ENERGY BARS

True Confessions.....I am a single mother and I don't have time....like ever, so I try to make recipes that give me the most bang for the buck.   I like these energy bars because they are a great snack that gets me over the 3 o'clock hump, and they last a while in my house.  You can find the original recipe for the Energy Bars here.  This time I made them more of a fruity chewy bar.

I wanted to try some different fruit combinations so I used dried blueberries, dried apricots, shredded coconut, and some ginger chews that I stubled across at Trader Joe's, this is what they look like here.

Some time saving tips that I learned along the way:

*I use a lot of whole nuts, and chopped about 1/3.  

*Blend the nuts first that you want to chop, then the dates.  

*Remember to use a food processor.  A blender will not work, it will turn the nuts into butter too soon, and it's torture to clean the dates off of the blades  (this I learned the hard way),  and who has time for that?

*Also parchment paper is your best friend.  Use it to line your cookie sheet to have less clean up.

*Also once the bars are cut wrap them individually in saran wrap.  This will save you a lot of time when you are daily preparing your snack, just pop one out of the freezer and your ready to go!

This recipe is very versatile so the same guidelines apply, I just used different ingredients.  

Here's what I used:

FRUITS:

Dried Blueberries

Dried Apricots

Shredded Coconut

Crystalized Ginger (found at Trader Joe's)

NUTS:

Cashews
Sliced Almonds
Macadamia

GRANOLA CEREAL WITH STRAWBERRIES

I think of myself as a lazy vegan/raw foodist.  Living in a household where others have different dietary habits, I don’t always want to make a full on meal after a long day just for me.  So I get kind of lazy and make this cereal if i’m just not feeling like doing much or if i’m bored of smoothies.   Sometimes you just want a bowl of cereal, simple and uncomplicated!

 

I stumbled upon this as I was trying to make the energy bars Felicia posted about here.  It was kind of a disaster.  In the end my bars were mostly chunks and crumbs (I ran out of dates opps!)  I made about 2 gallons of energy crumbs!  So, I decided it would be my new cereal.

 

 

 

GRANOLA CEREAL WITH STRAWBERRIES

 

1 cup almond milk (or any other nut milk)

1 cup of strawberries (or whatever fruit you have available)

1/2 cup of energy bars
 

**Note: This cereal could be raw if you follow the recipe for the energy bars here.  Mine however were vegan since I used rolled oats. 

Break up the energy bar in a bowl.  Slice the strawberries and add them to the bowl.  Then pour the milk over it all et Voila! (I feel kind of silly giving directions to make cereal).

 

**Another variation I tried from Just Glowing With Health is to blend a cup of almond milk with a frozen banana in a high speed mixer.  This is a delicious variation,  and really the variations are endless, so have fun, there are no limits!

Is your mouth watering yet?