I don’t want to toot my own horn, buuuut TOOT TOOT. That sounded like that coffee commercial with the creep guy with straggly blonde hair. Instead it’s with a creep female with straggly brown hair. So much less creepy. But for real, these are delicious. And way easier to make than you’d think.
The guy next to me at the coffee shop is talking to himself saying that he hates this place and America. Much more cursing was involved in that conversation to himself. Good ole’ Denver.
So my hips have officially shut down. That sounds weird. But for real. I can’t squat. My hip flexors and hips won’t allow me to. I stretch them everyday, I use a lacrosse ball, I get them popped and poked at, and they just don’t work. I take long car rides somewhere and can barely walk afterwards because they hurt so bad and are so tight. It’s hard enough to air squat but when I try to squat with any weight, I can’t even get out of the squat. It’s crazy. I’ve never experienced anything like this. I don’t know how I could have injured both hips, but they are pissed. And I am frustrated. I’m heading to Lake Powell soon and I want to do some workouts on a paddleboard. I saw at the Big Sky competition, they did a 21-15-9 of overhead squats with the paddle on a paddle board and push ups. How fun is that? Super fun! I’m going to have to squat like the old days, above 90 degrees. How boring. Shucks.
I hate that I have an obsession with horizontal stripes on workout shirts. And going out shirts. So really, any shirt. They really do nothing for me. Oh wait, yes they do. They embarrass me. But I can’t stop purchasing them. I need a personal stylist.
I got a kimchi burger with tempura avocado from Park Burger last night. I’m so naughty. It was delicious. Kimchi is so good. I once had a boyfriend whose mom was Korean and would take us to these amazing Korean restaurants where I had no idea what anything was on the menu. The pictures didn’t help either. So his mom would order and everything would turn out fantastic. Not knowing what your eating can be so invigorating. Frightening, but invigorating. Anyways, she would even make kimchi for my parents. Adorable. And so fancy. Kind of.
I leave for Lake Powell tomorrow. NBD!!!
Berry Cream Bars
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
For the crust
- 5 dried dates, pitted
- 1 cup almond butter
- 3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 2 tablespoons raw honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
For the toppings (part one)
- 2 teaspoon coconut milk/water
- 1/2 cup raspberries
- 1/2 cup blackberries
- 1 tablespoon raw honey
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
For the toppings (part 2)
- 1 (14 ounce) can of coconut milk (placed in refrigerator overnight), only use the cream on top, leave behind the coconut water/milk at the bottom
- 1 tablespoon raw honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place dates in food processor and pulse to break down into pieces.
- Then add almond butter, coconut, honey, vanilla extract and salt and pulse turn on to blend until ingredients are well combined.
- Line a bread pan with parchment paper, add ingredients from the food processor and press down until even throughout. Place in freezer while finishing the rest of the ingredients.
- Scoop out the coconut cream that has settled at the top of your canned coconut milk and place in the bowl and back in the fridge.
- Place 2 teaspoons of coconut milk/water that is at the bottom of the can, into a small saucepan over medium heat.
- Add raspberries, blackberries, honey and lemon juice in the pan and mix together. Let simmer for less than 5 minutes or until the berries become just slightly soft. You don’t want a soup. Let cool.
- Now mix together the coconut cream, honey, and vanilla extract in the bowl that you placed in the fridge.
- Once the berries have cooled, finishing the layers. Add the coconut milk mixture on top of the crust, spread out evenly, then pour the berries on top, once again evenly.
- Place in the freezer for 1+ hours to harden a bit. And serve.
- *To store these, store them in the fridge. The coconut milk will melt fast.
Notes
Yields 8 bars
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I’ve been coaching CrossFit for 5 years and in my experience, dysfunction in the lumbar spine can present as pain in the hip flexor/psoas area. I would have your back checked out. I also recommend finding a rolfer (think deep tissue meets physical therapy) to correct any postural misalignment.
OMG! These look totally AMAZING!!
<3 <3
You should see if there are any good acupuncturists near you! My mom (who’s 53 and in incredible shape, used to run health clubs for Bally’s in the 80s and 90s) started having issues with her hips a few years ago (all from fitness-related injuries she never let heal properly). Went to several doctors, with no improvement, then tried acupuncture as a last-ditch effort and had amazing results.
This looks DELICIOUS! I might try adding grass fed gelatin to the white coconut milk layer to make it set:). Also, do you think regular dates would work (not dried)?
I’ve honestly never had regular dates so I couldn’t tell ya
Lol! I just looked up fresh dates, and apparently I’ve never had one either… I have dried dates, so I’ll stick with those:)
I made these using real dates and they are amaze-balls! I took these to a party and everyone thought they were fattening and unhealthy. When I told them they were paleo, everyone didn’t believe me until I have them the recipe.
I don’t know if anyone has suggested this yet, but have you considered adding yoga to your routine a few times a week? I know a lot of the Paleo community seems to be against yoga for some reason, but it can be instrumental in opening the hips and maintaining proper alignment in the spine.
Ha, I was going to suggest yoga….but as I recall from a previous Juli post she HATED the slow pace of yoga.
Juli, hip opening days in my yoga class work, they really do!!
Do it…just do it….
That sucks about your hips – I have the exact same issue. It got so bad I had to go to physical therapy. That helped a lot – I still can’t do full depth squats all the time, but at least I’m not in constant pain. More than anything what helped me was rolling out my whole IT band, not just the hip area. A deep tissue massage of the IT band hurts like balls but really helped. It sounds like you are already doing quite a bit, so I hope it gets better for you
Stripes are cool! Embrace it! Dots are equally cool too – ask my closet.
I will be making these this week – and arrange my berries in stripe format. Or dots? Or ummm well it doesn’t matter because they will disappear quickly. 😉
These look heavenly – a good Sunday afternoon (for football soon!!!) project… When you said you returned from a run days ago in hip pain I said “Uh-oh.” My running days were ended by persistent hamstring (literal pain in the butt) connective injuries. Oh sure, I tried everything under the sun and kept running. It’s been almost 2 years since my last run and my hammies are such a mess that too much walking requires me to have to sit on ice. I cannot tell you how much I regret that I simply did not take the hint and stop running sooner.
Check out functionalpatterns.com. Naudi Aguilar has tons of videos related to your problem. That website has been a godsend for me and my bad back and knees. No more issues after following his advice.
Thank you for this website. I’ve had this problem for 15 years and have tried many different forms of therapy, with temporary relief now and then, but the pain always returns. I hope this will be as helpful for me as it has been for you.
I wonder how they would come out if you used sunbutter instead of the almond butter. My bf is allergic, which is whatever but then I end up eating the whole batch in a day. Tops two days, maybe 😉
Delicious! I was actually going to put that as a nut free option