Valentine Protein Hearts. Vegan. Gluten Free.

The weekend is in sight!  I’m excited.  We have some fun things planned.  This week has been exhausting, I’ll admit.  My training is wiping me out.  Deep sleep, for some reason, has been escaping me which is why I think my recovery has been delayed.  More on that later.

Last night I started to whip up some energy balls and then decided to depart from the norm and make them more of a Valentine’s Day sweet treat that is totally healthy.  My husband can’t have chocolate so I made some with a vegan chocolate drizzle for my girls and some with an almond butter drizzle for him.  They turned out so cute.  Plus they pack a healthy punch of vitamins and protein!  If you’re looking to do something different this year and avoid the box of chocolates… you might want to consider these.  Heart healthy and all.

Ingredients:

1 cup of shredded coconut
1/2 cup of walnut pieces (I used black walnuts)
1/2 cup of almonds (raw)
8 Medjool dates, pitted
1 cup of brown rice cereal
4 tablespoons of almond butter (I used Justin’s maple)
2 teaspoons of Vega protein powder (whatever flavor you prefer)
1 tablespoon of melted coconut oil

Optional:

Vegan chocolate – melted
Almond butter – melted

Directions:

Into your food processor, blend your coconut and nuts into a flour.  Then add almond butter, protein and oil.  Pulse a few times.  Then add your dates and blend.  I then added the brown rice cereal and pulse a few times to help add crunch to the mixture.

I lined a brownie pan 8×8 with parchment and then pressed the dough evenly into it.  Refrigerate until chilled.  Then taking a knife – slice or use a cookie cutter and slice.  I laid each shape out onto parchment and drizzled the chocolate or almond butter over top with a fork or small whisk.  Refrigerate until set.  I store these in the refrigerator to keep chilled.

Custom tags by PenScript Ink can be found here. Make sure the mention Knead to Cook when you order. 

This week I’ve been struggling with fatigue big time.  I’ve been focused on adding significant mileage and not particularly focused on pace.  With distance comes great exhaustion to say the least. Your legs struggle to turnover quickly before your next run.  My week starts on Sunday and ends on Saturday (running week).  Thus far:

Sunday:  18 outdoor miles
Monday:  rest
Tuesday: 5 treadmill/weights/core/balancing
Wednesday:  8 outdoor miles
Thursday: 5 treadmill/weights/core
Friday: Must needed rest day.

I’ll keep you posted on my Saturday run.

Hoping you are having a wonderful day!

— Knead to Cook