Day Three.....Granola Bars

Ok, so is it not true that vegetarians are often seen as granola bar toting hippies?? Well, I for one fit that description and I am proud of it! However, most of the granola bars in the stores are anything but healthy. Some are made with corn syrup (which is one of the evil ingredients that I avoid like the plague) and some even have hydrogenated oils....another evil ingredient that I believe came from Satan himself. Not really, but it is nasty stuff. Hydrogenated oils are oils that have been chemically altered so that they have a longer shelf life. Funny, they will have a longer shelf life while making your life shorter! Seriously, they will kill you. And, this might shock you, they are everywhere. They can be found in foods like crackers, cookies, cereals, chips, cool whip, creamers, pre-made pie crusts, hot chocolate mixes. Oh yes, friends....an ingredient that is known to harm the human body is in our food! If you are surprised, you shouldn't be. In truth, the FDA does not care one iota about you or your health. Neither does the food industry. It is all about the almighty dollar and nothing else. Do you know why high fructose corn syrup is used SO much?? Because it is something like 100 times sweeter than sugar and therefore, cheaper for the manufacturer to use. Nevermind that obesity in America is at epic proportions....let's keep adding chemically altered substances to our food. The rule of thumb that I adhere to very strongly is that if it comes in a box, be very wary of it. It is most likely not healthy (unless you are at a health food store or in the healthy food section of your grocery store) and most likely contains some ingredients that you can't even pronounce. That's another good rule...if you can't pronounce the ingredient, it is a pretty safe bet that it is bad for you. So, after all that gloom and doom you might be wondering where the good news is! Well, here it is. I make my own granola bars, and it is SO easy. My son told me the other day that if he were stranded on a desert island and he could only have one food, he would want it to be the granola bars I make. Now how's that for a stamp of approval?? So, here is the recipe. Enjoy!!

Good Karma Granola Bars

1/2 C honey
1/3 C peanut butter
1/4 C grapeseed oil
3 C granola

Place honey, peanut butter and oil in a small pot and bring to a gentle boil. Do not boil over a high temp or you will burn it. Place granola in a large bowl. Pour the ingredients from the pot into the large bowl and mix well until granola is well coated. Press into 8" square pan. Make sure you press really well to flatten the mixture out. Refrigerate for a few hours. Cut into bars. These can be pre-wrapped for convenience as well.


Now for my personal notes on the recipe....I use organic everything, from honey to the granola. The grapeseed oil is very nice and it has lots of good things in it. It has good for you fats....the polyunsaturated kind, as well as Omega 6 and Vitamin E. The granola I use is Cascadian Farms organic dark chocolate. You can add chocolate chips, dried fruit, nuts....the possibilities are endless. These are WAY better than the crappy bars you buy in the store. They only take about 10 minutes to put together and it is a fun way to get your kids involved in healthy cooking and eating. I wonder how many of you have ever watched the show "You Are What You Eat"?? It is a British show, and therefore brilliant....but the focus, of course, is on healthy eating. I have only seen a few episodes, but it is very intense. It really makes you think about what you eat, and how much you eat. Funny thing that I remember from one show was that the teen age boys who were involved in the show had their 'spots' disappear after changing their diet....yet there are TONS and scads of zit zapping products out there. Typical....treat the symptom instead of trying to find the cause. Oh, I feel another blog subject brewing for tomorrow!! Stay tuned and thanks for reading!!