Sweet and Salty Protein Bites

 These are sweet and salty and packed with protein. They are a great snack to give you added energy. I love eating a handful of nuts for a snack and this is like eating a handful of nuts with some extra ingredients that have great nutritional value. Yum! I was excited to try hemp seeds. I love the added health benefits they have in them.

Ingredients 

1 C almonds
1 C cashews
1/3 C pistachios
1/3 C hemp seeds
2 T coconut oil
1 T honey or sweetener of your choosing
1/3 C buckwheat groats
1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt *Optional if you have salted nuts you may not need it at all.

Directions

1. Pour all the ingredients into the blender. Pulse several times. You may have to stir it with a rubber spatula in between pulsing. Leave some chunks in the nuts.

2. Roll them into balls and put in the fridge to let them harden. Store in an airtight container. 

Healthy Pistachio Green Smoothie

My son in law the other day was talking to me about a pistachio smoothie he enjoys at work. I decided to create a healthier version of it. It is a great way to add spinach to your day.  I am a big fan a pistachios. I was very pleased with the end result. I hope you enjoy it too. 

Ingredients
2 oz shelled pistachios
2 T honey
2 C almond milk
1/4 C plain yogurt * optional thickener
1 1/2 C spinach
1 1/2 or 2 frozen bananas
1/4 tsp almond extract

Directions serves 2
1. Pour pistachios into a blender and blend until they turn to powder.
2. Pour in the remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth. Serve at once. Yum


*Here is a soft serve ice cream that tastes like pistachio ice cream.

 

Seeds and Nuts Bites

I am always looking for wonderful foods to have as snacks for my family and myself. I made these yesterday and loved them. There are a lot of variations of this kind of treat out there. This one is a great combination.. I loved adding a few pistachios to them.
Here is one closeup. I liked having them in little bite size pieces.

Ingredients:
2 C nuts cashews, almonds, walnuts, pistachios or ?
1 C sunflower and pumpkin seeds
1/4 C honey
1/4 tsp almond extract or vanilla
1 T coconut oil

Directions: heat oven to 300
1. Chop up the 2 C of nuts. You don't want to chop them too much.

2. Place nuts and seeds on cookie sheets so they are only a single layer. Place pans in the oven and toast the nuts and seeds about 10 min. or until lightly toasted.

3. Then in the mean time place a small sauce pan on the stove and heat up the honey and the extract. Until turns to liquid.

4. Take the toasted nuts out of the oven and put in a bowl or into the saucepan if it is large enough and stir until coated.

5. In a square glass Pyrex pan place parchment paper in the pan. (Or grease pan) Then pour in the mixture.

6. Place back in the oven until lightly golden about 10 min.

7. Let cool about 10 min. Then cut into small pieces. I place the whole piece in the fridge for a little while and then broke them into pieces. I store them in a fridge in a zip lock bag. You cold also wrap them in plastic.

*adapted from this recipe