Healthy Homemade Snacks

Today I spent the day baking healthy snacks with my sister.  I purchased all organic ingredients and tried out a few new recipes.  I love Larabars but they can get quite expensive so I tried to make my own, they actually turned out pretty good.  When I was in San Francisco last month a bought roasted kale, it was a yummy and healthy snack packed with nutrients and very easy to make.

Homemade Energy Bars

Homemade energy bars are simple and easy to make with just a couple of natural ingredients. Most pre-packaged snack bars, granola bars and power bars are full of sugar, high fructose corn syrup, soy, dairy, glycerin and other refined ingredients. By making your own bars, you can also adjust the nutrition and flavor. For example, you can choose between raw and roasted nuts. Raw nuts retain their digestive enzymes and wholesome, earthy taste while lightly roasted nuts have an enhanced nutty flavor that some people prefer. You can also adapt the ingredients in these bars to create your own delicious flavors of fruit, nut and spices. Buy organic when possible.

Chocolate Coconut Energy Bars

Ingredients:

1 cup dates, pitted, whole

½ cup raw almonds

¼ cup raw walnuts

2 Tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut

2 Tablespoons raw cacao powder

Directions:

1. Put the dates into a food processor and blend into a coarse, chunky paste.
2. Add the nuts and blend until coarse – you should still see nut pieces.
3. Transfer to a bowl and mix in the shredded coconut and cacao powder.
4. Take a handful of the mix and press it very tightly in your palm, squeeze it together in a ball until it sticks, then begin to form it into a 2 inch roll.
5. Press the roll onto a baking sheet and form into a bar. Lightly dropping it onto the sheet and turning will help to form a flat surface on each side of the bar. Press the ends gently with the palms of your hands.
6. If you choose, roll the bar in coconut to keep them from sticking together when stacked. Or simply cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator until ready to pop into a lunch box, purse or back pack!

Makes 6 bars

• You can use the basic ratio of 1 cup of unsweetened dried fruit (dates, raisins, apricots, cherries, etc.) to ¾ cup of nuts or seeds (almonds, walnuts, pecans, pistachios, cashews, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds) to create your own flavor base.
• When using fresh fruit, like kiwis and bananas, increase the ratio of nuts to dried fruit making it 1 cup to 1 cup. These bars are stickier, so put them in a “warm” oven for 1 hour to dry them.

Roasted Kale Chips

Kale is one of the healthiest foods around. It's full of vitamins A, C and K, and it is a great source of manganese, calcium and iron. It also has no cholesterol and offers a nice serving of fiber and protein.
The problem is kale is much tougher than other leafy greens, like swiss chard, collard greens and spinach. Hence, it isn't as versatile for cooking. It doesn't work as well in salads or sauces, for example, as spinach or swiss chard.
That's probably also why most recipes for kale are for soups or stir fries. This recipe breaks that mold. The kale comes out of the oven crispy and salty, giving it an almost fried-like texture. The result is a great way to get kids (and grown-ups alike) to eat this uber-nutritious vegetable.

• 4 cups firmly-packed kale
• 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp. good-quality sea salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Wash and trim the kale: Peel off the tough stems by folding the kale leaves in half like a book and stripping the stems off. Toss with extra virgin olive oil. Roast for five minutes. Turn kale over. Roast another 7 to 10 minutes until kale turns brown and becomes paper thin and brittle. Remove from oven and sprinkle with sea salt. Serve immediately.