No Bake Protein Bars

A friend of mine on FB shared this recipe and I thought I'd give it a try. My boys enjoy protein bars on occasion but I'm always hesitant to buy them because they can be pretty pricey. Now, some of the ingredients in this recipe are a bit pricey but it's all natural so at least I know what is in them when I make them. My family really enjoyed this recipe.

No Bake Protein Bars

Ingredients

• 2 Cups Oats
• 4 Scoops Protein Powder (we used French Vanilla flavored but I say be adventourous and try different flavors)
  
• 2 Tbs Ground Flaxseed
• 1/2 Cup Natural Peanut Butter
• 1/2 Cup Water
• Optional: Almond Butter
• Optional: Ground Pecans

Instructions

1) Mix dry ingredients together - Oats, Protein, Flaxseed
2) Mix in Natural Peanut Butter, then Water
3) Mix well, will be clumpy and take awhile (trust me when it says mix well and it will take a while...use something sturdy to mix)

Line 8x8 glass pan with aluminum foil, then use your hands to pack the mix into the pan.

Optional:
Spread a light layer of almond butter over the top
Sprinkle ground pecans over the top of the almond butter

Place into the freezer for 35 minutes

Easy Bread Pudding

My husband loves bread pudding...I do not. I have issues with texture and bread pudding is not a texture I enjoy. We had some leftover hot dog buns from our Boy Scout Court of Honor and we didn't want them to go to waste so he turned them into bread pudding. I found this recipe at AllRecipes.com

Kevin tweeked it a bit and then made caramel to pour over. He was very pleased with the results!

Easy Bread Pudding

Ingredients

• 6 slices day-old bread (he used one package of hot dog buns)
  
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups milk
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

He added about 1/2 teaspoon of orange zest and 1/2 teaspoon of chili cocoa powder.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Break bread into small pieces into an 8 inch square baking pan. Drizzle melted butter or margarine over bread. If desired, sprinkle with raisins.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Pour over bread, and lightly push down with a fork until bread is covered and soaking up the egg mixture.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly tapped.

Caramel Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 cup of sugar
• 6 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Method

1 Heat sugar on moderately high heat in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart or 3-quart saucepan. As the sugar begins to melt, stir vigorously with a whisk or wooden spoon. As soon as the sugar comes to a boil, stop stirring. You can swirl the pan a bit if you want, from this point on. Note that this recipe works best if you are using a thick-bottomed pan. If you find that you end up burning some of the sugar before the rest of it is melted, the next time you attempt it, add a half cup of water to the sugar at the beginning of the process, this will help the sugar to cook more evenly, though it will take longer as the water will need to evaporate before the sugar will caramelize.

3 As soon as all of the sugar crystals have melted (the liquid sugar should be dark amber in color), immediately add the butter to the pan. Whisk until the butter has melted.

4 Once the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat. Count to three, then slowly add the cream to the pan and continue to whisk to incorporate. Note than when you add the butter and the cream, the mixture will foam up considerably. This is why you must use a pan that is at least 2-quarts (preferably 3-quarts) big.

5 Whisk until caramel sauce is smooth. Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then pour into a glass mason jar and let sit to cool to room temperature. (Remember to use pot holders when handling the jar filled with hot caramel sauce.) Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Warm before serving.

Makes a little over one cup of sauce.

Salad Olvia

A friend of mine shared this recipe with me when I was stationed in Korea. I had just had Neil and was on maternity leave when she called and asked if she could come visit me and bring me lunch. I said sure. She came over with this very yummy cold potato/chicken type salad. Shirin was originally from Iran and she told me that this was a dish they would make to bless new friendships. She served it on a fresh baguette with tomatoes. It was so good and over a decade later it is still one of our favorite dishes (I say that a lot...what can I say we love food in this house). My boys love this, I make a huge bowl (I mean HUGE) and it never sticks around for long. I try to carry on the tradition and make it when I meet someone new.

I already had the recipe on a recipe card, so just click the image to make it bigger and you can actually just print it if you want.