Anna Sward's "The Ultimate Protein Pow(d)er Cookbook"

Anna Sward's book, "The Ultimate Protein Pow(d)er Cookbook" has an amazingly creative recipes for turning protein powders into tiramisu, cookies, cupcakes, pizza crust, breads and pancakes.

It's excellent for vegans, vegetarians, the poor, military, enlisted families and for high-altitude pregnancies. The dark chocolate cheesecake recipe looks like a great holiday party dish. It can be made into a PTA fundraiser, in cupcake sizes too. Just use a silicone cupcake mold for that. You can also quickly melt organic, stevia-sweetened, dark chocolate, or stevia-sweetened, carob chips over a double boiler for the icing.

Without a double boiler, put a large, stainless steel, metal mixing bowl overtop a smaller pot filled with boiling water. Make sure the stainless steel mixing bowl is at least 4 inches wider in diameter, so it's well-supported by the pot of boiling water underneath. Then, melt the chocolate or carob chips in the stainless steel mixing bowl.

Stir the chocolate or carob chips frequently. This is good for the recipes in Anna Sward's book that calls for dipping power bars into chocolate also. There's also a great, nutrient-dense recipe in her book, for a sweet potato protein bar dipped into chocolate too.

At high altitude, the carbs from the sweet potatoes are necessary, especially for athletes. If you've ever tried running at 7,500 feet altitude, without carbs in your body, it just doesn't work. It's akin to driving without fuel in your gas tank.

If pregnant, morning sickness is exacerbated by low blood sugars too. A baked sweet potato is great to bring along as a snack, to curb the pregnancy nausea, worsened by low blood sugars. This is a challenge, if pregnant and active-duty military, because you may be more exhausted, on rotating 12-hour day & evening shifts, with less time to bake.

In that scenario, wash & peel the sweet potatoes, pierce them three times, with a fork, all the way through. Then, wrap each in a clean, reusable, organic cotton dish cloth, and microwave them for 15 - 20 minutes on high. Usually, they take an hour in the oven at 350°F, so it cuts prep time, when packing your meals.

If you can't afford to buy the organic sweet potatoes, always peel the skins off, to help reduce the level of toxic, agricultural pesticides and insecticides. Or buy the pre-peeled, pre-cut butternut squash cubes and pre-peeled, baby carrots. Invest in a rice cooker and crockpot, so you can bake or steam quick, healthy, one-pot meals, while sleeping. A bread machine can automatically mix, knead, then freshly bake fail-proof, high-protein breads while you sleep also.

Just make foods the night before, as part of your daily routine. After you grocery shop, immediately pre-cook all your meats. Also, pre-soak/disinfect, rinse well, then pre-cut all your veggies, fruits, fresh culinary herbs and then, put them into air-tight, water-tight Tupperware containers with the dates and labels. This prevents spoilage and bacterial food poisoning too.