Happy Snacker: No-Bake Granola Protein Bites

I'm a snacker. Actually, I'm a huge snacker. I'm also one of those people who eats when she gets bored so it's really important that I have healthy snacks made and ready to eat. One of my favorite snacks has to be this recipe for No-Bake Granola Protein Bites. I came across the recipe one day when I was searching for recipes that contained oats and chocolate chips. I immediately made the recipe and added a few extra goodies to it to really made it something I could enjoy. The best part is that these healthy snacks are seen as dessert by my girls. If you like peanut butter and chocolate, then you will definitely like this recipe. If you like not feeling guilty about the snack you are eating, then this recipe is definitely for you. 

No-Bake Granola Protein Bites 
Source: Slightly adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe
Yields about 18 bites

1 cups quick oats
1/2 cup crispy rice cereal (I use Special K)
1 scoop (1/4 cup) vanilla protein powder
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/4 chia seeds
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips, cut into chunks
1/3 cup honey or agave nectar
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 Tablespoons coconut oil

Combine all the ingredients together in a large bowl, being careful not to crush the cereal too much. Mix until well-combined. Add a tablespoon or so more of peanut butter if the mixture does not come together well.

Using a cookie scoop or your hands, drop rounded tablespoonful-sized portions onto a parchment or wax paper lined cooking sheet.

Refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

Star snacking!

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Trying to Simplify & More Pumpkin

Life is busy, busy, busy. I'm struggling with finding the balance lately and am fighting against feeling overwhelmed more often than I'd like. The past few weeks have really left me in awe of all the working moms out there; how do you do it? With my internship and school I'm feeling a little stretched thin and I feel so guilty that the girls aren't doing anything fun outside of school. I can't wait for school to be over with so that my evenings can open up again and so that I can stop feeling like a gypsy, driving around Miami, all the time. So I've been trying to think of ways to simplify my life and focus on doing things I enjoy. It's a work in progress because everything feels so necessary right now, but I need to learn to build better boundaries. I'm getting there!

Because I don't like to post without giving you something to enjoy, here's this recipe for a Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal that my friend shared with me. I made a few changes to the original recipe because it tasted too much like pumpkin puree to me and I think I did the right thing. The pickiest eater in the house as of late is Elina and she loved this oatmeal. I will definitely be making this again and maybe next time I'll throw in some chocolate chips. 

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal
Adapted from a post on Finding Fitness and Health with Becca
Serves 2

1 1/4 cup water
1/2 cup steel-cut oats
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 to 1 tsp cinnamon depending on your preference
1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
1 Tbsp brown sugar (more, if you want sweeter)
2 Tbsp chopped walnuts
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

Bring water to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add oats and cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, for 20 minutes or until tender. Remove from heat.

Mix in the rest of ingredients. Serve and enjoy!

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Easy Yogurt Pops

Cati consumes so much yogurt that it's hard to keep up. She will eat it any way she can get it and in any flavor too. I had come across this idea of piping regular yogurt (I used vanilla yogurt) onto a cookie sheet, dropping fruit onto the yogurt, and then freezing on a few different blogs. I thought it would be a great way for Cati to get extra fruit in her diet and an even better way to get her involved in the kitchen. I chopped up her two favorite fruits and she had a blast dropping them onto the yogurt. I added sticks to make them lollipops and the hardest part was getting Cati to wait until they froze. These are her "yogurt lollipops" and it takes her less than a minute to eat one.