Recipe Post!!! Link Love!
You will have to read to the end to see what this picture has to do with this post!
So, lots of Fridays I will post a recipe - not all Fridays but lots! So today's link love is about bloggers that make my mouth water & lots of times want to make me eat my monitor screen!
Lori, over at Finding Radiance has lost over 100 pounds!!!! She did this the good ole fashioned way - eating less than when she was heavy, exercising & constantly challenging herself! In addition, she is an amazing cook & baker! She posts recipes of many of her foods ALONG with pictures on her blog. She also chats about her workouts & goals & new things she is trying in terms of weight loss and/or maintenance. Right now she is experimenting with a mixture of lower & higher carb days & the lower carb ones have more fat in them. The thing I like about her low carb days is they are not what you envision as low carb... they are livable because she is doing it her way!!!
I think we all have to find what works for us & that is what she is doing. For me, I know low carb all the time is not an option for me although I do eat more protein & less cabs than some... I still like the carbs I eat and I am particular about which carbs I eat especially with the age hormones fighting me!
Anyway, way back when, Lori posted a recipe for protein cookies. I don't buy the type of protein powder in her recipe so I decided to modify her recipe a bit for me & made them into protein bars per her note on using whey powder instead of soy, rice or another veggie protein powder. I also wanted more protein in my bars so this is how I modified Lori's recipe. I used to buy protein bars & now these are the ones I make every week (with my modifications to suit me). My changes in red:
Ingredients:
- 2 scoops (60 g) of strawberry soy protein powder - I use a mixture of vanilla & cinnamon oatmeal whey protein powder and I use 4-5 scoops rather than 2
- 1 cup (120 g) of oat bran - I use 1/2 cup oat bran and 1/2 cup oatmeal
- 1 tsp cinnamon - I just pour it in till there is as much as I want in there for the taste for that batch.
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt - I don't add any salt
- 1 tsp vanilla - I use 2 and a little more capfuls
- 1 small banana (100 g) - I don't measure this & just use a medium size since I am adding more protein powder
- 1/2 cup natural applesauce - same but may add a little more if the batter is not the right consistency for me
- 2 egg whites (56 g) - I do this but a smidge more due to the extra protein powder
Sometimes I add in honey or 100% pure maple syrup if I want to change the consistency or flavor. Sometimes I may add a little brown sugar OR sprinkle it on top before baking. I just go with the flow for that batch. I am pretty much like this with my baking. I modify the ones I find on the great blogs out there!
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix together the protein powder, oat bran, cinnamon, and baking powder.
In a small food processor (or Magic Bullet!), blend together the banana, salt, egg whites, vanilla, and applesauce. You can just mash the banana and mix everything, but I wanted it really smooth so there would be no banana bits.
Add this mixture to the dry and mix well. Portion out into 10 equal balls of dough and press flat onto a cookie sheet with parchment or silicone liner:
Bake for about 15 minutes and remove from oven. This protein powder I have is actually really sweet, so I decided to top my cookie with a little plain cream cheese to eat. See pics HERE as well as pics of Lori in the process of making her recipe. I love Lori's recipes because they are fairly easy for a non cook like me, she shows us pics in the process of making them & they are easily modified to suit your tastes & needs!
Using protein powder that is 110 calories per scoop and 24 g of protein per scoop, the stats are as follows:
Batch makes 10 cookies (they were about 40 g each)
Each cookie (minus cream cheese) has 80 calories, 1.2 grams of fat, 12 carbs, 2 g of fiber, 7.5 g of protein.
Lori has a lot of great info & a recipe link too!I have to mention another blogger too. Tami over at Nutmeg Notebook has amazing recipes & pictures of her food!!!! Her recipes are a bit more involved so I have not tried them BUT if I were a cook, I would be all over them! It is not that they are super hard BUT I look for a minimal ingredient list,
& I just don't keep a lot of cooking/baking stuff in my house as it is not my thing. If you are a cook, you MUST check her out!!!! If you are not well.... just looking at the pics of her food is FUN!Are you like me & look for easy & less than 8 ingredients or are you a cook/baker like Lori & Tami? Feel free to link to your fav recipe!
Don't forget my GIVEAWAY too for the fitbook! You can enter thru Sunday!
PS: What does the cat picture have to do with all of this??? That is Lori's cat Pixie. Lori puts pics on her blog now & then of Pixie & she is just the cutest cat ever! Lori saved her & I think she has it pretty darn good at Lori's house BUT she is also very thankful to be there! I love that cat from afar!
Categories: Food, Recipes, Blogging, Protein
Tags: blogging food Finding Radiance Nutmeg Notebook protein protein bars protein cookies Recipes giveaway fitbook
I love, love, love to cook - but most times, I like recipes with only a few ingredients. That said, I have a HUGE spice supply - pretty much any spice you can think of, I got it.
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HA! I recognized that cat
Lori is a great inspiration!!
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**waves at Lori's cat** and acknowledges shes not yet a whiz in the kitchen
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Oh I am not a good cook and look for easy recipes
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Imagine my surprise to see Pixie pop up in my reader LOL!
thanks for the shoutout and for saying I am a good cook and baker.
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The the cutest cat ever? My wife has 4 cats that may be cuter, hey let me send them to Lori and she can decide!
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Does your wife know you wrote that Patrick!
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Ohh great recipe! And I love how simple it is as well!
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Those look good and simple to make. Would one or two of these cookies count as a mini meal for you?
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Sian, I forgot to add something to that post today so will be correcting Monday.
Since I make mine into bars, I put the batter in an 8x8 pan & bake for about 20 minutes. Don't over bake!
So, for the bars, I will eat one PLUS a piece of whole grain toast with PB on it after the gym.... but saying that, right when I get home & before I shower, I have a protein cookie - I have posted about these on my blog - I have oatmeal protein cookies & sweet potato protein cookies. I will have one right when I get home from the gym before I shower & then the bar/toast after the shower.
I work out when hubby is sleeping so I have to eat stuff that does not make noise - like a blender - so no smoothies after the gym for me!
Other times like when I have to go to UCLA, I will bring 1 cookie & 1 bar with me for food on the way home or maybe 2 cookies.... it just depends.... sometimes I have a bar for a mini meal but I put some PB on it too!
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I like to keep it simple! That way Idon't have to write recipes down; I can just remember them and whip 'em up
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Thanks for the shout out! I appreciate your support and the fact that you follow me just to enjoy a little food photo fun!
In my defense I do think that I post some recipes that are easy and use just a few ingredients! Really I do. Giggle,giggle!
Todays pancake recipe is pretty easy!
Those protein bars sound delicious. Thanks for sharing.
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Love that recipe on your blog!!
PS: If you want to make my bars - I forgot to put my directions for making bars vs. cookies & you can see that in my reply comment to Sian.
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