I have been looking high and low on ways to revamp some of the foods my family eats. My kids are like many kids, they love convenience and if it’s sweet, they love that, too! As their Mom, it’s my role to fill their bellies with foods that fuel them best and to teach them how to be aware of their body’s needs.
My ultimate goal in my food and in theirs is to find low-sugar, high fiber and protein foods that they will enjoy eating without too much Mama drama of “you need to eat this because I said so!”
After some experimenting, I found and created a GREAT option. In this video below, I had just gotten home from the gym and I’m baking in my kitchen with kids getting ready for school. I’m not dolled up with hair and make-up for the camera, but this post is about a great bar recipe and not about ME! Just being real here!
Bottom line, I created an item they can eat for breakfast, after school, or in the car on the go. It takes literally 10 minutes to prep and 15 minutes to bake. MOST importantly, they LOVE it and I LOVE knowing what’s in it and all the one-ingredient, whole-food goodness they each contain!
-Mindy Irish Fitness Oatmeal Protein Bars-
Ingredients:
3 cups of old-fashioned oatmeal (no added flavors); We like Bob’s Redmill products
1/2c plain Greek yogurt; other flavors can be used, but you’ll raise the sugar values in the macros
1 scoop of Quest protein powder or protein powder of choice; we used the plain multi-purpose baking powder
1/3c Bob’s Redmill Buttermilk Pancake and Waffle Whole Grain mix; we used this to give the bars more crispy baking texture; any will do or you can delete to lower the carbs
1 medium apple, diced; can delete this to lower sugars and carbs
1/2 banana, softened; can delete this to lower sugars and carbs
1c of water; you can also use applesauce for your moisture, but we were out; if you add this, it will change the macros
1t vanilla extract
1t cinnamon
1/4c raisins; this adds nice texture and natural sugars; can delete this to lower sugar content
(Shhhh, don’t tell the kids these items below are in there!):
1/4c black chia seeds; great for fiber and you can’t taste them
2T whole flax seeds; great for fiber and you can’t taste them
2T whole ground flaxseed meal; why both? This will uptake into the body and be a great nutritional piece; the seeds above cannot be digested
Baking Instructions:
Mix all together in a large bowl. Grease a 13×9 pan with organic butter or baking spray of choice; Bake on 425 degrees for 15 minutes; Remove from oven and cut into 16 squares; Refrigerate bars to harden them up
Yields: 16 bars
Macros: Based off of an average 75g bar weight; eat a bigger bar, track for more macros! If you search Mindy Irish Fitness Quest Oatmeal Protein Bars in My Fitness Pal you should be able to pull the macros into your tracker!
