cookie butter protein bars

OK so I've gone cray cray with the cookie butter.
BUT...I had to see if the protein bar would....well.  cookie butter!
And it did.
They came out great!
If cookie butter isn't your thing and you want a "healthier" version of a protein bar then just sub in
almond butter or peanut butter.
I've made these protein bars with peanut butter before and it's a really good "base" recipe
easy for add in's, other nut butters, etc...
Super easy to make, literally one bowl easy, and the molding part is fairly easy too.
My apologies for crappy photos. Protein bars are...well...not exactly pretty; tasty though!
I think protein bars become "pretty" with all that fancy packaging.


This recipe is a great base for any kind of add in's: you can experiment with various nut butters,
add in raisins, nuts, coconut, give it a drizzle of chocolate on top, etc...
If you don't want chocolate, then omit the cocoa powder.

cookie butter protein bars

print recipe

4 ounces whey protein isolate powder (plain)

3 cups of rolled oats

1 cup of coconut milk

1 TB unsweetened cocoa powder

small pinch of salt

hefty pinch of cinnamon

½ cup cookie butter

1 ripe banana

chopped peanuts, optional, for decorating the tops

you could also add in raisins or other nuts

cook notes: 

make sure to use a plain protein powder; not sure how flavored would taste.  This recipe is a great base for any kind of add in's: you can experiment with various nut butters,

add in raisins, nuts, coconut, give it a drizzle of chocolate on top, etc...

If you don't want chocolate, then omit the cocoa powder.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. 

If you feel confident, go ahead and mold them into squares. 

If dough is too loose for you then cover dough and place in fridge to firm up for about 15-30 minutes.

You should get about 8 -10 squares/rectangles.

Place on parchment lined baking sheet about ½ apart (the bars don’t spread when baking).

Bake about 15-20 minutes.

You’ll know when they are done when the bars are slightly firm to the touch.

Don’t look for browned edges—it won’t happen.

You should get about 8-10 squares/rectangles; depending on how you shaped them.

friday links

Happy Friday!


If you picked this week and next week as your vacation to cape cod, boy are you in luck.
Our weather has been perfect; sun and low humidity.

But the traffic is unreal too.  There was traffic on a thursday, 3 miles backup on sagamore bridge.

Ice cream stands on the cape are doing a great business.
(this is from Twin Acres Ice Cream, Sandwich, MA)

Town Neck Beach, Sandwich, MA. In the distance, a barge entering the cape cod canal

I love summer.

If I ever remodel the house.....

I wanted to try these, but $6.00?  Wow, pricey.

Last week I posted a pic on twitter of this new salad creation I found at Whole Foods.
From the salad bar at Whole Foods, a scoop of the new Mediterranean salad, with some feta cheese,
some raisins, and nuts.  So good.

Finally one that tastes good, all natural, AND is sugar free.  Found Grady's Cold Brew at Whole Foods
in the milk aisle.

The organic white peaches are at Whole Foods and look amazing and huge. Time for peach pie.

My latest craving....(from trader joe's).

Cape Cod finally has a Chipotle!  I am so happy!  Love their food.

Have you tried these?  The bottom of the bag is the best part, all those salted rosemary bits!

Loved these!

Yes, they are good! And addictive.

It's ok.

I hope they make an unsweetened version!

Finding this KT Tape has been life changing for me.
With my bad knees, I need lots of support when I workout and stand in the kitchen for a long time.
This supportive athletic tape truly works.
I was very skeptical, but after learning how to apply it correctly, I am hooked!
And it's waterproof, I've already tested in the ocean and the pool!
Best find in months.

Around the web:
10 causes of fibromyalgia you and your doc don't know
improve your performance with better sleep; good tips!
a great summary/info of protein
sour cream-peach pie--it doesn't get any better than this!
roasted strawberry cheesecake ice cream, never roasted my strawberries, but I will now.
want to make your own ricotta cheese?
deepak chopra breaks down meditation: what it is and why you need it
yoga poses for metabolism; isn't pretty much all yoga poses great for metabolism?
adrenal fatigue: the signs
nerve damage and its relation to fibromyalgia
funfetti ice cream sandwiches
wonderful tutorial on how to make royal icing flowers
ever wanted to make a spherical cake?
and now we have "eye yoga"!
for my boston peeps--Kelly's Roast Beef rap song! (wicked awesome yo!)
carnival style fish sticks! (bookmarked!)
grilled tomato relish
peaches & cream cake (love super easy)
the island where people forget to die (wonderful story from NYT)
chocolate-marshmallow cookies (super easy)
the richards family making wonderful progress after the boston bombings (may God bless you)
new video footage of 2011 japan tsunami shows how quickly it happened
massachusetts evacuated to prevent any contact with tom brady's knee!  LOL!
what you need to know about Facebook's newsfeed algorithm (annoying)
a great write up on "getting around gluten" from harvard gazette
stereotypical feet photos of "I'm on vacation" (in case you needed more feet photos)
Disney fan? You're going to love this DisneyLand whirlwind tour --make sure your HD is on!

Have a wonderful weekend!

crunchy peanut-curry broccoli salad

I eat the broccoli salad from Whole Foods in mass quantities.
It's gross really how much of it I eat and never tire of it.
I should make more of my own, and I do, but I get horribly lazy sometimes.
On a whim, while eating said Whole Foods broccoli salad, I decided to add a nice heaping
tablespoon (or 2) of curry powder.
Oh man was that good.
Then realized it needed peanut butter, then it needed coconut milk....ok you get the idea.
If you are like me, who craves and loves that thai peanut sauce on a daily basis,
then this peanut-curry broccoli salad is for you.
I promise you this will be your new go-to broccoli salad.
The curry flavors, the crunch of the broccoli, the sweetness of the raisins.....

I used cashews for an extra crunch and depth of flavor, use whatever you wish.
But I do recommend using the raisins and carrots as a base, then add in: peanuts, nuts, sesame
sticks, onions, other veggies...endless possibilities really.

Does it get soggy overnight?  A little. I used raw broccoli so it wasn't that soggy.
Read the cook notes for more info stuff.

Baker hindsight is 20/20: so I would also add in a touch of red pepper flakes.
No golden syrup? Use honey.



crunchy peanut-curry broccoli salad
print recipe

I used a 12-14 ounce bag of broccoli heads, raw
1/4 cup grated carrots
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup of cashews (or other nuts)

sauce
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
1-2 ts apple cider vinegar
1-2 TB golden syrup (or pure/raw honey)
2 TB curry powder or Madras curry
1/4 cup (might need more) coconut milk
a couple dashes of hot sauce
salt & pepper to taste

cook notes:
I used raw broccoli, it just has a better crunch, and can hold up to the sauce much better.
If you prefer to cook your broccoli first, then go ahead, but please make sure to drain
the broccoli really well.
This salad will taste awful with extra water in it.
I made my sauce very thick, if you want it thinner just add in more coconut milk.
I highly suggest adding a pinch or three of red pepper flakes to this.
I love the taste of curry so I added in 2 TB, you can easily use just 1 TB.

for the sauce:
Mix all ingredients in sauce in a bowl, stir well, give it a taste-test and see what it needs.
Cover and let it chill/set up in fridge at least an hour or two.
When ready to assemble, in a large bowl mix the broccoli, shredded carrots, and raisins, add in the sauce a little bit at a time.  You might not need all the sauce, so use a little at a time.
A little goes a long way!

Makes about 4 cups; enough for 4 people as a side dish.

jam filled mini butter tarts

In my other job, I am blessed to have such sweet clients, that not only tip me well, but also leave little food gifts.  It's nice to have foodies as clients.
I know that making jam and jellies is work, a food art I have yet to delve into.
With all the summer produce around making my own spicy bread & butter pickles is something
I would love to try my hand at.
Recently one of my clients gave me some homemade peach jam.
Is there anything better than fresh peach or apricot jam?  Sure, it's raspberry or blueberry.  Ha.
Wanting to use this peach jam on a fresh croissant or toasted english muffin, I opted for using it in cookie form.
A nice slightly salty buttery cookie base filled with a dollop of peach jam.
Mmm. Heavenly.
So this is a "take" on the butter tart on a tad more salty--the yearning for sweet & salty never goes far away from my creativity.
These are good, easy to make too since there is no rolling of the cookie dough, cutting out shapes, etc..
Be warned though, they are very addictive because they are so small and bite-size.

I think homemade apricot jam would be so good in these!
Oh and maybe beach plum jelly?


If the dough gets too soft after placing in tins, put it back in the fridge for a few minutes to firm up
before baking.

jam filled mini butter tarts

print recipe

2 cups all purpose flour

1 ts baking powder

½ TB sea salt

2/3 cup white sugar

16 TB butter, room temp

8 oz. cream cheese, room temp

1 and ¼ ts pure vanilla extract

fruit filling:

use jam of your choice (peach, raspberry, apricot, etc…)

Cook Notes:  I used mini muffin tins and got about 42-48 cookies.  If you don’t want to do muffin tins then you could do them as flat cookies making sure to make indentations in the middle of the raw cookie to place the jam.

Keep in mind you want to keep the dough fairly cold. So if after placing dough into tins, you might want to pop it back in the fridge to firm up again; We want these to bake up fairly crisp around the edges.

In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt. 

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla together until well mixed. Add in half the dry mixture to the wet and mix, then add in the other half and mix again until all combined.  Put dough in plastic wrap, cover up well and let sit in fridge at least 6 hours or overnight.  I kept mine in for 3 days and it was fine.

Using a mini muffin tin, spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Then scoop out a dough ball about 2 inches thick/round, press into muffin tin, making sure to get the edges good.  Then using your thumb, gently make a well in the middle to place a dollup of jam.  Make sure you don’t leave any open spaces at the bottom or jam will leak out.

Using a small spoon, fill the centers with about a teaspoon or of jam.

Try not to overfill with jam.

If y our kitchen runs hot or it’s the middle of summer, pop these back in the fridge for a few minutes to chill up.  We want these to bake up fairly crisp around the edges.

Bake 18-23 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.

I let these cool (about 2 hours) in the muffin tins until they set up enough to be removed.

They will be very soft when they come out of the oven, so don’t try and remove them.

Using the mini muffin tins I got about 42-48 tarts.

friday links

Happy Friday!


How is your summer going?
Mine is going great.  LOL
Above: cake batter ice cream with chocolate cake chunk swirls. Yeah, it was life-moving tasty.

Next time your in Whole Foods, do me a favor?
Try this almond milk  iced coffee from Califia Farms.
Heavenly.  So so good.  Make sure to put it on ice!

And move over Blue Print Cleanse, we have a cheaper version on board.
Thank goodness!
And it's good!
Suja Organic Juices.  I've tried the green supreme and purify.
The purify has beets in it which I love because of the iron (I'm always low in iron).

I was completely blown away at how tasty these Oh Nuts were.
You know why?
Because when they said it was "raw" I said no way. And gave it a go anyways.
I always assume raw means yuck and iffy.
Or as Mirada from Sex & The City says "I'm going to need a pizza after this".
These have really unique, tasty, all natural flavorings.
I was literally licking the bottom of the bag.  Can't wait to get more.
Flavors include: thai & curry cashews, sesame & teriyaki almonds/cashews, mesquite pod maple
walnuts, white chocolate cashews, rosemary-garlic pistachios, and many more!

Summer tomatoes.  Isn't it great? What are you doing with your summer tomatoes?

Aren't grilled hot dogs the bomb?
I love summer.

Our local Dairy Queen has the best signs this summer.

from around the web:
how about peanut butter & jelly parfaits?
take ordinary caprese stacks and turn them into fried ravioli stacks
the city of boston has the best mayor: tom menino letter to rolling stone
hot fudge sundae now in cake form
schoep, the arthritic dog, made famous by his owner taking him swimming has passed. rip buddy.
study: turmeric more effective than prozac
5 creative writing tips from carl hiaasen
raw recipe find: chocolate-hazelnut cheesecake
the secret language of birthdays now has a website! you MUST go there...now.  GO! Click!
10 ways to use kale in less sucky ways
whole wheat puff pastry! yes, it can be done!
another coffee study?! Sure why not. Coffee drinking tied to lower risk of suicide.
how to deal with people who drain the life force out of you
cinnamon crunch ice cream!
strengthen your back with these 5 easy tips (AND these make sense, no gimmicks)
all this hoopla around the latest news that fish oil might cause prostate cancer in men.
Dr. Weil, breaks it down for us.
kate middleton unabashed baby belly busts the latest taboo of pregnancy. Good for her!
16 ways to detox everyday
how about a margarita pie? perfect for summer parties.
I demand MOREOS be made!
summertime strawberry & candied bacon pizza.
cancer breakthrough: probiotics may save patients from deadly chemotherapy (excellent news)
oddity of the week: white chocolate baby heads (it's a sculpture)
moroccan grilled chicken kabobs (make extra as the leftovers are perfect in rollups!)
ann wigmore: creator/founder of the positive benefits of wheatgrass juice
how to make bunting! who knew?  I didn't.
how kathleen king aka Tate's Cookies, built her cookie empire.
chipotle gazpacho
hash brown wrapped eggs!
as if crumb bars couldn't get any better? I find these strawberry-vanilla jam crumb bars.
cookies & cream snack cake. don't you love that term "snack cake"?  I do.
10 veggies high in protein? Ok.
weight loss fact & fiction, written by mark hyman, MD-- so it isn't all BS.
does practicing yoga really help get you in shape? (it does--shocker)
5 foods that can helps reduce those nasty stress hormones
"fat shaming" don't do it, don't even think about doing it!
benefits of talking about ourselves?

Have a wonderful weekend kids!