Recipe: Make your own "fruit and nut" bar

In my quest to eat more naturally, I have discovered a love for Larabars.  I am a particular fan of the Cashew Cookie.  The ingredients are listed simply as cashews and dates.  Well, gee...that sounded like a challenge to me!

So, I got out my handy, dandy chopper and threw in some cashews. I chopped them up until there was a nice mix of tiny chunks along with finer pieces (I like something I can sink my teeth into).  You can see in the background that I was focusing on St. Patty's day this week, reading stories to the kids and making rainbow dream catchers using wax paper and painting the arches of the rainbow using our fingers.  It was really a lot of fun!

Then, I needed dates. This time of year they are not easy to find fresh, so I had to settle for bagged dates. The "natural foods" section listed them for MUCH higher than this particular famous fruit brand.  Yes, I know, I am also paying for fair trade practices when I buy from the natural foods selection.  I am doing my best to keep those things in mind in my purchasing, but sometimes my pocketbook needs more attention I'm afraid.

After some trial and error with the dates, I discovered that if you flatten the dates with a fork before you try to chop them, it works better. Also, even after I chopped for several minutes, I still had to smooth the dates with my fork some more.  It was a bit laborious (and maybe I'll find a better way some time), but it was worth the effort.

After I got the dates good and smooshed/chopped, I added them to the cashews and smooshed it all together with my hands for a few minutes, incorporating the nuts into the dates as best as I could.  Since the dates are very sticky, I was then able to form the mixture into balls very easily (and I then rolled the balls in more nuts after, since I just love nuts!).

The taste was pretty amazing, and I did not notice a huge difference between mine and what you can get at the store.  I cannot be certain, but by my rudimentary calculations I saved about 60 cents per "bar" by doing it myself.  I would wager that I'll save even more when dates are in season and hopefully can be purchased for less.  I'll definately be keeping my eyes open for sales on both nuts and cashews from now on!

My husband requested that I try apricots next time, so tune in!

This recipe is not endorsed by the makers of Larabar.