GF Adventures: Homemade Chewy Bars

The weekend is prep time for me: prepping for lunches, snacks and dinners throughout the week. By the time I get off work, head to Crossfit and bust my butt (almost literally), drive home and shower it's nearly 8 p.m. and who wants to be on the struggle bus trying to eat a healthy, gluten free meal? This means no calling to pick up a pizza on the way home, no cereal and toast night, or throwing pasta on the stove for a quick pasta meal. Gluten-free, organic living calls for a little planning ahead. One of the things I miss is having quick grab-on-the-go snacks like granola bars so when I saw one of my favorite people ever, Ree aka The Pioneer Woman, posted a yummy looking granola bar recipe I decided to tackle it today and convert it to GF! 

[Chocolate Chip] Granola Bars

• 6 cups Rolled GF Oats (not Quick Oats)
• 4 Tablespoons Butter, Melted, Plus More For Greasing
• 1/4 cup Vegetable Or Canola Oil
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• 1/2 cup Honey
• 1/4 cup Apple Juice
• 1/4 cup Molasses
• 3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 1-1/2 cup GF Rice Krispies
• 1/4 cup Roughly Chopped Almonds
• Semi Sweet Chocolate Or Dark Chocolate (optional)

Preparation Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a bowl, toss the oats with the canola oil, melted butter and salt. Spread the mixture out on 2 baking sheets and toast in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, shaking the pan twice and making sure they don't burn. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Reduce the heat to 325 degrees F.

In a medium saucepan, combine the brown sugar, honey, apple juice and molasses. Heat the mixture slowly, stirring until all combined. Stir in the vanilla

Toss together the toasted GF oats, GF rice cereal, pecans and almonds. Pour in the sugar mixture, stirring as you pour. Toss to combine; it will be sticky!

Press into 1 baking sheet (thoroughly greased with butter, or line pan with foil and grease foil) and bake until golden, about 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Cut pieces with a sharp knife and remove from the pan.

They turned out nice and crunchy and the chocolate melted nicely. Now it's time to let them cool, wrap them up and store for the week!

Organic Lifestyle: Homemade Croutons

Having a clean and organic lifestyle is not just about eating carrot sticks and celery; you can enjoy many of the things you usually enjoy, just in a cleaner and healthier way. It's more time, but making things yourself is rewarding and you know exactly what is in your food! It may seem overwhelming to start thinking about everything being homemade, but start small. Look at things you use a lot, simple things like croutons and salad dressings; start there and work your way to bigger things like bread and cereals.

Today I had leftover cibatta bread that was getting a bit too crunchy, so I decided to make some fresh homemade croutons. They're so simple!

I simply cut up the cibatta bread into chunks and loaded them up in a big bowl.

Next, I drizzled about 3 Tablespoons of oil oil the bread chunks and seasoned them with coarse salt and granulated garlic and tossed them up until all were slightly coated.

Finally, I placed them in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes. Then I lifted the rack to the top tier, put in the broiler on high and let them sit for about 3 minutes until the tops were golden brown and yummy!

Store in an air-tight container and enjoy on salads for the next week or so :)