...to Make Protein Snacks.

Last week, as I ate my skinless grilled chicken breast and steamed vegetables from El Pollo Loco, for the third day in a row, I realized I needed more.  I needed something to not only give me a little extra pep in my step, but to break up the monotony of my meals.  And being the sweets-lover that I am, it wouldn't be long before I succumbed to the cravings for the candy dish full of chocolate right outside my office.

So I decided I needed a couple "sweet" treats to mix into the chicken and veggie diet so I didn't go insane.  I have two options for you today - some Peanut Butter Protein Bars and a Protein Cheesecake.  The protein bars are extremely easy and I would recommend them.  The cheesecake used a few ingredients I had to run to the store for, and didn't turn out as hoped.  Less recommended, but read on for details!

Peanut Butter Protein Bars

If you love peanut butter like I do, you'll enjoy these bars.  You don't have to bake them, and you don't even have to chill them (although you could).  The recipe makes 16 bars, and if I did the math right, each bar comes out to 200 calories, 12g protein, 16 carbs, and 8g fat.  Not a ton of protein, but with all the chicken and eggs I'm eating right now, I'm not too worried.

Here's what you need:

-1/2 Cup nonfat milk
-1 Cup reduced fat peanut butter
-2 Cups uncooked oats
-1 Tbsp. honey
-1 1/3 Cups whey protein powder (I used vanilla-flavored)

Mix the peanut butter, honey and milk in a pot on low heat.

This smelled so good I wanted to eat a big spoonful already!

Add the protein powder and mix it up real good.

Finally add the oats and stir.  If it's too thick, add a little more milk.  Once you have it all mixed, press it into a 9x13 baking pan and just let it cool.

It's really that easy!  And I could probably eat a whole pan of these, but I promise I won't.  By the time I turned around from writing this much, two pieces had been devoured by my sneaky grandparents.  They approve!  Once it's all cooled, wrap the bars individually so you (or your grandparents) don't eat them all in one sitting.

Protein Cheesecake

Okay, so my hopes weren't high for this.  How good could it be with basically no sugar and a combination of nonfat cream cheese and greek yogurt.  If it turned out, though, what a beautiful thing it would be.  I had to try it, just in case.

The recipe involved the above pictured ingredients, as well as some Stevia, and was very simple to put together.  If you want to have a go at it, the recipe is over at Built Lean, where the claim is made that you do not have to sacrifice taste with this cheesecake.

Dry and sour.

I beg to differ.  I'm not sure he's ever had real cheesecake, but real cheesecake is heavenly.  Mine was not.  After the incredibly long bake-time, and chilling in the fridge overnight, I tried one bite and tossed it out.

Oh, and did I mention, the cheesecake is a no-crust cheesecake?  Yuck!