All About Those Bars - Homemade Protein Bars

Oh fitness...how I love and loathe thee.  Trying to get back in shape after baby #2 is a tough thing to do, mainly because you are running after baby #1 while tending to baby #2, working, keeping household stuff under control and still managing to find time to shower!  So I try and squeeze workouts when I can and make good eating choices as often as possible so I can get back into fighting shape as soon as I can :)

As a mom of 2 kids under 2, it's all about planning and making the most of meal prep days.  So I try and cook up a ton of stuff for the week, portion out my meals, and make easy grab and go options, like these bars.  The recipe is from Jamie Eason and if you haven't had a chance, look her up on FB or on bodybuilding.com.  Her recipes are great and her LiveFit Trainer program has a really great success rate....and it's free!  No sign-ups, no videos, nothing to sell you.  Just free fitness.

The recipe is easy to make and uses some ingredients you will find easily at the local grocery stores.  One ingredient is baby food....and before you roll your eyes, remind yourself that this should be food in its purest form since its to be fed to new tummies.  If you are uncomfortable buying a jar of organic pureed baby food, then by all means, peel, cook and puree your carrots...but I am up for the short cut.  I used sweetener in these, but with the super sweet protein powders on the market today, you probably could cut that out all together.  The protein powder I used was Pure Protein, but not one I recommend.  I bought it as a have-to and would definitely gravitate towards a different brand given more time/options.  I could do a whole blog post on just protein powders honestly.

Jamie Eason's Carrot Cake Protein Bars

• 1 cup of oat flour (do not buy this...use regular rolled oats and run it through a blender or food processor to make your own!)
• 2 scoops of vanilla whey protein
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp each allspice and nutmeg (alternative - use pumpkin pie spice)
• 4 egg whites
• 3/4 cup Splenda, Stevia in the Raw or sweetener of your choice
• 8 oz baby food carrots
• 4 oz water

Directions

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees
2. Mix dry ingredients - flour, whey protein, spices, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
3. Mix wet ingredients in another bowl - egg whites, sweetener, carrots, and water.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix.
5. Spray a glass baking dish with non-stick spray.  (I have used both a 11x7 and a 8x8 dish.  Both work well)
6. Pour mixture into dish and bake for 20-30 minutes or until toothpick/cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the middle.  **Note these won't be typical protein bars and dense and chewy.  They are airy and cakey in texture**