Happy last week of June! How did that happen? I don’t mind it though because July brings us some much needed rest. The Kiwi has one more race this weekend and then it will be two weeks of down time before his next training/racing blocks.
Luckily, this last race is in Texas, so no packing the bike and airport travel, phew!. But since I can’t go with the kiwi (We’re dog sitting), I am packing his car full of good fuel! I’m Crazy Like that! Sherpa Wife Crazy!
Here is the recipe for our favorite Grain Free “balanced” bars. Perfect to take on the road or just to eat anytime, anywhere!
Ingredients
- ½ cup PB flour (you can also use ¼ cup more almond meal and 2 tablespoon more protein powder if you don’t have PB Flour)
- ½ cup coconut flour
- 1 ⅓ cup almond meal
- 45g vanilla protein powder (I use Growing Naturals Vegan Vanilla or Vanilla Cream Kidz Shake for the Paleo Caesin free version.)
- 2 tablespoon NUTTZO (or chunky nut butter)
- ¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk
- pinch or two of sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (really not needed)
- ½ teaspoon coconut extract
- 1 tablespoon local honey or maple syrup
- OPTIONAL Add-ins: (⅓ cup raisins/fruit, cinnamon, extra honey or stevia if you like them to be sweeter, bacon bits)
Directions:
Pretty simple, mix all the ingredients together and press into a greased baking dish. I used an 8×8 square pan. If the batter is to dry to mix, add in more milk or an egg to give volume and moisture. Just depends on the type of protein and flours you use. Bake at 350F for 18-22 minutes but be sure to check it at 15 minutes in case you’ve used different proteins or flours that cook faster. Cool and then slice. Makes around 9-12 bars depending on how big you cut them.
Note– If you are nut free, try using sunflower seed butter instead of nut butter. Then 1 cup coconut flour or oat flour, ⅓ cup ground banana chips, and 1 ½ cup protein powder for your flour portions.
Calories per bar: 132.2
- Total Fat: 8.5 g
- Total Carbs: 7.5 g
- Dietary Fiber: 3.0 g
- Protein: 7.7 g
- sugars: 2.2g
Why Grain free? Well, grain free so it is easily digested. I find that sitting in a car or airplane can cause stomach discomfort or bloating with certain foods, so making it grain free is safest, ya know? I also added in good fats (coconut and nut butter) and a few natural sugars (the honey). The fat helps with energy and the natural sugars are to help keep his glycogen filled before race day. Yes, my Nutritionist instincts kicking in!
The may not be too strange for Laura, but they are definitely good!
NOTE –> If you want to make them strange and add in more natural salt, try mixing in a few tablespoons of nitrate free bacon bits or coconut bacon from Phoney Baloney.
What’s your go-to road trip snack?
Any body racing this weekend?! Best of luck if so!
Cheers Friends!
LC
i love Yummy dishes, please share more dishes
Thank you!
These look delicious! And I have all the ingredients, I may make them for my husband as he’s got a sprint tri this weekend.
good luck to husband!!! keep me posted
These are right up my alley! I love recipes like this for travel snacks. I have a lot of food allergies, and am living/traveling in Asia right now- cuisines full of peanuts and soy, and limited English spoken to convey the seriousness of my allergies! I always travel with lots of snacks/mini-meals.
yay! let me know if you make them Michelle.
My go-to road trip snack is usually trail mix, carrots or I pack a sandwich. I just pinned these though, they look so good!!! I need to order more Nuttzo next week (when my credit card bill starts over, whoops)… I went through the last jar sooo fast and I’m out of chocolate crunchy womp womp. Totes forgot about your promo code so that will help ease the expensive nut butter pain lol.
I would totally eat those. they look amazing. My go to is usually some trader joe trail mix of some sort. YUM
trail mix for the win!
My last road trip snack involved a Cliff Bar, some sugar snap peas and hummus. Not all together mind you. 🙂
Those bars look fabulous!! For the nut free:) you would do the 1 cup coconut flour , the 1 1/2 cup,protein powder and then the 1/3 cup banana chip powder? What could you sub for the banana chip flour?
Thank you, Heather
you could use oat flour or chia flour or even flaxmeal. Does that help?
Dear goodness, these look AWESOME! We have the same taste in food and I love that these are grain-free. YUM YUM YUM!!!:) I’m such a coconut addict so thanks for giving me another excuse to eat it:)
I know!! i thought that too when i saw your vegan grain free bars!!
I love trail mix for the road!
Yummm! Even though I’m not 100% grain-free, I definitely agree that grains + long periods of sitting/ travel before a race are a no-go! Good luck to the kiwi!
yes totally! we don’t eat grain free all the time, just at certain times. Like these, obviously. haha
Good luck to the Kiwi! You are such a great wifey 🙂 Yummy bars too!
thank you!! hoping these bars are good luck. haha
These look yum. Will be heading to the shops to buy all the ingredients sharpish. Great health pre race fuel.
Thanks for sharing.
let me know how it turns out for you!
OMG – need these now!!! 🙂
Good luck to Kiwi but sorry you can’t be there and YES to July rest!!!!!
Looks delicious, I love to try this.
you should! You’d love!
My IBS system thanks you! Grains and I are not close friends! Pinning!
oh yes, i totally get that! enjoy!
Wow, awesome idea – must try this week…. just got some more protein powder hurrah!! Love the banana-chip “flour” idea too 😀
i think hemp would work well here! Miss you!
Good luck to the Kiwi – hope it’s a great race day.
Sorry you can’t go but I know you will send him off completely ready to go!!
Glad that y’all are fixing to have a couple weeks rest!!
thank you!! he needs that extra love and luck. xxoo Hope you are having a good weekend!
I am always a fan of Larabars and some unsalted cashews. Easy to travel with and not messy…Healthy Bites are always a delicious option too, but need to eat those babies fast…LOL!
Um, YUM. Kinda obsessed with all things coconut as well as all things Nuttzo. I wish I had one of these NOW! (Only 4 more days!)
you can’t have these? try the pb free version for paleo!
Thank you thank you thank you for posting this! I have been looking for a good grain-free bar recipe to make for my hubby and I and these are perfect! I can’t wait to try them! You are the best!!
yay!! keep me posted, k?! love ya!
You better believe I’ll be making these asap! Need to purchase some powders from Iherb asap!
No races for me this weekend, but I cross the 3 weeks mark until the big show. Woohoo!
We have races in San Francisco… sure you would have to add in airport and packing… but it comes with a high-five from me, so there is that.
These look yummy! Question re: grains/gluten — How do you feel about it if you don’t have a sensitivity/intolerance to it? Would you eat it if you didn’t have one? (You can totally email me about this if you don’t want to answer it in a comment!)
So the main reason we eat gluten and grain free is because of my gut, but also because it reduces inflammation in the body and eases digestion. Since my husband has been training hard, this week is crucial for absorbing nutrients and trying to reduce inflammation a bit before he gets it way up again while racing. ALso, if you have low immunity, going grain free can help you absorb more nutrients while you build it back up. Focusing on really nutrient dense foods and good fats. Gluten (if sensitive or have celiac) can actually cause an autoimmune response in the body because the body sees it as a foreign invader, so it starts to attack itself, hence stomach problems, skin issues, joint pain, low immunity, headaches, etc. Sorry to overload you, but does that make sense? here’s a good article http://chriskresser.com/is-gluten-sensitivity-real
I was just making a list of foods I want to make to freeze for post-baby. These are going on it! Enjoy your weekend and a slower July!
These look delicious! My favorite road-trip snacks are pre-made bars (lara bars, etc), protein pancakes, fruit with PB and trail mix! YUM!
oh yes! bars are the best travel snack – easy, healthy, and delicious!
Apples, bananas, and protein/nutrition bars are my go to road trip/travel snacks! They’re so easy to carry and give my plenty of energy! Love these bars…definitely sounds good!
these sound like a great snack
Not too strange, but they sound delicious (though I’ll skip the bacon bits, thank you very much).
I want to make these RIGHT now! Except I have Sarena’s bread in the oven. I’m praying I didn’t mess it up not using a mixer. Anyway… these may have to be part of Sunday meal prep! Mmmm!
Oh my these do look nice. Printed the recipe out to try this weekend… thank you kindly!
Yum! I’m making those this weekend for sure! : )
YUM! These look like deliciously perfect fuel! Good luck James! Hopefully it will be a great weekend!!! Hugs to you both! xoxo
Yum these bars look delicious!
Races usually mean road trips for me too! I am pinning this to make for next trip… or just when I get some time in the kitchen (:
Ahhh…love the sounds of these! We are doing a lot of traveling this summer (for pleasure) and I want to make these for the road trips!
I laughed at your ways to make them strange! I think they sound great without the extra strangeness. 😉 If I try these, would I need to substitute something for the protein powder, or do you think I could just leave it out?
You could leave it out and add more flour. Or add flax meal or something that will give it volume. Does that help?
Yum! I definitely need to give these a try this weekend!
Mmmm yum! I bet these would be extra awesome spread with coconut peanut butter! I love that they’re grain free for travel. I hate bloating on trips because it just makes traveling not fun at all. But now I know what to make so that doesn’t happen – these protein bars! 🙂
Yum! And I’ve got a huge bag of almond meal here too. We travel with bars, nuts and apples.
These look so good…I usually stock up on Lara bars and pure bars for road trips and also make some trail mix. Bars get expensive though for how little they are! I really want to try this recipe!
I have no idea where this month went but I’m excited to be on vacation for a week! I love the ingredients in these bars, anything with NuttZo of course I always love.
Perfect! Definitely making these this weekend!
YAY another awesome recipe to try!
These sound good. I still need to get some coconut flour to try.
these look like a great treat. i love bananas and protein balls for road-trips. healthy bites even 😉
You had me at coconut!!! I usually try to pack a trail mix so that way everyone in the car can have something they like!
Good luck to the Kiwi! What a bummer that he is racing in Texas and you can’t go 🙁
My husband’s racing tomorrow morning. I might make these to snack on myself while cheering him on 😉
ohhh good luck hubby!!! i’ll be cheering. and yes, you need these for fuel. Supporters need extra! haha
Those look great! I wish I had some nuttzo to make it with, but maybe I can just use almond butter I made the other day 🙂 I tried to make protein bars the other day, but they aren’t quite right yet….will need to get some practice….or actually follow a recipe rather than just throwing things in the food processor haha! Glad you and kiwi get a rest bite soon, you made me realize its importance, now its time to follow your advice 🙂
i will! thank you!! p.s. yes, use any nut butter!
Okay, seriously, I need to start making my own bars!
I know!! How is it the end of June?!?
Look delicious…as does all of your food! Cheers to yummy snacking 🙂
Good luck to Cotter Team 😀
This recipe looks awesome fuel! We tend to snack on loads of nuts on a road trip and date balls!
Sending this to Justin pronto! He has been asking me to make him the perfect pre-race and pre-workout snacks lately. I feel as if I’m morphing into a sherpa wife myself!
For traveling I never have a shortage of homemade and/or store bought bars.
Have a wonderful weekend crazy sherpa wife and best wishes to Kiwi for his race!
LOVE THE RECIPE! We totally swapped places- I made similar ingredient BALLZ to be posted next week and took a hiatus from my bars….next week I’ll be running a triathlon and you’ll be twerking….on aeroplanes.
bahaha, that would be one site to see! get your speed suit ready!