Head in the Game

Two things I am: CRAZY and SEXY (sort of like TLC, minus the cool ;)

So how could I possibly resist buying healthy lifestyle extraordinaire and cancer survivor Kris Carr's new book as soon as I found it in stores?

Though I've only done a semi-quick perusal (thanks to my hectic schedule these days), I'm already floored- in a great way- by what I've read and can't wait to get through every. single. page.

Whenever I find a new book about ground-breaking health ideas, I get overly pumped and inspired.

The first time it happened was after reading Dr. Perricone's Clear Skin Prescription. It was in those pages that I discovered the many magical ways to cure acne from the inside out.

courtesy of

Then again when I read Natalia Rose's Raw Food Detox Diet,

courtesy of

Kristen's Raw,

and Raw Food Real World by Matthew Kenney and Sarma Melngailis

... though the raw food inspirado died rather quickly when I realized how difficult (and expensive) it was to carry on a high raw diet.

I kept my head in the health game last fall by taking a weekly nutrition class at Pasadena City College, where I learned the basic ins and outs of how our bodies process food- the good, the bad and the ugly.

Ever since class ended and I headed home to indulge in some mayjah deliciousness over the holidays, I'd had a bit of a problem mustering that old "eat healthy and whole 96% of the time" mantra once again.

Until yesterday.

When Kris Carr's book entered my gigantic purse

and has been weighing me down ever since (you never know when a spare 5 minutes'll come upon me and I can pull it out).

With inspiration finally summoned, I spent the free hours before rehearsal today reacquainting myself with an old love: the kitchen....

To make Averie's Vegan No-Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Protein Bars with a few changes/additions, including:

-subbing cashew butter for peanut butter
-using ground flax seed rather than whole
-adding goji berries
-adding hemp seeds

The protein powder differed from the old standby, Sun Warrior Vanilla, since I'm out of it and their "natural" flavor in my pantry's stock tastes horrifically like chalk.

Hoping to grab something tasty in a jiffy, I headed down to the natural foods store (a block away!!)

and picked up the only protein powder they had:

Which is how hemp protein powder has come into my life- I used one packet for this recipe and plan to use another in a smoothie later.

With all ingredients in place, the insanely easy prep got started...

Basically, put everything in a bowl and stir/mash.

It felt so good to be using elbow grease in the kitchen once again- it'd been too long...

Spread out on plastic-lined dish/pan of choice

Pop in the freezer and voila:

Sweet protein heaven...

And a perfect rehearsal pick-me-up.

I'll definitely be making another batch of these bars in the future- sans raisins.

I'm off to see the musical Hair tonight, followed by a weekend of 80 degree temps and sun soakage.

Do you have any food/nutrition/fitness books that changed your perspective? If so, I'd love to hear about them :)