Just tuning in? I’m doing the 10 Days of Real Food Pledge from 9/19-9/28. Feel free to join me at any time — but check out their website first for all the details like what the 10 day pledge is all about, what you can/can’t eat, and recipe/food ideas. (keep in mind that Lisa and her family are not gluten-free… so some of the recipes need to be converted — give a shout if you need ANY help!)
————————————————————————————————-
I’m currently taking name suggestions for these bars.
When I first made them, I sent a text to my celiac sister and said, “omg. come quick…I made Almond Joy Larabars.”
But that doesn’t have a nice ring to it. In my post the other day I called them, “I-Miss-Almond-Joy Bars,” even though I haven’t really been craving or even thinking of those yummy little candy bars this week — so they are going to need a new name, any ideas?
While you think about — how about the recipe?
(Insert new name here) Bars
inspired by fruit & nut bar recipes in Eat Like a Dinosaur
1 cup Medjool dates
1 cup roasted almonds
½ cup unsweetned, shredded coconut
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Penzey’s Dutch process cocoa powder)
Put all ingredients into a food processor and let ‘er whirl. Run the food processor until everything has come together and a sticky “dough” has formed — using a rubber scraper, pull it all together and then form a ball with your hands. Place the ball between two sheets of wax paper, smash down with your hand, then use a rolling pin to roll out as thin or thick as you would like.
A pizza cutter makes cutting these into individual servings so simple. And don’t worry about the less-than-perfect pieces around the edge, they are easily shaped into little squares, rolled up into balls, or just eaten as odd shapes. 🙂
You can store them in the fridge, separating the layers with the wax paper you just used to roll out the bars — just tear it into pieces.
It sure beats paying almost two dollars a piece for bars that have gotten smaller over time — and if you make them yourself, the ingredient possibilities are endless. I’m going to do a PB&J type bar next, but with almonds, so I guess that would be an AB&J, yes? Either way, as long as you keep the date ratio the same as (or similar to) the nut ratio, then you can add other combos that make you smile.
And you can wrap them up and take them to-go.
I don’t know why it took me this long to make my own, thanks to Paleo Parents for showing me the way — it’s been the snack of choice this weekend.
My other snack, which I’ve seen over on Pinterest, were these little mini apple sammies. Just core the apple, slice it thin, layer on the almond butter and raisins and you’re all set.
We are still savoring some garden tomatoes — hoping to get one last harvest today. (*update: we totally scored on the tomatoes… my husband came home with three big baking sheets full of them, so watch out world!)
We threw together this salad: garden tomatoes, calamata olives, a little feta cheese and peperoncinis. (loving those little peppers right now!)
Breakfast yesterday was a Mediterranean style omelet: 2 eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, kalamatas, feta cheese, kale/spinach mix and fresh herbs.
And today I attempted some whole grain pumpkin pancakes — turns out I don’t really like the flavor of quinoa flour. At all. And it was in the ancient grain mix I was using, so they went in the garbage. Frustrating.
So I went with a little what-we-have-in-the-fridge fall combo: plain yogurt with pumpkin puree and some maple syrup, warm applesauce with cinnamon, walnuts & raisins, our last carrot muffin and some fruit. And a pumpkin spice latte — just coffee, cream, pumpkin pie spice and maple syrup. It was perfect. (and we didn’t miss the pancakes)
We spent most of the day in the kitchen yesterday, prepping and cooking meals for the rest of the week — that’s the key to eating real food — being prepared!
On the agenda: pot roast in the cast iron, pepper steak in the slow cooker, and soup on the stove — it smelled amazing in here!
The hard part was choosing which one to eat for dinner.
pot roast w/ mixed greens, dressed in vinaigrette & shaved parmesan
Hello, Sunday Soup!
Carrot Soup with dollop of Red Pepper Soup and Crème fraîche
My father-in-law was even impressed — he helped us out big time today by delivering our new chest freezer! (so the least I could do is feed him)
That was our weekend — what was on your plate? Did you get out and grab some sunshine? Do yourself a favor and make the “I need a name” bars in this post — then stop back and help me name them… maybe I should ask Chef Carter, he did a great job coming up with the last ones!
Celiac in the City 