Do I eat the protein bars because I excercised? Or, do I excercise so I can eat the protein bars?

  This recipe is inspired by Foxy Firecracker. She's an amazing roller derby girl with the Winnipeg Roller Derby League. She sells protein bars for the skaters, but sadly did not have a vegan option for me. We talked about some ideas and I decided to give it a go. I think they turned out excellent. Very delicious and you can't taste the protein powder at all. I used Genisoy Soy protein powder in the original flavour. 

 Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Protein Bars

• 2 cups Quick Cooking Oats
• 1 cup Peanut Butter (Smooth)
• 14 scoops Soy Protein Powder
• 1/4 cup All Purpose Unbleached Flour
• 2 tbsp Flax, Ground
• 1 tbsp Chia seeds
• 2 med Bananas
• 1/3 cup Pure Canadian Maple Syrup
• 1 cup Chopped Peanuts
• 1/4 cup Vegan Dark Chocolate Chips 

Mash the bananas in a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix together. Press into a 9x13 pan (using parchment paper on top so it doesn't stick to your hand) and bake at 350 for 15 min.

Let the bars cool slightly then cut into 14 pieces. Let the bars cool completely before packaging individually. Store in the fridge.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 bar

Amount per Serving:

 

Calories 389

Calories from Fat 162.2

Protein 31.23g

Total Fat 18.02g

Saturated Fat 1.6g

Cholesterol 0mg

Sodium 285.26mg

Total Carbohydrate 24.28g

Dietary Fiber 2.37g

Sugars 8.49g

 

A-berry-that-sits-on-straw Cupcakes

I made these purty little things for my amazingly awesome freshmeat group. (Love my derby girls)
They all seemed to like them, and a few asked for the recipe so here it is!

Strawberry Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350F and line your cupcake tins (12-16 cupcakes)

1-3/4 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 c granulated sugar
1/2 c canola oil
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
8 ounces (225 g) frozen or fresh strawberries pureed or crushed


Mix dry ingredients in one bowl and make a well.

Mix your wet ingredients in a different bowl. Add to the well and mix.

I noticed that the recipe looked dry to me so I added maybe half a cup of milk. I really just kept adding till it looked like normal batter, not sure how much.

Bake for 30 min and then let cupcakes cool completely. While cupcakes are cooling make the icing and fan slice the strawberries for on top.

Buttercream Frosting 

1/2 c non-dairy butter
2 c icing sugar
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp non-dairy milk
(Food colouring optional)

Whip until frosting is light and fluffy adding more milk or sugar to get the desired consistency.

Pipe the frosting onto cooled cupcakes and top with a strawberry. :)

Oh yeah, I'll spoon your bread anyday.

A creamy, dreamy alternative to classic spoonbread (whatever that is - whoever heard of spoonbread?)

I decided to go gluten-free, at least for a time. It was quite the learning experience. Even though it only lasted about a month (Okay... two weeks) I did find some great recipes. This being one of them. I had my sister begging me to make it again the next day after originally serving it to her. My mom's been bugging me for the recipe since. So here it is:

Cheesy Spoonbread

Taken from Gluten-free Vegan Comfort Food by Susan O'Brien

Preheat oven to 375. Grease an 8x8 inch square baking pan. Boil some water.

Ingredients:
1 c Cornmeal
1 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Maple Syrup
1 1/3 c Boiling Water
1 c Coconut Milk (full fat)
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
1/4 c Veganaise
3/4 tsp Baking Soda
2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 c Corn
1/2 Cheddar Cheese (I used Daiya)

In a large bowl stir together the cornmeal, salt, and maple syrup. Pour the boiling water over the mixture. Set aside for 5 - 10 minutes. Combine the lemon juice and coconut milk and let it sit as well to make a "buttermilk" type substitute. It should curdle.

Whisk in the veganaise in with the milk until smooth. Stir into the cornmeal mixture adding the baking soda and baking powder and then add the corn and cheese.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish. Bake 30-40 minutes. It should be golden brown and firm to the touch when done.

Spoon out and enjoy.