REVIEW: INBar Food Bars

Holy INbars, Batman!

Recently my friend Ashley sent me a box of INBar food bars.  I'm not talking like a handful of flavors to try either; my beloved sent me a handful of each flavor to try... about 30 bars in total.  As usual when I get mail, I was like a kid on Christmas, shoving my new gifts in Aaron's face and saying things like, "CHERRY CHOCOLATE?!  I bet that is so good!  Doesn't that sound good baby?!" to which he had to reply an enthusiastic and satisfactory yes to before I would go on to describing the next ultra exciting flavor... my poor boyfriend.  He is a good sport though and tried all of the flavors at least once.  Well, the exception that is the Chocolate Mint; he apparently doesn't care for "minty things" (which translates roughly to "more for me").

Workout Pudding Recipe: Chocolate & Coconut

The idea of recovery & workout puddings is something that I learned by reading Branden Brazier's book Thrive.  Although this is a fantastic powerhouse of nutrients and protein, this is also tasty and a good dessert.  The texture will be unusual to anyone not used to eating chia seeds.  There is no photo of this because it looks like chocolate goo.  It's not cute.  The next time I make it, I'll take a picture.  Seriously though, it looks like goo, and you're not missing out by this post not having a picture.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c milk (I used Almond Plus Milk from So Delicious) OR 1/2 cup coconut water
• 2 tbsp Spectrum Decadent Blend Chia & Flax Seed with Coconut & Cocoa
• 1/2 scoop RAW Protein Powder in Chocolate (or any chocolate protein powder)
• 2 tbsp chocolate almond butter (I get mine fresh ground at Whole Foods)

Directions:
Combine half of the milk (or coconut water) with the Spectrum Decadent blend and let sit for 10-15 minutes.  Alternatively, you can use a food processor or blender.  I just used a fork & a bowl.  After it has coagulated, add the remaining ingredients & combine until thoroughly blended.

This is a pretty generous portion and could easily be divided into two servings.  This would also be delicious with a banana mashed into it.  Nom!

Nutritional Info (as prepared):
Total Calories:  315
Fat:  20
Carbohydrates:  19
Protein:  19

Quick! Who has Vegan cream cheese?!

I saw this recipe on a facebook group, and immediately thought.. "Oh, I have to veganize that!" I don't have any vegan cream cheese in my house right now though!

Photo from: http://www.facebook.com/BKrecipesHomeandGarden

Breakfast, maybe?

I recently posted that I'm not much of a breakfast (or morning) person, and often struggle with eating before noon.  Lately I've been finding solutions and experimenting with eating light breakfasts, versus just not eating.  The other morning I had half of a whole wheat bagel with almond butter on it (115k, 28g carbs, 10g fat, 11g protein) and that sat pretty well, despite it being an epic battle to eat it.  Things just taste funny that early, like my body is warning me, "Hey.. you eat that, you're going to be sorry."  Sometimes I'll just have "yogurt", which tends to always sit well, or some fruit.  Yesterday, I was brave.

Ingredients(?):
3/4 cup Cocoa Snapz
1/2 Simple Truth Unsweetened Almondmilk
1 medium banana, sliced (I always slice right off of the banana, then eat the leftovers)

Directions (ha):
Measure and pour your cereal into a bowl.  Grab your banana, and while still partially in peel, work your way down it, cutting it into slices over your cereal.  When you have enough banana, eat what's left in the peel.  Measure and pour on your milk.  Enjoy!  =D

Nutritional facts (serves one):
Total Calories:  140k
Carbohydrates:  27g
Fat:  3g
Protein:  2g

Easy Cupcakes with Protein Icing

Ingredients:
1 box of vegan cake mix (I used a chocolate fudge cake mix)
1 15 oz can of pumpkin puree
30-35g (one serving) of protein powder*

Mix your cake mix & pumpkin together and bake according to box directions.  Cool completely before you try to ice them.

For the icing, mix one serving of protein powder with 3-6+ tablespoons of water.  You will have to adjust this according to what type of protein powder you have.  Flavored protein powder is best - they tend to already have a zero calorie sweetener in them, and don't usually taste too.. grain-y.

Makes 24 cupcakes.
91 calories each.  16 grams of carbs, 2 grams of fat, 2 grams of protein (80:10:10).