Almond Butter Zucchini Bars

I hate mosquitos.  They are really annoying!  I was outside gardening yesterday with pants and a long sleeved shirt and somehow, some way, those little jerks bit me through my pants.  How does that even happen?  I was so mad, I went to Home Depot and bought about $50 worth of mosquito sprays, candles, torches, basically anything they had that said it would get rid of mosquitos.  When I was checking out, the cashier asked me “Trying to get rid of the bugs.”  Haha, yup!

And guess what??!!  Whole Foods is opening soon in Savannah, and according to their Facebook page that I stalk like crazy, they are opening August 13^th, less than a month away!!!!  I marked it on my calendar.  I drove by the store and it looks done to me, just put all those yummy groceries in there and let me shop, pretty please.

I must admit I have not been cooking as much lately.  I have been traveling all over, and cooking has not been in the cards.  However, my husband is in his bulking phase…. Yes, it is as annoying as it sounds.  He is eating 2 dozen eggs a week and whole milk and keeps asking me if he looks bigger.  Haha.  I told him that is one question I will never ask him.  He eats all day and packs a daily lunch which seems as though it would contain food for a week.  I decided he needed a quick protein snack, which would be good calories, but have the protein and fat you want in a snack.  End result = Almond Butter Zucchini Bars.  Zucchini is in season right now and it seems as though I can find so many uses for it.

Almond Butter Zucchini Bars - From http://www.hummusapien.com/paleo-zucchini-almond-butter-bars/

Ingredients

¾ cup creamy almond butter

1 heaping cup grated zucchini (1 medium zucchini)

1 egg

¼ cup pure maple syrup (or honey)

1 tsp vanilla

¾ tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp salt

¼-½ cup chocolate chips

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 x 8 pan with cooking spray. Set aside.

Stir together almond butter, zucchini, egg, maple syrup and vanilla in a large bowl until combined.

Add in the rest of the ingredients (except chocolate chips) and stir.

Fold in chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 for thirty minutes or until a knife comes out clean.

~ Savannah FitNut aka Morgan McNeal