Homemade LARA-like Bars

These things seem to be all the rage right now, everyone is making them or selling them. They're the latest "nutrition" or "sports" bar but most that I've found on the market are loaded with over-processed ingredients (enriched), packed with sugars and are really high calorie. Might as well eat a PB candy bar, I would get my protein and probably the same, if not less sugar!

The lara bars are an unprocessed, all natural, all-raw, "healthy" twist. After checking out the ingredients online, and browsing recipes I found that they were nothing more than a new take on that old secenties classic "the dresaded date roll". lol. A little funny but true!

Anyway they've got about 200-220 calories each, which is pretty high BUT it's healthy. All healthy fats & protien from the nuts, natural sweetness from the dates... overall a great snack, maybe for after a workout or when you just dont have time to eat!

Recipe as follows makes 1 bar. Yes ONE. I ended up making around 15 bars altogether.

1 tbls dates (pitted and pureed)

3 tbls nut mixture (nuts, dried fruits, coconut, oats ect)

1) Pit the dates (or buy them pre-pitted) and blend in food processor (I used my magic bullet) or by hand if you need to until they're a sticky mass. This is the base, or the "glue" of the bar that will hold everything together!

2) I then chopped (roughly with my bullet as well) cashews, almonds and pecans. I also mixed in 2 tbls ground flax seed and 3 tbls oats.

3)Mix everything together with your hands and form into a tight ball. Roll this ball into a rope and flatten into a rectangle. Rightly wrap in plastic wrap and apply pressure to the top and mold into a rectangle. Cut if you need to cut it (if you doubled the batch ect).

Refrigerate wrapped to preserve freshness.

Another alteration I tried was mixing in some unsweetened coconut - which was amazing!!! Probly 2 tbls worth for 4 bars.

--Other ideas:--

*Almond Spice: 1 tbls dates + 3 tbls almonds + 1/4 tsp cinnamon + 1/4 tsp nutmeg + 1/8 tsp ground ginger

*Cranberry Coconut: 2 tbls minced dried cranberries, 1 tbls unsweetened coconut

One more.

I read this artical today about "the Power of One" which can mean SO many different things. In this instance they were talking about you having the power for one more repetition in weights, or one more lap in running. It's all about choice. Your choice. Sometimes I think we put so much emphasis on how hard everything is, we forget that it's ultimatley about our choices. My mom always reminds me when we're running and I'm tired to change my mindset. If I am lagging and my legs are tired at mile 4 of 8, she reminds me "we're already half way" not "OMG we're only half way". Once you start changing things, everything seams a little better. A little easier.

When running the track (which are 1/4 mile laps) think about what your accomplishing while running, not how much farther you HAVE to go. Give one more than you normally do, one more than you feel physically capabale of doing. Whether it's one more lap, one more mile, one more minute of running... Thats when you'll see progress, that's when you really feel good, thats when you go above and beyond your own expectations of yourself. That's a powerful feeling.

One more rep.

One more set.

One more lap.

One more mile.

One more glass of water.

One level higher on the stairmill.

One more minute on the treadmill.

One more song before the end of your workout.

YOU have the power.

Little changes, just doing that ONE extra thing doesn't seem like much when you think about it, and that's why it works. Change your mindset.

"What one thing can you do to move one step closer to reaching your goals?"

(quoted from fitness&spice blog "the Power of One")

Stuffed Eggplants

Ok guys, this was my 2nd, "officially vegetarian" dish I've made, and it turned out really good! It's also a healthy recipe, consisting mostly of vegetables! You could probably add in some chicken if you wanted meat in it, but without it, well, lets just say "amazing".

Ingredients

2 cups died whole wheat Penne

2 tbls (ish) extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Egg Plants

1 Medium Onion, chopped

1 Garlic Clove, minced

14oz can, chopped tomatoes (I used garlic & basil roasted ones)

1 Medium Zucchini, chopped

1 Red Pepper, chopped

1 tbls Oregano

2 tsp Basil

2 oz Mozzarella Cheese, thinly sliced

1/3 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated

Salt & Pepper to taste

~~Optional: 5 tbls Dry Breadcrumbs for topping~~

1) Preheat the oven to 400.

2) Cook the 2 cups of pasta according to package (should take about 10 minutes).

3) While pasta is cooking, cut the egg plants in half lengthwise and score the inside without puncturing the shell. Scoop the insides out and chop them up. Brush some oil on the inside of each shell. Set aside.

4) Heat skillet and add a small amount of oil. Cook the onions and garlic over low for around 5 minutes. Add the other vegetables and stir frequently for another 5 minutes. Add the can of tomatoes, and seasonings (I also had to add about 1/3 cup of water to this mixture). Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir in the pasta and mozzarella cheese and cook until melted, then set aside.

5) Spoon the vegetable mixture into each shell, top with parmesan cheese (and breadcrumbs if you choose). Bake for around 20-25 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown.

Yumm-O!!!

ChickPea Patties!!

So for lunch today I thought I would get creative! Jessalynne was able to help me, which is always fun, we made a chickpea (garbanzo bean) patty on a whole wheat sandwich thin with vegetables! It was actually, surprisingly flavorful and yumm-o! For the whole sandwich it was only around 220 calories too which is amazing since it was filling and good!! It was a good source of protein, potassium (over 200mg), antioxidants (the tomato & avacado), and I'm sure other good stuff too! But I'm new to actually paying attention to this stuff ;)
I put lettuce, tomato, pickle, cucumber, 1 slice of avacado and mustard on mine! It would have been good with some chips on it... because I LOVE chips on my sandwiches but I refrained from it... yay for me lol.

The only thing I will probably do different next time I make them, is I think I will add an egg white to it to help hold it together better. It was really crumbly and fell apart when trying to flip it, and eat it! But as far as the texture and flavor went, they were right on! Jessalynne helped me eat it - she tried to take my whole sandwich from me! lol. Silly girl!

Makes a good lunch or dinner. I think I will eat one of the other patties in a wrap tomorrow for lunch. Chloee is eating part of one now for lunch and she is scarfing it! lol. Turned out to be a pretty good recipe, I'm so excited! If you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them :)





Chickpea Patties
1- 15 oz can chickpeas/garbanzo beans, rinsed
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley (or about 2 1/2 tbls dried parsley)
1 clove of garlic (or 2 tbls minced garlic)
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp each, salt & pepper
2 tbls whole wheat flour
Virgin Olive Oil/Cooking Spray

Blend together all ingredients (except flour & oil) in a food processor (or magic bullet). Form pattys and dust each with flour. Cook in greased skillet/frying pan on medium/high heat about 2-3 minutes on each side until done.

Made 4 pattys at roughly 95 calories each.

Yum yum!

So this is my first blog entry. I'm pretty excited to have blog, somewhere to share my thoughts and not have to worry about whether someone is listening to be nice, or because they actually want to!

So tonight I want to talk about running. This morning I ran 8 1/2 miles (of hills.... ugh) with my mom, I've been gradually increasing my runs since Christmas, preparing for the 10 mile Pear Blossom Run on April 10 (which is only 4 1/2 weeks away -- OMG). Anyway, back to this morning, normally I don't really enjoy running, and at some point during my run I end up "a little bit hating my mom" because she pushes me so hard. It's good for me, and keeps me going, but I dont have to like it :) Anyway, most of the time she doesn't realize she's pushing me, but just by running with me, she pushes me. She is truely amazing. I dont know how I would stick with it without her encouraging me & motivating me to keep going. She doesn't intentionally run too fast for me, she's just amazing and can lol. Some of those busy roads with no sidewalks it's hard for her to tell when I start lagging too far behind! Well today when we ran, I didn't worry about trying to "keep up" with her, or worry about beating my last time. I ran, just to run. And I really enjoyed it. I finished (tired & with aching knees), with a slower time than I would have liked, 76 minutes and some change, but, I did it! It's one of the first runs I have really enjoyed, and not been discouraged or frustrated at some point. Thats a great feeling to start my day with. Now of course my knees are still aching (just a little), and my calves & butt are SO tight from those stinkin' hills, but mentally I feel great knowing that I set out to run 8 miles, and did it!

I can't believe the Pear Blossom is so soon, seems like I just ran the 5k in last years Pear Blossom (of course then, I was 8 1/2 months pregnant, but still!!!). Well, I'm excited that I get to run 2 days a week, although I wish it was more (maybe 1-2 days more, but not every day like some people lol). I'll take what I can get! In just 4 weeks, the race I've been preparing mentally & physically for over the last 3 months will be here... Wow. Then what will I do? I've read a lot about people running races that they have trained for, whether it e a 5K or a marathon, and afterwards getting really depressed afterward, and that this is normal? It seems like it would be the exact opposite, you should be proud of yourself, excited! But what do I do when it's done? I won't have a goal or deadline anymore? Just keep enjoying running? Maybe I will try for a 1/2 marathon? That'll be exhausting to run LOL.


Well anyway, I'm ending my day feeling really good about me. Thats not something I have really ever been able to say until the last year or so. Its a really good feeling :) Watching my girls play together, and my husband is dinking around with his new lazer something printer... Life's just great.