Proteins Archives - Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Sheep’s Cheesecake (Basque-Style) – Protein Healthy and Low-Sugar

Sheep’s cheesecake can be made into a protein-filled dessert that tastes like your favorite cheesecake desserts. I know because that’s what’s in this recipe. And the sheep’s cheese cake is lower fat and sugar, for a healthier cheesecake. It’s easy to find in stores (see below tips).

This sheep’s cheese cake plate has cranberries that are also mixed into the cake batter. Cranberries are high in Vitamin C and are good for an anti-inflammatory diet during the holidays (and year-round).

Cranberries are uniquely good for preventing UTIs and seasonally they add a red pop of festive color – that ranges from the bright fire engine red to burgundy shades.🚒 ♥️

You can buy whole cranberries and freeze them for when you want to use them. So the shiny and red fruit berry jewels are hard to turn down.

As is this protein cheese cake.

What makes this cheese cake protein-rich are the ingredients that include sheep’s cheese.

You can expect to easily find 5 grams of protein per sheep’s cheese ounce. At many stores, you can find packaged grocery sheep’s cheese logs, that come in smaller 4 oz size packaging these days. And that will make this regular size 8″ shareable cheesecake.

Or you can use 2 ounces per individual 4″ cheesecake. Doing the math, that’s 10 grams of protein for an individual cake (or 20 grams per 8″ cake).

If you compare the protein in regular cream cheese (commonly used in cheesecake recipes), sheep’s cheese is more than double the protein.

Regular cream cheese has about 1.7 grams per ounce. That’s about 1/3 of the protein as ordinary sheep’s cheese in national grocery store chains.

I found pre-packaged sheep’s cheese in the cheese section at national grocery store chains like Aldi’s and Trader Joe’s.

So that’s a good start (in case you didn’t think it was easy to source).

…And of course, sheep’s cheese comes in all shapes, sizes, pasteurization types, etc.

We’re not talking Blue Zones’ (100 years) healthy living sheep cheese here… which is where this all began for me when I studied up, researched, and wrote about the superfood cheese.

Since then, the idea has wildly grown in popularity and you can find all kinds with the label. Sheep’s cheese is easy to find like pre-packaged Brie or buffalo mozzarella cheeses in stores.

Because otherwise you’d have to pay a pretty penny (or accepted currency) to source sheep’s milk cheese, and/or fly to rural areas like the Sardinian regions to find high-quality, grass-fed sheep’s pecorino cheese.

But the kind you bring home, you can pair with Greek yogurt to get probiotics added back. And even more protein added.

The healthy idea that works in a sheep’s cheese cheesecake like this, is to find a thicker Greek yogurt that has no additional sugar. You can also find a lower fat content yogurt.

And then when you bake the sheep’s milk cheese and yogurt into your desserts like this holiday cheesecake, this helps support a happy and healthy lifestyle.

In an hour, you can have a nice Greek yogurt healthier cake ready.

Since this cheesecake has no crust (like a graham crust on a New York-style cheesecake) and has no flour baked in, you can get baked Basque-style sides that are more decadently burnished-brown without using high baking temps.

This happens when you use a metal spring form cake pan where you can release the sides after the baked cheesecake is cooled.

If you cover the sides entirely with parchment paper (that you may have learned to do with Basque cheesecakes), the cake will be more easy to pull out, but it won’t be connected directly to the cake pan heat. So you compromise the end result bake.

The better way I suggest is to brush neutral/light olive oil (or butter) on the sides. And after baked, don’t release the cake from the spring form until it’s completely cooled when the cake is more stable, and will more easily stay together in one piece, as it firms up.

For interest (I have a catering background), I also added softened ripe pears to the bottom of the cake pan for additional sweet flavors and textures. It helped release the cake and gave a burnished look to the bottom (similar to poached pears 🍐). But that part is optional, as you’ll get the Basque-inspired cheesecake style either way.

But surprisingly by using regular 350°F/180°C temperatures and not the higher Basque cheesecake temperatures, to save energy (but also low and slow is easier to not burn in the oven).

But if you leave it in these lower oven temps for 55 minutes, I think you’ll be happy with your bake’s doneness.

Your cheesecake will have an Old World charm look.

And when you bite into the sweet and tart cheesecake (made even tart-er with cranberries), it’ll be a delight. With a rustic crumbly feel on the tongue as a satisfying texture that’s distinctly baked (no half-bake here 😊).

But if you prefer a more creamy cheesecake with less small cheese-yogurt chunks, then add more milk (liquid) to your batter, or use a less thick sheep’s cheese and/or yogurt.

You have so many options to make your (maybe?) NEW favorite cheesecake 😋

But no matter what you choose as actual ingredients and final texture intent for your high-protein cheesecake, this is a daily cheesecake you’ll have no regrets making. Ready to try?

If you like this, you may also like a cranberry pumpkin trifle, blueberry-peach cheesecake smoothie, and other low-sugar dessert bites.

Basque-Style (No Crust) Cheesecake - High Protein and Low-Sugar

This is an individual-size 4" protein cheesecake made with healthier cheese and lower fat. To make a shareable 8" cake, double the ingredient amounts.

Course Dessert

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Equipment

spring form cake pan

Ingredients

2 oz sheep's cheese
2 oz Greek yogurt (no-fat and no-sugar added)
1 Tbsp milk of choice
1 Tbsp raw honey
1/4 cup seasonal fruit (or jam) of choice or cranberries
cranberry sauce or fruit jam as spread on top (optional)

Instructions

Brush neutral olive oil or baking spray on bottom and sides of (spring form) cake pan.
Combine ingredients in one bowl. Reserve some fruit for the top, so they don't all fall to the bottom of the cake pan. Option: add softened pears to the bottom of the pan.
Bake at 350°F/180°C for about 55 minutes. This will give a Basque-cheesecake feel as the sides turn a darkened brown (pleasantly burnt-ish) color.

Easy Shrimp and Grits – 15 Minutes Healthy Spice Recipe

Shrimp and grits is one of my favorite Southern dishes. And it’s healthy! It’s a fast meal to prepare and have on the tasty food table too, anytime of day.

Because 5-minute grits cook fast (7-10 minutes on medium-high heat). You can also go for the Old Fashioned version that’s less processed and takes about 15 minutes on higher heat.

Either way, grits are a healthy corn grain and are easy to digest. They are considered good on a low FODMAP diet (like rice).

And you can’t mess up cooking grits. They are dry to begin with, so as long as there’s enough water in the skillet for cooking, you’re good to go! And even if you run low on water, you can revive your grits easier than say rice.

And you can even microwave grits without worry about texture consistency.

And shrimp and grits is a dish you can get your flavor and spices in. Grits are a great base because grits are mildly tasteless.

So, Old Bay spice blend is a great addition with paprika, celery salt and pepper already built-in as some base notes.

I douse Old Bay on anything seafood! It’s a no-brainer for me. 😊

And coriander is a good way to bring in lemony-summery notes, especially if you’re feeling summer nostalgic or your summer flew by and you wanted an endless summer. It’s a good way to preserve the enjoyable feelings.

You can also substitute with lemon pepper if coriander isn’t one you have in your stash.

I also add tarragon on the shrimp for French bistro vibes. And I add either white pepper or a mushroom spice blend for umami tasting vibes. I’m never shy on the flavors.

Tip: Keep in mind if you use spice blends, they usually have salt in them to optimize flavor, so you may not need to add any more salt. And you may have added salt in the grits while cooking.

You can add the Holy Trinity (pepper, onions, and celery) like in Cajun or Creole-style cooking for a healthy trifecta. But if you want to do less chopping and spend less time preparing this meal (like 15 minutes total), you can find diced pimento peppers (sweet) already cut like in this bowl:

If someone handed me a bowl like this and said, “enjoy” or “bless your heart,” I’d be grinning from ear-to-ear saying, “thank you and yes, ma’am.” 😋

And if you like this shrimp and grits bowl idea, you may like a 20-minute paella you can make with lobster or shrimp seafood that’s low in calories and high in protein and Omega-3 anti-inflammatory goodness. 🧡

Shrimp and Grits

Ingredients

1 cup grits, cooked
4 cups water
10-12 large shrimp
spices: tarragon, coriander, Old Bay, white pepper
coriander seeds (or lemon pepper)
Old Bay spice blend
fresh onions and peppers
cayenne (optional) for heat

Instructions

Prepare grits. Follow instructions on the package (or 1 cup of dry grits to 4 cups of water).
Add spices in grits. Spices is tasty art work so add the amount you would like.
Cook shrimp separately (or about 6-8 minutes on medium-high heat)
Arrange shrimp ontop of grits. Add more spices and fresh onions and peppers (if adding). If you're serving for others, keep some spices on the side so they can add to their tastes.

Salmon Salad – No Mayonnaise (Lunch Idea)

Salmon salad is something you can enjoy anytime on bread or by itself. And it can be made deliciously without mayonnaise, in case you’re not a fan. Or if you want to try a different healthy way like this version on an open face toast… toast to that!

And any way you prefer, it’s a great protein snack or meal. Especially for lunch for all ages. As salmon salad is universal and can be eaten anywhere unlike an egg salad (…where I still remember a classmate’s bag lunch).

Cooked salmon has no fish aroma that your companions next to you can detect, (and that can make you feel self-conscious about your lunch).

It also has a more subtle fish taste. So it could be the new tuna salad sandwich… if it isn’t already on your menu!

…This also reminds me of my days as a teen working in a deli where it was all about the scoops. But the scoop wasn’t an ice cream scoop… it was tuna, chicken, or shrimp salad… and served like this salmon salad one on the plate that fits in a 4 oz cup (recipe below 👇).

In the deli, it was served on the side of a bed of lettuce or grapes, or on a sandwich.

And you can smear this salmon salad like butter.

But without butter. I personally like my dinner salmon with a béarnaise sauce, with a French Mediterranean vibe (no butter).

And this version for lunch.

For variety and fresh healthy ways, you can also serve your salmon salad with or without mustard, like Dijon mustard.

And if mustard is what you’re craving, you can substitute the horseradish or add ontop of the salmon salad.

It’s also delicious with crackers, multigrain, rye bread, or sourdough.

And what makes this one different is the lightness. Unlike heavy duty mayo (as in full fat), this version is salad light.

It uses yogurt, so you can hold the mayo. And no eggs.

But you could make an egg salad layer (if you want) for a Smorgastorta effect, or sandwich cake to go with your salmon salad.

That goes hand-in-hand with these 2 Swedish concepts I can get behind:

Lagom is a way to balance and moderation.

Fika is a Swedish concept for a coffee break with pastries and while you’re on yours, you can enjoy a Swedish finger sandwich or smorgastorta. This concept is kinda like afternoon English tea or an American brunching on the weekend (one of my fun things to do!).

And a salmon salad is perfect fit for a brunch. It’s light and protein-full. And if you want to give it a building-an-autumn-fire tasting vibe 🍁, you can add fiery orange color turmeric-spice that has ember burning smokey flavors… in case you didn’t know what the turmeric taste is like.

Black pepper and turmeric are a healthy spice combo so it makes sense too.

You can also substitute with Spanish smoked paprika that’s sometimes harder to find. Now that you have some good ideas, maybe it’s time to make your salmon salad sandwich! 🥪 You can make it today and eat tomorrow.

I bake the salmon and then decide!

A good tip is to decide what you will do with the salmon when it is still warm cooked or baked 🐟 . Because it will finely crumble easier when it’s warm and soft.

Drizzled with olive oil and a little salt and pepper, on 350°F/180°C it’s to my baked doneness liking in 3o-40 minutes depending on the fish filet thickness.

You can also cook on the stovetop if that’s your preference. But don’t add too much EVOO if you plan to make it into a salad, as it leaves the salmon more oily. Vs. baking that will dry out and soak in the oil quicker.

But no worries, you can’t go wrong…and all who love salmon will love. 😋

Salmon Salad - Yogurt (No Mayonnaise)

A healthy salmon salad that can be added to a sandwich.

Course brunch, fika, lunch

Cuisine American, swedish

Servings 4 oz

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

2 oz salmon, cooked
1 oz Greek yogurt (use both liquid and thick portions)
1 tsp fresh dill (or spice form)
1/4 tsp black pepper and salt, or lemon pepper
3/4 tsp fresh horseradish
1/2 tsp turmeric powder (optional)

Instructions

Crumble salmon in a bowl into fine pieces.
Make the yogurt mixture: Mix yogurt, dill, horseradish, and other dry ingredients to a separate bowl.
Mix in salmon with yogurt mixture. Add to your sandwich bread or enjoy as a scoop on a plate or green salad.

Notes

Tip: Crumble the salmon for salmon salad when it is still warm. Let cool and then make the salad.

Healthy Protein Foods – Plant Based

Healthy protein foods are a priority at the top of healthy eating and weight loss. They go hand in hand with healthy fats.

And plant based foods are fun to plant into your overall diet because they add color, textures and flavor.

In catering, we always leaned into plant based foods for the color like in a Crudite dish with raw crunchy veggies and the rainbow effects from the anti-inflammatory polyphenols.

…which makes them wildly nutritious and can be the healthy rainbow food on your plate! 🌈

Making them delicious in dishes from their natural bland-boring taste and out of their whole identity or grocery packaging is what makes the tasty edible difference.

Well… when it’s reframed that way, then we can embrace adding more plant-based foods to our healthy diets. They’re sustainable.

But the real problem with veggies if there is one, is that they’re not filling to our bellies.

Most are low calories leaving us feeling hungry. And that can be good for weight loss when balanced in our lives…

Plus adding healthy protein foods to fill in the gaps for us.

Like these examples:

A plant-based tofu “chorizo” healthy protein foods dish doused with balancing Ayurvedic spices.

Tofu qualifies as healthy protein foods. — Tofu chorizo recipe below. 🌱

You can add alliums like onion and garlic that are fiber and good for immunity. Plus green veggies like green bell peppers, and plenty of spices make this a balanced healthy meal.

You can save tomato for your Italian dishes and lean in on the sweet potato in this dish. 🍠

The spices add the flavor and this one has paprika, turmeric, 5 spices, garlic powder, and cumin.

And for healthy proteins, while sausage is usually high in saturated fats, tofu has healthy fats (Omega-3 and unsaturated fat types) and nutrients like magnesium and calcium so it can be a chorizo substitute.

A Three Sisters snack is corn, squash, and beans that has healthy protein foods. — Three Sisters is a corn, bean, and squash trifecta.

Other healthy protein foods include a 3 Sisters dish that celebrates beans at the heart of plant-based healthy protein foods.

This is a complete meal. If you have a corn, beans, and squash trifecta, and also add olive oil or avocado to the meal, then you have all your macros in one. That’s tasty and healthy smart eating.

The stuff I get wildly excited about, plus playing with food. 😊

…Like a plant-based homemade pizza that can be made with wholesome healthy whole wheat, and in as much time as it takes to place a pizza order and have it delivered… and it’s funny I would know because for 4 teenage years, I was a pizza maker for Domino’s Pizza.

That would be a long time for a teen in today’s working world… but I had fun working. People at all ages stay put when they’re happy.

Back then, like most my age I leaned into the carefree happy over healthy.

These days, wiser having tried more food experiences, we can make better choices.

And we can bake and make our own meals where we get to choose ingredients.

Whole wheat flour is slightly higher in protein and fiber than everyday white flour. And that reminder can help move us closer to healthy desires.

Each step starting with food thoughts make us intentional about what we manifest in this Life.

If we source healthy ingredients and foods, then that’s what ends up on our plates and in our bodies.

And the choice of healthy protein foods is a healthy leader for us and our meals especially when we choose the protein foods first.

Too often we have healthy intentions but end up with the happy for any number of reasons. 😋

So balance or a happy medium I like to say is the best approach… and in my world, I lean into the happy tastes and end up doing the healthy without compromising taste…. and happy to give healthy friend advice.

It’s simple when there’s no pressure to eat healthy, so then it’s easier to make the healthy choice most the time because the freedom of choice…

And we can do that when we go out also. There are plenty of healthy and tasty places to eat these days.

Intentional good foods is what happened when I planned events for American restaurants serving Mediterranean cuisines.

Those experiences made me appreciate small plates and family style foods with healthy flavors.

At a Spanish tapas place, small appetizer plates were the only plates they had.

They also had gigantic paella pans (that could’ve held all the small plates inside).

One was the Friday happy hour pan fit for as big as a dining room table.

I remember back when I would blog every day and the people I worked for didn’t even know what a blog was. I just told them it’s marketing and they let me do my thing, haha.

But the people that were coming to the blog, got it.

You all get it. 😀

I shared recipes and special happenings that’s still the way things are today.

And in the Italian, Spanish, and Lebanese restaurants where I was a food insider, one common ingredient used was tomatoes. Often it was a subtle hint as part of a mixture of flavors we call a relish.

Like Meshi Bel Zeit stuffed veggies that was the vegetarian option for Lebanese events.

For home meals, a dish like that would pair well with a common tomato dish that goes well with many healthy protein foods including peas.

Green peas are a good source of healthy protein as are chickpeas. That makes us hap-pea! 🫛

And quinoa is good to add to our healthy protein foods list. It’s another complete meal.

Quinoa has 9 essential amino acids that our bodies can’t make, so you can definitely feel full after a bowl. It’s a food illusion because you’re eating what looks like a cooked grain (starch), but as a pseudo-grain it’s acts more like a protein super food when it lands in your body.

Quinoa and peas are healthy protein foods. — Frozen peas cooked in with quinoa. Hold the salt.

And even more of an illusion when you add quinoa as a breakfast cereal. This would’ve been a great way to start the back-to-school days if we knew about the super grain way back then.

3 Tips for Cooking Quinoa – Healthy Protein food

1. Use a pan (instead of a pot) for more even cooking.

2. Toast your quinoa on the stovetop before cooking.

3. Don’t salt your dish until the end if you use peas so they don’t dehydrate.

You can make a quinoa paella like this one made of quinoa instead or rice, and then add other healthy protein foods on top. This way you can get all your protein grams in that day with a bottomless quinoa dish.

If gram numbers count for you… the easy way to remember is to take your weight and divide by two for a rough idea of how many pr0tein grams you’re looking for.

Quinoa paella would also be deliciously paired with a za’atar cracker.

You can also pair a tasty, cool healthy beverage to go with your healthy dishes.

Vegetarian Chorizo Tofu Dish with Spices

Course Breakfast, lunch

Cuisine American, vegetarian

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

1 package tofu, firm or extra firm
spices: paprika, five spices, turmeric, cumin and onion powder (or fresh onion)
frozen peas

Instructions

Take tofu out of package. Drain water and place on a pan. Break up tofu with a spatula into small crumbles.
Turn on med-high heat for a few minutes.
Add balanced Ayurvedic spices to taste: paprika, five spices, turmeric, cumin and onion powder.
Add frozen peas. Tip: do not add salt while cooking, so peas don't dehydrate.
Turn down heat and cook for another 15 minutes or so, until tofu is firm.

Fish and Chips Cod Healthy Recipe – Baked + Waffle Chips

Fish and Chips with Cod is a recipe to share because it’s easy, filling for a family, and made healthy light when baked (and not fried)… and that’s a tasty way to make healthy food count and enjoy the calories.

fish and chips baked and waffle recipe. — Baked fish and chips cod recipe below. 🧡

This one is accompanied with no-fried waffle chips with a salty and tangy sour dip that has balanced tasty notes (…what’s not to love?). The recipe is below. 🧡

My inspiration for making fish and chips takes me back to travel and one special place memory of my time in U.K. 🇬🇧 hoppin’ in and out of London Cabs after dramatically being re-routed from visiting the Mediterranean south.

I didn’t mind as I had worked in food party planning for Mediterranean (Lebanese, Spanish, and Italian) restaurants for years, so that felt a little like home.

And, re-route is part of adventure.

Oh and travel is always an adventure… and GOOD times…

…even if it’s serious business getting history (Stone Henge) downloads.

…And then getting my bearings back up to food familiarities like with these small BUT mighty food bites at Covent Garden near Westminster where I stayed…

…Even as big as London is, somehow I found the comfort food. What a memory! 💕

And one memory dish that U.K. is famous for and you don’t have to look long and hard for there is Fish and Chips.🐟 … it’s as common as U.S. served crab cakes, corn on the cob, and potato chips.

That’s a mouthful of “c’s” to say.

Saying Fish and Chips is much easier…

The common U.K. fishes sourced for the dish are salmon, cod, and haddock.

The healthiest fish are wild fish anywhere you source because the fish eat what they would in the wild… makes sense.

And cod is the best choice.

Why cod?

It’s easy to source and that means affordable groceries .

Most U.K. fish come from the shared seas in the North Atlantic and Norway I learned working with chefs and travel.

My last fishy travel tale was in the Bergen, Norway fish market as I’m going down memory lane 🐟

…And in the U.S., we have our own fish markets. it’s common that we source wild fish from the Northwest Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

But anywhere you are and anytime of the year, you can make your light (aka healthy) baked Fish and Chips.

This healthy baked fish dish is served with waffle potato fries that doesn’t compromise taste or healthy food notes… and is so simple to make.

Potato waffle fries are made with a little extra virgin oil love that’s healthy. You can use a waffle iron if you have one or you use a skillet on the stove and make potato hash or flat potato pancakes.

And if potatoes are not on your menu choice and you want a different style with the same basic ingredients in baked fish and chips, alternatively you can cook your fish with boiled potatoes.

But if you just want to stick with the traditional fish and chips fare made in a healthy cooking way, enjoy this recipe with no guilt.

You can even pair with a healthy cottage cheese dip as the tartar sauce.

Healthy Baked Fish and Waffle Chips

A healthy baked fish and no-fried waffle chips with a no-mayonnaise tartar sauce recipe.

Course dinner, lunch

Cuisine American, british

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Equipment

waffle iron

Ingredients

6 oz white fish such as cod, whiting, or flounder
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
1-2 white or all-purpose potatoes
1/4 cup cottage cheese for tartar sauce
1-2 pickles or gherkins

Instructions

Brush fish with olive oil to keep from drying. Add to oven at 325℉/165°C until fully baked.
For bread crumb topping, toast panko crumbs in a separate pan from fish. Set bread crumbs on the top oven shelf so they don't burn. They will toast brown in about 5 minutes or less on the top shelf.
Cook/soften your potatoes until they are mashable. Scoop out small balls about the same size and flatten. You can make the "chips" in a waffle iron or on a sautee pan with olive oil.
For the tartar sauce, mince the pickles and add to a blender with cottage cheese. Add a tiny bit of pickle juice for stronger flavor. You can do this in a Magic Bullet or similar easy blender.