Smoothies are always my go to solution when I’m in a rush and heading out the door. I tend to always have ripe fresh and frozen fruit on hand in my kitchen. Depending on whether the smoothie is just a snack or a meal replacement, I will either make a simple fruit smoothie or add some extras like, peanut or almond butter, chia seeds, and some greens. You can find a list of smoothie recipes in the smoothie section of this blog.
In addition to smoothies, I always keep homemade protein-energy bars in my freezer. This way, if I’m ever in a really big rush out the door and don’t even have time to throw some stuff in the blender, I can grab one of these to hold me over and give me a little boost.
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cup roasted almonds
- 1 cup roasted cashews
- ½ cup pecans
- ½ sunflower seeds
- 15 pitted, dried dates
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ¼ cup dried pineapple
- 1 teapsoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons water + 2 teaspoons chia seeds
Directions:
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line a 9 x 13 inch pan with parchment paper.
- Place all of the ingredients in a blender and pulse until chopped and combined.
- Smooth mixture into the pan.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned.
- Allow to cool, and then lift bars out of the pan by pulling up on the parchment paper.
- Transfer to a cutting board.
- Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut into 12 or 16 bars, depending on desired portion size.
- Individually wrap bars in plastic wrap.
- Store bars in a freezer safe Ziploc bag in freezer.
- Remove individual bar when ready to eat—you do not need to allow time to defrost, these bars can be eaten straight out of the freezer, or they can be enjoyed once they’ve come to room temperature.
*For this recipe, you can really use whatever variation of nuts, seeds and dried fruits that you prefer.
