TGIF Friday, August 7, 2009

A change from my last two "heavy" posts! I was reading some of those sites I subscribe to & came upon a couple good energy bar recipes!!! Hey, it is important to have energy to work out, play, work (UGH!) and we also need to replenish after we work out. Homemade bars can be easier than you think & they taste great! A lot better than some store bought ones & a lot healthier too since you control the ingredients!



The ones below look fairly easy although the nutritional content was not there. You can plug it into one of your fav online calculators if you want to get the low down on that. The recipe below is for an oat based (can be gluten free if GF oats are used) and a fruit-and-nut bar. In addition, I am going to repost links to the two protein bars I have published in the past. I make my personal recipe for an oatmeal protein bar all the time. LOVE IT & as always, you can play a bit with the recipes to meet your own personal taste. The full article for the energy bars is here, Homemade Energy Bars.

Oatmeal Banana Energy Bars

(Makes a 9 inch square pan)

• 2 cups oatmeal
• 1/2 cup flax seeds (ground or crushed)
• 4 Tbs Rice Protein Powder
• 1 cup vanilla rice milk (we like Pacific)
• 6 Tbs egg replacer (like Ener-G or Flax Seed jel) or 1 large egg + 1 egg white
• 2 bananas- ripe and pureed (or sub fruit/pumpkin puree, equal to 1 cup)
• 1/2 cup applesauce- unsweetened
• 1/4 cup agave, maple syrup or honey
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon (omit if adding chocolate)

Add-ins if desired

• 1/2 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup nuts of choice, crushed
• 1/2 cup dried fruit (we like cranberries)
• Replace 1/2 fruit puree with peanut or almond butter

Mix all ingredients together (well), and place in prepared 9 inch square pan.  Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for approx 40-45 minutes.  Cool and slice into desired size bars.  Store loosely covered in the refrigerator. For travel, we simply remove bars and wrap them in a cloth napkin secured with a safety pin, string or band. We like to make fruit purees (pumpkin, zucchini, apple, banana, prune, fig, etc.) and store in the freezer in 1 cup portions, then the desired flavor can be pulled out and used in baking and cooking.

Fruit and Nut Bars (Gluten Free)

Makes one brownie pan (ours is about 6×10)

• 1 cup dried fruit of choice (cranberries, blueberries, bananas, apples, cherries, strawberries) home dried in low heat dehydrator is best to remain food integrity.  You want the fruit to remain tender, not crunchy if you’re going to use it in this recipe.
• 1 cup dates (whole- roughly chopped, do not buy pre-chopped)
• 2/3 cup Raw almonds
• 2/3 cup Raw cashews
• 2 tsp. finely grated citrus zest (lemon, orange, lime)
• 3-4 drops almond extract if desired

Spray or oil pan, set aside.

Place fruit, dates, zest and extract in food processor/blender/Vitamix and process until you have a smooth paste.  Pour into a bowl and set aside.  Pulse nuts in blender until finely chopped but not pureed/mushy.

Combine nuts and paste.  Mix well (fingers work best).  Transfer to prepared pan, smooth and allow to sit until firm.  Store tightly covered in refrigerator, makes about 8 bars.