I’ve been cutting way down on gluten these days… I don’t subscribe to any particular diet. I eat what feels right to me.
It seems every four or five years there’s a new fad trend in dieting. Most recently it seems everyone is on the Paleo bandwagon. I’m not poo-pooing it… I definitely think this country needs to cut out processed foods (for starters) and eat more raw fruits and vegetables. (Or cooked vegetables for that matter.) As far as replicating the menu at Chez Barney Rubble’s? I don’t know… I haven’t read the Yelp! reviews but Yak marrow doesn’t sound that appealing.
I’m not a doctor, nor a food nutritionist, but isn’t the gall bladder a great example of how we have evolved as a species? It’s a non-vital digestive organ. I’m on a wi-fi-less plane so I don’t have wikipedia to fact-check this, but I thought I read somewhere that back in the day the gall bladder’s main task was to weed out hair, sand, dirt, bone… you know, shit that might’ve been accidentally digested while gnawing on a wooly mammoth thigh bone.
And JetBlue, come on… really? 45 channels of live television but no wi-fi? I will say this, the extra legroom is worth it despite the fact that my left ass cheek is completely numb. I will also say this, I am loving our flight attendant, Kate, and her saucy little neck scarf. When did they start wearing those? Nice throwback.
Anyway, where was I?
I occasionally like to make peanut butter cookies, usually on a Sunday night when I am coaxing myself out of a bloody mary coma. This weekend I decided to try something without flour and came up with what I think is some sort of energy bar. I tossed a handful of ingredients into my Kitchenaid stand mixer and was pleasantly surprised with the results.
You will need:
- 1/2c peanut butter
- 1T vanilla
- 1 egg
- 3 bananas
- 1c fresh blueberries
- 1/2c chopped walnuts
- 1/2c brown sugar
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups of uncooked steel cut oats
- 1/4 chopped dark chocolate (60% or higher) – optional
I combined all of the above ingredients adding the blueberries, nuts and chocolate near the end. The consistency should be a little creamier than cookie dough. I had to add a few more oats at the very end because my mixture was just a little to thin.
I lightly sprayed a baking sheet with canola oil and then pressed the mixture into the pan at about a 1/4″ thickness.
I baked at 375°F for about 15-18 minutes.
I let them cool and then cut into handy bar size snacks. Because the bars are soft and contain fruit I refrigerated these in a resealable glass container with wax paper separators between layers (to keep the bars from sticking together).
I was surprised at how well the bars held together (not crumbly). I also found these to be a highly satisfying mid-day snack. And moderately healthy!
Let me know what you think! And don’t forget you can keep up to date with future posts by joining my email list.
