HOME MADE LARA BARS!!!!

No you aren't reading wrong and yes it is VERY easy!!!!! Remember that this was my food item of the week this week. These bars are about 4 for $5 where I live. My daughter (6 years old) and I both eat them so I figured there MUST be an easy way to make them. I mean there aren't many ingredients in them for goodness sake. So, I looked it up in Pinterest and found this. It lists many of the bars and their recipes! Woo HOO! The leg work was done for me already. Each recipe makes 3 bars.

Today I made the peanut butter and jam and they were 217 calories. Of course I didn't follow the recipe directions exactly, so here is what I did:

Peanut Butter and Jam (217 calories)

1/4 cup dried cherries

1/4 cup seedless/pitted whole dates (double check the pit is out. 1/4 cup for me was about 6 dates)

1/2 cup raw peanuts

Toss the dates and cherries in the food processor and buzz it until it forms a paste. You will know it is a paste when it forms a ball and whizzes around the bowl.

Take the paste out and put the peanuts in and pulse into small bits. Don't do it until it is peanut dust, you still want a little texture.

Combine peanut bits and fruit paste and squish around with your hands until it is all in one ball. Spread out on some plastic wrap on a plate and separate in 3 equal pieces (yes, I weighed them to see if they were exact because I am crazy that way). Form them into bars. Wrap them

individually with plastic wrap or put them in the snack size bag or if you don't like using those things, put them in an air tight container....I do not recommend you stack them or have them touching without a piece of wax paper or parchment if this is your storage method.

Seriously, this took me all of 10 minutes to do. So easy and delicious!!!

Next, I made my daughter's favorite...

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie (227 calories)

1/2 cup seedless/pitted whole dates (about 12)

1/4 cup cashews

1/4 cup raw peanuts

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

2 T mini organic chocolate chips

Same idea as before. Make the fruit paste with the dates. Take the paste out and make peanut and cashew bits. Add the paste and the nut bits together and also add 2 T of mini chocolate chips. Squish together. Form bars. My daughter came from home from school and ate one up immediately! She gives it two thumbs up!

I will now be working my way through the list, posting every recipe and annoying each and every one of you with my Larabar creations. Let me know if there is a particular one you want me to make next. :)