One of my clients had asked me which “Protein Bars” were healthy. While there are some out there that I do love, for example: Quest Bars, I do prefer to make my own because most protein bars have other unwanted ingredients. Some of those ingredients I don’t know much about so I try not to buy them.

I told her I was going to get in the kitchen and create my own Protein Bar Recipe and I did.

This recipe only took me 5 MINUTES TO MAKE! It’s probably the easiest thing to make.

With only 5 ingredients and no added sugar, this protein bar is Chocolatey, Satisfying & Filling!!

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 Cup Peanut Butter

1/2 Cup Coconut Milk (**see note below**)

1 1/2 cups Quick Oats

1/2 tsp Cocoa Powder

2 Scoops Chocolate Shakeology

DIRECTIONS:

In a medium bowl combine all the dry ingredients and mix well. Add in the milk and peanut butter, and mix until dough like. I used my hands and it gets messy but it mixes better! In an 8X8 pan place wax paper on the inside and let it hang off the sides.

Spray with cooking spray and add protein mix. Spread the dough evenly and pop in the freezer for an hour. Cut into 12 bars.

**Please note the “Coconut milk Beverage” that was used in this recipe is So Delicious Coconut Milk I love this beverage.**

It is light, delicious, dairy free, gluten free, contains vitamins & healthy fats. 

I have already made a couple batches of these bars and I love keeping them on hand for post workout snacks or even mid day when I am craving something chocolatey!

What is your favorite brand of protein bars? 

Have you ever tried making your own? 

I wrote this post because I’m curious as to what everyone else has in their pantry. I try really hard to keep these 7 items on hand at all times because I use them a lot!

My Top 7 Healthy Pantry Staples:

1. Peanut Butter I usually buy Stop & Shop’s jarred peanut butter. It has 2 ingredients: peanuts & salt, and it only costs about $2! Marc, Ava, and I go through a jar in about 10 days or less so extra is always necessary in our pantry.

2. Canned Tuna & Canned Chicken Some days are busier then others and if I have no food in the fridge I love having a quick protein option like canned tuna or chicken that I can whip up in 2 minutes with some avocado & tomatoes!

3. Mixed Nuts & Dried Fruit When in doubt a filling snack for me is a Nut mix. My favorite nuts are pistachios & almonds. This is from Trader Joe’s and is about $5 or so and I’m obsessed with the great flavor this mix has.

4. Oats & Oatmeal Packets Believe it or not growing up I hated oatmeal. The texture was just gross to me. Now I am a huge fan. The single serve plain oatmeal packets are great for portion control and on the go snacks! I have been eating oatmeal at least 5x a week this past month!

5. Healthy Soup Not all canned soup is healthy. I make sure mine doesn’t have extra sugars, processed chemicals, or any ingredients I can’t pronounce. I usually make home-made soup but a back up soup is always great to have!

6. Almond Milk this is only $1.69 at Trader Joe’s. Almond milk has grown on me and I love it with my oatmeal and coffee! It also contain 45% of your daily calcium.. that’s awesome!

Pickles I try to keep pickles on hand when I need a salt fix they are packed with sodium and I love the taste! An added bonus is they are low-calorie!

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I definitely have other pantry staples but I would say these 7 items are on my top used list!!

Well it’s Friday the 13th again… not like that matters but I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend!!

What are your healthy pantry staple items? 

Are you a snack person?

This morning I made some Pumpkin Oats. I had a leftover can of pumpkin in the fridge that I didn’t want to waste so I whipped up these delicious oats. It look literally 2 minutes!

Talk about simple, there’s only a handful of ingredients and you can definitely substitute different kinds of nut butters or milk to change the flavor. I am going to try out some protein oats later this week!!

Quick & Easy Pumpkin Oats

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon pumpkin

1 teaspoon almond butter (or peanut butter)

1/3 cup vanilla almond milk (or skim milk)

1/3 cup of oats

a shake of cinnamon spice and a shake of pumpkin pie spice

Directions: Mix all ingredients in a microwave safe bowl, microwave for 1 minute and 15 seconds (I like my oats thicker) Add a drizzle of honey, some nuts, or even some yogurt, and enjoy!

if you like your oats a little thinner you can add more milk.

You can also top with some fruit!

Have a great day!

I looked over a few recipes picked out some ingredients I liked, and then put together my own recipe. They were perfect and I wouldn’t change a thing! I am not a syrup lover, yes I know to some of you that sounds crazy…  I eat my pancakes plain and they were so moist and fluffy I didn’t even need butter on top! Big win for me.

This is a well balanced pancake and with about 11 grams of protein per serving they will keep your stomach nice & full!

OATMEAL PANCAKES

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup egg whites
• 1 cup rolled oats, dry
• 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 

Instructions:

 In a blender, grind oats, sugar, & cinnamon.

Heat a griddle or large non-stick skillet over medium-low heat. Spray with non-stick cooking spray or butter. For each pancake pour 1/4 cup of batter onto pan. Flip as soon as the top starts to bubble. Cook until golden brown.

Makes 8 pancakes (2 pancakes per serving) Per serving approximately 183 calories, 6.3g fat, 19.8g carbs, 2.4g fiber, 11.4g protein

SKINNY PUMPKIN SPICE COOKIES

Ingredients:

• 1 cups quick oats
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (if you like the spice add a little more)

• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 large egg whites
• 3 tbsp canned pumpkin (mine were heaping tablespoons!)

Chocolate chips ¼ cup (optional) I made some with chocolate chips and some without.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. In a bowl combine all the dry ingredients except for the sugars. Mix well. In a separate bowl mix the butter and sugars until combined. Add in egg whites, pumpkin, and vanilla extract. Add in the dry ingredients and stir well. (Optional add in chocolate chips)

On a non-stick baking sheet drop about 1 tbsp of dough until you have 16 cookies. Bake for about 10 minutes.

Makes 16 cookies

About 80 calories per cookie, 1.9g fat, 13.8g carb, 0.8g fiber, 1.8g protein

Banana Bread Bite Size Cookies

 Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup instant oats
• 1 banana, mashed
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 10 almonds (crushed)

Directions:

Mash Banana in a medium size bowl. Add oats and cinnamon to the banana and mix together. For the almonds, I placed them in a plastic bag and used a rolling pan to crush them into small pieces. Then I mixed them into the batter.

Spray the baking sheet. Form into eight balls and flatten on baking sheet. Bake them at 350 for about 14 minutes.

Makes 8 cookies, serves 2. You can double the recipe to make more and pack them as snacks for the week.

Serving size 4 bite size cookies: about 155 calories!