Healthy snacking

I know it's not like me to post anything food related, much less food related creations of my own, BUT, we spent a few hours in the kitchen last weekend so I had to share it with you. Being in the habit of seeking out something sweet after every meal, I'm always in search of healthy alternatives for myself and my family. If I find a 6 month old candy bar in my desk drawer, it's down the hatch for me. I'll stop at nothing when I have a sugar craving!

Thanks again to the power of Pinterest, I found a recipe that I love, just by typing 'protein bars' into the search bar. The image above enticed me so I was sucked in even further ~ I was introduced to Hemp protein granola bars AND another great blog.

Image above and recipe pulled from Sarah Britton's site here. Sarah is a holistic nutritionist and vegetarian chef and she explains the use of hemp protein powder in detail in her post here.

Hemp Protein Granola Bars
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup walnuts, chopped (or any other nut)
1 cup dates, chopped (or any other dried fruit)
1 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup hemp protein powder
1/4 cup sesame seeds
2 Tbsp. poppy seeds
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
3 ripe bananas
1/4 cup sunflower oil (or coconut, olive, walnut…)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 Tbsp. maple syrup
2 Tbsp. chia seeds
6 Tbsp. water

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a small bowl, mix the chia seeds and water together. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients.
4. In a food processor or blender, mix bananas, oil, vanilla, and maple syrup (you can also just mash everything together with a fork). Add chia gel and pulse to mix. Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and stir until well combined.
5. Spread the batter evenly into a baking pan (mine was 9" x 11"), and smooth out the top with the back of a spatula. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until edges are golden brown. Let cool completely, store in airtight container and keep in the refrigerator for longer shelf life. You can also freeze these – take one out half an hour before you want a perfect snack!

My version of these protein packed treats is on the left. I deleted the dates and poppy seeds and used organic blue agave in place of the maple syrup. I added a small amount of raisins and used coconut oil instead of sunflower oil. I will be making these again, they are fabulous!

My little one loves spending time in the kitchen so we pulled out the easy bake oven and she made a few cakes and brownies all on her own {that's her brownie creation in the middle}.

The muffins on the right are wheat bran. I started with the recipe on the Bob's Red Mill Wheat Bran packaging, making a few changes to suit our taste.

Tricia’s wheat bran muffins:
• 2 Eggs beaten
• 1 cup 1/2 Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 cup Skim Milk
• 1/2 cup Organic Blue Agave
• 3/4 cup Organic sugar free Applesauce
• 2 Tbsp Grapeseed Oil
• 1 cup Wheat Bran

Directions
Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine wheat bran, flour, baking soda and baking powder. In a separate bowl, blend applesauce, milk, blue agave, oil and egg. Add to dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Spoon into greased muffin tin (or paper muffin cups) and bake for 15-20 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

So there you have it, venture #1 into the kitchen thus far for 2012 (aside from our usual lunches and dinners of course)~ starting the year off with a bang! hee, hee

xo~
T