennys, IHOP, OPH, and Perkins. All classic buttermilk variety so that direct comparisons could be made.

Forgive me for labeling the Denny's and OPH containers backwards in the video. It dawned on me shortly after I had done so but to give proper respects and credit where it is due, I want to point this out now and in the VIDEO as well.

I will kickstart you appetite with some pictures but the video is where the action is so please go take a look at that then make your choice as to where you plan to find your next "Better Bite" in the kingdom of the most popular pancake chain restaurants wherever you may live.

PERKINS PANCAKES (TANGIEST)

ORIGINAL PANCAKE HOUSE (SMALLEST)

IHOP PANCAKES

DENNY'S NEW PANCAKES (BIG AND THICK!)