Homemade Protein Peanut Bars

(Recipe inspired by Kind Bars)

Makes: 30 bars

Ingredients

3 cups raw mixed nuts (or you can use only one variety of nut)

4 scoops Beverly Vanilla UMP

½ cup dried cranberries (you can use any dried fruit you prefer)

¼ cup shredded coconut, unsweetened

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon each of cinnamon, pumpkin spice, nutmeg (you can use any or all)

1 cup water

Optional

½ cup dark chocolate chips

1 teaspoon coconut oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
2. Spray a shallow 9×12 baking dish/pan with a thin coat of non-stick oil
3. In a mixing bowl, add Vanilla UMP and water.  Mix well.
4. Add coconut, spices, vanilla and cranberries.
5. Mix well then set aside
6. In a VitaMix (or other blender) add 3 cups of nuts.  You want to grind the nuts until they are chunky, not powdery or buttery.  I used the VitaMix on 2 and 4 and stirred the nuts well so that the bottom layer did not become too finely ground.
7. Add ground nuts to bowl of UMP and dried fruit.  Stir well.
8. Optional:  at this point you can also choose to add the chocolate chips if you would like them mixed in the bars
9. Spoon the mixture into the baking pan.  Spread evenly until the pan is completely lined with the mixture.
10. Bake for 30 minutes.
11. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 – 30 minutes.
12. Optional:  If you would like a chocolate drizzle you can mix the coconut oil and chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and heat on high until they are melted.  Remove from microwave and stir every 30 seconds.  Once melted you can drizzle on top of the bars as they cool.  If you are more sophisticated you can melt the chocolate in a double broiler. 
13. Cut into small pieces or bars.  You can get about 30 squares from this recipe. 

Nutritional Information (from MyFitnessPal, 30 servings) Per Serving: Calories: 107, Protein: 5, Carbs: 6, Fat: 8, Fiber: 1, Sodium: 22

NOTES

• I refrigerate my bars since there are no preservatives.  This is the first time I have made this recipe so I don’t know how long they keep.If you have a sweet tooth, you may not like these bars.  You can use honey, agave or a sweetener of your choice if you would like to add some additional flavor.
• The bars will be about ¼ inch tall with the recipe above.  At 30 minutes in the oven the top was just lightly brown.
• They are not crunchy but they are not soft either. 

DABs Oatmeal Protein Bars

Ingredients

1 cup skim milk
1 cup oatmeal (not the quick oat variety)

4 Tablespoons Organic powdered peanut butter

1 box (28 grams) Hyvee California Raisins

1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract

2 teaspoons baking powder (you can omit this to reduce the sodium)

3 scoops Beverly Ultimate Muscle Protein, Vanilla

¼ cup Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate Chips

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Mix all ingredients in a bowl
   
3. Mixture will be sticky
4. Spoon into lightly greased baking pan
5. Bake for 35 minutes
6. Cool, cut and store in sealed container in refrigerator

• Since there are no preservatives, I would try to eat these within 4 days.  I don’t know the upper limit in terms of how long they will stay fresh.

Nutritional Information from MyFitnessPal 

Ingredients	Calories	Protein	Carbs	Fat	Fiber	Sodium
Milk - Nonfat (fat free or skim), 1 cup	86	8	12	0	0	127
Quaker Oats - Oatmeal, 1 cup dry	300	10	54	6	8	0
Just Great Stuff - Organic Powdered Peanut Butter, 4 tbsp	90	8	10	3	2	180
Hyvee - California Sun-Dried Raisins-Individual Box, 1 Box	90	1	22	0	2	5
Kirkland Signature - Vanilla Extract, 3 tsp (5ml)	18	0	0	0	0	0
Argo - Baking Powder Aluminum Free, 2 tsp	0	0	0	0	0	1,520
Beverly International Nutrition - Ump - Vanilla - Correct 4/2012, 3 Scoop (31g)	360	60	15	9	3	510
Hershey's - Special Dark Chocolate Chips, 3 tbsp.	210	2	27	14	3	15

Total:	1154	89	140	32	18	2357
Per Serving:	96	7	12	3	2	196

Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter

Do you love peanut butter?
Do you love chocolate?
Would you like an inexpensive way to marry your two loves?

I was at a health food store the other day and saw some chocolate peanut butter.  It was almost $8 for the jar!!!  No wonder why we can not afford to eat foods that are good for us.  I had a taste for some peanut butter and some chocolate so I decided to combine the two :-)

One thing my Dad told me years ago was go use the right tool for the job.  For the past, 5 years I have been using an old Oster blender that I was given around the time I graduated from college!  (yes, eons ago).  I was so frustrated and it seemed like it took more work than it was worth.  Last year I finally broke down and purchased a Vitamix.  Oh, heaven!  Right tool every time I need to make something yummy.

This week I made peanut butter (based on a recipe in the Vitamix cookbook).  I had some almonds and some dry - roasted peanuts in the house.  I threw them in the Vitamix, turned the setting to 1 and tamped down the nuts until they were homogenized.  After a few minutes out came a wonderfully smooth, creamy peanut butter.  I put each mix in an airtight container to store.  I only made a little as you can see since I was mixing for one.  

I also put a little of the almond butter in a bowl and mixed in some chocolate Shakeology (probably two tablespoons).  I ate it straight out of the bowl :-0.  Talk about craving killing and healthy.  I have the benefits of homemade peanut butter (and it's cheap!!), a chocolate fix and the nutritional benefits of the best meal replacement supplement in the country.  It's a nice treat for the entire family or to prepare and take to work and share with friends.  I encourage you to give it a try!

References:
Shakeology:  http://myshakeology.com/DaphneAyn
VitaMix: https://www.vitamix.com/
The photos I took with my iPhone.  I'm not much of a photographer, sorry!