Summertime Frozen Fruit Bars

Summer is here and so are cravings for refreshing treats. Instead of opting for ice cream or making a trip to your local froyo spot, make some healthy treats with real fruit. Check out my video on how I make these fruit bars with only two ingredients.

Enjoy!

No Added Sugar Challenge

Photo by Mykl Roventine on Flickr

It's that time again ... challenge time. I want to test your ability to go without added sugar for ten days. Are you up for this? Do you think you can handle it? Sounds fairly easy, right?

Not so fast.

The Katie Couric movie Fed Up, highlights how prevalent sugar is in our food system. It's added everywhere. When you hear "no added sugar," you may immediately think, "oh, that's fine, I just won't add sugar to my coffee or my cereal." Well yes, but it goes much deeper than that. It's obvious that sugar is in desserts like cookies and ice-cream, but it's also found in harmless seeming foods like bread, mayonnaise, barbecue sauce, ketchup, crackers, and a whole lot of other foods.

Check out Katie Couric talking about the challenge below. #FedUpChallenge 

Read the ingredients list. Sugar goes by many different names, so be sure to avoid the following:

For ten days, challenge yourself to give up sugar completely. I'm starting today, Wednesday, May 28. Afterwards, I'll put up a post on how my ten days went. I'll be using the hashtag #tiffs10day on Instagram so you can see what I'm eating. You should also use this hashtag so I can see what you're eating. 

Let's do this together -- as a team. We can do this! 

Even if you find this post after I've started the challenge, start your challenge at any point. 

Almond Butter and Chocolate Chip Protein Bars

Got a sweet tooth? No problem. These bars are perfect for satisfying your candy craving while filling your body with healthy ingredients like flaxseed and protein at the same time.

Win. Win.

Check it out! At the end of this post is my YouTube tutorial of this recipe for your viewing pleasure.

Ingredients:

1 cup ground oatmeal (put in food processor or blender)
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 tbsp flaxseed meal
5 tbsp almond butter
4 tbsp honey
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

In a medium bowl, add all the dry ingredients: oatmeal, flaxseed and protein powder. Mix well with a whisk.

Then add the almond butter and honey. Mix well with a fork and then use your hands to fully incorporate all of the ingredients. Once all of the dry and wet ingredients are mixed well, add in the chocolate chips and mix those in with your hands until they're evenly distributed.

Next, take the mixture which should be formed into a ball. If you have a hard time creating a ball and getting all of your ingredients to stay formed without falling apart, add in a little more almond butter or honey starting with one tablespoon -- that way you don't add too much.

Then place the mixture in a parchment paper lined 8x8 pan. Press dough into the pan until flat. This recipe can also be used to make balls. Instead of putting mixture into the parchment lined pan, roll out nine balls in your hands instead. 

Put the pan in the refrigerator for at least an hour so that the mixture can harden. This makes it easier to cut into bars.

Remove from the refrigerator and take paper out of the pan. Place on counter or cutting board. Cut your bars however you like. I made nine bars. Store either form (bars or balls) in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

Here's my YouTube tutorial of this recipe. If you haven't subscribed to my channel yet, what are you waiting for?! There's a new video every Wednesday!