Pumpkin Protein Bars

Good Morning! Welcome to a new week.

This weekend we decided to celebrate our Valentine’s day early, since it falls on a Tuesday this year. Neither of us are big Valentine’s day people, we typically just go to a new place for dinner. That’s what we did again this year, and we topped our night off with some frozen yogurt. (well, frozen yogurt for me, a cupcake for Craig 😉 ) It was a perfect night, if you ask me! Dinner, frozen yogurt & then a movie. We happened to be browsing over the movies that were on & ‘Seven’ was one of them.

Craig was surprised that I had never seen it; as he stays that it is a ‘classic.’ Oops! I am REALLY behind on all of those ‘classic’ movies. I’m almost too embarrassed to admit to some that I haven’t seen. (like The Goonies, Dirty Dancing, Gone with the Wind….& I could go on but you are already probably in shock.)

It was an awesome movie though! I’m glad Craig convinced me to watch it. I love Morgan Freeman, he is one of my favorite actors. And can I tell you how this movie changed my feelings about Kevin Spacey?! OMG…what a part he plays- so convincing!!!…and kind of creepy!

Besides celebrating Valentine’s day early I finally got to try a recipe that I’ve been wanting to try for months now. I only remembered because I saw it in a post that Courtney wrote.

Jamie Eason’s Pumpkin Protein Bars! Sounds more like a fall recipe, since it has pumpkin in it, but since I have PLENTY of pumpkin (thanks to my Aunt) in my house, I figured why not try it!

I’m so glad I did because they were SO good!

Pumpkin Protein Bars (Recipe Copied directly from the site, my changes are noted in italics)

• ½ C Xylitol Brown Sugar Blend (Ideal) (I used the Splenda Brown Sugar blend)
• 1 – 4 oz. jar baby food applesauce (I just used 4oz. unsweetened apple sauce, not baby food)
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 ½ tsp. ground ginger
• ½ tsp. ground clove
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 large egg whites
• 1 – 15 oz. can of raw pumpkin
• 2 C oat flour (I used whole wheat flour)
• 2 scoops vanilla whey protein (the kind I used is below)
• ½ cup almond milk
• ½ C chopped walnuts (optional) (I used about 1/4 cup chopped pecans)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Spray a 9 X 13 Pyrex dish with non-stick spray.
3. Combine first 11 ingredients and mix well.
4. Add the final 3 ingredients (4, if adding walnuts), and mix until incorporated. (I also sprinkled the whole thing with more cinnamon before baking it)
   
5. Spread batter into the Pyrex dish and bake for 30 min.
6. Makes 24 squares.

I think you can tell by the picture that these were not dry at all! I am always kind of hesitant when making these ‘protein’ recipes, because they tend to come out pretty dry & un flavorful. Well, I have to stay, these are my new favorite protein packed recipe! Just take a look at the stats:
Nutrition (without pecans): 1 square = 47 calories, .7 g fat, 8 g carbs, 3.7 g protein

Nutrition (with pecans): 1 square = 63 calories, 2.3 g fat, 8 g carbs, 4 g protein
(Stats copied from the original recipe, they could be a bit different based on the ingredients that I changed, but I’m sure that they are still VERYclose, especially in the amount of protein)

The protein I used was BSN Lean Dessert Protein, the Whipped Vanilla flavor.

Those are some pretty packed pumpkin protein squares, right?! And like I said, they actually taste GOOD too. Not grainy like some protein bars can taste. I also am NOT a fan of Splenda products, but since it was such a small amount it didn’t affect my stomach at all. (usually Splenda makes me feel very bloated)

I ate THREE (yes 3 <—they were that good! I couldn’t stop- I just kept going back to the kitchen for more) of them for breakfast on Saturday with some honey Chobani.

Delicious! And the good thing is that since this recipe makes 24 bars, I will have enough for the rest of the week. They make the perfect snack, especially if you are on the go. I don’t know if you are like me, but I always like having some kind of snack in my purse, you never know when hunger might strike. 😉

I think you should definitely try the recipe, if you enjoy pumpkin. I was pleasantly surprised how they turned out…and Craig even liked them! (& he hates pumpkin, so that definitely says something!)

Hope you have a great week!!

Do you have a favorite ‘classic’ movie?
Favorite on the go snack? (that you always have with you)

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