You guys… I’m just going to go ahead and get this off my chest right from the get-go… I baked yet another batch of soft and chewy protein granola bars…
… which, if you’re keeping track, brings my tally up to 4 batches. I would say I have a problem, but it’s all in the name of experimentation — I swear! I received a few samples of Plant Fusion (expect a review + recipe soon), so I figured I’d test ’em out by seeing if my favourite bars could be veganized — and they can! I replaced the whey with a plant-based protein powder, and used a mix of chocolate chips and raisins instead of straight up chocolate chips. Gooooooood stuff.
But don’t you worry your pretty little heads off… I’ve been enjoying plenty of food that doesn’t come in bar form. And to prove it to you, let’s take a look at What I Ate Wednesday Tuesday…
We’re going to start with what I’m eating as I write this [on Tuesday night], since it’s the easiest to bring to mind. Behond! The nighttime snack…
Banana milkshake and a granola bar.
Err… I just realized that starting things off by highlighting a meal with a granola bar probably isn’t the best way to convince you that I eat things other than granola bars — I clearly didn’t think that one through. But it’s late, I just got back from snowboarding not too long ago, and the majority of my brain juices are working at keeping my basic functions functioning — there’s not much left over for coherent thought. Bear with me.
Okay. So I’ve recently started increasing my nighttime snacks because boarding kicks my butt and waking up at 2 AM to the loud crescendo coming from my general stomach region is not my idea of a night well spent. What is my idea of a night well spent? I’ll leave that to the workings of your imagination.
In non granola bar news, we have breakfast…
… which actually contains a lot of the same ingredients as my granola bars, now that I think about it. You’ve got your oats, your almond butter, your honey… I guess I have a fixation? Evidenced further by the fact that I followed it up with a morning snack of one of my flourless almond butter muffins…
… whiiiiich, again, are made with oats, almond butter, and honey 😯 But at least the cantaloupe was different!
… as was lunch!
I’m still loving my snack plates, and I honestly don’t see that changing anytime soon. This lovely spread was made up of some killer combos — chips & salsa (dangerous!!!); almonds & raisins; cottage cheese & jam; and…. roasted kabocha, all by its lonesome self. I think what I love most about snack plates is that they allow me to satisfy all my cravings in one go so that I’m not left prowling the kitchen in that annoying state of: “not-hungry-but-need-something,” ya know? There’s nothing worse than finishing a meal and not feeling satisfied, so I’ve learned to say to hell with convention and just eat whatever it is that I might be feeling… and for an afternoon snack, I was feeling some chocolate…
Belsoy dark chocolate pudding.
… and a banana, apparently…
Another classic combo, but at least it’s not oats, almond butter, and honey 😉 And neither was dinner…
… which was leftover chicken stir fry, eaten cold because everyone knows that’s the only way to do it.
I’ve got some exciting news to share, but it’ll have to wait until tomorrow. I hope you guys have a wonderful Wednesday! And I’ll see you tomorrow for Thinking Out Loud! 😀
What’s one of your favourite food trios? I think mine is pretty obvious…
Favourite leftovers to eat cold? Stir fry or pizza.
What was breakfast this morning? Oats… with almond butter and honey 😉
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oats, nut butter, cereals and bananas, oohh and chocolate, are the best foods on earth! Why can’t I just eat breakfast for every meal every day? I’ve done it a couple of times 😉 And then I crave rice, beans, sweet potato and pasta. But that’s rarely! I prefer oats, cereal and the whole combo!
You, my friend, are the QUEEN of snack plates! Love this little post theme…too cute! One of my favorite (and most addicting) food trios? Pumpkin + peanut butter + chocolate! You just can’t go wrong there…well, unless you have a peanut allergy that is! 😯 Stay away!!! And you know me, pretty much any and ALL leftovers are eaten cold, but ESPECIALLY roasted veggies…and always, always pizza! And omg, I just realized I can’t remember what I had for breakfast! haha!
I have a hard time eating things other than oats and almond butter in various forms!! I love the snack plate idea!! Do you shoot for a certain number of calories in your snack plates?
Nothing too specific, but I definitely try to make sure it’s around the same as a normal meal.
Granola really is the most delicious food ever 🙂 I make a grainless version with nuts & banana– SO YUMMY!
I love cold left-over meat… fish, chicken, steak… when I ate spaghetti, I LOVED cold spaghetti. I would eat it straight out of the bag!
Pretty sure I need to come and visit so I can eat all your amazing meals! This looks amazing.
It’s funny you ask about cold pizza because that’s the only way I used to eat leftover pizza. Heating it up just ruined the consistency. That’s also a great way to make oat bars – I never thought of using protein powder!
Those granola bars look legit good! I’m going to have to click on over and hope you posted the recipe! 😉
I had cantaloupe, oats and almonds yesterday too! #twins
You already had me drooling just reading the title of this post. Yay for Plant Fusion in the bars, we are all going to take the blog world by storm with all these vegan protein bar recipes. 😉 Dried fruit and almonds alongside squash has been one of my favorite combos for snacking lately.
OMG OMG it’s been an eternity since I have visited, I am a terrible blog friend. TERRIBLE. 🙁 From the looks of it though, you’re alive and kicking with some deliciousness! I have to say my favorite food combo is salmon, spaghetti squash and nori sheets – BOOM. I eat it uhhhhhhhh every day!! Creature of habit, oh yes, that’s me!
Haha, maybe we should just expect those granola bars to make a weekly appearance! Bananas and nut butters are so.good. And your photograph seriously makes it look gourmet!
I’m in love with your snack plates- so colorful and delicious! That’s typically what I do for lunch too because I loathe lunch and can never decide on anything that sounds good.
Oh, and 4 batches of bars is nothing to be embarrassed about- I admire you! I wish I had the time to bake and prepare food as often as you do. Maybe I’ll just come live in your kitchen? Yeah, that sounds like a good plan to me… (:
No shame in the 4 batches. Heck- they look and sound delicious. I would probably do the same. Plus, the ingredients are all delicious, so….. it just makes sense too. I love starting my day off with oatmeal and coffee. Filling, satisfying, delicious. Snack plates are so nice, but with school, I have to pack the good old salad and sandwich combo. I do however dress up my salads with different fruits and veggies. If I’m on the more rebellious side, I’ll make a wrap instead of a sandwich. 😉 Wow.. I’m so lame. Oh well! Haha. You can’t go wrong with stir-frys. Milkshakes are delicious! 🙂
I am so glad I made your chewy protein bars– they are awesome! I am going to make another batch this weekend since the batch I made a few days ago clearly isn’t going to last long 😉
Your eats always look so delicious. What’s in your banana milkshake?! I want one. Snack plates always make the best kinds of meals. I’ve been making a lot of those lately since I haven’t really been into cooking.
It was actually a super simple one… Just a frozen banana blended up with regular old milk.
Some news?!? Can’t wait!! 🙂 And that cantaloupe has me drooling… when is summer again and why did I choose to live in this miserably cold climate?
Haha I can totally relate – sometimes I’ll think back at the end of the day and realize I ate almond butter like 4-5 times throughout the day. Same with avocados. One of my favourite food trios is banana + almond butter + figs lately! Also, dates + soy nut butter + chocolate.
I’m not a big fan of cold stir fry, but I love cold pizza! And cold sweet potatoes. And cold taco meat.
Breakfast this morning was oatmeal with banana, almond butter, and figs haha. 😀
So jealous you can find kabocha squash. Every store around here says it’s out of season. 🙁 It is so good!!
Well, I guess there have to be SOME perks to living in Alberta 😉
Im sorry Amanda but the thought of eating leftover cold freaks me right out 😯 unless it is something thats meant to be eaten cold like leftover salad bahaha.
Breakfast this morning was sweet potato hash browns sautéed with some onions and broccoli than topped with a dippy egg! It was a nice switch up from the usual smoothies I’ve been loving. I think Im going to have to agree with you on the food trio thing; Almonds, honey and oats are delicious!
I can see why you’re loving those granola bars… they do look pretty amazing. All of your eats look delicious, BTW.
I’ve never had cold stir-fry, so I’d have to go w/cold pizza. 🙂 I think cold chicken or turkey is always a winner though.
Can you just make all my food for me? lol! Everything looks so yummy! Oats + almond butter + honey = PERFECTION. I’m jealous of how much you eat! I feel like if I ate that much I would be stuffing myself. And your stir fry always looks so good!! But I don’t think I would eat it warm, not in the cold winter!
what kind of noodles do you use for your stir fries? Are they rice vermicelli?
I do believe these one are, yup! My mom is responsible for this stir fry (leftover Sunday dinner). I usually make mine with soba noodles or rice.