I mentioned in my morning post that I am working on eating less processed goods and more WHOLE, REAL foods. Generally speaking, I do pretty well with this. I eat a lot of fresh fruits and veggies, good lean meats, and fresh baked breads in my daily diet. BUT, one area that I am particularly weak on is bars. I LOVE bars of all kind. Ever since I started running and using them as pre-run fuel, it was true love.
Welp, while I’m all about balance, my obsession with bars has gotten a little out of balance. For me, it isn’t eating the BARS that is bad, it’s the processed nature of such bars. So — something I am working on this week is creating my own bars that I can snack on, hopefully finding that I don’t feel like I’m missing anything by not getting the prepacked variety.
I want to start with some of my favorite recipe inspirations for you guys, via my favorite bloggers and pinterest.
Easy No Bake Peanut Butter Granola Bars from Fannetastic Anne 🙂
These take 5 minutes to prep, have PB as a primary ingredient, and are stocked with seeds. My kinda bar 😉
Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Granola Bars Fannetastic Anne 🙂
Oatmeal and dark chocolate? I need this in my life.
Almond Energy Bars via Carrots’n’cake
These just LOOK beautiful and crunchy!
No Bake Peanut Butter Bars
I’m drooling. . .
And these are just a few of my favorites, friends. The options out there are ENDLESS. I started working on some baked goods last night via some free continental breakfast oats — and will be working through out the week trying to perfect my own little recipe 🙂 ❤ The ingredients I’ve been using so far include:
- Peanut butter (duhh)
- Rolled oats
- Brown sugar and maple oats
- Trail mix (raisins, M&Ms)
- Applecause
These are my must have’s basically, but I’m looking to add more seeds and crunchy goodies moving forward! Hopefully by next week I’ll have a recipe to share with you guys 🙂
Question of the Afternoon: Ever make bars yourself?
I love homemade bars! They are for sure my favorite and I love adding some dried fruit for a little bit of sweetness.
Absolutely!
LOVE making my own bars! I really love Julie’s from PB Fingers recipe for no bake granola bars. Super easy and the BF loves ’em.
I need to try those!
I’ve made those bars before! Sooo good!
🙂
Ooooh, I might even be able to cope with making those! 😉
lol let me know if you do!
No but I’m dying to try! Have you tried Kind bars? Those are by far my fav!
I like Kind bars!!! I don’t have them very often but they have a great variety!
Kind bars are my jam, I buy them whenever they’re on sale
I love Anne’s no bake granola bars. YUM. Enjoy your experimenting 🙂
I’m loving it so far 🙂
yummmm. I make bars all the time! I mix & bake old bananas, oats, greek yogurt, chocolate, and anything else I can find (pumpkin, applesauce, squash, etc) and they (almost) always turn out pretty good!
bananas and pumpkin are great ideas!
I love bars! I have made some homemade before and usually find the no-bake variety easier to get tasting right. Anything involving oats and nuts is always a win!
I couldn’t agree more 🙂 And PB
Wow, I love this!! I’m making my own bars as I type (they’re in the oven)!!! Yummy!!!
Love it! 🙂
🙂
These aren’t bars, per se, but really delicious athlete-fuel-type-foods. I’ve made the blueberry/chocolate/coconut rice bars and they’re amazing! Gives you energy without making you feel full. http://www.amazon.com/Feed-Zone-Portables-On-Go/dp/1937715000
I’ve never actually made bars myself, but I do hang out in bars myself. Ba dum dum.
I have made bars before but you’ve inspired me to get back in the kitchen and make some more!
Like you, I’m trying to eat less processed food and cook healthier meals, but sometimes it gets tough to say no to such delicious things like granola bars. I’ll definitely try your recipe, thanks for sharing!! 🙂
Mmm, that top peanut butter one looks divine. I haven’t ever made my own bars, but now I’m going to try!
It’s worth a shot for sure!
I only ever make my own bars and snacks, so much better for you 🙂 have fun
I am jumping on the bandwagon!
Cool!
I made my own once and they weren’t the greatest… I like your recipe
Though and I’m willing to try it out again! I loved the idea of making
My own
It’s totally worth it!
Haven’t made my own bars yet but I’ve been thinking about it recently too.
You should give it a shot!
I love homemade bars – so much more control of whats going in your body- AMAZING!! I’ll have to give these recipes a shot!
Couldn’t agree more.
i do “balls” instead 😉 – http://foodandfoto.com/2012/12/31/meatless-monday-amazeballs-a-new-years-resolution-kinda-snack-you-can-enjoy-7-days-a-week/
A couple of those recipes remind me of the one I always use: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/almond_power_bar.html
The best kind of home made granola bars IMHO are the ones with lots of seeds and oats and some nuts and peanut butter. I am always obsessed with dried cherries so now my granola bars only have dried cherries in them instead of the ones in the recipe.
thanks for the link!
Thank you so much for the link love! 🙂
Of course — you’ve got some GREAT recipes 🙂 Thanks for the comment love 🙂