Homemade Lara Bar Bites!

Hello all! I have a sweet AND healthy snack for you today! Anyone here like Lara Bars as much as I do? I love love love them!  They taste so yummy and are great to keep on hand for on-the-go quick snacks.

Whenever I buy them (which is rare because they can be a bit pricey), I get the “Cashew Cookie” flavor. I love it for its simplicity: it is simply made of dates and cashews. I have always thought it must be easy enough to copy and cheaper to make on my own, so I decided to give it a go. I found a great resource here. This blog lays out the recipes for tons of different Lara Bar flavors.

I kept it simple and made the “Cashew Cookie” one as well as another made of dates and almonds. They  turned out delicious! I can’t wait to try some different ingredient combinations.

“Cashew Cookie” 

• 1/2 cup Pitted medjool Dates
• 1/2 cup raw unsalted cashews

Almond/Date 

• 1/2 cup Pitted medjool Dates
• 1/2 cup almonds

Directions:

• Blend pitted dates in food processor until it becomes a paste; place in bowl.
• Pulse nuts in food processor until chopped to your desired size.
• Mix date paste and chopped nuts with hands until mixed, and roll mixture into balls.
• Place on a plate and let it sit in a refrigerator for about a half hour.
• Eat up!

Grapefruit Juicing Nutso Over Here!

Do you guys like grapefruit? I LOVE it! So when my husband’s friend at work mentioned that he had a tree that was overflowing with grapefruit-I nearly died and went to heaven! He’s delivered us 2 boxes in the last few weeks and it’s been grape-er-great! I remember in college I would buy grapefruit juice from the grocery and always have some in the fridge! That was before I knew anything about pasteurization and how I was basically buying dead sugary juice…but, nevertheless, I still loved grapefruit and it’s juice!

So, since I now all of the sudden had all of these voluptuous balls of joy, I had to make use of them before they went bad. In other words, just eating them wasn’t doing the trick. Then I remembered the way cool industrial looking citrus press that a relative of mine gave me a while back!  Perfect! To juice them it was! Looking back, I feel it was fate that brought that press to me years ago. Because, while I use lemons and limes in my drinking water and cooking all the time, never once did I use the press for them. But for this, it was meant to be.  And, let me tell you, fresh grapefruit juice is just incredibly invigorating and tasty! I bet there are really refreshing cocktails I could make with this-so if you know of any-let us know!

There are tons of benefits, by the way, to eating and juicing grapefruit! For one, while grapefruit, (and lemons and limes) are  themselves, acidic, once consumed they actually have a very alkalizing affect on the body. This is a huge deal as the diet of our culture is extremely acidic, wreaking havoc on our bodies and causing disease. It doesn’t take much to see this.

Grapefruit is high in Vitamin C, making your immune system stronger and helping your body to absorb iron. It is a good source of Potassium and Copper as well. Potassium helps your heart to function properly and also your muscles to contract-including your digestive ones-which is crucial to a healthy digestive system. The Copper aids in the production of the protein, collagen, which makes up connective tissue and ligaments and tendons. It also gives you healthy, supple skin! So eat and drink up!

Do you guys like grapefruit juice? Have you ever had it fresh before?

Let us know if you know of any grapefruit juice cocktails we could try!

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