I am not a great cook.
Don’t get me wrong, when I do it, my food tastes amazing.
Like, next level delicious.
The key here to my issue however is that part there when I said “when I do it”.
Because, quite honestly, it’s rare.
Between my work schedule and The Dudes sports schedules, I am hard pressed to find time to actually make anything of substance in the kitchen on a regular to semi-regular basis.
And, before you attempt to chastise me for over scheduling my children, they all play one single sport.
One.
It just so happens that they all practice and/or games on the exact same days of the week.
And have games on the weekends (except for the high school one who is actually working at his part-time job on the weekend and also not home).
I can’t bring myself to crockpot items daily (we think crockpot items as a group are kinda icky) and time just doesn’t permit for me to spend much in the kitchen on weekdays.
Contrary to popular belief, just because one works at home does not mean one has more time to do things in the home. I can say for certain that I work more hours than the average full time, out of the home employee because I am, essentially, always at work.
Real footage of me at my desk…
But, I digress.
We often wind up eating convenient foods and, while I know there are better solutions than the chicken quesadillas and grilled cheese I throw together multiple times per week, I just haven’t quite discovered how to make them work consistently for us.
For all of my dinnertime failings, I do pride myself on being able to provide a pretty awesome midday meal.
And don’t even get me started on breakfast!
Because, real talk…
The things I can do with a skillet, a couple of eggs, some cheese, toast, and a breakfast meat.
Basically, I slay the breakfast game on a regular basis and the breakfast game is on point at our house.
Black girl magic, meets breakfast magic.
Sometimes, particularly when I’m struggling with a tough bout of insomnia, I even get up and make them delicious, homemade energy bars for breakfast.
They wake up all happy, I spend the day as a zombie who at least fed her children something special and delicious before propping her eyelids open with toothpicks.
Win/win.
I’ve done the energy bites thing before as well and, while those are delicious, I have to be in the mood to dirty my hands that way.
This energy bars recipe is very similar, without all the mess!
They still have the flax seed
My original energy bars recipe calls for honey, but on this morning, while operating on about 3 hours of sleep, I failed to recall that I had to throw out our jar of honey recently because it got all solidified inside.
I panicked briefly, did a little Google search magic, and decided that, instead, I could switch up my energy bars recipe and use maple syrup instead.
And yes, when I say maple syrup I mean I used the Aunt Jemima kind.
#improvising
The energy bars recipe takes a total of 10 minutes to throw together and another 30 in the freezer if you want to eat it quickly.
I find that they are a pretty filling, not totally terrible for you breakfast treat (yes, yes, I know, they’re sugary) that they will eat without question.
Want to make breakfast magic too?
Easy No-Bake Energy Bars Recipe
- 1 cup (dry) oatmeal
- ¾ cup toasted coconut flakes
- ½ cup peanut butter
- ½ cup ground flax seeds
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup maple syrup or ⅔ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons cocoa
- ¼ cup brown sugar (optional)
- ½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
- ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips (optional)
- ½ cup raisins, craisins, or other small pieces of dried fruit
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients.
- Mix until sticky.
- Line a 13x9 inch dish with parchment paper
- Dump mix into dish and press flat.
- Freeze for 30 minutes are refrigerate for an hour.
- Devour.
- Notes about optional items:
- -brown sugar: I add it when I use maple syrup and cocoa and leave it out when I use honey and chocolate chips. How sweet you need them is up to you!
- -walnuts: use any kind you want, or leave them out if they're not your jam
- -chocolate chips: I use them most of the time, you can use them with cocoa or without and vice versa
- -raisins & friends: personally, raisins make me gag and I didn't have any other type of fruit pieces on hand. We rarely use this but some people like a little extra Vitamin C!
Check out my energy bites recipe here: No Bake Energy Bites