Day 83: Clean Eating Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Protein Bars

Original Source: The Gracious Pantry

My Teen Boy has become a gym rat, and since the rest of the family is health conscious 80-20, I like finding recipes like this where he can get a bulk of calories (Yes, these are NOT calorie light) but from good ingredients and not wrapped in chemical, prepackaged hell. I took a bite after I pulled them out of the oven and was really disappointed since the cost of ingredients wasn't cheap. However, the longer they sat, the better they became. By the next morning, My Guy was packing them for work and told me he ate them all day, so I guess they're a keeper after all. (He's thin, he can handle the calorie load.)

Get the recipe HERE

Day 44: Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

Original Source: Chiquita Banana

Admission time: I didn't eat this. I tried a spoonful as I passed a small glass to my kids and husband, but I do NOT like smoothies made with bananas. It's all I can taste.

They all said the same thing: Too much peanut butter, too little banana. Actually think I'll be tossing this recipe out of my cookbook. Way too much trouble for something so "meh."

Get the recipe HERE

Day 30: REESE'S Peanut Butter Bark

Original Source: Hersheys

I made this for some occasion last year after finding it on Pinterest. Let's just say when I asked people what one thing they wanted me to make for sure at the Thanksgiving feast I prepared that year, this one was requested by more than one. It's so simple to make (and I mean, 3-year-old helper simple!) and tastes so great. Keep it in the fridge and it keeps for a long time. It will start to melt pretty quickly if you leave it out too long (or at least sweat and get messy)... so don't take this on the go if you're traveling without a cooler!

FIND THE RECIPE HERE

Day 24: Puffy Vanilla and Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

Original Source: Six Sisters Stuff

As a chocolate non-lover, I LOVE finding good desserts that leave out cocoa. Especially peanut butter cookies, which is strange because I'm not even particularly fond of peanut butter in other recipes. Just cookies.


The recipe calls for chilling the dough for thirty minutes, and I decided to chill half of it, and cook the other half fresh just to see if there was any difference. If there was, no one in my family could tell.

YUM! Everyone liked them, though again, no one could tell a difference between the chilled dough version and cooking right away. Also, the peanut butter chips don't melt and get all gooey like chocolate chips. They were soft and creamy, but if you didn't get one in the bite, then you couldn't really tell it was a peanut butter cookie. It tasted more like a cinnamon sugar cookie or a mild snickerdoodle. Maybe putting some actual peanut butter in the mix or adding alot more chips might be more peanut buttery goodness.


Will definitely put this in my keeper box, however, and tweak it every now and then till I find what we like best.

GET THE RECIPE HERE