Paleo Travel Friendly Snacks!

When I decide to do something, I don't do it 80% I do it 100% and give it my all. I knew I had a trip with my Diamond coaches coming up and wanted to make sure I had some paleo friendly desserts/snacks I could eat between meals at the resort we're staying at in Punta Cana. 

As I was searching through paleo friendly recipes I stumbled upon a granola bar recipe that looked AWESOME! So I thought what the heck I'll try it :) Little did I know that these granola bars would be literally THE BEST granola bars I have ever HAD…and, I KNEW what was in them!! I don't know about you but I get anxious eating things that I don't know where all the ingredients came from etc., 

I found this recipe originally on www.paleoporn.net along with many other yummy recipes that I can't wait to try. 

Paleo Granola Bar Recipe

Ingredients

            3 cups of assorted nuts and seeds(ideas: pepitas, slivered almonds, whole almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds)

            1 cup dried cranberries

            2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut

            1/4 cup coconut oil

            1/2 cup sunflower seed butter

            1/2 cup raw honey

            1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

            1/2 teaspoon sea salt

            1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

 1.     Pull out a 9x13in Pyrex dish and throw down a layer of parchment paper. Set aside.

2.     Pour 3 cups of assorted nuts in to food processor or blender and blend until nuts are cut in to smaller pieces. You want them different sizes.

3.     Add the dried cranberries and cherries to the mixture and stir to combine.

4.      Add the shredded coconut to the bowl and again, stir to combine.

5.       In a small saucepan add coconut oil, sunflower seed butter, honey, vanilla, salt and cinnamon. (Maybe add a few more shakes of cinnamon while doing that too.) Cook, stirring over medium-low heat until it starts to bubble. Once bubbling, remove from heat.

6.     Pour the liquid mixture over the nut mixture in the mixing bowl and stir to combine. Make sure everything is mixed well.

7.       Pour the nuts-and-honey mixture into the previously set up dish on the parchment paper and either use a second sheet of parchment paper, slightly wet hands or a spoon to press firmly to pack the ingredients together. Make sure, then double check that everything is nicely packed together.

8.       Let the mixture sit on the counter and settle for 2 hours.

9.      Cover and put in the freezer for 1 hour, or longer.

10.  Using parchment paper makes it super easy to now take the large sheet of granola out of the dish and transfer it onto a cutting board. Use a sharp knife to slice (not saw, otherwise they have a tendency to start to flake apart) the bars into whatever size pieces you’d like your granola bars to be. I did rectangular/squarish, palm size pieces.

I also made Casew Cups. This one was my creation because I was feeling extremely creative today :) This rarely happens so I just went with the flow and it turned out fabulously!

Cashew Cups

(Keep in a fridge or cooler until ready to eat)

Ingredients

For Crust:

1/2 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup desiccated coconut (finely shredded dried coconut)
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon maple syrup (optional)

Ingredients for filling:

80% or higher cacao chocolate bar (I used Green & Blacks Organic which is 85% cacao)

2 tbspn of sunflower butter

2 tbspn of coconut oil

Directions:

1.Put all ingredients for crust in to a food processed or blender and blend until it forms a dough mixture.

2.Press 2-3 tsp worth of dough in to cupcake lining (should make between 12-16)

3. For filling put all ingredients in saucepan and melt over medium to low heat until it begins to bubble. 4.Remove and pour over dough mixture.  Put in fridge and let it cool

5. Leave in fridge until you are ready to serve! They will melt if you leave them out too long.

If you try either recipe let me know in the comments of this blog what you think!!