Healthy Recipe for OC Boot Campers

This week, we'll focus on recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Today's recipe is for breakfast, but could also be used for a snack between meals. Nutritional analysis is also provided below. As you know, diet and the foods we eat are just as important as exercise. In addition to boot camp, modifying your diet will make a big impact in your progress. Try them out and let us know what you think. Enjoy!!

Homemade Breakfast Bars

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup soy flour
1/2 cup fat-free dry milk
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
1/2 cup sliced (flaked) almonds or chopped pecans, toasted
1/2 cup dried apples, chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark honey
1/2 cup natural unsalted peanut butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 F. Lightly coat a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with olive oil cooking spray.
In a large bowl, combine the oats, flour, dry milk, wheat germ, almonds, apples, raisins and salt. Stir well to blend and set aside.

In a small saucepan, stir together the honey, peanut butter and olive oil over medium-low heat until well blended. Don't let the mixture boil. Stir in the vanilla. Add the warm honey mixture to the dry ingredients and stir quickly until well combined. The mixture should be sticky but not wet.

Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared baking pan. Press firmly to remove any air pockets. Bake just until the edges begin to brown, about 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, and then cut into 24 bars. When just cool enough to handle, remove the bars from the pan and place them on the rack to cool completely. Store the bars in airtight containers in the refrigerator.

Nutritional Analysis
(per serving)
Serving size: 1 bar
Calories 162
Monounsaturated fat 3 g
Protein 5 g
Cholesterol 1 mg
Carbohydrate 25 g
Sodium 60 mg
Total fat 5 g
Fiber 3 g
Saturated fat 1 g

This recipe comes courtesy of the Mayo Clinic