Low Sugar Peanut Butter Oatmeal Protein Bars

June 18th, 2013 | Posted by Erica House in Health | Life | Recipes - (32 Comments)

It’s been a while since my last recipe! I finally had some time this weekend to play around in the kitchen and I set out to make some high protein snacks to bring to work. I wanted a sweet low sugar treat and spent the morning looking up protein bar recipes online. These definitely turned out more like granola bars but they are still high protein, low calorie and 100% delicious!

Oatmeal Protein Bars1

Ingredients:

1 c. Quick Oats

1/2 c. Protein Powder – I used Vi-Shape Sweet Cream flavor

2 T Flax seed (can omit)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

4 packets Truvia or other zero calorie sweetener

1/2 c. PB2 (can use real peanut butter but adjust the nutritional info accordingly!)

2 containers apple sauce (about 1 cup)

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup egg whites

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Directions:

- Combine the first 6 ingredients (all the dry stuff) in a large bowl.

- Combine the last 4 ingredients in a smaller bowl. Mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well again.

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- Pour batter into a greased baking dish (mine was 9×9) and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before cutting.

The hardest part of the entire recipe is not eating all of the batter raw. Seriously. I made the mistake of licking the spoon after I put the batter into the pan and I actually had to spoon some of the batter out just to have a few more bites before it went in the oven. Then, right after I put it in the oven, I debated on taking it out and just eating it raw. Thankfully I showed some self-restraint and let it bake.

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If you cut yours into 8 bars like I did the nutritional stats look like this:

Calories 106, Fat 2, Sugar 4 and Protein 8

You could also cut them into 4 large squares and double the nutritional stats above. 206 calories and 16 grams of protein rivals most store bough protein bars! As for the taste of the protein powder I used – I accidently spilled some on the counter as I was working and I had to lick my finger to ‘clean’ it up … into my mouth. It is delicious! I can’t wait to add some to my oatmeal in the mornings and make smoothies with it.

Oatmeal Protein Bars

Disclosure: ViSalus provided me with product to use and compensated me for my time to develop this recipe.

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Tutorial: Making Low-Calorie Zucchini Pasta Without a Spiralizer

May 22nd, 2013 | Posted by Erica House in Recipes - (33 Comments)

Last week I shared a photo on twitter of the giant zucchini pasta bowl I was having for dinner. I may have casually mentioned how ridiculously low-calorie it is and I was quickly bombarded with questions on how to make it! I’m certainly not the first person to do this so there are many other tutorials out there, but here’s my quick-and-easy version.

Zucchini Pasta

 

I recommend using 2 medium sized zucchini per person. After cooked that will make about 2 cups. I’ve made this dish plenty of times and weighed the zucchini the first few times using my EatSmart scale and each time it came in at about 9 ounces or 35 calories of zucchini.

Wash ‘em well and pull out your handy dandy julienne peeler. The one I use is $15 on Amazon. I tried to find one locally and couldn’t so I’m grateful my Mom got me this for Christmas! You’ll often see people use big spiralizer machines to make veggies pasta but I wasn’t sure how often I’d use it so I didn’t want to fork over the extra cash for it.

The peeling part is super easy and takes just a few minutes to shred the zucchini.

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I missed talking to you guys via video so I shot a short one showing off my mad peeling skills.

Once peeled you can sautee it in a pan, or throw it in the microwave with the sauce for a few minutes like I do. My favorite way to make it right now is with 1/2 a cup of delicious Newmans Own’s sauce and 1 Tablespoon of cheese (which comes to a whopping 130 calories!) I rarely have pasta anymore as it’s just a total calorie bomb and I can’t help but eat way past my fullness levels with it. It’s been nice to have a lightened up version of this classic comfort food.

I’m not sure how well it would be received by non-health freaks. If I was trying to sneak this into kid’s meals I’d probably make the pasta with a mix of 50% traditional noodles and 50% zucchini. I peel mine with the skin on, but you could peel that off first so all the noodles are beige colored and I suspect you could sneak it past those who are typically run screaming away at the sight of veggies.

IMG_6658Have you had vegetable noodles before?
What toppings or sauce would you use on zucchini pasta? 

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Vegan Banana Split Popsicles from Healthful Pursuit

May 9th, 2013 | Posted by Erica House in Recipes - (12 Comments)

Last year,before I started my own blog, I religiously read 4 blogs: Oh She Glows, Daily Garnish, PeanutButterRunner & Healthful Pursuit. I was drawn to these blog in particular because they all seemed so approachable and I looked forward to start off each day with catching up on their latest posts over a big bowl of oatmeal.

Recently, Leanne of Healthful Pursuit gave me a sneak peak of her new Dessert Freedom Recipe Guide and I was floored. Her recipes are always incredibly unique, healthy and full of new flavors and ingredients that I love trying. Not only does her Recipe Guide include 20 new dessert recipes but she also shares 20 health-promoting techniques to help you conquer your cravings and embrace your allergies. All of her recipes are egg, wheat, gluten, grain, refined sugar, dairy, corn, soy and peanut free!

In celebration of her new guide I’m sharing one of her perfect light summer treats – Vegan Banana Split Popsicles!

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Ingredients

Directions

  1. If using a popsicle mold that requires wooden sticks, soak in cool water for 5 minutes before using. She used these popsicle molds.
  2. Place banana pieces and milk in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a glass with a spout and set aside.
  3. Place strawberry halves in the blender and pulse just until broken down but not smooth. Place into a dish and set aside.
  4. Get to layering your popsicles! Begin with a tablespoon or so of banana puree, followed by 4-5 chocolate chips, divide the pulsed strawberries between molds, top with diced pineapple and press the pineapple down slightly so that it’s flat in the mold. Follow this by 2 cherry halves, then top with remaining banana puree.
  5. Tap the popsicle mold on the counter a couple of times to release bubbles throughout the mold. Top with additional banana puree if needed.
  6. Slide the soaked sticks into the prepared molds and stick in the freezer for at least 12 hours or better yet, overnight.
  7. To remove popsicles, run molds under hot water for a couple of seconds and wiggle out.
  8. Enjoy!

HP1Don’t they just look divine?! I’m such a sucker for popsicles! You can view their full nutritional information here.  If you’d like to learn more about her guide, please check out her information page. You can see a small preview of one of the recipes below. I was blown away by how professional it looks, the quality of the photography and the useful tips she included to help indulge in desserts in such a healthy manner.

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What is your favorite healthy dessert?  

 P.S. I’m leaving today for my Gainesville-Cumberland Island trip! I’m going to livetweet as much as possible so if you want to follow just search for the tag #EricasRoadTrip on Twitter and Instagram.

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