Walnut Cranberry Bars....little guilt-free morsels of deliciousness

I'm right in the middle of moving houses, changing jobs and hanging on to my last thread of sanity. As a result, my cooking time has been seriously reduced. Because of my dietary restraints, going out to get a healthy bite to eat isn't always the easiest thing to do (especially considering I refuse to live off of salads alone). The only way I've managed to keep on track and eating healthy is by prepping a ton of great foods to grab and go during this hectic week. For main meals I've been relying heavily on protein shakes, grocery store rotisserie chicken and greens, pistachios, almonds & roasted veggies. My one other go-to this week was a batch of Walnut Cranberry Bars I made - high in fibre and protein and great for a quick snack! They were super easy to make and pretty tasty, if I do say so myself!

Cranberry Walnut Snack Bars
makes 16

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 2 tbsp flax meal + 1/4 cup water (or 1 egg)
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 3.5 scoops of unflavoured vegan protein (if you're using whey, you might want to decrease cooking time)
- 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp honey

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) In a small container mix flax w/ water (skip this step if using an egg instead)
3) Grind oats into a flour using your magic bullet.
4) Combine oats w/ protein powder, coconut flour and cinnamon.
5) Combine pumpkin, flax+water/egg, vanilla & honey.
6) Combine dry and wet ingredients and add almond milk. Stir until smooth.
7) Fold in walnuts and cranberries.
8) Drop mixture evenly into a silicon mini-loaf pan or muffin trays.
9) Bake on the middle rack for 45-60 minutes, depending on the heat of your oven (and how moist you want the bars to be).
10) Let cool and enjoy :)

Calories per bar: 111; fat 4g; carbs 12g; fibre 3g; protein 8g;