Clean Eating #95: No Bake Peanut Butter Protein Bars

No Bake Peanut Butter Protein Bars

My son, Kainan, 'cleaned up' this recipe from my chiropractor's facebook.  We're looking for ways to make protein bars that are good, portable and all that for bike riding.  These obviously won't be very portable, but they are DELICIOUS, so we'll definitely keep this one.  These will be MAJOR energy.  They do have a lot of "sweet" though, so definitely go sparingly and use them for fuel for a run or a long bike ride.

Because he's a 15 year old boy, he didn't think to take a photo of the process or the ingredients, so I'm posting a photo of HIM.

Original Recipe By: American Running Association Running and Fitnews
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup oat bran
1 cup vanilla protein powder
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 cup light Agave Nectar

Mix it all well. Freeze in bar shapes.

What I'll Do Differently Next Time:  Next time I'll definitely add some extra crunchy stuff.  Chia Seeds, Ground Flax Seed,

Clean Eating #67: Vegetarian, Gluten Free Zucchinie Tomato Quinoa Casserole

Zucchini Tomato Quinoa Casserole

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Red Quinoa

1/2 cup regular Quinoa

2-3 cups of water

1 Zucchini Sliced

1 Tomato Diced

Pepper/Ground Red Pepper to taste

Parmesan &/Feta Cheese to Taste

*Optional Marinara Sauce

Directions:

Prepare the Quinoa according to the directions on the box

Sautee the Zucchini on medium heat for about 5-8 minutes

Add the tomatoes to the skillet of Zucchini continue cooking for another 3-5 minutes until the zucchini  tomatoes are softened.

Mix together with quinoa, add a little extra marinara if you want, sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese & serve.

What I did with the leftovers:  I took the leftovers, added about 1/4th cup of marinara sauce and reheated it in the oven with a sprinkle of Mozzerella cheese and we had it for dinner.  My husband works out in the evenings after work, so this was a perfect after workout high protein meal!

You can also just have the Zucchini & tomatoes as a side dish that goes great with broiled Tilapia!

Clean Eating #48: Blueberry Almond Oats Protein Muffins, Bars or Cookies

Blueberry Almond Oats Protein Bars

These have a lot of ingredients, but they freeze well and they are honestly DELICIOUS.  Even Squatch, my picky boy, gobbled them up.  It would make a great lunchbox snack or a great bar to grab and go.  You can vary the ingredients to your taste.  Let me know how your experiments turn out!

I actually started with our favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe for this one.  I ended up adding several things, and by the time it was all said and done had a VERY yummy cake like textured cookie, rather than a typical 'bar'.  However, they were so delicious, I think I'll still call this one a keeper!  They are very portable as muffins, and I did bake some in mini loaf tins, with a very shallow amount of batter and those turned out more "bar like" but wouldn't hold up the way a typical protein bar would.  My hubby took these to work with him this week and loved them.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup melted coconut oil
• 2 cups agave nectar
• 5 egg whites
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups of whole wheat flour
• 2 cups blended oatmeal
• 1 cup plain old fashioned oats
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup wheat germ *optional
• 1 cup protein powder (I used French Vanilla)
• 1 cup chopped, blanched almonds
• 1/2 cup chopped blueberries (I used frozen berries, thawed and drained first)
• 1/2 cup chia seeds *optional

My mini loaf pan "protein bar"

Directions
Blend together wet ingredients, add dry ingredients and mix well.
Bake at 350 for... well depending on the form you use:
I actually preferred these in cookie form (rolled 1 inch balls and baked for about 8 minutes)
My hubby liked the 'bar' form because it was easy to grab and go (mini loaf pan for about 9-10 minutes)
The mini muffins... not so much.  I much preferred the loaf or cookie form. The muffins were too.. hard.

The kids ate them all, regardless, even the pan I burned.

What I'd do differently next time:
MORE BERRIES...  I would at LEAST double the berries.  Actually, since we're going on a little road trip today, I plan on making another batch to take with us... since all of my rotten children gobbled these all up in one day.  I might also try adding more protein powder.  I loved the nuttiness of the almonds and all the different crunchy textures, so I might add some more of this and that, too.  I'll let you know!

I'll also not bother with any muffins, and just make cookies and bars!

I will also try more varieties:
Cranberries and Almonds
Bananas and walnuts
strawberries and our berry protein powder
Raisins & leave more of the oats unblended

Any other ideas?