Homemade Energy Bars Recipe

When dealing with chronic illness, I need to make every bite count. This recipe is one I made up based off of various ideas. It is nutrient dense, lends itself to being modified as needed for taste or allergy/dietary needs. It is a sort of cross between granola bars and energy bites. I have a basic recipe, but then changed it, then changed it again. Now, I rarely measure anything. Thus, this "recipe" will be given in estimates. I am normally not a fan of supplements, but rather of getting needed nutrients from food as much as possible.  However, dealing with weight loss, adding fat to everything was not helping enough, so resorting to protein powder at present in addition to the extra fat. Preparing for travel, so made these to take along for snacks.

Homemade Energy Bars Recipe

2-3 cups rolled oats
2 cups trail mix
1/2-1 cup protein powder (optional)
cinnamon
ground ginger
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
1/4 cup coconut oil

Mix oats, trail mix, protein powder in a large bowl. Stir together peanut butter, molasses, coconut oil in a smaller bowl or large measuring cup. (Melt coconut oil if needed.) Pour peanut butter mixture over oats mixture. Stir until fully mixed. Pour into greased 8"x8" pan and press down firmly and evenly. Chill until firm. Cut into desired size bars. Store in fridge. (Coconut oil gets soft....)

Alternatively, these can be rolled into balls. I have done this, but it is time-consuming, and I tend to look for fastest, easiest ways to do things.

Any nut or seed butter can be used in place of peanut butter. Honey can be used in place of molasses. I am sure pure maple syrup could be as well. Any store-bought or homemade trail mix can be used--I usually use homemade trail mix. Or, in place of trail mix, any combination of nuts, seeds, dried fruit can be used.  Other optional items: sunflower seeds, ground flax seeds, chia seeds, unsweetened coconut, cinnamon, etc. I usually use honey, not molasses, but molasses actually contains more nutrients, it sounded good, so tried it and it turned out well. The molasses led me to deciding to add cinnamon and ginger as well--excellent combination! These were not measured, but liberally sprinkled/poured.

I normally do not use protein powder--this is first time other than for after orthopedic surgeries. I did not measure this--I looked at how much was left in the container, decided it looked reasonable so dumped the entire amount in. This time I used pasteurized egg white protein powder (only ingredient) for the protein powder. I usually use Tera's Whey unsweetened whey protein powder (two ingredients: whey concentrate, sunflower lecithin). I prefer unflavored as I have more options for how to use it. I need as few ingredients as possible--less chance of reactions.  I also like unsweetened as I do not do well with sugar, but also do not do well with most sweeteners. I can get away with some honey, molasses, pure maple syrup, even some sugar once in a great while if symptoms are stable. Artificial sweeteners, stevia, sugar alcohols are all off limits--this is just me and how my body reacts at this time. There are other protein powders out there, I am sure others that would work well for those with sensitivities as well, but these are the only ones I have used thus far that have worked for me.

All mixed together.

Mixture pressed into pain, chilled, ready to be cut into squares.

One granola bar.

 Homemade Trail Mix

1 cup almonds
1 cup walnuts
1 cup pecans
1 cup Brazil nuts
1 cup hazel nuts
1 cup cashews
1 cup peanuts
1 cup raisins
1 cup dried apricots (cut into smaller pieces)
1 cup dried cranberries

Mix together. I usually measure all into a large ziploc and shake it, or use a large mixing bowl. I cut up the apricots with scissors. Any combination of nuts, dried fruit, seeds will work.

I like seeds in trail mix, but they tend to sift to the bottom. Thus, I rarely add them to trail mix.

I also like chocolate chips in trail mix, but need to be careful with sugar, plus chocolate means melting issues if traveling with trail mix.

These both make great, easy to make, easy to modify snacks.

Copyright © 2018 by Chronic Wholeness. All rights reserved.

Easy Slow Cooker Vegetable Beef Soup Recipe

One of my many hobbies is playing with recipes to find things that are easy to make, take as little effort as possible, are healthy, inexpensive, etc. I have sensitivities, chronic pain, chronic fatigue, etc. I have to be careful of what I eat, I do not have the stamina to stand or sit long enough to do much food preparation or cooking. I also do not have much to work with in terms of budget. So, it was more or less necessity that drives this hobby. But, it is something I enjoy doing.

I learned to cook by strictly following recipes. However, the more experience I had, the more I learned about food science, nutrition, etc., the more I have become creative with recipes, or simply make things up completely as I go.

From a chronic illness perspective, my slow cooker is the best thing ever! In five minutes or so, I can dump in ingredients, then the slow cooker does the rest of the work for me!

I sometimes put the meat raw into the slow cooker with some of the juice and let the meat cook, then add the rest of the ingredients.  I sometimes brown the meat after starting the vegetables with the juice and seasonings. Ground turkey works well in place of beef. There really is no right or wrong way. The celery seed can be replaced with celery salt. Honestly, all of the seasonings are optional, this is just one of my "all-purpose" combinations. Soups are easy to modify.

I grew up as a really picky eater and still have some texture issues. I am not a fan of frozen vegetables in general, but the slow cooker can get them really tender and to the point my mouth will consider them acceptable.

Copyright © 2018 by Chronic Wholeness. All rights reserved.