"Vegan" Power Protein Bars

My husband works on his feet for 11 hours a day and is finding that this new diet is a bit hard to get the calories he needs in the day to keep going. But, bless his heart! He’s still trying! So I searched the glorious world of pintrest to see what I could whip up that he could easily eat to get some extra calories and nutrients in, and found these: Chocolate Peanut Butter Breakfast Bars

And of course since I am incapable of perfectly following directions, I switched up a few things. They turned out AHHHmazing and my husband even said, “They taste like a Reese’s cup! YUM.”

"Vegan" Power Protein Bars

1½ cups rolled oats (use gluten-free if desired)

 2 tablespoons chia seeds

1/4 cup flax seed meal

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup raw hemp seeds

1/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup raw cashews, roughly chopped

1/2 cup raw walnuts, roughly chopped

1/2 cup agave nectar, or honey, or maple syrup

1 cup nut butter of choice – I used half raw almond butter, half organic peanut butter

1/2 cup vegan, gf chocolate chips such as Enjoy Life Mini Chips (I roughly chopped these as well to extend more chocolately goodness to every inch of these bars… Also, since my current diet only requires 95% plant-based, whole-foods, I cheated on this and just used organic semi-sweet chocolate chips :) Whatever’s your preference

Directions:

1.  Line 9x9 pan with parchment or wax paper.

2. In a bowl large enough (I was lazy and just used my kitchenaid) add all ingredients and mix thoroughly.

(This is actually my food processor, used to "roughly chop" the walnuts, cashews, and chocolate chips)

3. Spread mixture evenly in 9x9 pan and press down with fingers or I used the back of a 1-cup measuring cup to get a nice flat surface.

4.  Pop those babies in the freezer for a few hours!

5.  After nice and frozen, pull the bars out of the freezer and remove the whole 9x9 “bar” onto a cutting board.

6.  Cut into as many bars as you want, but I find the perfect size are 4bars’x’4bars, totaling 16 bars.

7.  To store, place cut bars in an airtight container, with parchment or wax paper separating layers. I’m sure you can store these in your fridge, but I love the crunch of them when they are frozen! Can be stored for up to a month in fridge, couple months in freezer.

And BOOM. There you go! Minimal effort, maximum delicious nutrition. And perfect to grab and go in the morning for busy husbands.

"Vegan" Power Protein Bars FOR THE WIN!

Clean Pumpkin Zucchini Oatmeal Pancakes

I am obviously the worst blogger out there... ya know, since it's been a whole year since my last post and all... But that's ok, I've had a few things going on ;)

So instead of a long explanation of why I haven't been on, I'm just going to dive back into blogging with a recipe I conjured up this morning. I've been craving some comfort food and I have three gallon freezer bags full of shredded zucchini and yellow squash from last summer's harvest that I've been needing to use up so I thought, why not combine? PANCAKES. Pancakes speak comfort to me!

sidebar: I just used my iphone for these pictures, so bear with me haha

Clean Pumpkin Zucchini Oatmeal Pancakes

• 2 cups oat flour (if you don't have oat flour, just take oats and throw them in your blender until they reach a flour consistency)
• 3 tablespoons unprocessed sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 and 1/2 cups almond milk (or any other non-dairy milk you prefer)
• 1/2 or 3/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 small(ish) zucchini, shredded and extra moisture patted out with paper towels
• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil (unrefined, cold-pressed, extra-virgin, organic is best)
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup water

Directions: 

1. Stir together oat flour, sugar, spices, and baking powder in a bowl. 

2. Add the remainder of the ingredients, except the water, and mix well. Add up to 1/4 cup water to get the consistency you like.

3. On medium to medium high heat, brush a pan (or I used a griddle) with coconut oil. With a 1/4-cup measurement, scoop the batter into pancakes. When you see bubbles appear on the surface of the pancake (approximately 2-3 minutes) flip it. Cook for another 30 seconds on the second side before removing from the pan. Repeat with the remainder of the batter.

(cooking their little hearts away)

Serve with maple syrup and coconut oil (or organic unsalted butter), or some of your favorite chia jam.

I like to freeze my leftovers, (on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper, then transferred to a freezer safe ziplock bag) for easy future breakfast with the kids, or for my husband to grab for lunch at work.

These are great because they totally follow with a clean eating diet, if you're interested in that. I've been doing the Green Smoothie Girl's clean eating diet, and I've been feeling so great and have SO much more energy, it's unreal! I've lost a few pounds as well, so that doesn't hurt anything! Pumpkin is a superfood, zucchini is great for you, and since we've used oat flour, as long as the spices and everything else you use is considered GF, then you've gotten rid of that gluten factor as well! Go you! Unless of course you don't care about that... then, whatever... ;) AND KIDS LOVE THEM, which makes me love them even more. And they make your house smell amazing, too.

(I understand this isn't the prettiest of pictures, but oh if you could smell what I smell!)

Happy Eatings!!