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IdealShapers Recipes

cmeine — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:00:06 +0000

Ok What I decided to do was post all the recipes that people submit to us on FB. So here’s the first contest we had and all the submissions I could find. I’ll do a post every time we have a contest so hopefully you can find the recipe that you want.

Butterfinger Smoothie

1 scoop of Chocolate Ideal Shape 

8oz unsweetened almond milk 

2 tablespoons of reduced fat peanut butter (can also use powdered PB Max for less cals and fat) 

1 tablespoon of sugar free/fat free butterscotch pudding mix 

Tastes like a butterfinger candybar!!! yes, the peanut butter adds more calories and fat, but i have this one on days that i have workouts scheduled, since i need to increase my protein and calories on those days.

Pumpkin Spice Shake

1 scoop Vanilla Ideal Shape

8oz Unsweetened Almond Milk

pinch of cinnamon

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

3 Tbsp (approx) canned Pumpkin

4oz honey vanilla Greek yogurt

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup 1% milk

1 to 2 Tablespoons Non-fat Greek Plain Yogurt

2 Tablespoons Solid Pack Pumpkin

1 Scoop IdeaShape Vanilla

Dash of Nutmeg & Cinnamon (To taste)

“Ideal” Apple Pie, A La Mode!

1 scoop Vanilla Ideal Shape Mix

8oz Unsweetened Almond Milk

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon apple pie spice

3 tbsp unsweetened applesauce

40z greek yogurt (I used honey vanilla)

260 cals, 21g protein, 100% delicious!

Orange Dream

8 oz water

2 oz frozen orange juice concentrate (110 cal)

1 scoop vanilla IdealShape

slice of orange to garnish

2 ice cubes (optional)

Chocolate Banana Smoothie

1 scoop chocolate IdealShape 3 oz. banana 

2 tbs peanut butter 

4 oz 2% milk 

4 oz water 

In a blender w/Ice–375 calories but yummmmmy!

Key Lime Pie

1 Scoop Vanilla Mix 

1 TBS Lime Juice (you can adjust if you want more or less) 

1 square of graham cracker (1/2 of one large rectangle) 

Ice and Blend…. YUMMO!

Blueberry Pie!

1 scoop Vanilla Ideal Shape Mix 

1 tbsp or so sugar free lemon pudding (25 cals or less) 

1 cup of frozen blueberries (80cals) 

8oz unsweetened almond milk

(35 cals) totals: 240 calories, 7 grams of fat, 13g protein, 9g fiber It is super tasty, and has a very fresh taste!!

Ideal Decadent Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothie

8 oz Milk – I use unsweetened almond 40 cals 2 tablespoons ricotta 50 cals 1 tablespoon wheat germ 25 cals 1 cup strawberries 50 cals 1 scoop Idealshape vanilla 100 cals

The trick is to blend everything BUT the powder until smooth, then add the powder last. I find it tastes better if you don’t over-mix the powder.

1 scoop Vanilla Mix 

8 oz unsweetened almond milk 

2-3tbsp PB2 (or peanut butter) 

4oz oikos vanilla honey greek yogurt

“Ideal” Peanut Butter and Jelly (I PB&J)

8oz unsweetened almond milk

2tbsp sugar free jam/preserves (I used red raspberry)

2tbsp reduced fat Peanut Butter (or PB2)Tasty!! 345 cals (less if you have PB2)

Almond Coconut Smoothie

8 oz unsweetened almond milk

2 tblsp ricotta

1/8 tsp almond extract

1 tblsp coconut flakes

1 scoop Ideal Shape vanilla

Splenda

In a blender puree all ingredients except scoop of vanilla powder until coconut is finally chopped, then put on low and add scoop of vanilla powder until just combined. The almond extract tastes like cherries, and makes this smoothies taste like a dream! If I had cherries on hand I would have added those. This was a GREAT breakfast surprise!

I cant take credit for this one, it is a modified version of what Scott Lindsay posted yesterday. (scroll down the wall) I made this one today and figured i’d take a photo and post.Total Calories 175 to 185 with 3.5 fat grams

Super Creamy

Spin(ach) on Berry Shake 

1/2 cup water 

1/2 cup Orange Juice 

1 scoop Ideal Shape Vanilla 

1/3 cup Frozen Berries (Like Blue Berries) 

1/4 Peeled & Chopped Apple 

1 Cup Fresh Spinach

This shake requires a blender to mix. Total Calories 220 with 3.5 fat grams SUPPER HEALTHY & GOOD!!!

Yummy Hot Chocolate or Mocha

cmeine — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 19:51:18 +0000

I love when our customers give us new ways to enjoy our shake mix. Especially when it’s perfect for this time of year. When the temperatures are dropping and a hot cup of chocolate or mocha is just perfect for the day.

This is so simple to make and really tastes good.

Just take a cup of skim milk. Heat it up to your desired temperature. Add a scoop of the IdealShape Chocolate mix. Stir it up with a wire whip until well mixed and creamy. If you want a mocha drink just use half as much skim milk and pour coffee in at the end to the top of the cup and mix well. Enjoy

Continue to send us ways you enjoy having our shake mix and I will share them with everyone.

Roasted Butternut Squash with Apples & Pecans

cmeine — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:11:49 +0000

It’s fall and I love making squash dishes. I’m sure you’ve seen several of them on my blog. I got this idea from the package of some squash I bought and decided to try it with a few changes. My family loved it and so that means I need to share it on my blog. It’s super simple to make and even though you add a little butter and pure maple syrup for flavoring it’s still really healthy. I like adding good fats and sweetners to my veggies because even though it adds a few calories, my body seems to like it. It’s also a good way to get your picky family members to eat veggies when they otherwise wouldn’t.

If you’ve seen my posts on FB you know that I lost 9 videos last week when I did the upgrade to my iPhone. Weird I know that it affected my video camera but it did. This is one of the videos I lost so I’m just going to post this without the video. It’s so simple that it doesn’t really need a video anyway.

Roasted Butternut Squash with Apples & Pecans

1 lb Butternut Squash (cut in cubes)

1 Cooking Apple (peeled, cored & cubed)

1 1/2 TBSP Butter (melted)

1 1/2 TBSP Pure Maple Syrup

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Nutmeg

1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Take butternut squash and apples and place in a small baking dish (I like to use my 7 X 11 pyrex dish). Add 1 TBSP water and place in oven. Roast for 20 minutes stirring a couple times.

Meanwhile take melted butter and add the syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, & pecans. Stir to combine well. After the squash/ apple mixture had roasted for 20 minutes drizzle butter mixture over it and stir until well combined. Place in oven and roast 10-15 more minutes until squash and apples are tender and carmelized. Serve immediately.

Peach Pancakes

cmeine — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:39:05 +0000

So if you’ve followed my blog at all you know I love this time of year for one very important reason “Fresh Peaches”. I love eating them fresh, adding them to my morning shakes, topping off my greek yogurt with them and some granola in a parfait or making peach pie. I bought a large basket of them last week and decided to try making these peach pancakes. As always with new recipe ideas I made three variations. I did one with a little honey and agave, one with just agave and one with agave and cinnamon. I had my family do a blind taste test with the three of them and they voted on the first one with both honey & agave (although it was close as they all tasted good just #1 was a little more sweet).

So here’s the really simple recipe without a video. Since I was experimenting I didn’t want to do 3 videos plus it’s so simple you really don’t need one. You can see how to make my pancakes by clicking on High Protein Blueberry pancakes just leave off the blueberries and top with this peach mixture.

Even though we traditionally have pancakes for breakfast I made these for dinner and served some bacon with them. It was great and saved a lot on the calories so it’s a perfect meal when you’re trying to lower your calories for the day (3 pancakes with peaches & two strips of bacon was 379 calories, 35 grams carbs, 11 fat grams, 34 grams of protein). Plus they are really easy to make.

Would love to hear what you’re favorite peach dish is. I’m buying more this week and looking for some fun new recipes.

Peach Pancakes

2 Peaches (skined and sliced in small pieces)

1 TBSP Honey

1 TBSP Agave

Whipping Cream (optional)

Take agave and honey and cook on medium high heat until mixture is bubbly. Add peaches and cook for 2 minutes. Turn heat down to med-low and cook for another 4 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool a little while you prepare your pancakes. Follow the recipe for High Protein Blueberry Pancakes and leave out the blueberries. Then top the pancakes with peaches and whipping cream and serve.

Sun Oven Pot Roast

cmeine — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 17:41:40 +0000

For those of you that haven’t ever heard of a sun oven click here. It really is one of the coolest ways to cook without power. I especailly love what they are doing in third world countries. They help teach them how to use the sun to cook with instead of other types of fuel that are so expensive and bad for your health. I bought one of these at the beginning of summer and started experimenting with it every couple of weeks to try different foods in it. I really liked the pork ribs I did and I would have done a post on that except my computer crashed. When it came back up I wasn’t able to retrieve all the pictures (that group being some of them).

So last weekend it was so sunny and warm I decided to pull it out and try it agian. This time to make a pot roast. This was so simple and it turned out so good that I’m going to be cooking a lot more in my sun oven through the fall. Sometimes here in Utah we have the most amazing fall weather with plenty of sun. So if that’s the case you will see a few more posts. I may even try some bread (my neighbor has done that and said it turned out really good).

For this recipe I simply salt and pepered the roast. Browned it on the cook top (several recipes said you didn’t need to brown it but I prefer doing that with my pot roasts). Then I sliced up an onion and placed half on the bottom of the pan that I got with my sun oven. Placed the roast on top of the onions. Placed the rest of the onions on top with 3 cloves of garlic minced small. Then I put a lid on it an placed it in the sun oven to cook for 3 1/2 hours. It registered 325 degrees most of the day. You just have to rotate the sun oven about every hour to follow the sun. Pretty easy really. Others mentioned that they added potatoes and carrots to cook half way through the process but I was serving it with other vegetables so I didn’t do that step.

The end result was a tasty, tender pot roast that we really enjoyed. Does anyone else have a sun oven? Would love to hear what your favorite recipes are in it.

Brown Rice Pilaf with Almonds

cmeine — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 13:15:44 +0000

My friend Kathy had us over for dinner the other night. When I asked what I could bring she suggested Rice Pilaf. She had bought some fresh salmon and was going to barbeque it so rice sounded good. That was great with me since I love rice pilaf and I think it’s easy to make. Of course I had to make mine with brown rice to make it a little healthier but you can certainly just substitute white rice if you like it better. I also finished mine in the oven because of what I had planned that day but you can finish it on the stove top if you like (just make sure you turn it down to low and put a tight fitting lid on it).

I added almonds to this along with my regular veggies of onions and carrots but I have found you can add so many different items to rice pilaf and it’s really tasty. Since it’s main definition is rice cooked in a broth with vegetables and sometimes meats, you can add almost anything to this and still call it rice pilaf.

I think the version that I made is one of the more common recipes in America with the exception of the brown rice and the almonds. Have fun with the recipe and let me know what you like to add to your rice pilaf.

In this recipe I take some butter and melt it in a saute pan and saute the sliced almonds until they are golden brown.

Then set them aside and take another TBSP of butter and melt it and saute the onions and carrots. When they are almost done add the garlic and saute until they are golden brown.

Set them aside and melt the last of the butter. Saute the rice until it is golden brown.

Once rice is brown add back in the carrots, onions, almonds and garlic mixtures.

Stir until well mixed together. Add Chicken broth to mixture and stir. Add salt and pepper to your liking.

Bring to a boil on the stove top. Cover with foil and place in the oven ( Or cover with tight lid and turn stove top to low) for 45-50 minutes until all liquid is dissolved. Let sit for at least 10 minutes before taking off the lid.

After the 10 minutes stir with a fork and serve.

Brown Rice Pilaf with Almonds

3 TBSP Butter

1/2 Cup Sliced Almonds

1 small yellow onion (diced)

3 garlic cloves (diced small)

1/2 Cup carrots (diced)

1 Cup long grain brown rice

2 1/2 Cups Chicken Broth

Salt & Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (unless you’re going to finish this on the stove top). Heat a medium size saute pan on med high heat. Melt 1 TBSP of butter. Saute’ the almonds until they are golden brown. Set aside. Melt another TBSP of butter and saute the carrots and onions. When they’re just about done add the garlic. Saute until golden brown. Set aside. Melt last TBSP of butter and saute the brown rice until golden brown. Add back in the onion mixture and sliced almonds and salt and pepper. Stir well and add the chicken broth. Stir mixture occasionally until it comes to a boil. At this point either cover with a tight lid and turn heat to low or cover with foil and place in oven for 45-50 minutes or until moisture has evaporated. Let set for 10 minutes covered. Then stir and serve.

Fruit Tart

cmeine — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:00:05 +0000

This is a delicious dessert that I have really cut a lot of the calories by using a wheat crust and a sugar substitute. Since You Tube has a 10 minute limit on videos I had to cut out the part explaining how to place the berries. Just decorate your tart any way you would like. The picture shows you the way I like to make it.

Whole Wheat Crust

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

1 1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour

2 TBSP SomerSweet ( or your favorite sugar substitute or sugar)

1/2 Cup butter softened

2 egg yolks

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 TBSP fresh lemon

Place wheat flour and sugar substitute in a bowl, add softened butter. Make a well mix egg yolks in the well, slowly add the flour into the egg yolks. After it’s well mixed add vanilla and lemon juice. Form ball and put in tart pan. Spread crust evenly over tart pan and up the sides. Bake for 10-15 minutes.

Filling

12 oz cream cheese (softened)

1/2 Cup Somersweet Baking Blend (or sugar)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Add all ingredients in a mixer and mix until smooth & creamy. Spread on cooled crust. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours (can leave overnight). Top with favorite berries and then glaze. Since you don’t get to see this in the video place your strawberries around the outside. Peel and slice the kiwi in half circles and place in front of the strawberries. Then add a row of raspberries, blackberries, more strawberries & kiwi. Take a pastry brush and glaze the entire tart. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Glaze

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1 TBSP Corn starch

1 TBSP Somersweet or Sugar

Summer Cobb Salad

cmeine — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 22:39:32 +0000

So I made this salad over a month ago and just realized I never posted it. Since it’s almost the end of summer I thought I better get it up on my site. It’s so funny how fast the summer can fly by. Especially when I look at the number of posts I’ve done this summer. I was regularly posting 3-4 times per week till June. Now I’m lucky if I can get 3-4 a month.

I love this salad for a variety of reasons but mostly the presentation. When ever I serve it I love to hear the comments about how beautiful and colorful it is. And since most people eat with their eyes it’s always a winner. So simple to make too.

Just take your favorite greens ( I used a spring mix and added some romaine to make it a little heartier). Place those in the bottom of your serving bowl. I usually have this for a main course so I do 2 handfuls per serving. This one in the picture served 4 of us. I cooked ahead the 3 chicken breasts, 8 strips of bacon and 4 hard boiled eggs so they were cooled and all ready. I take 2 cups of grated sharp cheddar cheese (use your favorite) and put it in a line down the middle first. Then cut up the grilled chicken breasts into cubes and place them in the center going the other direction. Chop the eggs and place in a corner. Cut up grape tomatoes and place them in a corner. Cut up the bacon and place it in a corner. Cut up two avacados and place them in a corner. Cut 2 cucumbers and place them in a corner. I put croutons in a bowl for people to add later. I love blue cheese on this but my family doesn’t so I also have a bowl of crumbled blue cheese and a lite blue cheese dressing. The rest of the family has ranch on it and they love it.

Just wondering what others like on their Cobb salads.

It’s tough to blog without a computer

cmeine — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 15:04:30 +0000

Last week I did a blog post titled 10 Ways to De-Stress to shed pounds only to spend this past week dealing with one of the biggest stressers in my life – technology failure. You see I have a love-hate relationship with technology. When it’s working I love it and when it’s not I absolutely hate it. As my hubby would say “hate is a strong word, are you sure you feel that way?” and the answer is a resounding “yes, I hate my computer this past week”.

It started running slow about two weeks ago so I knew I was in trouble. Then I couldn’t open programs without getting the screen that says “Microsoft has detected a problem so it is shutting down your computer.” That’s never a good message to get. I would reboot and it would run for a little while and then it would happen again. Since I knew my computer was about to die I backed up all my data on my external hard drive and took it to my local computer repair shop.

That was a week ago. They told me that they would do a diagnostic on it and let me know that afternoon. At five I called them to see what they found out. They said that they didn’t find any hardware problems so they were going to run a diagnostic on the software the next day and they would let me know. I called them again the next day and they said they couldn’t find anything wrong but they were going to keep looking. To make a long story short, I called the next two days only to hear they were still looking. On Thursday they said it had a corrupt OS (operating system) and they would have it fixed by Friday. At least we were getting somewhere.

On Friday after I picked it up and got it booted, I discovered that nothing had been loaded. I thought they were going to do a back up and then reinstall it all when they got it up. Evidently that wasn’t their understanding. So my hubby and I took two days installing all the programs and all the back ups. It’s finally up and running so I can make a blog post about how frustrated technology can be to a blogger:)

I wanted to do a food post but it’s still loading all my videos and pictures (there were 12,000) so it might be a few days before I can get to that. Anyway I wanted you to know that I haven’t stopped blogging. And as long as my computer cooperates I will continue to post recipes. Would love to hear your technology nightmares.

Sugarless Candied Pecans

cmeine — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 14:20:20 +0000

You might be wondering why I would even want to experiment and make sugarless candied pecans. The answer is I’m tired of taking a perfectly healthy salad adding some great protein to it (pecans, almonds or walnuts) only to find out that I have significantly reduced the nutritional value because the candied pecans are loaded with sugar (or corn syrup). I figured that I should find a way to candy nuts without all that sugar. So that’s what I did.

I took some pecans and then tried them with just Agave, just honey and then a mixture of honey and agave. The later combination was the best. You can put in cinnamon (like I did for these) or if you want to spice them up a bit add some Cayenne pepper (not much mind you). I baked these in the oven. I’ve made them on a stove top and in the oven and I get a better consistency when I bake them so give this recipe a try and see if you don’t like them baked.

When ever I candy nuts I make a lot of them so they’re ready for any salad, anytime. Give them a try on my Strawberry Walnut salad or the Chicken Raspberry Salad.

Candied Pecans

1 Cup whole pecans (or walnuts or almonds)

1 TBSP Agave

1 TBSP Honey

1/4 tsp of cinnamon (1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp salt if you want to spice them up)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place a piece of foil on a baking sheet. Spray Pam on it. Mix together agave, honey and cinnamon in a bowl. Add pecans to the mixture and combine until nuts are well coated. Spread on baking sheet so they aren’t touching. Bake 5 minutes and then turn with a spatula. Bake another 5 minutes and turn again. Bake until they are golden brown (watch closely as they go from golden brown to over cooked really quickly) Total baking time 10-15 minutes. After you take them out of the oven make sure they are spread apart so they will cool separately like in the picture. Use for a snack or on salads.