Category: Healthy Things

Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Sadie1 Comment

So I’m going through a little bit of a granola bar baking phase thanks to the fabulosity of the pumpkin granola bars, that I have made several times at this point.  I decided to switch it up a little and try a granola bar recipe from Martha.  This recipe is great because it doesn’t have a million ingredients (sometimes granola ingredients can add up quickly), and it had all the best stuff: peanut butter, dried cranberries, sliced almonds, and oats!

I decided to make a couple alterations as usual.  First, I felt the need to add some mini chocolate chips, of course.  And second, I threw in some protein powder just for fun.  I will try protein powder in anything these days.  Don’t worry, I’m aware that I’m weird.  Martha’s recipe only makes an 8 x 8 pan’s worth, but since I was made these for a big group I tripled the recipe and used a full cookie sheet.

To make them more portable I ended up wrapping them individually!  They’re a great snack when you’re on the go!

Peanut Butter Almond Granola Bars

Adapted from Martha, yields about 24 bars depending how you slice them.

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups old fashioned rolled oats
  • 1 ½ cups sliced almonds
  • 1 ½ cups dried cranberries
  • 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 “scoops” protein powder (optional)
  • 1 ½ cups creamy peanut butter ( I used an entire 15 oz jar)
  • 1 ½ cups light brown sugar
  • 9 Tbs oil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 egg whites
  • 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 350.  Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment.
  2. Combine the oats, almonds, cranberries, protein powder, and salt in a bowl.
  3. In a small pot over medium heat, combine sugar, oil, and peanut butter.  Cook for about 5 minutes until brown sugar is completely melted.
  4. Pour warm mixture over oat mixture.  Stir to combine.  When mixture is slightly cooled add egg whites and continue to mix to ensure that the eggs don’t cook.
  5. Spread mixture out on parchment lined cookie sheet.  Sprinkle top with mini chocolate chips (if you add them earlier they will just melt into the mixture).
  6. Bake 30-40 minutes until golden brown.

Pumpkin + Protein = Perfect

Sadie1 Comment

Are you tired of pumpkin yet?  I’m not.  I found a great pumpkin granola bar recipe, and I needed to try it.  It was one of those recipes that I searched for on a couple sites, and they pretty much all brought me back to same recipe.  I took that as a sign that this recipe is a good one.  I like the recipe because it doesn’t have flour, eggs, or butter.  Instead, just applesauce.  The only thing I thought could make the recipe better would be protein powder.  So I added some.

I added a “scoop” which is about 25g, so it only really added a few grams of protein to each bar.  I was surprised, however, that the protein powder had a negligible affect on the taste and texture of the final product.  Score!

Pumpkin Protein Granola Bars

Yields about 9 bars (one 8 x 8 square pan) adapted from Sweet Pea’s Kitchen

Ingredients

  • 3 cups old fashioned oats
  • 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1/4 cup applesauce
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 350. Cover an 8 x 8 square pan with parchment and/or nonstick spray.
  2. Combine oats, spices, protein powder, and salt in a bowl and set aside while you combine the brown sugar, applesauce, honey, pumpkin, and vanilla in different bowl.
  3. Pour the wet mixture over the dry and stir well to combine.  Add the cranberries, chocolate chips, and pecans.  Make sure the ingredients are well distributed.
  4. Pour batter into the prepared pan.  Bake 30-35 minutes.  Allow to cool and enjoy!
    Packed up and ready for an adventure!


Half Time

Sadie5 Comments

Tomorrow is the big day.  I’m running the Richmond Half Marathon!  My very first half marathon, and definitely the longest distance I’ve run ever.   Even though I’m a workout fanatic, I’ve never been much of a runner.  I just don’t feel like my body was built for that kind of exercise, it doesn’t love the amount of impact.  But I decided to step outside of my comfort zone and challenge myself.  I chose a half marathon because I felt like it was an attainable goal given that I have an erratic schedule with grad school.  I really need some level of flexibility with my workouts, and I like variety in my workouts.  With a half marathon, as opposed to a full marathon, you don’t have to run every day, and you’re not doing training runs that take three hours.

I’ve been running about three times a week with longer runs on weekends.  The last few weekends I’ve done about 11 miles.  I feel like I’m ready because if I can do 11, I could squeeze in 2 more.  Plus I’ve been running on a hilly path and I think the race is a flatter course.  I’m super excited!

I’m ready with my race outfit.  I did a dress rehearsal with it last weekend to make sure it was comfy for a long run.  There is nothing worse than doing a long run with sports bra that rubs, or pants that slide down!  I think this outfit is going to be a winner for me.

You might notice that I’m wearing shoes that I bought last February from DSW.  Well, not really.  I actually liked those sneakers so much, I bought another pair.  Then it was so close to the race I figured I needed a relatively fresh pair, so I bought them again.  I actually had to write numbers on the insoles to remember which pair is which!

And don’t forget the accessories!

 

Wish me luck!

Do you have any fitness related goals this year?