Homemade Blueberry Larabars

I fell in love with Clif Bars, Larabars, and Power Bars last summer.  We were out of any kind of bars the other day and since we weren't going to the store, I rolled up my sleeves and plugged in the food processor and five minutes later, I got this.

 
Not the prettiest thing in the world, but don't judge a book by it's cover!   Hidden behind its seemingly unattractive appearance is a dense, sweet, blueberry packed homemade Larabar that is waaayyy cheaper than the ones at the store.

My goal was a homemade Clif Bar. Particularly the blueberry crisp ones. Mmmm, I love those. But as you can tell, I ended up with Larabars. (Can I just say, the ingredients list uses the smallest font and adds in all these little things that make it impossible to decipher? However I persevered and squinted my way through the back of the Clif bar wrapper.) Since it has been several weeks since I had a blueberry crisp Clif bar, I don't remember what it tasted like, but this Larabar is uh-mazing. Perfect for snacking. Oh, and even though I don't do gluten free or sugar free or something-free, these have no added sugar, for those who like that stuff. Nada, zilch, noodle.  And even though Larabars are for athletic moments, baking is hard . . . Have you ever had to climb the countertops before?Deserves a Larabar every now and then;) 

 

It's sweet and a little tart from the blueberries and has that thick chewy texture I love in date/nut bars.

You all shouldn't be surprised that I turned to my hard working food processor again! It grinds your dry ingredients and then blends in your wet ingredients. A plus to this already super duper recipe? Oh yeah, there are only four ingredients.

 

Blueberry Larabars
Yield: 4 generous sized bars

1/4 cup old fashioned oats
3 oz. almonds
6 oz. pitted dates (I like SunMaid)
1/2 cup blueberries

Cover dates with water and soak for 30 minutes. Grind oats and almonds until fine. Drain dates. Add dates and blueberries and process until it pulls into a ball. Remove and spread onto saran wrap. Cut into bars and serve or freeze until later.

Seriously, this is a dangerous recipe.  Done in less than five minutes and they are so addictive.  It is a good thing it doesn't make very many!  Store in refrigerator or freezer.

Recipe Source: The Sweet {Tooth} Life

My Crispy Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars are also quick, healthy snack bars!

 

And the Secret "Fudge Brownie" Bars also use dates!

It is important to feed our bodies nutritional things.  Blueberries, oats, almonds, and dates are nutritional, healthy things.  But at the same time, if you ate this entire recipe of healthy ingredients, it would be just as unhealthy compared to eating a brownie.  Anything out of moderation is unhealthy and I think a mindset can become skewed without that principle.  Branding a food as "bad" will only lead to guilt.  Balance and moderation are the keys.   Yes, I eat homemade Larabars and such, but I also love butter filled cookies and carb loaded rolls.  Is that bad?  Is it "unhealthy?"  It would be if I ate five rolls and nothing else . . . but I don't.  You don't have to only eat fruits and vegetables and low calorie foods to be healthy.  I think God gave is food because He wants us to enjoy it and be creative in ways of preparing it.  But He does want us to be good stewards of our bodies and make wise choices in what we choose to feed our bodies.

So once you've made it through my thoughts on that (right, wrong or otherwise) I guess the bottom line I was trying to say was healthy isn't a one fits all thing.  And healthy shouldn't be depriving oneself of something.  Healthy is taking care of the body God has given you so you can be physically equipped for what He wants you to do.  That is my opinion - It is such a broad and confusing subject to be honest - and I want to hear your opinions!