Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! We hope that everyone has had a great holiday season and New Year's celebrations.  We haven't made any resolutions this year, per say, yet we are trying to eat healthier. I have personally been super lazy when it comes to cooking anything, which means no new recipes for me to post. : (

I have been a little better about packing up lunches the night before work so it is ready to go in the morning. So, if you are also somewhat forgetful or strapped for time before work, it is a great time-saver. It also helps you save money and most likely calories by not ordering take-out food or buying junk from the vending machine while at work! : )

So I'll just go over a few of our favorite snacks that we pack up. I usually pack about 3 or 4 snacks along with a meal that we will prepare the night before also. One of my favorites as of late is to just make little trail mixes and store them in half-pint mason jars. I like to put in Sunflower seeds, almonds, carob chips, dried cranberries, peanuts, and walnuts. I like to eat the mix on its own but it also tastes great in yogurt. Another one of our favorite snacks is hummus with anything! : ) Sweet potatoes sliced with a mandoline make great raw "chips" to dip in the hummus, along with celery, bell peppers, carrots, etc. And lastly, we usually have one or two fresh fruits in our lunch bags. I have always loved bananas, but oranges are a new favorite for the both of us. Blood oranges are in season right now and are so delicious!

Well, I hope that we will be able to post some new recipes soon, but maybe these simple snack ideas will help someone in the meantime. Happy and healthy new year to everyone!

Nicole

Nutty Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

While shopping at Target recently we noticed in the Christmas section we noticed something amazingly unhealthy. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups – in a one-pound package. That’s an eight-ounce cup. Such an unhealthy snack but it sounds so delicious. We love chocolate and peanut butter but seeing such a large chunk of chocolate and peanut butter is a little sickening. But, it is still inspiring. We decided to make these nutty peanut butter bars with chocolate as a viable vegan choice. Yeah, it’s not really that much healthier, but when the mood strikes you just have to go with it sometimes (that happens a lot for us).

• ¾ cup walnuts
• ¾ cup cashews
• ½ cup almonds
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 3 tbs flour
• ¼ cup rolled oats
• 4 tbs vegan butter
• ¾ lb fresh ground peanut butter
• 12 oz vegan chocolate

1. In a food processor add all of the nuts, cinnamon, flour, oats, and 2 tablespoons of vegan butter and pulse until the nuts are chopped.
2. In a microwave safe dish heat the peanut butter so it is a little more workable. Stir the peanut butter every 30 seconds until warm and melted.
3. Add the chopped nut mixture to the peanut butter and stir to combine.
4. Line a square pan with foil and add the peanut butter mixture and smooth out across pan.
5. Melt chocolate with 2 tablespoons of butter. This can be done in a double boiler or in the microwave in a way similar to the peanut butter.
6. Pour the melted chocolate on top of the peanut butter and nut combination.
7. Let the peanut butter and chocolate cool in the refrigerator overnight before cutting into bars (as long as you don’t mind a slightly melted snack you can shorten the time a little bit, we are impatient people).