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It’s time to celebrate.

It is perhaps an understatement to say that this has been a very full year. I had not imagined 12 months ago that I’d be living in a new home, coming to the end of the first wave of big house projects and have 3 major photography trips under my belt. Add to that a complete re-evaluation of my eating habits and the initiation of a progressive overload strength training program. Whew! No wonder I’m tired!

One of the biggest learnings that I’ve had from starting the Macros 101 program (which I wrote about in this blog post) is the importance of celebrating wins and analysing situations to understand what went well and what could be improved. One thing that Amber Brueseke says that I love is:

You either get the result you want or the lesson you need. Amber Brueseke (Biceps After Babies/Macros 101 Coach)

It’s very good advice and I’ve come to lean into it heavily - especially when i’m feeling like I’ve fallen short of a goal. With respect to celebrating wins - Amber cautions not to have them be food related if possible.

Well I tried, however this food related celebratory item is just too good to resist.

Proud owner of a Ninja Creami

I have been looking at Ninja Creamis for while now and I kept talking myself out of buying one. For those who don’t know about them - it’s a small appliance (well not that small actually) that you can use to make frozen treats into ice cream, sorbets, smoothie bowls or other iced confections. It’s not an ice cream maker, but it does make treats with ice cream goodness.

I’ve been talking myself out of getting one because I’ve been trying to avoid GAS (gadget acquisition syndrome) and I live in a cold climate where quite honestly I don’t eat ice cream in winter. How useful would this be to me? Can I justify the expense? Do I need another gadget?

Quite honestly - yes I do! Ok I don’t need it, but I am glad that I bought it.

I found out about the Ninja Creami from my Macros 101 group - people rave about them and the ability to make high protein treats that fit into daily macros counting so well.

It’s quite easy to make the treats and you start with a blender and the ingredients - I’ve been making high protein ice cream and sorbet by using almond milk, chocolate egg white protein powder, cocoa, collagen powder (for extra protein), cottage cheese, and maple syrup (sometimes I substitute expresso protein powder or strawberry protein powder). I know that sounds like an odd concoction, but once you blend it up into a liquid you would never know that it contains cottage cheese. (let me know in the comments if you’d like the recipes and I’ll put them in the resources page)

The next step is pouring it into the pint container and putting it in the freezer for 24 hours. I really like that I can batch make the dessert base as I have 6 pint containers.

Twenty-four hours later I take out the flavour I want and let it sit at room temperature for 10 mins before popping it into the machine on lite ice cream mode. I usually do a re-spin to make it very creamy and then if I want to be fancy I add some pecans or other mixture and do a mix in cycle. It takes about 5 - 6 mins of mixing - so 15 minutes total to have a delicious dessert.

I like being able to come up with different recipes (others use pudding powders or full fat whipping cream to make their concoctions, but I specifically wanted to make high protein low fat versions and it works so well) and having the ability to have multiple pints ready at any time. I also like that the recipes I use make 2 servings of 200 calories each with 11g of protein, 6g fat and 30g carbs.

Not the biggest sweet fan

I’m not the biggest fan of sweets or desserts, so if I’m raving about this treat then you know it’s got to be good. With the really hot summer we’ve been having this is a nice light after dinner treat that goes down so well.

I also make it as a dessert for guests and so far everyone has been impressed - well perhaps not so much with the chocolate peppermint version I made when I put in three times as much peppermint extract as I should have - wow did that pack a minty punch (sorry Tanya and Paul - I’d love to have a chance for a do-over!).

I’m honestly not getting any kick back or perk from the Ninja Creami folks - I just really like this product and the high protein low cal treats that I can make which fit in very well with my healthy eating plan.

Do you have any must have gadgets you’d like to share, or healthy treat recipes? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below or feel free to reach out to me by clicking on the Connect With Me button.

I hope you’ll come back soon, share a cuppa, relax and enjoy more of my musings.