Chewy Chocolate Protein Balls
Anyone else here in big need of snack ideas?? 🙋♀️ With breastfeeding Harlow, I’m extra hungry, causing me to need more food more frequently. And if I’m honest, I get tired of eating the same things over and over. There are times that I’ll walk into the kitchen to get something to eat and think “I’m SO hungry, but what do I eat that I haven’t already eaten at least once today?” 🤪I need something filling, satisfying, and easy that also leaves my body feeling good. That’s where these chewy chocolate protein balls come in. Think cold, chewy no-bake cookie. They’re the perfect combination with plenty of protein, carbs, and fat as well as fiber from the oats, chia seeds, and banana. I’ll make up a batch, throw them in the freezer and then grab a few for a delicious and filling snack.
This Christmas season, Isaac and I decided to make various traditional Christmas foods at our house. So I’ll be munching on homemade snack mix (I finally found Bugles at the store. Who knew they were so hard to track down?!), sausage balls, and crackers and cheese over the next few weeks. If you have any current favorite snack ideas, comment below. I’d love to hear what you’re munching on.
Hope you enjoy these as much as we do!
Chewy chocolate protein balls
Ingredients
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup chia seeds
- 1 banana, mashed
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup collagen peptides
- 1 cup oats
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts (I use peanuts and almonds)
Instructions
- Stir together the peanut butter, honey, chia seeds, and mashed banana.
- Add remaining dry ingredients and stir until combined. Form into balls (or use a small cookie scoop), and freeze on a baking sheet with parchment paper for an hour. Transfer to a container or freezer bag.
- I recommend eating straight from the freezer!!
Favorite Oatmeal Recipes Roundup
Sooo...let's get real. I like oats. A LOT. One look at my instagram account and you'll discover that very quickly. I went scrolling through my account to get some inspiration about my favorite recipes and holy moly. It made me want to eat oatmeal for every meal for the next week!! Okay, maybe not every meal, but it reminded me of how dreamy oats are.
I love eating oats because they can be hot, cold, creamy, doughy, cakey, etc. The possibilities are endless!! It honors my cravings for sweets, fills my desire for doughy textures, and the fiber content keeps me full and my blood sugar stable for several hours. I wanted to share several of my favorite recipes with you so that you can mix up your breakfast routine or get into oatmeal if you're not already into it. I seriously had oats in some form for breakfast for like a year straight. I can help you out!
This is one of the first oatmeal recipes that got me into the world of oats--whipped banana oatmeal. I love topping it with chopped apples, flax seed, and walnuts. <3
Then after my whipped oatmeal phase, I got into various baked oatmeal recipes. Here are a few of my faves...The one below is from Immaeatthat. Kylie knows how to do a baked oatmeal :-D
For the chocolate brulee below, I just top it with peanut butter instead of stuffing it inside. LOVE the crunchy topping! I'm all about mixing crunchy with a doughy texture.
This one is even doughier than the brulee one. It's more like bread pudding (insert heart eye emoji here). Ooey gooey in the middle, crunchy on the top!!
Then I got into overnight oats. I make mine a variety of different ways. Cooled coffee gives it a nice flavor like in this recipe.
http://24carrotlife.com/2015/05/03/latte-overnight-oats-vegan/
Other times I mash part of a banana, add oats, chia seeds, pb2, and milk into a bowl, stick in the fridge and then top with fruit, nuts, and peanut butter in the morning. Ohemgee...
And now with the weather FINALLY getting cooler, and my love for espresso continuing to grow, I canNOT wait to try out this recipe below for an oatmeal latte. It's genius!!
http://www.howsweeteats.com/2016/03/how-to-make-an-oatmeal-latte/
What do you think? Have you tried any of the recipes above? Have a recipe I just HAVE to try? Let me know!
Trek Bars--Homemade Granola Bars
These bars. Oh. My. Word.
So I made an incredible discovery about the location of my new office. I happen to be caddy-corner from Great Harvest Bread Company. If you've never been, you're missing out. It's the cutest little bakery and sandwich shop. Everyday they make different options of fresh bread and goodies and then have a few everyday staples. The best part about this little gem is that they give you FREE samples every time you come in. Puhlease and thank you. When I go, I try a slice or two of bread. Oh, and they top it with cinnamon butter. Enough said....
These bars. Oh. My. Word.
So I made an incredible discovery about the location of my new office. I happen to be caddy-corner from Great Harvest Bread Company. If you've never been, you're missing out. It's the cutest little bakery and sandwich shop. Everyday they make different options of fresh bread and goodies and then have a few everyday staples. The best part about this little gem is that they give you FREE samples every time you come in. Puhlease and thank you. When I go, I try a slice or two of bread. Oh, and they top it with cinnamon butter. Enough said....
I wanted to show my friend the shop and when we visited they happened to have their Trek Bars to sample. I gave it a shot, and oh my word, it was SO delicious! Since I liked it so much, I decided to find a copycat recipe for these bars. I did, and then tweaked it slightly to my own liking. These bars are chewy and dense, sweet and salty, and crunchy all at the same time! I absolutely love the millet (aka, bird seed) because it adds a nice crunch. If you don't have any, I highly recommend you go out and get some for these bars.
So some of you may read this recipe and think, "Oh my gosh, there's no way I can make those bars and eat them. They have way too many calories, fat, and sugar." I used to think the same way. But ever since I started learning about mindfulness and then intuitive eating, that has changed. I am going to post a blog about intuitive eating very soon because it's completely changing the way I view food and my body and it's been awesome. The thing about eating these bars are that, yes, I'm sure they have a lot of energy (calories, fat, etc) in them, but I'm not worried because they are incredibly filling. Instead of snacking on a bowl of popcorn, and then something else, and then something else; I have one of these bars and I'm satisfied for a really long time.
And not only and I'm physically satisfied, I'm emotionally satisfied too because the bar tastes good and I'm able to enjoy it. When we restrict, we set ourselves up for eating more later on. Sooo, all of that to say, you should/must make these bars soon!
If you don't care for apricots or craisins, sub in raisins or some other dried fruit. If you're not a fan of walnuts or sunflower seeds, go with almonds. Substitute the mix-ins for things you like. The only non-negotiable is the millet :-). If you don't have any unflavored whey protein powder, I'm sure they will turn out just fine. They'll just be a little more chewy (which isn't a bad thing if you ask me!)
