Matisse & Jack's Cranberry Power Snacks

once again we have been lagging on the Vo2 Maxxed blog front, but we have been busy. Beth has been racing a lot and also putting a lot of mileage in preparation for the Las Vegas marathon. I have been busy with racing and training also. Last weekend I raced the Xterra USA Championships and now I am getting ready for worlds at the end of the month.

I mentioned on my blog that I recently picked up a new sponsor, Matisse & Jacks. They make killer bake-at-home snacks that are perfect pre or post workout or whenever you just want a healthy snack. On of the best parts of the mixes is that hey are easy to customize and you can create your own concoctions based on what you like.

Here is a version I made just before heading up to Tahoe.

I started with the standard Matisse & Jacks Cranberry Power Snacks mix. The mix makes 9 bars. Here's the nutrition info per bar without any additions to mix.

mix (per bar)
160 cals
4.5g f
22g carbs
- 10 sugar
- 3 fiber
9g protein

The bars are killer made just following the instructions but occasionally I like to add some more protein, nuts, or try some random flavor. Here's what I added to this batch.

3 tbsp PB2. This is defatted peanut powder. You can mix it with water and make peanut butter without the fat but I just like adding it to yogurt or cottage cheese for some peanut butter flavor. They have a regular peanut butter flavor and a chocolate peanut butter flavor. Check it out... kind of weird but definitely good.


1 cup TJ's Greek yogurt 0% & 2 tsp of vanilla extract. This is my favorite yogurt and it's loaded with protein.


1 scoop Any Whey from Optimum Nutrition. The protein powder is made to be used when cooking and I have it's definitely the best any thing that's hot. It's completely flavorless.


I just poured the mix into a bowl and added all the ingredients. It couldn't be easier.


then into an 8x8 pan.


and then 30 minutes later... booyah! Killer bar for before, during, or after a workout.


here's the nutritional info for my bars.
195 cals
5g fat
24g carbs
14g protein