Saqlain Saleem
Ernest Tix
Eng 1301 CRN 12653
14 October 2012
Muscle Building Bars Being a full time student and having a full time job can be tough on the body, with all the long shifts and extensive lectures, it can become very difficult to stay away from junk food and instead eat healthy food. Building some muscle can be even tougher of a task, because it requires eating a surplus amount of calories burnt, in 5 to 6 meals a day. Sitting down with the family six times a day and having a fresh cooked meal isn’t realistic, for which I made my own homemade protein bars, perfect for anytime when hungry or in need of a meal. First thing needed is for you to do, is make a list of all the ingredients needed for the recipe, if anything is missing you would need to go to the grocery store or the supplement store to buy, these will most likely be items like 70% dark chocolate, Whey protein powder, everything else you should be able to find in the food pantry. Starting off grab a large bowl for the dry ingredients inside which place: two cups of natural whole grain oats, one cup of 100% Whey protein powder, a third cup of dry raisins or cranberries, a forth cup of slivered almonds and a teaspoon of cinnamon powder. Then mix all the ingredients with a spatula. Next grab a smaller bowl inside which place: half a cup of natural peanut butter, a fourth cup of agave nectar or honey, half a cup of almond milk, a fourth cup of 70% dark chocolate and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Then, grab the smaller bowl which has the wet ingredients, and place it in the microwave for 30 seconds on medium power, once complete take out the bowl of the microwave and mix the batch with the same spatula used earlier. Then, place the bowl once again inside the microwave and reheat the mixture for 30 second on medium power. This time carefully take out the mixture out of the microwave because it could be hot, grab the spatula and mix it, it should have a dark brown color to it and have a thick but still liquid consistency to it, if the mixture is too watery repeat the process in the microwave until the texture changes. Next power on the electric mixture by plugging it into the wall, then place the ingredients from the larger bowl inside the mixer first, followed by the ingredients from the smaller bowl. Then, start the cycle at the slowest level to make sure that the dry ingredients don’t fly out the mixer, stop the mixture after 1 minute to scrape the sides of the bowl with the spatula down, start again the mixture for 1 more minute. In the end should be a result of much resemblance to a cookie batter. Take out an 8 by 8 inch pan of glass or metal and cover it with wax paper, next spray the pan with a little bit of nonstick spray and pour in the batter from the mixer. Make sure the batter is evenly spread out, I would recommend that you spray your hands with some nonstick too in order to prevent sticking, and then place the pan inside the refrigerator for 20 minutes. Once the time is complete take the pan out from the refrigerator, and cut the batter into 8 pieces or how ever big you like your bars. Then in the end, I like to put my bars in individual air sealed bags and store them inside the refrigerator. Looking at the health perspective, these bars contain 43 grams of carbs, 28 grams of protein, 11 grams of fats and 380 calories per serving. I prefer dark chocolate 70% because its has benefits like amino acids, L-arginine (which increases blood flow) and many vitamins, but you can use regular chocolate instead too. I also like using almond milk over cow milk because it is lactose free and will last longer in the fridge and in the gym back for a post workout snack. And when choosing honey, always go with the unpasteurized honey, because it contains more enzymes and vitamins. These are the best protein bars I’ve ever had, they don’t contain and preservatives and unknown ingredients like many of the other packet protein bars, the best part is that I get to control what goes inside. These bars should last up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator, but if you decide to use cow milk then the bars will only last 1 week. If you want to put on some more muscle, these bars can be game changers.

Words: 789
Work Cited
1. Zach. "Home Made Protein Bars On A Budget." Home Made Protein Bars For Less Than 49 Cents per Bar! N.p., 18 Nov. 2011. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <http://www.toplevelfit.com/2011/11/18/home-made-protein-bars-for-less-than-49-cents-per-bar/>.