Protein Bars

IMG_7045
Originally uploaded by lesliegardner.

I like to eat protien bars. My habit is to eat a little something about every 2 hours and it's great if it's something that makes me happy to eat. But the problem with the ones in the stores is that they cost like $2 a bar and most are loaded with sugar. So I invented these and I'm really happy with them!

1-1/2 C Fresh ground peanut butter
2T Agave nectar
1/2C each of
Flax seeds
Sunflower seeds
Pumpkin seeds (chopped)
Sesame seeds
toasted buckwheat
Wheat germ
2 scoops milk & egg protein powder

mix well. Smoosh into molds. Refrigerate for a while and pop out of mold.

I had pretty good luck keeping one of these in my backpack without it falling apart. The protien powder I used comes from Trader Joes, but you can probably use any kind. The mix of seeds isn't really important - this is just what I had around. If you like, you could totally add dried fruit or even chocolate chips! My goal was to reach the point where it was so full of goodies that the peanut butter was barely holding it together since the PB is so ridiculously caloric. These clock in at about 225 if you get 21 bars out of the recipe above. My molds are a little shy of 1/4 cup. The protein count is actually only about 9g, which is woefully disappointing to me so in the end, they fit the bill of small thing I like to eat but they don't pack the protien punch I had hoped for as a wannabe vegetarian with trouble digesting soy.

Update - I switched out Quinoa for toasted buckwheat - the crunch is just divine!