Date and Oat Bars – wheat free, dairy free, nut free

January 21, 2016 · 5 Comments

The gorgeous girls at Nutra Organics sent me some of their The Wholefood Pantry range to try out. It’s all great quality, organic pantry staples at affordable prices.

The kids loved the maple syrup – as you can see in the photo there is none left! They discovered it was delicious with some milk and vanilla to make a milkshake. Not so great when I wanted it for baking. How cute are the glass maple leaf bottles too. Now I just need to figure out what I can upcycle them into!

This is just one recipe I have made using their awesome range. Stay tuned for some more!

Find out more about Nutra Organics and all their products here.

Date and Oat Bars

Vital Stats: wheat free, dairy free, nut free

This is what you need:

1/2 cup The Wholefood Pantry coconut oil, melted

1/2 cup The Wholefood Pantry maple syrup

2 organic, free range eggs

1 1/2 cups organic rolled organic oats

1/2 cup organic spelt flour

1 cup chopped dates, sulphur free (you can use dried or medjool)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

This is how you do it:

Preheat your oven to medium temperature, 180°celsius.

Line a small slice tin with some If You Care baking paper (this one has no nasty toxins).

Whisk together the oil, syrup and eggs in a large bowl. Make sure your eggs are at room temperature or you will get lumps of coconut oil!

Add the remaining ingredients and combine thoroughly.

Pour into the slice tin and whack into the oven.

Cook for about 20 – 25 minutes or until lightly browned and firm.

Cool on a wire rack before slicing into bars.

HOT TIP! You can use whatever dried fruit you have in the cupboard for these bars or make a combination!

Berry Bubble Protein Bars

February 14, 2014 · 148 Comments

I haven’t really bothered with protein powders before.

One look at the ingredients in some of them is enough to scare you off! Artificial additives, sweeteners, refined sugars – yuk! According to Sally Fallon at The Weston A Price Foundation, some protein powders are very nasty.

Knowing this, the clever people at Nutra Organics have worked tirelessly in sourcing and formulating an alternative – a healthy, natural protein powder. One thing that always stands out about Nutra Organics is that they are highly ethical. Vanessa, Darlsy and all the people who work there bring their kids up on these products and they make sure that only the highest quality ingredients are used. I was surprised to learn just how much research and work goes into it!

Thriving Protein is pretty special and unique in the market place. There is nothing quite like it.

♥ raw (so no high heat denaturing the protein)

♥ dairy free (no whey)

♥ vegan

♥ gluten free

♥ corn free

♥ GMO free

♥ soy free

♥ sugar free

♥ organic

♥ bio-fermented (acts as a probiotic)

♥ high vitamin D mushroom powder

♥ iron, magnesium, calcium, selenium, manganese, Vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, Vitamin C, folate and zinc!

♥ omega 3 fatty acids

You can find a full ingredient list on the Nutra Organics website.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting to like them (sssh don’t tell Vanessa!) Having had a bad experience with nasty tasting, floury protein powders in the past, I thought it just wasn’t my thing. What I wasn’t expecting was the delicious flavours – it pretty much tastes like a chocolate or vanilla milkshake when you pop it in a glass of milk. Brilliant.

And did they past the kid test? We all know this is the hardest one to pass! Yes, it did. Both kids think they are really yummy. I have really noticed that when they have Thriving Protein after school, it fills them up. They are not snacking to the huge extent they were before (yes teenagers really do eat you out of house and home, especially when they do a lot of sport!) It was getting very expensive to feed them, so I appreciate having something that will satisfy their appetites with amazing quality nutrition.

So, how do you use Thriving Protein powder?

Well the list is endless. Pop it in a glass of milk or milk substitute. Use it in smoothies and paddle pops. Sprinkle it on oats. Mix it into yoghurt. Pop it into bliss balls. Use it in recipes.

Here is one recipe I have come up with that you can give a go. It’s a lot more natural and budget friendly than a ready made protein bar. I hope you like it!

Berry Bubble Protein Bars

Vital Stats: Gluten Free, Egg Free, Nut Free, Sugar Free

Okay, so this is what you need:

2 cups organic puffed brown rice

1 1/2 cups organic virgin coconut oil

4 tablespoons Thriving Protein Exotic Vanilla powder

3 tablespoons C-Berry Blast or Acai Berry Blend powder

1/4 cup goji berries

1/2 cup organic cranberries

1/4 cup organic coconut flakes

[box] HOT TIP: Use any sort of dried berry you like. Just make sure it doesn’t contain any artificial additives.[/box]

Okay, so this is how you do it:

Whisk the Thriving Protein powder and the C-Berry Blast or Acai Berry Blend powder into the coconut oil.

Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

Pour into a baking paper lined slice tin.

Refrigerate until set. Cut into bars.

You will need to store this in the fridge.

Giveaway:

This giveaway has now closed. Congratulations to Paola, Monique and Charmaine!

Would you like to try out some of the NEW Thriving Protein powder from NutraOrganics? The lovely girls have given me three jars to giveaway – one of each flavour.

How to enter:

♥ Be a Natural New Age Mum Facebook liker

♥ Be a Natural New Age Mum website subscriber (add your email to the right hand side box)

♥ Comment on this blog post, telling me which flavour you would like to win!

[box] Terms and conditions: This giveaway will close at midnite (AEST) on Sunday the 23rd of February. Winners will be chosen using random.org from those fulfilling the entry requirements correctly. Winners will be emailed and announced on this blog post. Sorry, Australian residents only.[/box]

Hosted by Kellie O’Brien Media{I am so proud to be affiliate partners with Nutra Organics}

Gluten-Free, Nut-Free Muesli Bars

January 21, 2014 · 50 Comments

This is such an easy and tasty recipe that is perfect for lunch boxes.

I guess they aren’t really ‘muesli’ bars as they don’t contain oats! But you can certainly use oats instead of quinoa if you like.

Quinoa (pronounced KeenWah) is incredibly nutritious – it’s very high in protein. Combined with all the seeds and eggs, these bars will have you fuelled up and ready to go!

HOT TIP: You can use any combination of dried fruits,nuts and seeds – as long as the mixture you add to the eggs equals 5 cups.

Gluten-Free, Nut-Free Muesli Bars

Vital Stats: gluten free, grain free, dairy free, nut free, refined sugar free

Okay, so this is what you need:

1/2 cup organic quinoa, dry

1 cup dried apple

1 cup organic sultanas

1/2 cup dried organic figs

1/2 cup organic sunflower seeds

1/2 cup organic pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

1/2 cup organic shredded coconut

1/4 cup organic chia seeds

1/4 cup organic sesame seeds

3 organic, free range eggs

2 tablespoons organic maple syrup or honey (optional)

2 teaspoons organic ceylon cinnamon

2 teaspoons organic vanilla extract

Hot tip: choose organic dried fruit where you can, as it doesn’t contain preservatives.

Okay, so this is how you do it:

Preheat the oven to 160° celsius. Line a slice tray with a non-toxic baking paper.

Rinse the quinoa really well (I soak for a bit and then rinse). This is really important as quinoa has a bitter saponins that coat it and need to be removed.

Cook the quinoa in a saucepan with 1 cup of filtered water. It will take about ten minutes. You will know it’s cooked because it becomes translucent.

HOT TIP: Make extra quinoa and store it in the fridge or freezer. It’s fantastic added to a salad or used instead of rice.

Cool the quinoa right down (you don’t want scrambled eggs)!

Chop the apple and figs. You can use the food processor or thermomix to do this.

Mix all the ingredients together well. I like to get my hands in and give it a good massage!

Press it firmly down into the slice tin and bake for 25-30 minutes or until cooked.

I cover the slice halfway through the cooking time with some baking paper so it doesn’t burn on top.

Cool on a wire rack before slicing with a bread knife into bars.

These freeze really well, so make a double batch and you will always have some on hand!

Makes about 12 large bars.

Want more?

Check out my 10 Healthy Muesli Bar recipes.