What's the most important meal of the day? Breakfast.
Why? It starts your metabolism and gives you energy.
Why start your metabolism earlier? Do you want to burn calories or not?
I eat breakfast every morning. Otherwise I will starve and get very cranky. Some people like to reach for a special K bar, or a slim fast, or some other miscellaneous "nutritional" breakfast pastry. The fact is: those really aren't that healthy for you. Why? Added Sugars, preservatives, artificial flavorings, unhealthy fats...
So what's a better option? My Chocolate Protein Cookies. Each one of these babies has 9 grams of protein (Read: Protein fills you up so you don't go hungry). A 90 calorie special K bar? I need like... 4 of those to keep me full.
Why? It starts your metabolism and gives you energy.
Why start your metabolism earlier? Do you want to burn calories or not?
I eat breakfast every morning. Otherwise I will starve and get very cranky. Some people like to reach for a special K bar, or a slim fast, or some other miscellaneous "nutritional" breakfast pastry. The fact is: those really aren't that healthy for you. Why? Added Sugars, preservatives, artificial flavorings, unhealthy fats...
So what's a better option? My Chocolate Protein Cookies. Each one of these babies has 9 grams of protein (Read: Protein fills you up so you don't go hungry). A 90 calorie special K bar? I need like... 4 of those to keep me full.
Chocolate Protein Cookies
3 bananas, mashed
2 C rolled oats
2 scoops chocolate protein powder
2 T natural peanut butter
3/4 C craisins
4 T flax seed
1/4 C black walnuts
1 C almonds (you can literally substitute whatever nuts you have, i just had to use up the last of my walnuts)
Mix all ingredients and form into cookie shapes on a cookie sheet. They won't expand or shrink, so you can put them pretty close together. Bake at 325 for 20 minutes or so - or until the tops feel firm. You can make them chewier by baking for less time or crunchier by making them thinner/baking longer.
Makes 14 cookies: 200 calories, 7g fat, 9g protein (per cookie)
3 bananas, mashed
2 C rolled oats
2 scoops chocolate protein powder
2 T natural peanut butter
3/4 C craisins
4 T flax seed
1/4 C black walnuts
1 C almonds (you can literally substitute whatever nuts you have, i just had to use up the last of my walnuts)
Mix all ingredients and form into cookie shapes on a cookie sheet. They won't expand or shrink, so you can put them pretty close together. Bake at 325 for 20 minutes or so - or until the tops feel firm. You can make them chewier by baking for less time or crunchier by making them thinner/baking longer.
Makes 14 cookies: 200 calories, 7g fat, 9g protein (per cookie)
I will admit, whatever protein powder you use likely has some scary additives in it that you can't pronounce. But - the fact that this is delivering a higher amount of protein than many breakfast options makes it ok in my book.
I like to compare them to Quaker Oatmeal-To-Go bars. Each one of those has 220 calories, 4g fat, and 4g protein. So, a little more calories, a little less fat, a lot less protein. But let's take a closer look at the ingredients...
I like to compare them to Quaker Oatmeal-To-Go bars. Each one of those has 220 calories, 4g fat, and 4g protein. So, a little more calories, a little less fat, a lot less protein. But let's take a closer look at the ingredients...
^What? Why so many ingredients???
After our lesson on added sugars... how many can you count? I count 7 - high fructose corn syrup, brown sugar, sugar, maltodextrin, glycerin, corn syrup, sorbitol.
My recipe? There is Maltodextrin and Sucralose in the protein powder and sugar in the craisins - but the banana really adds most of the sweetness you need in this recipe. It's not perfect - but let me tell you - these cookies are yummy any time of day. They make a great on-the-go breakfast, afternoon snack, or even pre-cardio meal.
I dare you not to try the batter before it goes in the oven. Because it's vegan - you can eat the batter "raw" and it's still just as tasty. (Note: there are only 12 cookies pictured on the tray - i'll give you one guess where the other ones went)
These bars are a great source of healthy fats from the nuts/flax seeds, great source of protein from the protein powder/nuts, great source of soluble fiber from oatmeal/flax seeds, and a good source of "good for you" carbs from the oats/fruit.
CAUTION: These are addictive.
After our lesson on added sugars... how many can you count? I count 7 - high fructose corn syrup, brown sugar, sugar, maltodextrin, glycerin, corn syrup, sorbitol.
My recipe? There is Maltodextrin and Sucralose in the protein powder and sugar in the craisins - but the banana really adds most of the sweetness you need in this recipe. It's not perfect - but let me tell you - these cookies are yummy any time of day. They make a great on-the-go breakfast, afternoon snack, or even pre-cardio meal.
I dare you not to try the batter before it goes in the oven. Because it's vegan - you can eat the batter "raw" and it's still just as tasty. (Note: there are only 12 cookies pictured on the tray - i'll give you one guess where the other ones went)
These bars are a great source of healthy fats from the nuts/flax seeds, great source of protein from the protein powder/nuts, great source of soluble fiber from oatmeal/flax seeds, and a good source of "good for you" carbs from the oats/fruit.
CAUTION: These are addictive.