Recipe for Lara Bars

We have been super focused on food and diet here at the Trejo house the last few weeks. Bjorn is helping his mom out with her latest business adventure. She has been a personal fitness trainer/consultant for years but she is now trying to train people online to broaden her market. Bjorn is her ginnea pig. So, I just spent a good deal of the night watching video's on The Dr. Oz show. Dr. Oz interviewed the "Fit 2 Fat 2 Fit" guy and the video's are posted. So interesting!! Then I checked out his list of 99 items to put in your grocery cart... Good stuff!! Anyway, one of the biggest challenges personally is to not get too caught up in the "food noise." I really do spend too much time worrying about it. I just have to remember healthy, whole foods and the body will take care of the rest. So here you go! Homemade Lara Bars! From Des at www.unconventionalkitchen.com.

Very Cherry Bar
1/4 Cup chopped dates
1/4 Cup dried cherries or dried cranberries
1/3 Cup whole pecans, almonds or walnuts
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Set out parchment paper or seran wrap for wrapping bars after you are complete. Place the dates and cherries in a food processor. Pulse until processed to a paste. Transfer paste to medium bowl (don't clean out processor).

Add nuts to the processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add nuts and cinnamon to the bowl with fruit paste. Use fingers to knead nuts and paste into a ball. You may need to add a little bit of water to get the bars to hold together well enough. Divide ball in half or in threes and form bars. Can also roll them into little bite size balls. Store in fridge or freezer.

A few variations

Apricot-Almond: use 6 T coarsley chopped dried apricots and 2 T dates; use almonds for the nuts
Tropical: use tropical fruit bits; use raw cashews for nuts. Add 1/8 t ground giner, 1/2 t finely grated lime zest and 1 t fresh lime juice to the mix.
PB&J: use 1/4 cup dried cherries or cranberries and 1/4 cup raisins or dates; use raw or roasted peanuts
Blueberry Bliss: Use 1/4 cup dried blueberries and 1/4 cup dates; use almonds for the nuts. Add 1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest, and a drop of almond extract to the mix
Cashew Cookie Dough: use 1/3 cup dates for fruit and 1/2 cup raw cashews for nuts
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough: same as cashew cookie but add 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, pinch of cinnamon and 1/2 ounce very finely chopped semisweet or bittersweet chocolate to the mix

I should add... my absolute favorite is the chocolate chip cookie dough. Except that I add a little too much water then add oat flour and some rolled oats. Totally tastes like a cookie. Frozen is best! If I had some protein powder on hand I might add some vanilla or chocolate as well...