Fruit and Nut Bars

We're about to leave town...again.

So I'm getting some food ready to take with us....again.

Last time, I made this yummy Quinoa Salad to take with us.

This time, I tried a couple of new things.


And this...

is super yummy!

Elisabeth says so (that is high praise coming from my wanna-be-picky girl).

Jas says so (that is high praise from my man)

I say so - but then I'm not picky. My friend Amy describes me as having a "high tolerance". I do...when I know that it is healthy for me.

The other three haven't tried it yet...but I know they'll like them.

So what are they?

Fruit and Nut bars - think Larabar - or energy bar.

It's basically nuts and dried fruit blended up together and then formed into bars or balls.

I made two varieties...

Gingersnap

and Zesty Cranberry (Jas requested this one)

I recently purchased an e-book that I'd had my eye on for a while - Healthy Snacks to Go - and this is the first recipe I've tried.

To make the Gingersnap variety I simply put 1/3 c. almonds (I had previously soaked the almonds, though) and 1/4 c. pecans in my Vitamix and blended them into almost a meal consistency. Then I added 3/4 pitted dates and blended again. Then I sprinkled in 1/2 tsp. ginger, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp. cloves. I scraped it down a few times and blended until I liked the texture. Then dumped it out and formed into a bar on wax paper in a 8x8 dish. Voila - healthy yumminess!

There are fourteen (yes, 14!) varieties of these bars in the e-book, using different combinations of nuts, seeds, dried fruits and spices. I personally cannot wait to try Cinnamix, German Chocolate and Cherry Almond (using, amazingly enough, dried cherries and almonds as the main ingredients).

To be honest, as I was scraping the mixture out of my blender I was thinking "This is certainly yummy, but why wouldn't we just grab some nuts and dried fruit and snack on a handful of that?"

So I asked Jas the same question...after he'd tried the mixture and declared it super yummy. He said he'd sooner grab one of these than a bowl of nuts and dried fruit - and I know the same would go for my children.

So, it looks like these yummy little bars have found a place in our kitchen!