Homemade Lemon Larabars

Stephanie Spring Food, Snacks

There I am in the organic aisle and it’s as if they are calling my name. Larabars: 10 for $10?! How could I not pick them up? (Sometimes I’m even tempted to get twenty. Shh!) They’re the perfect guilt-free grab and go snack to have on hand and so tasty!

A few weeks ago one of my friends mentioned how she made homemade larabars. In that moment, it was as if the stars aligned! Why had I not thought about this before?! Fast forward to last Thursday’s To-Do list that had one thing written on it. One thing. There were no excuses or putting off testing and trying out my very favorite flavor of larabars in our very own kitchen. I expected the trial and error of making these at home to take a few attempts but to my giddy surprise, it didn’t! I guess when something has so few ingredients, you can’t really mess it up! They’re simply delicious, healthy, and easy.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup unsalted cashews
• 1/2 cup unsalted almonds
• 1.5 cups packed pitted dates (I cut the dates in half so they could be packed better)
• 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (about the juice from one lemon)
• 1/4 tsp salt

What to do: 

Pour the almonds and cashews into the food processor and pulse a few times until they are semi-chopped. Add all the remaining ingredients into the food processor. Pulse a few times and then on low or until it starts forming together into a sticky mixture. Line an 8 x 8 pan (or really any pan) with wax paper. I used a spatula to flatten the mixture into an even consistency in the pan. Smooth out the top and edges. Place in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Cut to desired width. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator or counter.

Tomato Puff

Stephanie Spring Food, Snacks

With the recent 90 degree weather, I have been craving all things refreshing. Tomato Puff’s have become a recent obsession that I just can’t seem to get enough of. They’re simple, flavorful, and healthy. It’s a win all around! This is a great for breakfast, lunch, or a quick snack at any time of the day! 🙂

Ingredients:

• Coco Multigrain Pop Cakes
• One spoonful of Vegenaise
• One Tomato (Sliced)
• Salt and Pepper to taste

What to do:

Spread a thin layer of vegenaise onto the pop cake. Place the tomatoes onto the pop cake and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Enjoy! xoxo

Sun-dried Tomatoes

Stephanie Spring Food, Snacks

Last year we bought a tomato plant to test out our gardening skills on a very low scale. 😉 We were SO excited to have fresh tomatoes at our fingertips. There’s something to be said about growing your own food. Seeing the progress, feeling the accomplishment, and tasting the goodness of real and wholesome food. The plant started off slow and only produced a handful of tomatoes a week. Right as we were getting discouraged, the plant went crazy on us and provided more little red beauties than we knew what to do with! As always, it was a blessing in disguise. After using tomatoes in every recipe possible, we decided to try drying them to preserve them. The result? Amazingness! They are great as a soup topping, salad topping, on a charcuterie board, or even by themselves. 😉

Ingredients:

• Cherry Tomatoes
• Salt
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil (For packing, optional)

What to do:

Preheat oven to 175 degrees F. (Your oven is going to act as a dehydrator). Cut all the tomatoes in half. Scoop out all the seeds. Place on a baking sheet with the cut side facing upward. Sprinkle with salt to taste. Place in the oven until shriveled. This will take about 8 to 10 hours.

You can fill a mason jar with the tomatoes and fill the remaining space with extra virgin olive oil for packing purposes. Keep in refrigerator. They will last about 2 to 3 weeks.