Hello Nika! Thanks for snowing me in! I actually don’t mind today because it gives me a few extra hours in the day…no commute = 3 extra hours in my day. Class also got cancelled tonight (yay!) so there is another 3 hours I have back.

So what am I doing with 6 extra hours?? Getting crazy in the kitchen! On the menu for today are two recipes I have been wanting to try for a little bit now, Protein Packed Flour-Free Pancakes and homemade granola bars.

The pancakes are from the Winter Shape Up meal plan and Julie from Peanut Butter Fingers just posted on her blog about no bake granola bars which I used as a platform for my bars.

Te verdict of my kitchen adventures today…SUCCESS!

First I made the pancakes. I won’t even try to pretend these tasted like regular pancakes…they don’t. But they were good and MUCH more nutrient filled than the originals. They were mostly banana tasting and I couldn’t really taste any of the other ingredients except the blueberries I put on top.

Yum!

While my pancake was cooking, I threw together my homemade granola bars.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup nut butter (I used almond butter because I love it)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 cup old fashion oatmeal
• 1/2 cup ground flax seed (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
• 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup cashews (I had halves and pieces on hand but who ones would work too)

Directions

1) Heat honey and nut butter in the microwave (about 30 seconds).
2) Stir in the oats into the honey and nut butter mixture.
3) Stir in the rest of the ingredients into the mix.
4) Stray pan with cooking spray and press in mixture.
5) Place pan in freezer for 45 minutes to set.
6) Cut into 6-12 bars (depending on your pan and what size bars you want) and enjoy!

These were another winner! I love that they are completely customizable too. I would love to try other add in like almonds, walnuts and other dried berries.