RECIPE: Gluten Free Oatmeal Granola Bars

Y'all I was so excited that these turned out the way they did! I've been trying to nail this recipe down for quite some time.


My kids love granola bars and I just hate buying them. They usually have questionable ingredients and are kinda pricey.  These are similar to those quaker oats chewy granola bars but have ingredients you are familiar with.


Plus it's so simple to just mix them up.


They are perfectly sweet and hold together beautifully.


Gluten Free Oatmeal Granola Bars

1 1/2c gluten free rolled oats (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1c gluten free brown rice cereal
1T chia seeds
1/3c no sugar added sunflower seed butter
1/3c honey
1T coconut oil
1t vanilla
1/2c chopped dried dates
pinch of salt

Mix together your dry ingredients- oats, cereal, chia seeds, and salt in a large bowl.  In a microwave safe bowl combine sunbutter, honey, and coconut oil.  Microwave for about 10-15 seconds.  This will just make it easier to mix into the dry ingredients.  Stir in the vanilla.  Add the wet into the dry and mix well.  Add the dates.  Press firmly into an 8x8 glass dish and refrigerate for a few hours or until set.  Cut into bars and store in the fridge.



You could also add chocolate chips... or dried cranberries... or raisins... or a chocolate drizzle (1T chocolate chips and 1/2t coconut oil melted).


What is your favorite granola bar?

Munchkin Meals: Letting Go

Last week at the grocery store I bought a loaf of bread and a pack of tortillas.  A million pounds was lifted from my shoulders during that shopping trip.

If you've been following my blog for a bit you know I've been trying to switch my kids over to a paleo diet.  I tried it for about three weeks and I'll admit it... I gave up.  I was so stressed out about what went into my kid's mouths that it was really getting to me.  I finally let it go.

My kids aren't going to eat a 100% paleo diet right now.  It's just going to have to wait.  I'm still going to refuse to feed them junk and chemicals.  They are just going to eat real food.

So here are some of their clean eats from this past week:

Breakfast

Steel cut oatmeal with grade B maple syrup and grass fed butter.  Plus pastured bacon and organic berries.  They had a cup of raw whole milk with this as well.  They eat this several times a week.

Lunch:

Organic Sunbutter and raw honey sandwich, local organic fuji apple, and a special treat of Trader Joes olive oil potato chips (just potato, olive oil, and salt).  They had water with their lunch.

Dinner:

Friday night pizza night!  A Rudi's spelt tortilla topped with Raos marinara, Kerrygold grass fed cheese, and Applegate pepperoni.  This was served with broccoli and water.

Have you ever just let something go nutrition wise?

Amazon Prime and More Randomness

I know I've been slacking on blog posts. It's so much easier to instagram... Seriously. Do any of you feel that way?  I get so caught up in posting on there that I forget about this little thing I have going... called MY BLOG.  I've been eating a lot of good stuff lately and I've found some really cool things!  If you follow me on instagram some of these pictures might be a repeat.

First of all... Honeyville almond flour.


I've heard so many bloggers recommend it but I never thought it would be worth spending $40 for.  I mean come on... Almond flour is almond flour.  Bob's Red Mill is JUST fine... right?  Not so much.

It's $40 for pretty much a lifetime supply in my house.  5lbs is a lot!  Plus it really does make all the difference in the world.


Texture.  It's not grainy.  It's not coarse.  It's so close to real flour.  It took my paleo pancakes to an all new level.


Let me put it this way.  I made a batch of the almond flour pancakes just for myself for dinner the other night because the rest of my family usually doesn't like them.  My husband and kids were begging for them.  They were that good... and it's all because of that flour!

Speaking of Honeyville almond flour... Amazon prime!

The only place I can find sugar free sunflower seed butter here in Monterey is Whole Foods... and it's $8.99 a jar.  I got a 6 pack on Amazon for $39!  I'll do the math for you.  That's $6.50 a jar.  Needless to say I'm an Amazon prime addict these days.

And let me talk a little bit about this guy.


I'm not usually a fan of larabars.  I like to make my own.  I'm so in love with this bar.

Of course it's seasonal and my Whole Foods is out of them.

Maybe that's a good thing...?

Have you tried anything new lately?

Seasonal Eating

I think all of this sunshine has the chemicals in my body all confused.  I'm originally from Ohio and I moved to North Carolina when I was 16. Although NC is warmer than Ohio it does have seasons… to some extent. It at least it has gloomy days. I need a gloomy day. I'm just not used to all of these perfect, warm, sunny days… think 70 and bright sun every single day.  What a terrible thing to complain about.  Seriously.

You can definitely tell I feeling the need for a season change by my food.  I'm feeling like some fall foods.  I have turkey and mashed sweet potatoes on the menu this week… and this is just a sample of what I've been eating the past few days.

Eggs and greens of course for breakfast.  Alongside some bacon or fruit.


Brussels, pork, and kale leftovers for lunch.


Thanksgiving meatballs and butternut squash soup for dinner.

See I told ya I'm wanting it to be fall.

and I've been LOVING this little snack.  Dried dates stuff with pistachios.


Does the weather affect your moods?

Munchkin Meals: Gluten Free Pancakes

I'm on a gluten free pancake hunt. I really like the idea of oat flour instead of all the other random flours (rice, tapioca, potato). Squirrel doesn't eat eggs so I'm having a really hard time figuring out what to give her for breakfast! Any ideas? She isn't into my paleo pancakes either… Too eggy.

My kids have been eating oat flour pancakes from Food Prepper for breakfast lately.  This recipe was good… but a little dry.  I'm still searching for the one.

I made sun butter sandwiches out of them and served them with pear and Applegate sausage.


I've noticed that people here in Monterey like to eat outside.  So we've been doing a lot of picnics!

This lunch included:  A treat of olive oil potato chips (just potatoes, olive oil, and salt), a homemade gluten free granola bar, strawberries, Applegate pepperoni, Kerrygold cheese, and cheesy kale chips.

We tried something new this week for dinner.

Ground pastured pork, kale chips (we can't get enough of them!), and mashed sweet potatoes made with maple syrup and grass fed butter.  The mashed sweet potatoes were the new thing and neither liked them.  If I were eating them it would taste like dessert!

We are working on them… we are slowly taking tiny steps in the paleo direction.

Let me know if you have any good egg free/paleo breakfast ideas!  Paleo muffins?  Gluten free banana bread?  Anything!