The team traveled from New Zealand to Tonga along a humpback highway to collect environmental DNA and raise awareness of the plight of the marine mammals
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Homemade peanut butter protein bars
Sharing a super delicious and healthy homemade peanut butter protein bars recipe! Perfect for meal prep and grab-and-go snacks. Plus, they’re gluten-free and dairy-free.
Hey! How are you? I hope you are having a great week! With so much going on around here, this week seems to be flying by. Between work and things with the kids, my days have been especially hectic, so I’ve been reaching for quick and easy meals and snacks. Which brings me to today’s post.
How about a little protein bar with your morning coffee?
I love protein bars as an on-the-go snack because they’re healthy yet delicious. At the same time, I don’t usually love the ingredients for many store bought protein bars. My top bars right now are these good! bars (which are impossible to find; usually Sprouts has them), Aloha, and the chocolate whole food bars.
Homemade peanut butter protein bars
While it is possible to find tasty ones with good ingredients, they can also be a bit on the pricey side! Making them at home instead is so easy, way less expensive, and they don’t require a lot of time in or any cooking or baking skills. Peanut butter is one of the most popular ingredients used in protein bars (and one of my fave flavors!), so today, I’m sharing a peanut butter protein bar* recipe that you can make at any time!
*You can also make fun and delicious peanut butter protein balls using this recipe!
What Is A Protein Bar Good For
A quick snack when you don’t have time for a full meal
Sometimes it gets busy and instead of skipping a meal because you don’t have time to make a full meal, I’m ALL about relying on convenience. If these are in the fridge ready to go, you can enjoy one along with a hard-boiled egg or an apple – it’s perfect if you don’t have time to actually cook anything. Is it a substitute for a real meal? Nope! Buuuut it can give you extra fuel and nutrients when you’re on a time crunch and in a hurry.
For travel
I love wrapping up a homemade protein bar and popping it in my tote bag when we’re traveling, along with the usual suspects: jerky, tea, an apple, some chocolate, LMNT packs, trail mix, and a tuna pouch. I can never find any of my go-to protein bars at the airport, so it’s nice to have one on hand that you know you enjoy.
Post-workout fuel
These are great if you’re heading to the gym and then have to head straight to an appointment or back to work. As a pre- or post-workout snack, these homemade protein bars give you a burst of protein, carbs, and healthy fats, plus they are portable and don’t make a mess. 😉
Late-night snacks
Despite what you may have heard, it is not harmful to eat before you go to bed if it’s macro-balanced. Sometimes if you’re hungry, you may need a bit of protein and carbs to prevent a glucose crash in the night, disputing sleep. Just make sure that it’s balanced and not too sugary, which makes these bars an excellent choice. More of my favorite pre-bedtime snacks include hard-boiled eggs and some fruit, yogurt with some grain-free granola, and deli meat rolled up with hummus.
Peanut Butter Protein Bar Recipe
Ingredients
- Vanilla or chocolate pea, brown rice, or whey protein powder (I like NOW Foods, DNS, and Truvani)
- Peanut butter (feel free to substitute with almond butter, sunflower seed butter, or other nut butter)
- Oats
- Maple syrup
- Mini milk or dark chocolate chips
- Coconut oil
- Vanilla extract
- Sea salt
- Monk fruit (*optional, but I like that its naturally sweetening, not artificial tasting )
How To Make Peanut Butter Protein Bars
Step One
Grind the oats into a flour in a high-speed blender or a food processor. You can make them into a fine flour or leave them with a bit more texture, depending on your preference.
Step Two
Add the oats to a bowl, along with the chocolate or vanilla protein powder, and sea salt, then mix well.
Step Three
In a separate bowl, stir together the maple syrup, vanilla, and peanut butter. If you want this to be less sweet, use a majority of almond milk instead of maple syrup. This also depends on the sweetness of the protein powder.
Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture, and then stir in the mini chocolate chips.
Step Four
Spread the mixture onto a 9×9 baking pan lined with parchment paper and place in the fridge to set slightly.
Step Five
Mix the coconut oil and chocolate in the microwave for about 30 seconds and stir until melted.
Step Six
Drizzle the chocolate over the bars and place back into the fridge to set, about 30 minutes.
Step Seven
Remove from the fridge and cut into bars. Keep stored in the fridge in a covered container for up to one week.
Homemade peanut butter protein bars
A healthy and delicious snack recipe you can make in advance to enjoy throughout the week.
Ingredients
1 large scoops (70g) vanilla or chocolate protein powder (I like NOW Foods, DNS, and Truvani)
3 oz peanut butter
80g oats (about 1 cup) ground into flour
3 oz maple syrup
1 oz almond milk or water
2 oz mini chocolate chips (plus an extra 2 oz for drizzling)
1 teaspoon coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of sea salt
Monk fruit (*optional)
Instructions
Step One
Grind the oats into a flour in a high-speed blender or a food processor. You can make them into a fine flour or leave them with a bit more texture, depending on your preference.
Step Two
Add the oats to a bowl, along with the protein powder, sea salt, and mix well.
Step Three
In a separate bowl, stir together the maple syrup, vanilla, and peanut butter. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture, and then stir in the mini chocolate chips.
Step Four
Spread the mixture onto a parchment-lined 9×9 baking dish and set in the fridge to set slightly.
Step Five
Mix the coconut oil and chocolate in the microwave for about 30 seconds and stir until melted.
Step Six
Drizzle the chocolate over the bars and place back into the fridge to set, about 30 minutes.
Step Seven
Remove from the fridge and cut into bars. Keep stored in the fridge in a covered container for up to one week.
Notes
If your protein powder is on the sweet side, use more almond milk and less maple syrup to hold them together. If your protein powder is not sweet, add the maple syrup and a little monk fruit and stevia according to your preference!
How Long Do Homemade Protein Bars Last?
Most homemade protein bars will last 1-2 weeks if you store them in an airtight container in the fridge. To make them last longer, you can also store them in the freezer for up to six months.
Are you going to make these??
Please let me know how they turn out!!
xo
Gina
More of my favorite meal prep staples and healthy snacks:
5 high protein meal prep recipes
Easy meal planning for busy moms
The post Homemade peanut butter protein bars appeared first on The Fitnessista.
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Author: Fitnessista
My Life According to My Foreign-Language Exercise Book
I hang out with my friends at the park, and we play ball.
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Author: Enrico Pinto, Hannah Robinson
‘His Three Daughters’ puts three acting dynamos in one apartment
Elizabeth Olsen, Carrie Coon, and Natasha Lyonne are often the best thing about their projects, and they’re all together in the moving new Netflix film His Three Daughters. They play three sisters who are odds with one another, but must gather in their father’s apartment when he’s dying. As his illness progresses, their own sibling relationships are tested.
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Author: Linda Holmes
Australia Powerball – 26 Sep 2024
Australia Powerball
26 Sep 2024
Thursday
Powerball
Uzo Aduba thanks her mom: ‘I didn’t know how many prayers she sent up to heaven for me’
The Orange Is the New Black actor grew up the daughter of Nigerian immigrants in a predominantly white Massachusetts suburb. She looks back on her mother’s influence in the memoir, The Road Is Good.
(Image credit: Evan Agostini)
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Author: Tonya Mosley
‘I Just Want a Zinfandel’ Wins Wine Spectator’s 2024 Video Contest
Steve Jacobson was not about to throw away his shot to win Wine Spectator’s annual video contest for a third time in a row. While the 2024 competition was incredibly close, “I Just Want a Zinfandel” (a parody of the opening number to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s boundary-breaking Broadway musical Hamilton) won the viewers’ votes and cemented Jacobson’s “Hall of Famer” status in the publication’s reader-submitted video contest.
Spoofing “Hamilton” was Jacobson’s first inclination for his final submission to the publication’s annual video contest. (At one point, he also toyed with the opening number to The Greatest Showman: “It was going to be ‘The Greatest Wine,’” he confesses.) But, cheekily, Jacobson took a cue from Wine Spectator executive editor Jeffery Lindenmuth, when he introduced a screening of his first winning video. “At the 2022 event, Jeffery mentioned from the podium: ‘Maybe someone should introduce Steve to Lin-Manuel Miranda,’” says Jacobson. “I am a big fan of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s work, so I did choose a song that—albeit difficult to write to—was something that I personally enjoyed working with.”
For his previous winning videos, Jacobson tapped his nephews for the vocals: Aaron, a classically trained singer, belted out the Broadway showtime spoof and 2022 winner “Cabernet Tonight,” and Adam, a “rock-and-roller,” captured the style of a Stephen Stills song in 2023 winner “Love the Wine You’re With.” This time? It’s all Jacobson on the track. “[My son and I] went into a recording studio and took five hours to record the two-minute song,” explains Jacobson. “He directed me all along the way and did a brilliant job. It’s funny because when he was like seven, he ended up doing a voiceover for something that I directed him on. And here we are, 20-odd years later, and he’s directing me in the studio.”
For his winning entry, Jacobson has again earned two full weekend passes to Wine Spectator’s New York Wine Experience. He is still buzzing with excitement from his time at the 2022 Wine Experience. “I’ve worked with a lot of great celebrities throughout my career, but I never really was starstruck,” says Jacobson. “I’m starstruck when it comes to winemakers … [I love] just being able to be in the room with 1,200 of my favorite, closest wine friends and listen to the professionals—watching, learning, participating, tasting and engaging with the community. I love the artistry. I love the craftsmanship, and I have so much respect for people who can do it as well as they do.”
[article-img-container][src=2024-09/ws-video-contest-2024-fresh-prince_1600.jpg] [credit= (Wölffer Estate)] [alt= Roman Roth sitting in a chair with sunglasses and a baseball cap, with grafitti lettering reading: “The Fresh Prince of Rosé”][end: article-img-container]
Other contest finalists kept the tunes going, including the second-place winner, “The Fresh Prince of Rosé,” which tells the story of how Long Island–based winemaker Roman Roth’s “life got flipped-turned upside down” when he moved from Germany to the Hamptons in 1988 and helped Christian Wölffer create Wölffer Estate. While this was Roth’s first submission to the video contest, this wasn’t his first time penning lyrics; every year, the Wölffer partner creates a parody song for staff to perform at the company holiday party. (In 2023, it was “Wine on the Brain,” a reference to a tasting visit they had from singer and businesswoman Rihanna.) “My father always said, if my wine turns to vinegar, I can always go to Broadway,” Roth jokes.
The parody of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s theme was a team effort, with help from Roth’s assistant winemakers, cellar crew, the local airport and even his bishop (that’s where the throne in the intro came from). “It was all organic and local,” says Roth. “We wanted to show that New York wines can stand up to the best wines in the world, but we can have fun as well. There is freedom. We don’t have concrete roots of tradition.”
In contrast, heritage was the driving force behind third-place contest winner “Family Legacy in Sonoma County,” which traces the history of the pioneering Martinelli family, known for their Pinot Noir, Zinfandel and Chardonnay. Narrated by patriarch Lee Martinelli Sr., his son Lee Martinelli Jr. and winemaker Courtney Robinett Wagoner, the video features stunning drone shots of the family’s different properties across Sonoma—from the steep slopes of Jackass Hill in the Russian River Valley to the rolling rows of Wild Thyme Vineyard in the coastal Fort Ross–Seaview AVA.
[article-img-container][src=2024-09/ws-video-contest-2024-family-legacy_1600.jpg] [credit= (Martinelli)] [alt= Grapes being collected in a large bin during harvest at a Martinelli vineyard][end: article-img-container]
“Family-owned and multi-generational companies in general, but specifically wineries, are becoming fewer and fewer,” says estate director Tessa Gorsuch, a member of the family’s fifth generation. “We also wanted to highlight that we’re farmers. That’s really where my family got started—being grapegrowers. We only keep about 10 to 12 percent of our grapes for our own production.”
Interspersed with shots of lush vineyards are scenes of four generations of Martinellis sitting together at a table, sharing a bottle of wine. “My grandfather [Lee Sr.] is 85 years old, and he still farms six days a week,” says Gorsuch. “The thing that makes him most happy is the future generations getting involved, and us having a sentimentality and a special connection to the land, because that’s how he grew up.” (You can read more about the family in our Sept. 30, 2023, cover story, “Martinelli: Family, Farming, Tradition.”)
The second- and third-place winners have both earned a pair of tickets to either an upcoming New York Wine Experience Grand Tasting evening or a Grand Tour tasting event, as did the other six 2024 video contest finalists. Catch them all, plus an additional five judges’ picks for honorable mentions, and find your own favorite.
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Zelda review: ‘Echoes of Wisdom’ is a worthwhile remix, not a revolution
Nintendo’s latest game is the first to truly star Zelda in the series that has borne her name since 1986. It boasts innovative mechanics but is still a little too linked to the past.
(Image credit: Nintendo)
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Author: James Perkins Mastromarino
Journaling prompts to use this fall
Sharing some journaling prompts you can use as we wrap up the last portion of the year.
Hiiii friends! Happy Wednesday! What do you have going on this week? My newest baby niece will be born this week and I can’t wait! I’m excited to put some baby meals together 🙂
Today, I wanted to chat about something that has changed my morning routine: journaling. I always heard people talking about it, but didn’t want to give it a try because it felt awkward and uncomfortable. I’m supposed to just… write?? Write about what? What if it isn’t good? What if someone reads it and was like wth is wrong with this person? It made me nervous to write something so effortlessly, without the power to brainstorm, strategize and delete.
But, during the time that shall not be named, something changed: I needed to dump my thoughts onto paper. I stopped caring about it being good, or perfect, but instead used it as a brain dump because my head was SO full of thoughts. It gave me clarity and peace, and since then, I’ve used it as part of my morning routine.
Usually my morning routine looks something like this (sometimes all of it happens, sometimes it’s in pieces broken up throughout the day, sometimes only one thing might happen):
My morning routine
Probiotic and a big glass of water
Meditate on my PEMF Go Mat (code is FITNESSISTA15) listening to binaural beats on Spotify for 7 minutes
Daily devotional/Bible study and prayer 10-15 minutes, listening to worship music on Spotify
Journaling 5-10 minutes about goals, a brain dump of thoughts, or where I see myself in the future. I write about these things like they’ve already happened. It’s been SO wild to go back to some of the things that I wrote in 2020 and every.single.thing has happened, even the ones that felt genuinely impossible.
After this, I’ll have breakfast (usually Daily Nutritional support and Truvani protein pudding topped with berries and hemp seeds or Nuttzo) and supplements, make a coffee and then get started on work
**Feel free to adjust your routine according to your unique beliefs and goals, and set yourself up for a peaceful and energized day.
Journaling prompts to use this fall
If you’re feeling stumped on the journaling portion, here are some prompts you can consider:
Reflect on your spiritual growth this year.
What lessons have you learned, and how have they shaped your beliefs and values? How is the version of you NOW different then the version of you at the beginning of the year?
What are three goals you want to achieve before the year ends?
Write about how you plan to work toward them, and the steps you’ll take to stay on track. Write about these goals as if they’ve already happened, the struggles you faced to acheive them, and how you handled these obstacles.
Visualize your dream life.
Describe it in detail, including your surroundings, relationships, and daily routine. Write about it as if it’s already happened. How can you start working this reality now? Create an action plan.
What spiritual practices make you feel most grounded?
How can you incorporate more of them into your routine? What makes you feel peaceful and calm? What strategies do you like to use each day?
Write a letter to your future self, one year from now.
What advice do you want to give yourself, and what accomplishments do you hope to have achieved? Write about these things as if they’ve already happened, and celebrate these things.
What limiting beliefs are holding you back from reaching your goals?
Explore how you can shift your mindset to one of abundance and possibility. Write down any limiting beliefs that are holding you back and how you can overcome them.
Set an intention for the season.
How do you want to feel throughout the fall and into the holidays? What actions can you take to align with this intention?
How do you nurture your spiritual connection during times of stress?
What rituals or habits can help you strengthen your spirituality this fall? Maybe it’s something like attending church or a Bible study, or even making time to be out in nature, meditating, reading, whatever works for you.
What are the signs that you receive when you’re on the right path?
Reflect on recent events or synchronicities that affirm your goals. When have things *worked out* even when it seemed hopeless?
Write about a personal goal you’ve been putting off.
Why haven’t you started, and what would it feel like to finally make progress? How can you take the first step? Create an action plan that you can follow.
What does your morning routine look like? What do you typically incorporate into your day? Are you a fan of journaling or not so much?
xoxo
Gina
The post Journaling prompts to use this fall appeared first on The Fitnessista.
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Author: Fitnessista
What New Yorkers Do When They Cannot Sleep
While the rest of the world is sleeping soundly, here’s what the Aspiring TV Writer and the Finance Bro are up to.
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Author: Natalie Wexler