It has been a LONG time.....
Life has been BUSY....
Full of EXCITING ventures..
CRAFTING...
SINGING...
PERFORMING...
TRAVELLING...
You NAME it!
I've also joined INSTAGRAM....
ME on Instagram
(So IMPRESSED by all the Foodie posts out there)
I've still been EXPERIMENTING and DOCUMENTING.
But... now it's time to PUBLISH IT ALL!!!
So HERE WE GO.....
The FIRST of MANY posts coming your way in 2016.
(Just a SIDEBAR here for a moment.....
You know how people love to eat peanut butter out of the JAR?
That USED to be me....
And there's NOTHING quite like it...
Or so I THOUGHT...
Until....
COCONUT BUTTER came into my life....
BRING IT ON!!
WOW is that stuff INCREDIBLE!!!
I'll be featuring it in some FUTURE posts...)
Ok...SO...
These little DELIGHTS we inspired by one of my favorite recipes of ALL TIME....
Lianne at SPROUTRIGHT has created the BEST granola bars EVER!!!
I have been making them for YEARS and now then then I change things up a bit but THIS TIME I went a little farther and turned them into something a little bit FANCY lookin'...
The end result is ALWAYS the SAME.
I CAN'T STOP EATING THEM!!!
They are truly FABULOUS!
AND.... they are LOADED with stuff that's actually GOOD for you....
AND.... my kids LOVE them!
Lianne..... you are a GENIOUS!
So here's all ya gotta DO...
Melt the COCONUT OIL, ALMOND BUTTER, BROWN RICE SYRUP & DATES in a little saucepan.
Med/Low is good...
In the pan:
As I'm stirring... I MASH the dates with a FORK so they blend into the mix.
Take your FLAKES and crunch them into small pieces in a mixing bowl with you HANDS or a FORK.
OR...if you have a VITAMIX (or other blender) you can CRUNCH them in THERE!
(I use my Vitamix DRY container on the LOW setting #1 for 20 seconds)
In the Blender:
In the Blender:
I usually get my HANDS in there...
In the Bowl:
(This is how my flakes look after I've crunched them)
(Too much glare in the pic...I know...But It`s all I have right now and I want to get the recipe out there)
(Too much glare in the pic...I know...But It`s all I have right now and I want to get the recipe out there)
Then ROLL them into little BALLS.
This is kinda MESSY...
But... WHATEVER...
I'm a FAN of MESSY anyway...
Then DIP them into the TOPPINGS!
They are SCRUMPTIOUS on their OWN...
But TOPPINGS are FUN & FANCY!
And I was in a FANCY MOOD...
I chose COCONUT FLAKES, GROUND CHOCOLATE CHIPS (used my Vitamix dry container for this) and POMEGRANATE POWDER.
The CHOCOLATE was the BIG HIT with the KIDDIES...
COCONUT is always FANTASTIC!
A MELANGE of coconut and chocolate is also quite EXQUISITE...
COCONUT is always FANTASTIC!
A MELANGE of coconut and chocolate is also quite EXQUISITE...
The POMEGRANATE was a really PLEASANT SURPRISE because of its TANGY-NESS
(I don't even think that's a word..... but you get me, right?) I think the "POM BALL" is my FAVE... (That's not really a word either... but ya know what I mean...)
(I don't even think that's a word..... but you get me, right?) I think the "POM BALL" is my FAVE... (That's not really a word either... but ya know what I mean...)
On the Plate:
Granola Ball Truffles
(makes about 22)
1/3 cup coconut oil (I use Maison Orphee)
1/3 cup almond Butter (Nuts to You is my fave
1/4 cup brown rice syrup (I like Lundberg)
6 medjool dates
3 cups Nature's Path Organic Millet Rice Flakes
ground chocolate
coconut flakes