For those of you who know me personally, I probably don’t need to remind you of my athletic INabilities.  For those who are just peeking in on this little life of mine, let’s just wrap it all up by saying that if athleticism is located on one specific gene – – – I was definitely born WITHOUT that gene.  I don’t run.  I don’t go to the gym.  I don’t do boot camp.  I don’t even take aerobics.  OK, I confess, a while back  I had a little bout with yoga, but I got over it quick enough.

A girlfriend once coaxed me into this insane boot camp thing with her.  I lasted about three weeks and then ended up in the hospital for four days for some unidentifiable leg injury.  In the realm of divine interpretation, I  don’t think God could be any clearer – He does not want me exercising!

So hold that thought and let’s turn our attention to Big Little One.  Just turned ten and is shaping up to be a pretty tough water polo player.  Yes, water polo.  How does THAT happen?!  Couldn’t she just ease into this whole sports thing with badminton or synchronized swimming?  No.  She has to plunge head first into one of the most physical sports out there.  I watch her play and am just amazed that I had any part in her genetic makeup.  She once asked me what sport I played when I was a kid and I answered, “Reading”.  I can’t even begin to describe the look of disgust on her face.

This weekend, two years of water polo training come to a climax with  . . .  dun, dun, dun . . . Junior Olympics.  Big Little One and Medium Little One will play together in the Under 10 Girls division (nothing like a little sisterly love as you’re getting wailed on and thrashed about in the water).  Then next weekend, Big Little One will do it all over again in the Under 10 Co-Ed division.  The excitement in this house is palpable.  So in honor of my girls’ H2O exuberance, I decided to devote a little baking time to the exploration of healthy, energy boosting snacks for the big weekend.  Now I should mention that the other night, I made a really yummy Thai Basil  Eggplant dish and I can’t wait to tell you all about it.  But no, I will restrain myself,  and in the spirit of Junior Olympics I give you . . . Carrot Breakfast Protein Bars.

This one was quick and easy.  The most time consuming part was grating two large carrots.

Into that I added some almond butter &  2 eggs.  I mixed that well.

Then I tossed in some raw honey, a scoop of vanilla whey protein powder, some cinnamon, a little baking powder, and some salt.  Then I folded in some raisins.  I put the whole thing into a greased glass baking dish and baked at 350 for about 35 minutes.  I cut into bars and then kept in an airtight container until this morning.

The result:

Now a picture might speak a thousand words, but I think age specific reactions and ratings say even more.  The shocker of the morning?  The 4 year old, when asked what she would give it on a scale of 1 – 10 firmly stated, “A 12”.  And yes, she does know how to count and has excellent number sense (just in case you were headed there).  The 8 year old also loved it and consumed probably 4 of the 8 bars.  The soon to be 2 year old voted with her mouth and chomped down about 2 bars.  The party pooper in the group?  The 10 year old.  She gave it barely a 6 and complained of too many raisins.  So my mandate for tomorrow is clear:  Carrot Breakfast Protein Bars take II sans the raisins.  I’ll also be trying out some Cranberry Pistachio Energy Bites.  I’ll be sure to let you know how those go.

Here’s the complete Carrot Breakfast Protein Bar recipe, from the site PaleOMG.

Want to browse other Protein Bar Recipes?  Give these a try.

• Carrot Cake Protein Bars (liftalatte.wordpress.com)
• Eat Clean – Lemon Protein Bars (thismommyblogs.com)
• Homemade Protein Bars (elementalwellnesscoaching.wordpress.com)
• My Recipe for Chocolate-Peanut Butter Protein Bars (brundlekitten.wordpress.com)
• Do-it-Yourself Paleo Protein Bars (paleoproteinbars.wordpress.com)