With a schedule that keeps me constantly on the go, I don’t always eat a defined breakfast or lunch, but prefer to snack throughout the day. This eating habit keeps me going, but sometimes it is not the most healthy, or environmentally sustaianable option due to non organic options or the large amount of packaging of some snacks (fx. skyr with musli or granola).
This weekend I tried something new: making a large portion of snacks that I can enjoy while I’m on the go that are both health and ‘green’.
I wanted to prepare things that had plently of fiber and protien to keep me full and happy 🙂
I made 2 recipes which I will share with with you.
before being cut and stored in ‘bar form’
The first was a recipe for ‘breakfast bars’. These are easily portable and full of energizing ingredients like oats, nuts, and fruit. I was insprired by this recipe I found on kitchn.com, but made some modifications based on my diet and ingredients I had available.
For example:
- I switched out wheat flour for a 50/50 combination of corn flour and buckwheat flour (both gluten free)
- Instead of rye flakes I substitued buckwheat flakes (again, gluten free)
- My supermarket only had frozen raspberries available so I used thoes instead of blueberries
- I added chia seeds for extra nutrition like healthy omega-3 fats
granola – remember to let it cool completely before putting it into a storage container !
I also made some granola that I will use to put on top of skyr and take with me for a mid morning snack. I made up my own recipe because the proportions of ingredients to make granola can be very flexible based on your own favorites and avaialbility of ingredients. A good base recipe can be found here. Mine was quite basic and included:
- whole oats
- coconut flakes
- raisins
- pumpkin seeds
- almonds
- melted coconut oil and honey
I read a tip for making the granola ‘clumpy’ + full of clusters. That is when you remove the grandola from the oven, let it rest on the baking sheet until it is entirely cooled, do NOT stir it up right away. This waiting process allows the clusters to harden together.
So far I have really enjoyed having homemade snacks to munch on throughout the day, and I feel good knowing exactly what ingredients have been used as well as minimizing the amount of waste I create from packaging. Not to mention the money I am saving as well !!