Homemade Protein Bars and Orlando Road Trip!!
/I just finished up a lovely family vacation in Orlando and I have so much to share!!! I took as much of a break as I could from life for about a good week, and soaked up every minute of the trip. I think it's good to disconnect and decompress every so often.
So first, SNACKS!!!
Confession: I love Quest Cookies N Cream protein bars. I know, they are NOT actually healthy, but every so often, I will have one post workout instead of my Stronger Faster Healthier protein shake. I was really tempted to buy a bunch of Quest Bars for the road trip, but those things are expensive!! And I wanted a snack that didn't have questionable ingredients, so I did the next best thing and whipped up some homemade protein bars with my SFH protein. These babies were delicious!!
Snack #2 was my sister-in-laws idea. I was going to be lazy and just buy coconut chips, but she got the bright idea to make our own. We got a complimentary bag of cacao nibs from the healthy section of the local grocery store and decided to incorporate that into our homemade coconut chips. She spent hours carving away little pieces of coconut!! Mixed crushed cacoa nibs with some coconut sugar and coated the coconut pieces before popping them into the oven. Cacao tastes like dirt. Honestly. But mixed with coconut sugar and coconut shavings, it made for some tasty homemade coconut chips.
Vacation was a blast!! We spent 2 days at Universal Studios, 1 day at Volcano Bay Water Park, 1 day at Islands of Adventure, 1 day at Disney's Magic Kingdom, and 1 day hanging out at the World Center Pool. I spent the most part of the trip just enjoying every moment without a worry of what I was eating or how much I was eating. If I wanted a drink, I had one. If I wanted dessert, I had it!! There were a few times I stuffed myself stupid. I am very health conscious about 90% of the time, but the other 10% I save for occasions like this. And it does not mess with my head like it might for others. I can fall off the meal planning train for a few days, and then jump right back on. I believe that every person has their own version of a healthy balance. And as long as it remains "healthy", then it is ok. Even the healthiest looking person might not be healthy on the inside. Your health goals should not have a negative affect on your mental health. When working out becomes too obsessive and guilt or shame becomes overwhelming due to what you might think are poor food choices to the point of causing a detrimental effect on your body, mind, or spirit, then your goals have lost the definition of "healthy". Find what works for YOU. Giving myself time to disconnect from the daily meal prepping and planning during vacation is a type of healthy balance that works for me.
My body responds really well to the removal of gluten, dairy, and processed sugars from my diet. My heart burn, indigestion, and bloated belly completely goes away. It feels amazing!! But as soon as I have that candy, my heart burn is back. As soon as I have a slice of pizza, my food baby grows in a matter of minutes and I can't stop burping!!! Its a really pretty sight, lol. This pic is literally minutes after having 2 slices of Papa Johns pizza the night we were leaving for Florida. I know it looks like I'm pushing out my stomach. I promise, I'm not!! It was that extreme. I know I'm smiling, but that food baby was sooooo uncomfortable. So after a good few days of that, it was time to find some healthier food options at the park. It can be done!! It just takes a little bit of planning. I was pleasantly surprised with what I found.
One of our dinners was at the Hard Rock Cafe. I was shooting for "healthier", not perfection. Hidden in all of their delicious burger options, fajitas, and mac n cheese, I found this gem!! It was a cauliflower burger that was supposed to be topped with goat cheese. I asked for the bun to be removed, green beens instead of fries, and chicken breast on the side. I was really looking forward to the combination of cauliflower and goat cheese. I was totally bummed when they topped my cauliflower patty with some other cheese, but we waited FOREVER for our food, so I wasn't about to send it back.
This next meal I found was in Universal Studios. Rotisserie chicken, rice and black beans, and a simple salad. Completely filling and didn't leave me feeling bloated for the rest of our day at the park. I had a really great workout that morning, so the carbs from the beans and rice was exactly what my body needed. My other healthier meals at the parks consisted of salads with grilled chicken. There are lots of food bloggers out there that have shared their experiences of healthy food options at Disney World and Universal Studios. I was excited to put it to the test. I did NOT eat like this for every meal. It's definitely way easier to go for fried chicken or a cheese burger, but there are plenty of healthier options out there in the Orlando Parks.
Check out the recipes below for my road trip snacks!!
Homemade Protein Bars
Ingredients:
150 grams Stronger Faster Healthier protein (I used vanilla)
2 cups instant oats (dry)
6 Tablespoons Powdered Peanut Butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
2 Tablespoons raw honey
2 Tablespoons unsweetened coconut milk
30 grams Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips
4-8 ounces brewed coffee
1-2 Tablespoons gluten free flour (I used Bob's Red Mill gluten free 1-1 baking flour)
For the topping:
40 grams mini Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
2 Tablespoons unsweetened coconut flakes
Instructions:
Heat the peanut butter, coconut oil, and honey together in a small pan over low heat. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and add the rest of the ingredients, except for gluten-free flour, coffee, and chocolate chips. Once the ingredients are mixed together, mix in chocolate chips, and slowly mix in coffee until its gets to the right consistency. It needs to be sticky enough so it will hold together. If you add too much, and it gets too sticky, that is what the gluten free flour is for. Add the gluten free flour to remove some of the stickiness. I used about a tablespoon of flour. Press the dough into a 9x9 pan lined with parchment paper. I used a mini roller to smooth it out. Place in refrigerator for a couple hours or until it hardens.
For the topping, heat the coconut oil and chocolate chips over low heat until melted. Drizzle over the 9x9 pan of protein and sprinkle with coconut flakes. Place back in refrigerator until chocolate hardens.
Cut into 12 even bars.
Macros for 1 bar: 15 grams protein/23 grams carbs/12.5 grams fat
Cacao Coconut Chips
Ingredients
1 coconut
1-2 Tablespoon coconut oil
cacao powder
coconut sugar
Instructions
I didn't measure anything out for this specific recipe, so there are no macros to go with it.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Break open coconut. You can use a hammer, or go old school style like we did and break in on a rock. Peel away the outer shell with a vegetable peeler and then continue cutting thin ribbons of coconut with the potato peeler. Toss in coconut oil, cacao powder, and coconut sugar. Spread the mixture on a sheet pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.
