Friday, April 19, 2013

Fit Friday - Homemade Larabars

Happy Friday!

Have you ever had a Larabar?

They are delicious snacks, full of healthy fat, a little bit of protein, and natural fruit sugars.  I used to eat them often during my running days, but to be honest, at least for our household, they're a little pricey.  But, great news!  They are SO easy to make.  SO EASY!  Just combine equal portions of nuts, dates, and dried fruit in a high-powered blender (such as a Vitamix) or your food processor (my weapon of choice), and a few minutes later.... voila!  You have a tasty, healthy, snack!  Here was today's creation:

Apple Cashew Date Bars

1 cup dried apple slices (I used the ones from Trader Joe's that are unsweetened, so the only ingredient is apples)
1 cup pitted medjool dates (this was 10 dates for me)
1 cup cashews (salted, unsalted, whatever you like/have)

Combine everything in your chosen ingredient-crusher until you have a very thick, nearly paste mixture.  Then press the mixture into any pan lined with parchment or wax paper.  You can make these as thick or thin as you want.  Finally, store in the refrigerator and enjoy!

I pressed my mixture out fairly thin so that I got 10 bars.  Divided this way, the recipe will yield a bar with 145 calories, 6 grams of fat, 24 grams of carbohydrates, and 2 grams of protein.  That's not bad for a little pick-me-up snack, and the best part is that you know everything that went into it!  These are definitely a keeper for me, and I can't wait to try out other variations with other fruit and nut combinations.  You could also add in other ingredients after the initial processing - you just might need to use your hands to mix in things like chocolate chips, nuts that you don't want crushed, coconut, etc, because the mixture is so thick.




When Chris tried these today, he said they tasted like a fruit roll-up, so I guess that's a win since we are talking about something healthy here and he didn't hate them.

I'm also very happy and relieved to report that my knee is feeling progressively better.  Foam rolling is amazing.  It hits points in your muscles that human hands just cannot touch.  It is still painful, but each session gets a little better.  2 days ago, going up and down stairs was uncomfortable.  Yesterday I couldn't even hit a 45-degree squat, and forget about any lunges.  Today I have almost full range of motion.  I was able to go to BodyPump and just really watch it and when it came to lower-body work.  Thank you, God!

Do you have plans for the weekend?  On Sunday, my baby turns 2.  Still wrapping my head around it.  I'll get there eventually.

Have a great weekend!

Recipe inspired by Rawified

No comments:

Post a Comment

I would love to hear from you!