Sugar...

Sugar is in so many things, and also very dangerous for our health. Sugar is very addictive and most of us consume way to much of it on a daily basis.

You will see sugar in many different forms, the usual white granulated sugar, or you will also see it on food labels such as fructose corn syrup, evaporated cane juice, malt syrup, and so much more. Two great documentary to check out is Food Matters and Hungry for a change The best options to go for, is natural sugars found in fruits and vegetables, or go for honey, maple syrup, agave syrup, or coconut sugar. Over the weekend I made my own home made bars, they took me minutes to make and all I used was my food processor, and then I put it into a glass container. You have the choice of putting it in the oven or you can keep it raw, which is what I did for mine.

Ingredients: 

1 handful of almonds (soaked in water overnight - optional)
1 handful of Pecans (soaked in water overnight - optional)
1 tablespoon of almond butter
4 dried plums
1 handful of cranberries
2 teaspoon of agave syrup
1 handful of oats
1 handful of quinoa flakes
1 teaspoon of chia seeds

Put all ingredients into the food processor. If you soaked your almonds and pecans, remove water then add. Turn food processor on until well combined. If it's to wet, you can add more oats/quinoa flakes, if it's to dry, add more almond butter or agave syrup.

 Place into a dish and then cut into bar size pieces, or you can also roll them into balls, place it in the fridge so it will keep longer. You can consume right away.

 If you want to put this in the oven, then I suggest you add coconut oil to help it crisp up and brown. You just need to put it in a square oven safe container and should take about 15-20 minutes at 350F. Let it cool, then cut into bar size pieces and you can keep them in the fridge. You can also easily mix and match ingredients, you can add different nuts/seeds, you can also add peanut butter instead of almond butter (but please buy the natural peanut butter, and not the kind that is loaded with sugar). There are all sorts of nut butters in the grocery store, so play around and try out new ones to add different flavors to your bars. You can add raisins, cherries, dates, or any other dry fruit you want, as for the agave syrup, you can add maple syrup, coconut sugar, or honey instead. As for the oats/quinoa flakes, you can also add wheat bran, mix all three, or just add one or two of them. For extra fiber add some flax seeds. There are so many options, even adding dark chocolate to it. It's so easy to make, and you control what gets put in there.

Most bars have a lot of sugar, and a bunch of ingredients you can't even pronounce. There are so many recipes out there that are easy to make but don't include sugar. They have healthy ingredients, and will still get ride of that sweetness your craving. I found a brownie recipe, which I made changes to, and when I'm craving something warm, gooey and chocolaty, I make it, and the bonus is it's a one serving size recipe, so I can make one for myself and it helps satisfy my craving. I'll share that recipe in another post.