Hello dear friends. I hope your week was just as wonderful as mine was. I did a lot of things, met with some friends and prepared a lot of food. A lot of friends and people I meet always ask me "how do you find the time and energy to make so many things"? I am known among my friends as the one who always bakes, cooks or makes something in the kitchen. This week I made some chickpea curry (as usual), hummus and tried a new recipe for red lentil fallafel (recipe for this baby soon). And I always say that I enjoy the sense of accomplishment I feel after I made all those things. I believe in making your own food from scratch and try to avoid as much processed foods as possible.
This kind of change towards homemade and as much as possible natural food, happened I think about 5 years ago, when I really started paying attention to what I eat and not how much I eat. I don't know about anyone else, but I am concerned about what goes into my body. Of course I won't go crazy, because really you can't control everything,
although you might think you can. You buy something that says organic or natural, and quite soon you read an article or find out that it's not so organic and natural after all. The only way to achieve that is if you immigrate to a virgin area, where no human presence has ever been...which is impossible.
What I can suggest you do, if you want to take care of your nutrition, is to make most of your food yourself and when you buy something, look at the ingredients. Like for example there are so many granola bars out there. Some are pure sugar, in which case you better eat a candy bar instead, and other contain very few ingredients that makes them almost homemade. So, if you love the taste of homemade granola bar and have some time in your hands, I have the perfect recipe for you...
These bars I made on Thursday are pure magic. Very simple to make and they don't require baking them, so actually they are not so heavy on your stomach. For me sometimes raw food is better for my stomach issues. They only thing you need is some good quality tahini or sesame butter, coconut flakes and some other few ingredients. I found that tahini pairs well with coconut, however, some of you might find the taste a bit too strong. You can substitute it for almond butter, which gives the bars a lighter taste.
Tahini and Coconut granola bars
ingredients (for 10 to 12 bars)
1 cup tahini or almond butter
1 cup coconut flakes
1 3/4 cup rolled oat flakes
1 cup roasted and roughly chopped almonds
1/2 cup raw honey or good quality honey
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
how do I make it?
1. First, in a large bowl put the oats, roasted almonds, cinnamon, coconut flakes and salt and stir a bit.
2. In a small sauce pan, pour in the honey and tahini on medium heat. Stir continuously until the honey melts and is incorporated with the tahini. Be careful to mix it all the time as you don't want the mixture to burn.
3. Pour into the large bowl and with a big spatula or spoon, mix very well all the ingredients until you get a soft mixture that resembles a dough.
4. Prepare a medium pan with some paper sheet (leaving some paper on the sides) and pour in the granola mixture. Using your hands, press the mixture until it covers all the pan and has a somewhat smooth surface.
5. Cover the pan with a transparent sheet or a clean towel and refrigerate for two hours or better overnight.
6. Using the sides of the baking paper, pull the mixture out and using a sharp knife, cut into desired shapes of bars.
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