August 29, 2014

Five Friday Favorites-Sweet Snacks featuring Blender Chocolate Banana Avocado Pudding

A Hood to Coast part 1 recap will be on the blog next week along with how my marathon training is going, but today is all about sweet snacks. I am always saying how I have a big sweet tooth so I thought I'd share some of those satisfying snacks I'm loving lately. 

Five Friday Favorites

1. Yasso frozen greek yogurt bars in sea salt caramel flavor 
I'm pretty sure I've raved about these bars before, but this flavor is heavenly. They are made with protein-packed greek yogurt but taste like an actual ice cream bar with delicious caramel swirled in. I don't know how they do it! 
At 100 calories, it's totally okay if you eat two in one day (been there, done that). 


2. About Time Whey Protein Shake in peanut butter flavor
About Time was kind enough to send over a few of their products for me to sample which interested me because About Time protein products are gluten-free, lactose-free, and stevia-sweetened. I'm always skeptical of protein powders because they never taste that great, but this peanut butter flavor tasted awesome with some vanilla almond milk shaken in. 

I loved having this in my purse as a sweet snack on the go and being able to recycle the bottle and not carry around a shaker afterwards.


3. EnerChi bites
I won some EnerChi bites from someone else's giveaway a couple months ago and recently have been loving them. They are gluten-free, nut-free, soy-free, and all natural snacks with a texture similar to Larabars. 

They are the perfect sweet pre-workout or after dinner bite. I was sent Cocoa Date, Coconut Oatmeal Raisin, and Apple Cinnamon bites. I thought the Cocoa Date would be my favorite but lately I'm digging the apple cinnamon which taste like little pie bites.  EnerChi bites have a great kickstarter campaign running right now so if you're interested in them, check it out!


3. Strawberries
I found a ridiculous sale (3 packs for $5!) on strawberries at the grocery store this week so I have been eating them everyday. I love summer berries and will have my fill before it gets cold again for sure. 

A favorite dessert this week has been sliced strawberries topped with whipped cream. I found TruWhip at the store which is non-GMO, gluten-free, and made with all natural sweeteners and no processed crap. 


The other night I got fancy and drizzled a chocolate shell on top. 

I made the chocolate shell by simply mixing 2 tablespoons of liquid coconut oil (my jar is liquid due to the heat but if not, microwave for 20 seconds) and 2-3 teaspoons of cacao powder (cocoa powder works fine), and a few drops of liquid stevia (you could use any sweetener you'd like!). I mixed everything together in a bowl, drizzled on my strawberries, and popped in the freezer for 10 seconds. 

4. Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels
If any of my Hood to Coast teammates read this, they will definitely agree about this snack. In our vans' snack boxes there was a big bag of peanut butter filled pretzels from Costco. Let's just say I'm pretty sure our bag was empty by the time the trip ended.

 I love the combination of sweet peanut butter and the salty pretzel, and they made great fuel for running!I don't know if I can buy these similar ones from Trader Joe's without finishing the bag in 2 days. 
5. Blender Chocolate Banana Avocado Pudding

blenderchocolatebananaavocadopudding1


I had tweeted my photo of my chocolate pudding I whipped up in my NutriNinja yesterday and Ninja Kitchen decided it would be a great Labor Day treat so I'm putting it up on the blog! Last night I literally just wanted something post-dinner to satisfy my sweet tooth so I did a take on my chocolate avocado mousse. Everything was just thrown in my NutriNinja and blended within seconds!  

blenderchocolatebananaavocadopudding2

Makes: 1 serving

Ingredients
1 banana (skin removed)
1 small avocado (pitted and skin removed)
2 tbsp cacao powder (cocoa powder works fine)
1/2 cup almond milk
5 drops of liquid stevia (any sweetener you have on hand works-honey,agave,sugar,etc!)

Add all ingredients to a blend and pulse until smooth. Serve & enjoy

blenderchocolatebananaavocadopudding3

Of course I topped it with more fresh strawberries because chocolate and strawberries are quite the pair. 


What are your favorite sweet snacks lately? What do you like to eat strawberries with?


This  post was shared in the  the Health & Fitness Tip link-up..

Disclaimer: I was given a set of About Time products and a NutriNinja blender to review on my blog. I received no other compensation for this post.  All other items unless otherwise mentioned were purchased with my own money.  All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always. 

23 comments:

  1. the chocolate pudding sounds amazing. i also love the yasso bars, but haven't tried that flavor yet. and i'm ridiculously eager for HTC recap - it looked so awesome.

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    1. Go to Harris Teeter and get some Yasso bars, STAT! Also we need to hang out!

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  2. what an easy pudding recipe - and it looks delicious. also...i want those pretzels! like real bad, right now.

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    1. Thanks so much, and remember I warned you about the pretzels, haha.

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  3. 1) I love peanut butter filled pretzels! I'd keep them in the house more often if I knew they wouldn't get eaten within 1-2 days haha!

    2) That pudding recipes looks interesting! I'll have to give it a try!

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    1. I agree with your first point, hence why I don't think I can buy them!

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  4. Those Enerchi bites sound delish! I love that they are soy and gluten free! Your protein shake sounds amazing too!!

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    1. Thanks for reading (BIG fan of your blog!). The bites are great-especially when I'm feeling lazy about making my own bites.

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  5. I love learning about new snacks! I make the same pudding. My kids have a hard time believing there is avocado in it :)

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    1. Thanks so much-you would never know there is avocado in it!

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  6. Ooooh lots of good snackies here! I need as many as I can get with my mileage being high. Love the idea of Enerchi. Jealous you got to try them! I love peanut butter filled pretzels too, they are the perfect snack!

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  7. The chocolate banana avocado pudding sounds yummy... I make smoothies like that but I've overdone the banana a couple of times and ended up with pudding instead. Oopsies.
    I'm excited to try the mock chocolate shell. I really don't care about the unhealthy factor of the ready made stuff, but I don't keep it in the house. Your recipe would be so much easier for a quick craving.

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    1. I like thick smoothies so sometimes mine are more pudding-like too. I agree-I hate having things sitting in the fridge or pantry that won't get used up quickly and love that I can just whip up my version whenever I want!

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  8. Thanks for linking up! Please remember the rules of the link up to link back to your hosts next time! Thank you! Can't wait to try your recipe!!

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    1. AH so sorry! I saw the linkup after my post went live and forgot to add the link-will do next time!

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  9. The pudding sounds good. I will have to try it and make my kids try it too. Thanks for linking up today.

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    1. Definitely-you can't tell it's healthy and could always add some mini chocolate chips on top too!

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  10. Lauren, I've never seen the About Time products (or if I have I just didn't notice); this looks fantastic! So easy and, if it tastes good, a yummy bonus! I will definitely check this out. Thanks for sharing and I hope you have a great weekend!

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    1. I haven't seen About Time in stores much but it's definitely worth checking out-I love their birthday cake protein flavor too!

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  11. Thanks for reading and for sharing the linkup!

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  12. Strawberries and whipped cream is definitely a favorite! Genius way to make a chocolate shell by the way!

    Thanks for linking up to Did You Know!

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