So, Tuesday morning was a non-workout day, and I was sort of bored. I wanted to make protein bars without using protein powder or any really special ingredients, but a perusal of my pantry told me that was impossible. So I decided I would make no-bake bars of some sort. As peanut butter is my desert island food, and I had two containers of PB2 in my cabinet, and having just purchased rolled oats (which I don’t really eat prepared normally), I decided on Peanut Butter Oat Bars.
Hmm, I appear to have chosen a monochromatic ingredient theme, if you excuse the chocolate chips.
In a food processor, process oats until coarse flour. Add peanuts and chocolate chips, and process 30 seconds or until peanuts and chocolate chips are finely chopped. Add PB2 and honey, and pulse until well incorporated.
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With the processor running, drizzle cashew milk until mixture is sticky.
Line a loaf pan with wax paper and press mixture into the pan firmly. Refrigerate for one hour, then cut into 12 pieces.
Store in the fridge for up to a week.
These got the seal of approval from The Hubs, despite me telling him they were healthy. (He’ll eat anything as long as it’s tasty, but heaven forbid you tell him it’s healthy!) I think they’re yummy, and will definitely make them again. (Actually, I really wish I had one RIGHT NOW.) I’m also going to buy a small container of protein powder so I can make them protein bars for real next time! Not too sweet, slightly salt and very peanutty!
Now for something entirely different! Have a picture of my blogging buddy, Bingley!
Recently I was in Richmond, Virginia visiting my mom. On Monday we went to a few consignment stores with my Great Aunt Mary (shout out, Aunt Mary!) and stopped at Good Foods Grocery for lunch. I had the Black Bean Sweet Potato Burger, and enjoyed it so much, I immediately checked Pinterest for similar recipes! I found a fantastic sounding recipe at cookieandkate.com: Sweet Potato Black Bean Veggies Burgers. (By the way, this recipe comes with a very sweet story about a cancer survivor that’s totally worth the read!) Since the version I had included corn, I further adapted this recipe to include said corn, albeit not in the way I’d hoped or imagined (I had to use canned instead of fresh).
Sweet Potato, Black Bean, Corn and Millet Burgers (Serves 8)
1½ pounds sweet potatoes
⅓ cup millet
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn kernels, no salt added, rinsed and drained
½ small onion, diced
½ cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
First, I tossed the sweet potatoes on a sheet pan and threw them in a 400 degree oven for an hour. I pulled them out and let them cool while I went grocery shopping!
Then I cooked the millet with 1 cup of water over medium low heat for about 25 minutes and let that cool, too.
Millet cooking.
Ground oats!
I tossed the oats in my food processor and ground them down until they were still coarse, but no longer full flakes.
MY actual potatoes and MY actual left thumb!
Chopped potatoes!
Mmm, spices.
Corn and beans.
Chopped onions, added to the sweet potatoes.
Spices and cilantro, too!
Then I prepped the rest of the ingredients, peeling and chunking the sweet potatoes, cutting the onions and cilantro, measuring the seasonings, and draining and rinsing the beans and corn.
Mash it.
Mashed.
With corn and beans added.
Plus millet.
And oats.
All mixed!
Then I did the mash! The sweet potato mash! I smooshed the sweet potatoes, onions, cilantro and spices together until smooth, then added the corn and beans and stirred with a wooden spoon. When that was well incorporated, I stirred in the millet and oats, then tossed the whole bowl in the fridge for an hour. (Note to self: next time, wait two hours, the mixture will be firmer.)
First batch of patties.
Flip carefully and brown on the other side.
When we were ready for dinner, I heated up my new favorite toy, my cast iron skillet, with 1 tablespoon of the oil. I formed the mixture into 8 patties, and fried them up four at a time, adding an additional tablespoon of oil to fry the second batch.
Not pictured: the empty plate.
The original burger was served with pepper jack cheese, but we had Swiss in the fridge so we used that, topped it with salsa, lettuce and tomato, and ate these babies on Lebanese style pita! I have to say these were really good, but I missed the heat of the pepper jack, and next time I’ll make sure to get some. The Hubs finished eating his first, which means two thumbs up! I layered the four remaining burgers with wax paper and put them in the freezer for later. Yay for batch cooking!
These burgers are LARGE and SUPER FILLING. You could probably make the burgers smaller to reduce the calories. All in all, as pictured, this is about 450 calories. I served it with slow cooked mushrooms and spinach on the side. Will definitely make these again!
A Measured Life 