I’ve been making a batch of these energy balls every week for months now. It’s a great healthy snack to keep on hand to tie you over between meals or after meals when you want something sweet. These balls are loaded with healthy fats from the walnuts and coconut and naturally sweet from the dates and honey.  I’m addicted to these delicious energy balls!

I’ve been a fan of LÄRABARs for years. LÄRABARs are delicious bars made from unsweetened fruits, nuts, and spices with no added sugar. It's hard to find protein bars that don't have added sugar or artificial ingredients. Since they are primarily made of a puree of dates they have a chewy sticky texture. Depending on the flavor, they only have just two to six ingredients. They come beautifully wrapped in bright colors. The cashew cookie flavor has been my all time favorite, in fact, I loved it so much I never bothered to try any of the other flavors. I've found that I've been missing out as they come in over 26 flavors which I sampled a few below. I don't eat these every day as I'm not totally in love with the high amount of natural sugar in LÄRABARs. I’ve tried a lot of protein bars, but LÄRABARs stand out as by far the best. Here's the calorie breakdown of the cashew cookie : 230 cal, 23g carbs, 18g sugar, 6g protein. The other flavors have a little less calories but they all essentially have a similar breakdown. Some flavors come in mini size which I think is the perfect size for a quick energy bite.


Key Lime Pie- I was skeptical about this one, how can they put my favorite desert into a bar. Well, the lime flavor was authentic, not chemical. I really liked this one.

Coconut Cream Pie- had a really nice coconut flavor and it was creamy.

Carrot Cake - Tastes like a real piece of carrot cake, you can really taste the carrots!

Cherry Pie- tastes so good, it's like eating candy. Can't believe there's no sugar in it, it's made with unsweetened cherries.

Snickerdoodle - so delicious, like you're eating a cookie. Here's a recipe to make a snickerdoodle protein shake.

Gingerbread - OMG this authentically tasted like a gingerbread cookie! The ginger flavor was very strong.

Pumpkin Pie- it smelled amazing and tasted like fresh pumpkin bread.

Peanut butter chocolate chip - This is the one bar that has sugar in it because the chocolate chips are made with sugar. The bar comes in at 19g of sugar, similar to many yogurts. The bar was still moist and chewy and really tasty. It has a good chocolate-y flavor, but very subtle peanut flavor.

Peanut butter cookie- I love pb, but this was my least favorite, it just didn't taste like a pb cookie to me, wasn't very sweet.

They are available at Whole Foods and Trader Joes. It's a great healthy snack made of natural ingredients. I'm going to sample some more flavors. But don’t take my word for it, try it out yourself and let me know what your favorite flavor is?

I wanted to share some (new to me) protein/snack bars that are different than your usual/traditional protein bars. These all taste delicious and are made from clean ingredients, no splenda/suralose which is a chemical I avoid in all my foods. I've written about splenda before.  I know everyone loves their Quest bars, but take a closer look at their ingredients. It has whey isolate and Isomalto-Oligosaccharides (a fake fiber), I don't like to eat processed food. I still make my peanut butter coconut balls, linked below, every month.

Health Warrior Chia Bar
These 100 calories bars are my favorite low-calorie snack. It's primarily made of chia seeds and coconut but comes in a variety of flavors. My favorite flavors are the regular coconut,  the dark chocolate and acai berry. They often go on sale at Whole Foods or you can buy them online. They have 3g of protein.

RX Bar
They are made up of only four ingredients: egg whites, fruits and nuts. You can find it at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods or online. They are 200 calories and 12g of protein.

Square Bar
These bars are soft chocolate-coated cakes. The first ingredient is coconut nectar so that's what the insides are primarily made of. They are 230 calories and 11g of protein. The only flavor I don't like is Mint, it tastes like a too strong girl scout cookie. You can find it at Whole Foods or online but don't purchase online in the summertime because the chocolate will melt.

Perfect Bar
I got turned on to these at the barre studio I take classes at. This meal bar is 290 calories and my favorite flavor is the Almond Coconut which has cranberries in it. They have 8g of protein. You can find them at Whole Foods, 7/11, Target or online.


Related Posts:
Protein Bars
22 Days Protein Bar
DIY Peanut Butter Coconut Balls

I've read a lot of cookbooks and The Forest Feast is the most beautiful one I've ever seen! I'm a visual person and if a cookbook doesn't have pictures for every recipe, I can't make the recipe. Erin, the author, lives in a cabin in the California woods and used that as inspiration for all her photos. The vibrant colored recipes are shot on slabs of wood and look more like an oversized art book rather than a cookbook. The layout and presentation are not your typical cookbook, for instance, there are no white page backgrounds. It's a vegetarian cookbook but Erin describes her cooking style as very simple and so her recipes require few ingredients and there's little directions in the book. It's more an eye candy coffee table book with whimsical sketches. Expect lots of creative ways to use vegetables and many of the recipes are seasonal. While it's the most beautiful book I've ever seen, the recipes are more geared for party planning as there are no entrees. But I found these balls really delicious, they're the perfect sweet treat! I stored mine in the freezer.

Ingredients:

½ cup peanut butter, softened

½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut 

1 TB raw honey

10 pitted dates, soaked

Directions: 
Recipe source: The Forest Feast by Erin Gleeson

I'm not a big hummus eater, but after I was introduced to falafel on a trip to the middle east I've been hooked on falafel! While everyone else eats pizza at 3am after a night out, I go to the falafel shop in town. This crunchy snack made with traditional Middle Eastern spices really does taste like falafel. It's a tad spicy so that stops me from eating the whole bag in one sitting which is good since these are so addicting! lol

There's a few companies that make baked chickpea snacks and I honestly didn't like the others but Saffron Road's Falafel I love! By the way did you know that chickpeas are technically a legume?

The awesome thing about Saffron Road is that their products are organic and don't contain any GMO ingredients plus these chickpeas contain 6 grams of protein per serving!

Now if you're throwing a party it might be nice to label the cheese so guests know what is what. And pre-slice the cheese so guests can go ahead and dig in! Make sure the cheese are room temperature before serving because cold cheese has muted flavor. Random sidenote: One of my biggest pet peeves is people who keep cupcakes in the fridge and serve it immediately, cold cake has no flavor, I don't want to eat that! And frosted cake doesn't need to be refrigerated anyway, they're sitting on the counter at the cupcake shop and grocery store.

For a party make sure you have the proper cheese tools. Crate and Barrel is my favorite store for household goods, it's where I've gotten all of my kitchen dinnerware and stemware. It's also where I got this cheese board from. Be sure to get yourself a cheese knife. Here are some suggestions for where to get yourself a cheese board from Amara or Sur La Table.

Final tip - don’t be afraid to try something new! Trader Joe's has all kinds of exotic cheeses like a chocolate cheddar, cranberry goat cheese log, beer cheddar which is actually a black cheese. All of which I've tried and loved!

I was looking for some new protein bars to try to add to my favorites list.  So I tried out some gluten free, organic, non-GMO energy & protein bars from 22 days nutrition. They're 220 calories per bar, 100 cal from fat (from the nuts), and the protein ranges from 5-6g for the energy bars and 10g for the protein bar. The sugar is 11-14g which comes from date paste or coconut nectar. The company was founded by fitness expert Marco Borges who has trained both Jay-Z and Pharell. They're available at Whole Foods but my local store didn't have all the flavors so I ordered online since the company had a free shipping deal. But I was disappointed at the humongous box the 4 bars were shipped in! I received:

Fruit Nut Karma - absolutely delicious! The mango and pineapple made it extra sweet!


Goji Maté Firecracker - if you like your bars less sweet this one is for you, it's still good though and tastes just like goji berry if you know what that tastes like. I suspect the tartness comes from the yerba mate.

Pineapple Chocolate Chip Wonder - on first bite I had no idea what the flavor was, looked at the package and saw it said chocolate then thought ok maybe I taste chocolate, either way the bar doesn't have a strong taste and didn't do much for me.

Nut Butter Buddha (protein bar) - this was my least favorite, it was very gummy and tasted like a "protein bar" where you can almost taste the chemicals and it was a tad dry

Since the founder of the company is vegan, he listed where he gets his protein from, see pic below. I eat most of these during the week but I also consume tofu/edamame. One of the best plant sources with a high protein content is hemp, it's 35% protein and deliver tons of nutrients while having lots of fiber. If you're surprised by brown rice and peas on the list, vegan protein powders are made of just those ingredients. Shakeology has just about everything from this list: quinoa, flaxseeds, chia seeds, brown rice protein,  pea protein, and greens (Moringa, Chlorella, Spirulina, Spinach, Barley Grass, Kamut Grass, Wheat Grass, Oat Grass).



Interesting article on actress Michelle Pfeiffer who credits vegan diet with 83 point drop in cholesterol.

Another article on tennis star Venus Williams becoming a vegan to decrease inflammation in her body and reduce the energy-sapping symptoms of her immune system disease (that took her off the court) "by not overloading her body with excess calories, pesticides or sugars."

I just got back from a two week holiday in Spain and had an amazing time!!! If you didn't know, vegetarians have to pre-order special meals for planes in advance as they don't just keep extra on hand. Although I have to say I saw a shift with US Airways as now your choice of two entrees was one meat and one veggie, but of course that assumes they don't run out of the non-meat option before they get to you which I overheard they did. Their special order meals include the following:

Kosher, Muslim, Hindu, Vegan, Lacto-ovo, Asian vegetarian, low sodium, low fat/low cholesterol, low calorie, diabetic, bland, gluten free, non-lactose,  baby, and children's

So for fun I got the Asian Vegetarian as my experience in the past with the lacto-ovo is that I get cold vegetables (salad) and hot vegetables, no starch, cheese, or anything interesting. I also never receive the same cake dessert everyone else is eating, do they think vegetarians don't eat sugar? lol Here's what I was served, I was lucky this time I got margarine to go with the bread, normally I get nothing to spread on it. The bread was whole wheat, unlike the white bread everyone else got.



I took two planes to Spain and I found that US Air no longer gives out peanuts and pretzels. My short flight only had a beverage and my long flight gave a cookie as a snack.

I brought my cashews with me and a couple protein bars. That way I wouldn't have to eat junk food in the airport such as cinnabon. Every day during my vacation I put one cashew packet into my purse to have if I got hungry between meals. Did you know dinner in Spain starts at 8pm? Restaurants are not even open before then! I often ate dinner much later than that.

I also brought my bag of Shakeology with me because I knew in Spain my breakfast may not be the best and I wanted to make sure I get my daily protein and vitamins. It was super easy to do, I used the glass they give you in the hotel bathroom, washed it out first as I saw a 20/20 special about how those are never actually cleaned. I poured a scoop of powder into it, then brought it down to the breakfast room to mix with water and juice. Drinking my daily vitamins everyday made sure I didn't get sick because I was traveling with a lot of people that were coughing up a storm.

Lately I've been switching out my lunch for Shakeology because I've been going out to eat a lot, but by adding fruit to my shake it's super filling. My afternoon snack has been a cheese stick, however I've found that it makes me sleepy so I wanted to find something new for my afternoon snack. Hello Chia Pudding! I got the recipe from Gena whose raw food class I recently attended and her banana soft serve which was to die for! Chia seeds are packed with healthy Omega-3 (more than flaxseed), fiber and antioxidants. Two tablespoons have as much calcium as a half glass of milk. It has seven times more vitamin C than an orange, three times more iron than spinach, and twice the potassium than in a banana. It helps curb your appetite with the fiber slowing your digestion, the gel breaks down carbs and slow digestion. Definitely a key food for weight loss! 

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons chia seeds
1 cup almond milk or coconut beverage
½ TB maple syrup
½ tsp vanilla
sprinkle of cardamom (but you can use cinnamon)

Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and put in fridge. Then come back twice within the hour to mix again as it tends to separate. Leave overnight to set into a gel.

Note: Don't skip on the spices otherwise it'll have no flavor.

Makes 2 servings. One serving is 140 calories, 5g of protein, 10g of fiber.

There are many different kinds of protein bars on the market, most of them I don't like because they taste too chemically or have too much sugar (Clif Bars). I don't eat protein bars often, but when I do have one it's really important to me to read the ingredients to make sure its clean. Not all bars are created equal and I stay clear of the ones with artificial ingredients, corn syrup, aspartame and sucralose. I do make my own bars: chocolate protein bars, Shakeology balls, and  muffins.


Here are some of my favorite store bought bars. The chia bar is only 100 calories! The pro bar is made with vegan marshmallows! The Larabar has a lot of sugar in it so it's really a rare treat for me.

These no bake balls are delicious! They're packed with nutrients and easy to make.

Ingredients:

½ Cup PB2 (low fat powdered peanut butter)
3 Tablespoons Natural Peanut butter
½ Cup Shakeology Protein Powder
3 Tablespoons Raw Honey
½ Cup Rolled Oats

Directions:

Mix PB2 with water until it’s a paste like consistency. Mix all ingredients, including the PB2 mixture together in a mixing bowl. It make take some time to blend all of the ingredients together. If it’s too sticky, sprinkle in additional protein powder so that it’s a pretty dry/crumbly texture. Next – Roll mixture into small individual balls and sprinkle with coconut if desired. Makes about 12 balls. Put in freezer until firm.

Nutrition: (serving size 1 ball)
Calories: 80
Carbs: 10g
Fat: 2g
Protein: 7g