Friday Amy Update: All Natural Grain Bars Recipe

School is in full swing now and I love having a few hours each morning to work and get my home organized. Part of my job description is head chef! And on January 1st of this year the grocery list had a complete overhaul. My husband decided to go on a strict 30-day Whole 30 diet. I did it with him to encourage him and make cooking less complicated. The diet basically consists of eating only meat, seafood, vegetables, fruit, nuts and good fat like olive and coconut oil. So we didn't eat any sugar, dairy, grains, alcohol, beans, soy or any preservative type stuff. Finding new recipes and allowing more time to cook was a big challenge for me! The first 2 weeks were hard but then we began to feel the difference, especially my husband, so we kept going! My husband has felt so much better that I think he’ll be eating like this for the rest of his life.

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Before we started, we didn't eat tons of junk food, but we did eat it on occasion and sugar and bread were always nearby. When we started, our kids would eat dinners with us so I didn't have to make two different meals. Over time, they ate through all our not-so-healthy pantry food so their transition was a bit more gradual. I don’t buy much of that stuff anymore so they eat a lot healthier food along with us now too and have adapted to it quite well! Each of us eat a little differently because we've found our bodies tolerate and digest food in unique ways. My husband and Emily basically stick to the Whole 30 diet. Grace and Corban eat sprouted and organic grains, healthy sugar and local dairy. And I eat a bit of all of that! Overall, we are so glad we made the switch. The biggest change I've seen is that my energy levels are consistently good without needing that sugar rush at 3pm. I don’t want to sound legalistic or snooty about it and I’ll definitely eat a doughnut on occasion, but the more I read about eating “clean” (as they say), it just seems to make sense for our bodies in the short and long term. So it’s become our new normal. This week I made some grain bars… a recipe I got from my fellow artist, Ali North! Now it’s not Whole 30 compliant but it’s filled with some all-natural stuff, so I like it! :) Check it out below!

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2 cups oats 1 cup sunflower seeds 1 cup chocolate chips (non-diary, non-soy) 1/2 cup honey 1/2 cup coconut oil (melted) 1 cup sun butter or peanut butter 1 tsp sea salt Just mix it all together and press it into a pan. Put it in the freezer for 30 minutes or so so it will settle together. Then cut up into bars, place each bar in a plastic baggie, and freeze them all so they are ready to put out and eat whenever you want! Feel free to modify the ingredients to whatever you like! Some other suggestions are: coconut flakes, dried fruit, chia seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds

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