Raw, Vegan Protein Bars

I've been getting into running the past couple months and am on week four of the couch to 5k program. I am LOVING IT and never thought that I could really enjoy running or get beyond 5 minutes without passing out. So I'm pretty proud of myself. My progress has been slowed down, however, by a 4 week bout of bronchitis. Ugh. I'm still getting out a least once a week, but it's hard. My energy level is waaay down. After talking to a friend who says she hasn't been sick since she started taking VEGA sport protein powder a year ago, I decided it's time to get back on the VEGA train. I've used VEGA products in the past, and have always loved them, but the high cost has kept me from ever continuing with them for long. This stretch of illness and desire to keep running has me fired up for investing in my health. So today I went out and bought the natural flavour whole food optimizer, the sport protein in vanilla and the EFA oil blend. I also got to try out the shake and go smoothie and pre-workout sports drink and took a couple samples home. They are both really yummy and I'm sure I'll buy them in the future.

I'm so stoked on my renewed lust for fitness and healthy, easy food I ended up making up a raw, vegan protein bar today. It is darn good, if I may say so myself. Full of healthy fats, fibre and protein and easy to make. I kinda just chucked in handfuls of this and that, but here's a recipe with my estimations of the measurements. Pretty sure this would be impossible to screw up, to tell you the truth.

Raw, Vegan Protein Bars



In a food processor, mix together 1 cup of dates and 1 cup of walnuts until they form a thick, smooth-ish paste.

Add:
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup chia seeds
1 Tbsp ground flax seeds
1 Tbsp psyllium husks
1 scoop VEGA sport protein (vanilla flavour)
generous pinch each of salt and cinnamon
-process until well incorporated into date and walnut base

Now process 1/2 cup of almonds into the mixture until they are broken up into pieces.

Pulse in a 1/4 cup each of:
pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, hemp seeds, dried cranberries, raisins, chopped dried apricots

dark chocolate chunks would be good too, but I didn't have any...

Press mixture into a baking pan. Doesn't really matter what size. Smaller pan = thicker bars, bigger pan = wider bars. Throw pan in the freezer for about an hour and cut into 8-12 bars, depending on the serving size you prefer. I got 10 out of mine. And ate two right of the bat. Seriously tasty stuff!

Let's hope my health kick gets my bronchs back into top form and I can step up the running regimen. It's a ways away, but this is my first big running goal! Exciting!

So much for that, hey?

What a pathetic attempt at MoFo. Oh well. It's six months later and I'm finally inspired enough to write an entry. Thanks to a delicious treat I made today.



Vet bills have left me pretty broke until pay day, so I decided to make some raw vegan brownies to have for snacks instead of expensive lara bars. But, when googling the quantities of walnuts, dates and cocoa, I found something much more exciting. A recipe for a chocolate almond butter torte on a blog called The Daily Raw Cafe.

I didn't want to make something so crazily decadent though. And I didn't have all of the ingredients. So, with my alterations, I ended up with a sort of nanaimo bar type thing. It's loaded with maple syrup, so it's not completely raw and less healthy than the simple brownie I had intended to make. But fuck it. It's good!!



Here's the recipe. Some measurements are approximations since I did a little tweaking as I went, but raw "baking" is pretty forgiving so it should work out.

(Nearly) Raw Naniamo(-ish) Bars!

BOTTOM LAYER:
1 c walnuts
1 c dates
1/4 c cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
pinch sea salt

-throw everything in the food processor until it sticks together and press into the bottom of a 9x9 pan. Chuck it in the freezer while you make the...

MIDDLE LAYER:
1/4 c tahini
1/2 c ground almonds
1/4 c maple syrup
2 Tbsp coconut butter
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4-1/2 c water

-chuck everything but water into food processor and mix it up good. Drizzle in water until you get a thick, pudding like consistency. I think I used the full 1/2 cup. Pour mixture over top the brownie layer and back into the freezer it goes. You'll probably want to leave it in there for about an hour to firm up before you finish up with the...

TOP LAYER:
1/4 c maple syrup
1/3 c cocoa powder
2-3 Tbsp melted coconut oil
water to blend

-I used my magic bullet to whiz this up, since it's such a small amount, but a normal sized blender should do it. Spread over the tahini layer quickly and a little at a time. It firms up quick once it touches the chilly surface. Put the whole shebang back in the freezer for as long as you can wait until you have to have a go at it. I couldn't wait long. And I've been going back for more all day long.



Mmmm!! Delish!!