Nut Butter Banana Hemp Shake (Vegan, High-Protein, Kid-Friendly)

Posted: October 13, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Beverages and Smoothies, Uncategorized, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tags: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

When your kid begs you for a drink of your high-protein, high-fiber shake full of essential aminos and omegas, you call it quits on your food blog photo shoot and hand over the shake.

(Rachel, the daughter)

I just wrote a long boring post about how exhausting this week has been. Then I hit delete. #boringsnoring #toughenup #writersblock #speakinginhashtagsiswayeasierthanwritingblogsandbooks

I think Instagram and Twitter are ruining my ability to write in full sentences. I mean, do you really need a full explanation when a hashtag and a picture say it all?

#badidea #meltdownonaisletwo #tinycartsarethedevil

#lifewithatoddler #enoughsaid

#joy #bubbles #lovehim

In the spirit of quick and easy, here’s a recipe that has saved me on many an exhausted morning or afternoon this week. High in protein, fiber, and healthy fats, it’s the perfect breakfast or post-park snack for adults and little ones.

#simple #healthy #kid-friendly #10gramsofprotein #6gramsoffiber

Nut Butter Banana Hemp Shake

Makes one 1-cup serving

Ingredients

1 banana (Frozen or thawed)
2 T. nut butter (Peanut Butter, Almond Butter, Sunflower Seed Butter, or mix of any combination)
1/2 c. unsweetened almond milk (or your preferred milk)
1/2 T. hemp seeds
1/2 c. ice

Directions

Blend first four ingredients together for 60 seconds. Add ice and blend until ice chunks are gone. That’s it. Enjoy!

Almond milk + nut butter + banana + hemp seed = #mynewfavshake

I did some quick pen and paper calculations on the one I made today (not pictured). I used half sunflower seed butter and half organic peanut butter. It had about 19 grams of fat, 300 calories, 10 grams of protein, and 6.5 grams of fiber. Remember the fat comes from seeds and nuts, which are good healthy fats.

This was printed from: We Laugh, We Cry, We Cook
The site URL: http://welaughwecrywecook.com
The Title: Nut Butter Banana Hemp Skake (Vegan, High-Protein, Kid-Friendly)
The URL: http://wp.me/p1UwM9-Kg
© Copyright 2012 – All Rights Reserved

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High Protein Granola Bars

Posted: August 22, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Breakfast Foods, Gluten Free, Snacks, Uncategorized, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

High protein granola bars. Easy to store, pack, and send to work or school.

Rachel, the daughter

Jared started back to school this week. He’s been back to coaching duties for awhile, but Monday was his first official school work day, dressed in his khakis and polo and reporting for a new position (same school, new role). And after my mom, Jackson, and I get back from the International Food Blogger Conference in Portland this weekend, Jackson will be starting “school” too. It’s really just a Mother’s Day Out program two days a week, so I can go to my “office” (ie, Panera Bread or Starbucks) and write. It still means getting him his first nap mat and backpack and lunchbox, which is totally what getting ready for school is all about, right? Do you think he’ll need a Trapper Keeper, too!? I seriously fought the urge to buy one when I was at the store the other day. Ten years later and August still feels slightly incomplete without picking out a new Trapper Keeper and non-skid sneakers for gym class. 🙂

Since our lives are about to be on-the-go, I’m testing some grabbable, packable, reheatable recipes for our work and school days. Several of our easy-to-pack lunch recipes were featured a couple of weeks ago on We Are Teachers, a site full of great resources for teachers, and it inspired me to do the same for snacks and breakfasts.

I’m quite adjusted to Jackson and I’s leisurely morning routine of coffee & cereal or a smoothie for me and oatmeal for him. I sip my second cuppa joe while Jackson plays outside. We share a mid-morning snack. I shower. And before we know it, it’s time for Jackson’s first nap. Most days, I really don’t start being productive until 10:00 or 11:00 when he’s gone down for his nap. Breakfast is going to have to be super easy in order to get me up, dressed, and out of the house by 8:30 am.

One of our favorite on-the-go snacks or breakfasts are Luna Bars (Yep, my manly husband is not ashamed to eat The Whole Nutrition Bar for Women). I do love them, but they are processed and aren’t organic and their shiny wrapper gets my one-year old son completely excited and he insists on having a bite too. Then I have to either deal with a meltdown or give him a bite and feel guilt that my toddler adores packaged processed foods. The last two mornings, he has brought me a box of cornbread mix and ended up in tears trying to get me to open it for him. I don’t know what he thinks is in there, but he’s pretty certain if it comes in a box or a wrapper it must be delicious.

I made my own granola bars today that I feel completely fine sharing with my toddler and that my husband can feel truly manly about eating. They are gluten-free, dairy-free, and soy-free and have almost 8 grams of protein per bar. The only sugar is 1 T. of honey and 2 dates for 8 bars.

Now if I can just figure out how to get them in a shiny package and cardboard box for Jackson.

Easy on-the-go breakfast or snack. (Ignore my unmanicured fingernails!)

High Protein Granola Bars

Makes 8 bars

Ingredients

1/2 c. peanut butter
1/4 t. vanilla extract
1 t. honey
1 T. chia seeds soaked in 3 T. warm water
1/2 c. oats (gluten-free oats will make this recipe entirely gf)
1/2 c. puffed brown rice cereal
1/2 c. finely chopped almonds (or sliced almonds)
1 T. pea protein powder (or your protein powder of choice)
1 T. cacoa nibs
2 dates, finely chopped
1/4 t. cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine peanut butter, honey, and vanilla in a medium sauce pan and warm over medium low heat until melty. Add remaining ingredients and stir until it’s all combined and coated with peanut butter mixture.

Pour onto a parchment-lined pan and spread out to a 1/2 inch thick square. Cut into 8 bars.

Bake for 15 minutes. Remove and let cool completely before moving. They will harden as they sit out, but are not a really crunchy granola bar.

They fit perfectly into this sandwich/snack container. Confession: I bought and used this in high school, long before having a little boy to pack lunch for was on my radar.

This was printed from: We Laugh, We Cry, We Cook
The site URL: http://welaughwecrywecook.com
The Title: High Protein Granola Bars
The URL: http://wp.me/p1UwM9-DC
© Copyright 2012 – All Rights Reserved

Mint Chocolate Pistachio Blizzard (Dairy-Free & Soy-Free)

Posted: June 7, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Desserts | Tags: , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

This tasty healthy summer treat is dairy-free, soy-free, only five ingredients, and done in five minutes.

(Rachel – The Vegan-Eatin’ Daughter)

This summer my husband is coaching a select summer baseball team with a rigorous schedule. Since he’ll be so busy, I thought it might be fun for me and Jackson to come along with him for a few of his tournaments. We could check out a new town and spend some family time together between games.

As it turns out, the cities he plays in are a little hard up for entertainment. In my internet search of one town, the highlighted “Family Activity” was a trip to Dairy Queen for ice cream. Sorry honey, we’ll just see you in July when you’re schedule let’s up.

I’m not knocking DQ. If you were raised in a small town in Texas, like I was, you probably do have lots of memories at the local Dairy Queen. I can recall several trips as a child, stopping on our way home from ball games. I remember our high school cross country coach always treated us to Blizzards when the season was over. After months of getting up at 5:00 am to run around a cold dark track and spending our Saturdays running through muddy trails, we’d go celebrate. We lined up and one-at-a-time placed our order, then waited eagerly to be handed an upside down cup filled with thick ice cream blended with our favorite mix-ins.

Now that I don’t eat dairy, being treated to a DQ blizzard is a thing of the past, but with Banana Soft Serve “Ice Cream,” my days of enjoying delicious cool treats with tasty mix-ins are far from over. In just minutes, frozen bananas blended up in the food processor turn into a thick creamy cold treat, just like soft serve ice cream. I combined two of my favorite ice cream flavors, Mint Chocolate Chip and Pistachio, for this sweet, salty, cool combination.

I wouldn’t recommend flipping your cup upside down, but I would totally recommend sticking a spoon in and chowing down. With banana as the main ingredient and healthy mix ins like pistachios and dark chocolate (antioxidants, hellooo!), it’s practically health food.

This soft serve “ice cream” is simply frozen bananas and pistachios blended together, garnished with a mint chocolate swirl and a cherry on top.

Serves 1

Ingredients

2 bananas ~1 cup (chopped and frozen)*
1/4 cup pistachios, roasted and salted
1 t. sugar
3 squares of a mint dark chocolate bar (I used the Endangered Species brand–it’s vegan & delicious)
2 t. coconut cream (~1 t. non-dairy milk would work too)

Optional Garnishes: chopped pistachios, cherries dipped in the chocolate sauce & cooled, fresh banana slices, sprig of mint

Directions

In a food processor, blend bananas until they whip together like soft serve ice cream, stopping to scrape the sides as needed. Add in pistachios and sugar and blend again until pistachios are chopped up.

In a small bowl, combine chocolate and coconut cream. Microwave for 8 second intervals, stirring between, being careful not to let the chocolate burn.

Pour half of the pistachio soft serve into a pretty glass, top with half of the chocolate, then repeat, gently swirling the chocolate at the top. Garnish with chopped pistachios and a cherry on top (optional). Fresh banana slices between the layers of soft serve are good too.

Serve immediately.

Note: This doesn’t re-freeze well.

*Freeze bananas that are ripe, but not overly ripe for this recipe. The ones that are really soft and ripened are great for baking and smoothies, but not for this recipe.

This was printed from: We Laugh, We Cry, We Cook
The site URL: http://welaughwecrywecook.com
The Title: Mint Chocolate Pistachio Blizzard (Dairy-Free & Soy-Free)
The URL: http://wp.me/p1UwM9-o5
© Copyright 2012 – All Rights Reserved