March 23, 2009

Easy Peasey Breakfast Bars and a blogger meetup


There are a lot of great recipes out there, but the ones that have me running to the kitchen are those that have only a handful of ingredients. The recipes that are "I can make this right now" kind of easy.

So it's about time I brought you one of those, since my last recipe (though delicious) had an ingredient list to beat the band.

Today's breakfast bars are (very) inspired by these Banana Nut Bites, which were brought to my attention by Kristen at Food Renegade. The only change I made was to replace some of the nuts with seeds and oats, in the interest of saving money, and added a sprinkle of cinnamon on top. Ready? I think it will take me longer to type this than it will for you to prepare the batter:

Easy Peasey Breakfast Bars
2 ripe bananas
1 cup nuts (i used almonds)
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup unsweetened, dried coconut
2 eggs
cinnamon
(optional: raisins or other dried fruit)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a food processor, spin nuts and seeds down to a powder. Add oats and coconut, blend. Finally add bananas (and dried fruit if you are using, which I didn't).
3. Mix in eggs. Blend well.
4. Pour mixture into greased pie plate. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
5. Bake for about 30 minutes. Let cool, then slice into bars.

These aren't particularly sweet or rich, but they are a satisfying way to start the day or good for a treat. Far better than buying power bars, the nuts and eggs in this recipe provide a good amount of protein. And for anyone with a gluten intolerance, using nuts/seeds in place of oats is the way to go.

So, aside from cooking up some breakfast bars and continuing to work on my new website (totally under construction but you can sneak peek it here), I spent some time last week with fellow blogger, NAOmni of Not Another Omnivore. She was visiting Boston so we hung out and traded secret nutrition tips. Not really. Actually, NAOmni was kind enough to spend an hour with me completing a health history consultation. It was neat to talk to someone in person after so many blog posts and comments between us! We even took a picture:



For any of you out there who are interested in the idea of holistic health counseling, I encourage you to get in touch because I do most of my work with a magical voice-throwing device. Over the phone, that is. A free initial health history consultation could be the first step towards feeling all sunshine and rainbows in your life and achieving some health goals. If you'd like to sign up for a time slot, send an email to michelle@findyourbalancehealth.com.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey thanks for the cred on the bars. Very cool site you have here. Glad to find it. Gave it a read through... pretty grain heavy for me ;-) but good stuff.

The SoG

Lori said...

These bars sound so great. I have just added them to my to-make list. Can't wait!

Tyler said...

yum! this looks like a great recipe :)

Not Another Omnivore said...

Those bars look good, and we look even better. Although since I'm pale as a newborn, I don't know where the red glow came from, but eh.

And I don't mind about the pic. I'm doing a personal update of sorts in a minute so I'll actually link here as part of that.

Oh, and House of Blues is pretty awesome. Great sound indeed!

NAOmni

Megan said...

Looks like a healthy way to start the day. They sound delicious!

Anonymous said...

These sound great, and look even better! And what fun to meet a fellow blogger!

Erica said...

WOW- these bars sound yummy and CLEAN! I may need to make them asap! Cute pic! I love your hair.

I know, I know- I def want to try the green tea! Thanks for the recs!

Culinary Wannabe said...

How fun that you two got to meet up! It's always so funny to put a real person and the persona that you've been chattin' with online together.

cook4seasons said...

Next time, pick me! Ha - only wish I lived closer. Cute pic of the two of yutes. Those bars are going with me to school tomorrow.

Adam said...

Wait a minute ... oats have gluten? For real? Ugh!

Michelle said...

@SonofGrok – thank YOU!

@Lori – I might add a Tbl. of maple syrup next time I make. Or fruit or something.

@Tyler – it's a great one. An EASY great one.

@NAOmni – you were flushed from that cute guy taking our pic. kidding!

@Megan – sure are. try 'em and report back!

@Ricki – so when are you going to be in the Boston area? another blogger meetup! :-)

@Erica – oh, my hair was flat from my hat. still so cold here!

@Culinarywannabe – i know, my first blogger meetup. fun!

@Cook4seasons – didja make 'em? didja? didja?

@Adam – weeeeeeellll, no. oats don't have gluten but from what i understand they are often cross contaminated bc they're processed in facilities that also make wheat products. so in theory you COULD find oats that aren't cross contaminated if you did homework.

Anonymous said...

I'm with you on the appeal of make-it-now recipes. I'll have to give these a go. I've been looking for healthy snacks.

Vered said...

I love the new website. It's great that you're moving from Blogger to your own domain.

Good luck with the new business! When you're ready, you should design a 125 X 125 ad - I'll be happy to feature it on my site for a month, free of charge. Just email me when you're ready. :)

Anonymous said...

What is the texture of your breakfast bars? soft and cake-like or firm and cruncy like a power bar?

healthy ashley said...

Those bars look fantastic! And sweet photo. I love meeting fellow bloggers!

Unknown said...

These look really good :)

Primary Work at Home said...

Wow looks so yummy. Thank you for sharing this one. :)

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Unknown said...

I am always trying to find ways to use bananas that a little too ripe for my family's tastes.

These bars sound really delicious!

Penny

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