Good morning everyone!
Hey guess what? That recipe I mentioned yesterday, is now a reality:
🙂 Oh, and they’re just as tasty as they look.
Before we get to all that peanut-buttery goodness, let’s start with this morning’s workout! C25k challenge!!
I was up at 6:30 am for a repeat of Monday’s run. Hurray for completing Day 2 of Week 1! My legs felt a little heavier this morning for some reason, and I did get a bit of a side cramp about halfway through. I wish I could figure out how to get rid of that..? I ate a half of a banana and drank half of a water bottle, waited 25 min, and then ran. On Monday, I ate nothing but a piece of dried pineapple and a couple sips of water and cramped halfway as well. I completed both runs with no problem, but I’m wondering how to eliminate that annoying cramp…? I arrived back at the house feeling exhausted and sweaty:
I immediately hopped in and out of the shower and made myself a vanilla-blueberry-banana smoothie using this recipe.
I threw in a bit of cottage cheese as well, to really kick up the protein.
Alright, on to today’s yummy snack recipe… flour-less, Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies! I’m calling them cookies,(because I freakin’ love cookies!)but really, they are more like little energy bites. I’d made flour-less peanut butter chocolate chip cookies in the past, using this recipe from Bethany Dawn’s Photography blog, but I got the idea to create a healthier version from numerous websites including this recipe from Two peas and their pod, and this recipe from Peanut Butter Fingers.
So, armed with some very basic pantry essentials and some mental inspiration via the web, I set forth to create something yummy and chock-full of protein.
I started with a cup of smooth natural Skippy peanut butter.
Yes, I know my nails look gross, and I still have royal blue tye-dye color embedded under and around them!
Next came 2 Tbsp of honey:
As well as 2 Tbsp of ground flax seed:
And finally, throw in 1/4 cup of rolled oats, a sprinkle of salt, 1 egg, and 1/8 c of sugar. Mix everything together, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and pop in the freezer. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees, set your timer for 30 minutes, and flip through the latest Instyle magazine…
He’s adorable and funny…
Once the timer goes off, pull out your ‘cookie’ dough and using a melon baller, scoop out roughly 1 inch bites of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet:
Pop them in the oven for 9-12 minutes and allow bites to cool completely. Check on your lazy 20 lb cat to make sure he’s still in the same spot you left him hours earlier…
Yep, still in my bed.
Now, you can either eat them as is, or top with a tiny dab of slightly warmed Nutella… I opted for the Nutella. 🙂
Warning: I made the mistake of giving my kids some of these, and they devoured them quickly and demanded more. I should have told them they had fish oil in them or something… Oh well, guess I’ll just have to make more.
The recipe makes between 15-20 bites, depending on the size of your scoop. Enjoy!
Oatmeal Peanut Butter Energy Cookie Bites
- 1 C Natural Skippy Peanut Butter
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 2 Tbsp ground flax seed
- 1/4 c rolled oats
- 1 egg
- 1/8 c sugar
- a sprinkle of salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together all of the above ingredients, cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 30 minutes. (note: you can omit the freezer portion, but it helps to harden the dough to make scooping easier) Using a 1 inch melon baller, scoop the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet and pop in the oven for 9-12 minutes- until the tops are slightly cracked and the bottoms are golden brown. Cool completely and enjoy as is, or add a drop of slightly warmed Nutella to the tops of each bite. Enjoy!
Questions:
- What is your ‘cure’ for the annoying side cramp? Do you eat before a run?
- What is your go-to energy snack?
Enjoy your Wednesday!
Amy
The Deviated Runner 