What I love about preparing and packing my meals on Sunday is that in the next couple of days all I have to do make dinner when i get home at 5pm on any given night. Also by packing my meals the night before all i have to do in the morning is put everything in my giant cooler, dress my son and I, and put everything in the car. The one extra step of packing my meals the night before is often the difference of leaving 15-35 minutes later than 8am. Today I left at 8:02am- GO me :-)
In my packed cooler:
~Green Smoothie- watercress, kale, pear, banana, celery, apple, lemon
*made this in a big batch for today and tomorrow*
~4-seed oatmeal- with blueberries *I used sesame, hemp, pumpkin and sunflower seeds*
~Asian broccoli and bok choy salad with ginger and soy dressing, and goji berries
~Mixed beans and grains bento "box"-
Black and red beans, chickpeas, rice and quinoa, hijiki seaweed, soy sauce, ginger, carrots, red pepper
~Almond milk and chocolate hemp protein shake
Mmm :-) plant strong meals with a Japanese-inspired lunch.
Now to the recipe.
adapted from Coconut Almond Granola Awesomeness
Coconut Almond Oat Bars
makes 15 mini squares
1/2 cup of grounded almonds or almond flour
1/2 cup of oatmeal old-fashion
1/8 cup of oat bran
1/16 tsp of sea salt
1 cup of fresh coconut- minced in food processor
Scant 1/2 cup of water blended with two pitted medjool dates
2 tbsp of maple syrup or honey or agave syrup
1. preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. line a 8X3 pan with parchment (any square or rectangle pan with do) and put a fine coating of coconut oil on the parchment paper.
3. combine all dry ingredients in a small bowl and mix with a spatula
4. combine wet ingredients and coconut in with dry.
5. mixed well and spread evenly onto lined pan.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes or longer if toy like your granola bar crunchy.
7. Enjoy once cooled!
It is Monday and I am back to weekday routine. Leg workout and swim today- thank goodness I am properly fueling my body with the proper food!
