Amybars

Each year as the weather drops below freezing I feel a stronger urge to hole up and wait it out. So like the proverbial ant, I gather. After I fill our pantry and freezer, I start filling the garage, as the outdoors becomes a veritable refrigerator and our storage capacity increases exponentially. If I don't need groceries, I won't have to go outside until April, right?

And I cook...soup, bread, casseroles {remind me to give you our new fave - chicken enchillada casserole}...you know, warm stuff.  And my latest experiment....

Have you tried a Larabar? Lovely stuff...healthy fruit and nut bars, with the main ingredient of dates. {You may remember last winter's fling with dates.}

Back to the bars...I like the density and sweetness of them. And their ability to emerge relatively unscathed from the depths of my knitting bag is a plus. Which makes them the ultimate sneak-into-a-movie snack...if you are one...who...does...that.

Of course, the delusion that I am eating something healthy to offset the handsful of Halloween-moving-right-thru-Thanksgiving-to-Christmas candy I drop down my gullet or my new habit of eating crackers and cheese at 9:30pm {yeah, how did that begin?} helps.

But I don't like paying close to $2 for each bar. Alternative?

I googled for a minute {that's sounds bad, doesn't it?} and found a couple of homemade versions. Choosing this one, I found it fast and easy. I made one batch with toasted pecans and dried cherries. The next was with unsweetened coconut and dried cranberries. 

Yum. I called the kids over and popped a sticky wad in each of their mouths. Thumbs up from them. Mom-tested, kid approved. Now we have a stash in the refrigerator apple bin, so that when grabbing for snacks, the kiddos may see them and remember they likey. And now you know and can help yourself when you're here.