Apricot Date Energy Bars

Since Rich and I are so active I am always looking for ways to make high calorie foods. You can buy these foods at the stores but they often have all sorts of stuff in them, and cost well over what you should pay for them. My favorite "fruit and nut bar" is 4$ a package.

This week, I made our own. The best part about these is that you can make them from what we usually have in the pantry. The only thing I had to buy was pumpkin seeds and white chocolate chips. These were perfect for afternoon snacks and Rich took many of them on his longer bike rides. You can cut them to various sizes for different occasions (small bite sizes for bike rides, or bar sizes for work snacks). I just wrapped them in plastic wrap and they have stayed fresh all week.

I used 1 cup of dried dates (I may have used a little more) and 1 cup of dried apricots. I put these in a food processor and added about 3 T of chia seeds. I pulsed it until it formed a clump. I took the clump out and broke it up with a rubber spatula. Then I added 1/2 t of cinnamon and 1 cup of pepitas. I then pulsed it again until it made another big clump. Again, I took it out of the food processor and broke up the clump--then added it back. Finally I added about 2 T of mini white chocolate chips. I wasn't going to do this, but I was happy that I did. I pulsed the food processor until they were mixed together. Then I took it all out, pressed it into a glass dish and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes. Then I took it out and sliced it up in different sizes and plastic wrapped each.

White Beans and Toast

This morning I walked out into the sub freezing temperatures to a reminder that I still had some vegetables in the garden. One blessing of living in central Virginia is that, if careful, you may extend your growing late into the season. I decided on a recipe for dinner earlier in the day and wandered out in my house slippers to grab a carrot or two. It wasn't until after I had pulled up 12 carrots and 5 beets, that I realized I had planted many more than I originally thought.

For dinner tonight, I made a white bean salad that I have paired with some multi-grain french bread. I got this recipe a while ago out of The Feed Zone cookbook. I sliced the bread and drizzled it with olive oil and then put it in the oven at about 400 degrees until it got a little crispy. I still like it soft in the middle but with a little crisp on the outside.

For the white bean salad, I mixed about 2 cups of white beans, 2 carrots from the garden, an onion, some parsley, some lemon, olive oil, garlic and pepper. I minced most of it and mixed it all together and let it set for a few hours to incorporate flavors.  I topped mine with a little Parmesan cheese. To eat you simply put it on the toast or eat it separately.

Happy New Year!