PB2 Protein Bites

It seems that the newest snack craze on Pinterest are those peanut butter energy bites. I have been experimenting a lot of different recipes. I have tried making them with different types of nut butters, nuts, sweeteners, protein powders, and other add ins.

The three ingredients that I always use are:
-some type of nut butter (peanut, PB2, almond, cashew, etc)
-oats
-agave or honey

From there I will add one or more of the following:
-protein powder
-chocolate chips
-dried fruit
-coconut
-nuts
-flaxseed
-chia seeds
-wheat germ
-stevia
-maple syrup

Usually I make these with real peanut butter, but tonight I wanted to make a lighter peanut butter protein bite because my dad can't resist peanut butter, and he's trying to cutback on the PB. Therefore I used PB2 powdered peanut butter. I find PB2 at my local QFC grocery store, but I have also seen it at Whole Foods, Fred Meyer, and at Emerald City Smoothie. PB2 is a peanut butter powder that is MUCH lighter in calories and fat than normal peanut butter. All you have to do is mix it with water, and you get a smooth, creamy peanut butter with about 80% less fat and calories!

Lighter Peanut Butter Protein Bites
-1/3 cup PB2 (mixed with some water to make the consistency of peanut butter)
-2 TBSP agave nectar
-1/2 cup oats
-2 TBSP ground flaxseed
-one scoop vanilla protein powder

Mix all the ingredients together and shape into small bite sized balls. Let me know what you think of them! Have you made your own before? What do you add to yours?

I'm Back! And with a New Blog Title!

Hello all!

It's been a long time since I have posted on this blog. After I originally started this blog, I became very busy with student teaching, and then eventually my first year in teaching. Now that I am rolling into my second year of teaching, I think that I will have more time to blog :)

Even though I am a new me (college graduate and new special education teacher), I am still very much into health and fitness. However, I believe that the way I incorporate health and fitness into my life has improved. For example, in college, I was always getting "sugar free" things because they had less calories, and I believed they were better for me to eat (especially when I found out that I had an allergy to sugar!). However, since January, I have given up "sugar free" items about 98% of the time because I realized that I was putting nasty chemicals into my body (more about that later). I stick to Truvia and Stevia now, and order my coffee without any flavoring. Also, I am trying to eat more whole foods, and less processed or sugar free junk. Although, I can't resist pretzels....they are my favorite food!

In addition to cutting out fake sugars, and eating more whole foods, I also have increased my running and weight training regime, hence the new title "Running Baker". I have found a new love for running. I still have yet to run my first half marathon, but I recently ran a 10k, and set a new record for myself. I recently took a vacation, so I haven't ran in about a week, but I am hoping to start again tomorrow. I hope that I can keep track of my running goals on this blog, and hope that you post about your running goals too! As for weight training, I am now lifting heavier weights, and have put on about 5 pounds.  I enjoy watching my arm muscles grow, and my legs get firmer.

So, with a new name, you might be wondering if I will have the same content on this blog. The answer is: yes and no. My goals for this blog are to:
-share recipes (healthy and the occasional sinful dessert)
-share my workout experiences and goals
-I hope to share some posts about mindfulness and meditation
-share new foods I love
-share occasional ideas from my work
-share my thoughts and dreams for myself

I hope to keep up with this blog, and that you comment and let me know what kind of posts you would like to see. Tonight I will start out with a post for my protein balls that I made tonight!

xoxo Lauren