In Her Chucks

I love a good, healthy, and hearty snack.  It curbs my hunger between meals and helps perk me up during a midday slump.  Unfortunately, many of the “healthy” snacks you find at the grocery store aren’t really healthy at all.  Instead, they are full of unnecessary ingredients such as corn syrup, preservatives, and artificial flavors.  You might as well make a beeline for the donuts (a personal weakness).  Or, to ensure that you are giving your body the fuel it needs to get through the day, make your favorite snacks at home.  And these Cranberry Almond Granola Bars are a great place to start.

Ingredients

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds

1 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup ground flax-seed

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1-ounce unsalted butter, plus extra for pan

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

6 1/2 ounces chopped dried cranberries

Preparation

Butter a 9 by 9-inch glass baking dish and set aside.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread the oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, and ground flax seeds into a half-sheet pan.  Place in the oven and toast for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, combine honey, brown sugar, butter, extract and salt in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat.  Cook until the brown sugar as completely dissolved.

Once the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 300 degrees F.  Immediately add the oat mixture to the liquid mixture, add the dried fruit, and stir to combine.  Turn the mixture out into the prepared baking dish and press down, evenly distributing the mixture in the dish and place in the oven to bake for 25 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.  Cut into squares and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Recipe slightly adapted from FoodNetwork.com via Cupcakes and Cashmere

Not only are these bars super delicious, they are super simple to make!  In fact, I might even go as far as saying they will have you swearing off packaged foods forever (Unless of course you are starving and stranded at a gas station in the middle of nowhere without your homemade stash.  Then you might make an exception).  And like my homemade granola, the possibilities are endless.  So you will never get bored with all the combinations you can think up.

Hungry for more healthy snacking ideas?  Conscious Box is full of them!  In fact, they were the ones who introduced me to Amazing Grass which sparked my Fresh Start Challenge.  They are always inspiring me to live a healthier, happier, more sustainable life.

There are lots of exciting things happening over at ConsciousBox.com.  For starters, they have a brand new website.  One of my favorite features is that you can earn points for rating the samples in your box which can then be used towards some great discounts on your favorite products.

And in celebration of their new site launch, Conscious Box is giving away a 3 month subscription (a $59 value) to one lucky reader.  

Here’s how to enter…

1.  Head on over to ConsciousBox.com and create a profile (this is totally free) and leave a comment here telling me you have done so.

2.  ”Like”  ConsciousBox and In Her Chucks on Facebook and post a comment on their wall telling them what you thought about their new site (ps: don’t forget to tell them “In Her Chucks” sent you!).

3.  ”Share” Conscious Box’s new page with your FB friends and leave a comment telling me you have done so.

4.  Subscribe to this blog and leave a comment telling me you have done so.  If you already subscribe to my blog, then leave me a comment telling me that you are already subscribed (and thanks for the support!).

5.  Pin this giveaway and comment here with a link to your post.

The more entries you have, the better your chances are to win.  The giveaway will close at 12:01 am on March 11th.  A winner will be randomly selected and announced on March 12th.  Make sure to include your email address with your comment so that I can contact you if you win.

Good luck!