Tuesday, August 17, 2010

It's Yummy. It's Healthy. It's Brrrrrrreakfast!!!! (and snack)

Let's start with the yummiest of the two.  Snack!!!  
Ohhhh... I love this snack!  
I love it mostest for my girls', though- knowing how super high in protein, and all natu'ral it is.
It's way tastier than a standard packaged 'protein' bar, and much more cost efficient, too.

So here are the ingredients (and instructions): 

1 cup of honey
1 cup organic lowfat peanut butter
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup old fashioned oatmeal (not the pre-packaged kind-do real kind)
3 scoops vanilla protein powder
1 cup dried fruit

*Heat honey and peanut butter on medium head until warm and runny, 
take off heat and mix all the other ingredients, allow to cool, and form into balls 
(or bars, or circles, or.....)




Let's get down to business.... it's a school night- so we gotta make this quick.

I took my 'rolled oats' and toasted them in the oven for about 15 or 20 minutes
after sprinkling them liberally with cinnamon.  

Since I had my oven hot already- I toasted the walnuts, too.  
(Some cooking show says that makes them 'nuttier').  
Hmmm?  
Making nuts even nuttier!?!?!  How Do they come up with this stuff??
(They're right, though.  Those walnuts were SUPER nutty when I was done with 'em!)

A) I'm a rule breaker.  First and foremost, I don't "follow directions well".....
Having said that, it was a friend that mentioned the use of 'chocolate' protein powder (instead of the vanilla) 
So....  I'm not taking all the blame for this! 
(Wish I could- it was a GENIUS idea!!  Chocolate is way better!)

I love Jay Robb protein powder.  It's the best.  No kidding.  
It's also the priciest (no kidding).  However, for some strange reason- the Brown Rice Protein is significantly less expensive.  Same amount of protein, a slight variation in nutritional content- but for the most part- I'm looking for protein.  I get what I need from this stuff.




I just saved you the trouble of comparing ingredients (kind of)



Peanut Butter is best when served Organic.  Finances cut deep when going 'green' and when I need to, I go with Smart Balance.  It's natural, it's whole... (I had a COUPON!)  
And I stocked up.
By the way- in case anyone else out there has the great idea of 'nuking' the peanut butter to get that 'last little bit' out of the jar- I wanna go ahead and offer this 
public-service announcement:
Peel. Off. All. The. METAL. remains from the lid.  
Or? 
Catch your microwave on fire....? (Not that I would know ANYthing about that....)


Ahem.  Moving on.



Raw honey is the new sugar.... 
No.  No it's not.  
But! I have heard that raw honey is the best.
(My option for honey actually has nothing to do with the fact
 that I actually have an AUNT SUE, and it was 
her daughter that gave me this recipe- 
when I chose my 'brand' from Kroger this week.
  
It was simply the fact that it was Raw, Wild, and Natural.... like me!)

 Rule breaker... rule breaker.... break me a rule...  (name-that-song-)


My beautiful, amazing, awesome (eldest) daughter has a very low tolerance for nuts.
She's NOT allergic- she just doesn't like the way they 'feel' when she chews them.
 (I can respect that)
I had this mix in my cabinet, and a light bulb when 'DING' when I saw it hanging out behind the walnuts.... 
I "blended" (food processed) this mix together and stirred it in with my honey/peanut butter melt for an extra little 'somp-in some-en' extra.  


And here's what you get!!!!   Gosh.  It was such an easy recipe.  
Imagine rice crispy treats.... it's gooey, it's..... 
ya.. it's just gooey- 
that's the only comparison really.
I spread my 'mix' into a cake pan so that when it cooled I could cut it into little bars.

Worked out great.









Let's make breakfast the "quicky".

I blended (in the blender) eggs, cottage cheese, spinach, garlic, and onion.
I 'greased' my cupcake tins.
I poured the 'green egg' mix into said cupcake tins.
I topped with sharp cheddar cheese.
I baked at 350 degrees for 15-20 mins.

VOILA!!!

Easy- Healthy- "Green Egg Muffins".
They don't 'look' pretty, but my kids thought they were "CoooooL!!!!"



This one is for Joshua.  
Same mix as above- pour into glass pie dish  (no crust).
Cut up broccoli into teeny tiny pieces.
Add to 'pie'.
Top with cheese.
Bake at 350 LONGER than 20 minutes.
(I used a knife as my timer... it comes out (mostly) clean- I take it out of the oven)




And there ya go.  
Breakfast is a hit.  Snack is a hit.  No improvising for Mommy THIS week.
Hallelujah!!!  

1 comment:

  1. Oh Amber! Yum. I finally got around to making these snack treats and they're great! We can't bring pb due to an unknown allergy in the class...rather, we know there's someone allergic to pb but we don't know who it is...anyway, i used almond butter and sunflower butter and it is yummy. Thanks for the great blog...next, the green eggy things...;)

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