Cinnamon Seed Protein Bars

As most of you know, I have been dieting since February. My low carb lifestyle can be daunting and boring even when I am extremely fortified. As boredom sets in, I seek out new foods and this is where a diet in the past has always caused me to run into trouble. I think I've devised some save tactics and this is one of them.

I really like foods on the go because I, myself, am always on the go. For instance, it is 11:30 AM right now and we have already been to a tire store, a garage door store and Home Depot. I drank a protein mocha for breakfast and now I'm off to Marshall's and Ross in preparation for our trip to Turkey. I know I'll get hungry but I'll want a snack not a full on meal. For busy run around days like today, I like a protein bar. The problem is that I have yet to find a protein bar that is both low in carbs/sugar and calories and high in protein.

My usual is a Kind + Protein bar. Very tasty but clocks in at 210 calories and 15 grams of fat. I keep them handy though because they are also only 11 grams of carbs and have a good punch of protein at 10 grams. I thought I might be able to do a little better without sacrificing taste so I invented the Cinnamon Seed Protein Bar.

Despite the fact that this is not a food blog, I have yet another recipe to share with you.

Cinnamon Seed Protein Bars

Ingredients

• 1/2 Cup rolled oats
• 1/4 Cup currants
• 1 Cup Protein powder of your choice (I use Bob's Red Mill Whey Protein Concentrate)
• 1/2 Cup puffed Quinoa
• 2 Tbs Pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 Cup sunflower seeds
• 3 Tbs flax seeds
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 egg white 
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp poppy seeds

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Prepare an 8x8 baking dish with cooking spray
3. Mix all ingredients together except cinnamon and poppy seeds.
4. Pour batter into baking dish and smooth flat.
5. Sprinkle top with cinnamon and poppy seeds.
6. Bake 10-15 minutes.
7. Let cool and cut into 10 bars.
8. Enjoy!

Notes

10 Servings

150 Calories, 5 gms fat, 15 gms carbohydrate, 11 gms protein

Frabjous Finds - Wood Camera App

Sooooo.....

Everybody knows about Instagram. And heck, I am guilty of loving that thing. But sometimes I like to keep my photos breasted as I don't always want to share everything. for instance, if I take 7 pics of the same thing sometimes I like using them in a montage. If I have to adjust them using filters and tilt-shifts, then they have to be doctored and why would anyone want to see the junk in between?

Enter Wood Camera app for the iPhone. I learned about the Wood Camera app on Instagram because I follow it's creator, John Barnett. You can do nearly everything on this one app and when the final stage of awesome appears then you can share it on Instagram sans all the goopy errors before the final product.

Wood Camera has tons of lenses and fx to choose from and it's surprisingly user friendly. You can import several photos at a time and choose a number of frames and papers. My only criticism is that I wish there were more light effects. Big deal. Not much of a criticism really and I can use another app for that. With Wood camera, anyone can be a photo pro! It blows Hipstamatic out of the water and includes all the fx that I would usually do using two separate apps, PicFx and BeFunky.

Photos using the Wood Camera app for iPhone....

All photos by John Barnett and can be found @ John Barnett

A Big Hit! Trix Krispies...

It's been a big food week here at P&P. A dinner party on Tuesday and Book Club on Thursday warranted yummy food.

I made these special little delicacies (a treat I found on Pinterest - go figure) on both Tuesday and Thursday.

Trix Krispies: I'll be adding pics soon!

Trix Krispies

A fun twist on a classic!

Ingredients

• 1 1lb bag of mini marshmallows
• 1 box Trix cereal
• 1/4 cup butter

Instructions

1. Place the butter and marshmallows in a large pot on medium heat and stir to melt.
2. Turn off heat.
3. Mix in your trix and stir making sure the cereal is well coated
4. Spray a 9x13 in pan with cooking spray.
5. Pour into greased pan and press down with a spoon.
6. Cut into squares.
7. Serve to a cheerful crowd with a twinkle of moxie and mirth.

Notes

You can use wax paper to press down Krispies or spray cooking spray on the back of the spoon you are using. It's a handy trick. Also, I use a 1lb bag of marshmallow (I am brand loyal to Jet Puffed) because I like a marshmallowie treat - feel free to adjust!