Homemade Snack Bars

They are the perfect in-between food. In the mid-afternoon when you need a little something to hold you over until dinner, or when lunch is still a ways off and you’re dying of hunger, or maybe you need a little energy during or after a workout. That’s where snack bars come in handy.


And there are so many to choose from, aren’t there? Heavens, it’s kind of overwhelming. But if you’re the label reader I am, you hesitate to buy most of them because nearly every one of them has something in there that you really shouldn’t be eating. Here are some of them:

Soy Protein Isolate

This is, unfortunately, one of the most prevalent protein sources you’ll find in protein bars, especially those marketed to women. The marketing would have you believe that soy is an excellent protein source for women because of the isoflavones found in it. In reality, studies have indicated that these soy isoflavones can actually be toxic because of how the soy is processed (fermented soy products such as tofu and miso are fine, just fyi).

In addition, it was actually considered a waste product in soy processing until recently, when it was discovered that money could be made by passing it off as a protein source. It’s cheap and definitely NOT a high-quality protein. It should be avoided.

High Fructose Corn Syrup

This is an easy one.....the adverse health effects of HFCS are well-documented (contrary to what the commercials from the Corn Growers Association claim). It’s one of the WORST things you can eat and yet there are still bars that use it as a primary ingredient.

Palm Kernel Oil

Palm Kernel oil is a cheap, unhealthy fat. Unlike plain palm oil, palm kernel oil can’t be obtained organically. Instead, the oil must be extracted from the pit with a gasoline-like hydrocarbon solvent. The fractioned form is the most processed...if you see this in the ingredients, definitely avoid it.

Sugar Alcohols

This includes ingredients like maltitol syrup, xylitol, sorbitol, mannitol and erythritol.  Sugar alcohols are included in bars for sweetness, especially in those that are “carb controlled”. Sugar alcohols don’t impact blood sugar as much as regular sugar because they are not well absorbed in the digestive tract...and when things aren’t well absorbed in the digestive tract, you get gas, abdominal cramping and bloating. In small amounts, they aren’t a big problem, but if you start getting into the double digits of grams of sugar alcohol (and many low-carb bars are in the 20 gram range) then you can start to see unpleasant digestive issues.

Artificial Sweeteners

These include saccharin, sucralose (Splenda), and aspartame (Equal). We pretty much know by now that these are unhealthy and should be avoided.

So, what’s out there that we can safely eat?

Well, there are more and more good ones coming out, thankfully. A relatively new one on the market is from Rx and is marketed as a Paleo bar, and they are “ok” but I don’t love them. My favorite bars for many years now have been those from Larabar. They used to be marketed as being raw, but their website once explained that since the term “raw” means so many different things to different people, they decided to remove the term from their packaging. But in my opinion, they are raw, and thankfully gluten-free and best of all, made with a minimal and simple ingredient list.

But buying a bunch of them can get pricey and if you have a household to feed, it’s cheaper to make them yourself. One of my favorites is their Coconut Cream Larabars.

Coconut Cream Larabars

1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup cashews
3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
12-15 Medjool dates, pitted
2 T coconut oil
2 T coconut milk

Mix the nuts together in a food processor until finely ground. Then add the coconut and pulse once or twice. Add the dates, oil and milk and pulse just until a dough forms.

Ground nuts with the coconut

Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper, leaving enough room for some to come up and over the sides. That way the bars will be easy to remove and cut with a long knife or better yet, a pizza cutter. Press down the dough so that it is packed well and place in the fridge to set for an hour or 2. Slice and eat. Alternately, you could form the dough into balls and roll them in more shredded coconut. This way they can be stored together without sticking together. They should be kept in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. They do taste best at room temperature, though, so get them out a little before you want to eat them.

Press into a pan

Apparently their Key Lime Larabars are really popular, although I have only tried the Lemon. I’m going to make these next:

Key Lime Larabars

1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup cashews
3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
12 Medjool dates, pitted
Juice of 1 lime
1-2 T of water if needed

Process the nuts and coconut until finely ground. Then add the dates and lime juice until a dough forms. Follow the rest of the instructions above.

Pecan Pie Larabars

1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup pecans
12 Medjool dates

Same process as above.

For alternative flavors, try experimenting: adding mini chocolate chips, dried cranberries, cherries or other dried fruit, seeds, spices, whatever floats your boat. Add these to the “dough” of crushed nuts and coconut after processing, but before pressing into the pan.

They are super delicious, 100% natural, raw, gluten-free, vegan, and sugar-free. You can eat these with a good conscience!

Homemade Snack Bars

They are the perfect "in-between" food. In the mid-afternoon when you need a little something to hold you over until dinner, or when lunch is still a ways off and you're dying of hunger, or maybe you need a little energy during or after a workout. That's where snack bars come in.

And there are so many to choose from, aren't there? Heavens, it's overwhelming. But if you're the label-reader that I am, you hesitate to buy most of them because nearly every one of them has something in it that you really shouldn't be eating. Here are some of them:

Soy Protein Isolate

This is, unfortunately, one of the most prevalent protein sources you’ll find in protein bars, especially those marketed to women. The marketing would have you believe that soy is an excellent protein source for women because of the isoflavones found in it. In reality, studies have indicated that these soy isoflavones can actually be toxic because of how the soy is processed (fermented soy products such as tofu are fine, just fyi).

In addition, it was actually considered a waste product in soy processing until recently, when it was discovered that money could be made by passing it off as a protein source. It’s cheap and definitely NOT a high-quality protein. It should be avoided.

High Fructose Corn Syrup

This is an easy one to figure out…the adverse health effects of HFCS are well documented (contrary to what the commercials from the Corn Growers Association claim).It’s one of the WORST things you can eat and yet there are still bars that use it as a primary ingredient.

Palm Kernel Oil

Palm kernel oil is a cheap, unhealthy fat. Unlike plain palm oil, palm kernel oil can’t be obtained organically. Instead, the oil must be extracted from the pit with a gasoline-like hydrocarbon solvent. The fractioned form is the most processed…if you see that in the ingredients, you should definitely avoid it.

Sugar Alcohols

This includes ingredients like Maltitol Syrup, Xylitol, Sorbitol, Lactitol, Mannitol, and Erythritol. Sugar alcohols are included in bars for sweetness…especially in bars that are “carb controlled”. Sugar alcohols don’t impact blood sugar as much as regular sugar because they’re not well absorbed in the digestive tract…and when things aren’t well absorbed in the digestive tract you get gas, abdominal cramping, and bloating.

In small amounts, sugar alcohols aren’t a big problem, but if you start getting into the double digits of grams of sugar alcohol (and many low-carb bars are in the 20 gram range), THEN you can start to see unpleasant digestive issues.

Artificial Sweeteners

These include saccharin, sucralose, and aspartame. I won’t get into the whole debate about whether artificial sweeteners are bad for you or not and what they turn into in your body, etc. You can do your research and decide for yourself the risks of ingesting artificial sweeteners. Personally, I try and stay away from artificial sweeteners as much as I possibly can.

My favorite bars are from Larabar. They used to be marketed as being raw, but their website explains that since the term "raw" can mean so many different things to different people, they've decided to remove the term from their packaging. But in my opinion, they are raw and thankfully gluten-free and best of all,  made with a minimal and simple ingredient list.

But buying a box of them can get  pricey. When my massage therapist, Carrie, told me she had been making her own and that her kids loved them, I asked her to shoot me over the recipe. She directed me to a blog that had a few different recipes available. Apparently, this blogger is quite addicted to them!

So I decided to try to make them myself. I had almost everything I needed for the Coconut Cream Larabars except for the cashews, so I went out and got some. (NOTE: all nuts listed should be raw). Making these took me less than 10 minutes.

Coconut Cream Larabars

1/2 cup almonds

1/2 cup cashews

3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

12-15 Medjool dates

2 T coconut oil

2 T coconut milk

Ground nuts with the coconut

Mix the nuts together in a food processor until finely ground. Then add the coconut and pulse once or twice. Then the dates (pitted), oil and milk and pulse until a dough forms. 

Press into a pan

Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper leaving enough room for some to come up and over the sides. That way, the bars will be easy to remove and cut with a  long knife or better yet, a pizza cutter. Press down the dough so that it is packed well and place in the fridge to set for an hour or two. Slice and eat. Alternately, you could form the dough into balls and roll them in more shredded coconut. This way they can be stored together without sticking together. 

Slice and eat. They should keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks. They do taste best at room temperature, though, so get them out a little before you want to eat them.

Apparently, Key Lime Larabars are really popular, though I've never tried them. They do sound yummy.

Key Lime Larabars

1/2 cup almonds

1/2 cup cashews

3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

12 Medjool dates, pitted

juice of 1 lime

1-2 T of water if needed

Process nuts and coconut until finely ground. Then add the dates and lime juice until a dough forms. Follow the rest of the instructions above.

Pecan Pie Larabars

1/2 cup almonds

1/2 cup pecans

12 Medjool dates

Same process as above.

For alternative flavors, try experimenting, adding mini chocolate chips, dried cranberries or other dried fruit, seeds, dried chopped apricots, to the dough after you've removed it from the food processor but before pressing into the pan. The sky's really the limit when it comes to personalizing these babies.

They are super delicious, 100% natural, raw, gluten-free, and sugar-free. You can eat these  with a good conscience.

Bon Appetit.

Tools of the Trade: the Ice Cream Maker

It seems it’s been hot just about everywhere lately (at least in the northern hemisphere, that is). Where I live, we had a freak rainstorm last night after several days of the kind of typical dry 90 degree heat that southern California is used to, which turned our desert, dry heat into a muggy, humid mess. I don’t know how anyone can live in Florida. This sucks. Where are the hot, dry Santa Ana winds when you need them?

Anyway, there is only so much cold water and iced tea I can drink to cool down. My mind started racing for what else I could do. Then I remembered the ice cream maker. The other night I reached into the back of my cupboard and got it out, cleaned it and stuck it in the freezer, ready for inspiration. Actually I already had the inspiration – I was going to make coconut sorbet. 

I use the ice cream maker to mostly make frozen yogurt and sorbet. For last night’s coconut sorbet I had no recipe. I was in a hurry to get it going because I wanted it ready for after dinner, so I literally threw it together. I mean literally. I measured nothing. Felt like a witch making a brew – a pinch of this, a dash of that. But I’ll approximate what went into it. This made 2 servings of about 6-7 oz. each.

Coconut Sorbet

1 cup coconut milk (the runny kind that comes in a milk carton)

½ cup coconut milk (the thicker variety that comes in a can that you’d use for Indian or Thai dishes)

¼ cup simple syrup (easy – no need to heat this up to dissolve the sugar)

1 packet stevia

¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

I literally threw it all in, in that order, with the motor running. Then it spent about 30 minutes churning away while we grilled and then ate dinner. It could have been a little sweeter, but I’m cutting back on my sweets so another stevia packet would have probably done the trick. I could have reduced the coconut – maybe go a little less than ¼ cup. But otherwise, it was creamy and delightfully, refreshingly, cold!

My next frozen creation this weekend will likely be to use up some overripe plums I still have from last weekend’s farmers market, some vanilla yogurt and a little honey. I’ll just puree everything together in the blender first and then pour it into the ice cream maker. I’ll bet that will be good.

I just love how versatile the ice cream maker can be.  I have a smaller model (the 1.5 quart Krups La Glaciere on the left) because I prefer to make smaller batches more frequently and don’t have a large family to feed. There are certainly more sophisticated models out there but this one gets the job done. It comes with a bowl you place in the freezer. When that's ready, you pour your contents into the bowl, attach the motor to the lid and snap that into place, plug it in, then hit the green button at the top to start it. Super easy.

You can take whatever creamy base you have on hand (regular milk, almond milk, coconut milk, soy milk, even buttermilk) and mix in whatever you want (pureed fruit, chocolate chips, crushed cookies), and then whichever sweetener you like (cane sugar, honey, stevia, agave, or even Splenda or aspartame if you’re into that).  Then go to town whirling it all up. Here are a few things I've learned along the way:

Hard things like nuts should be added at the end as garnish, unless you crush them up fairly well. They can mess up the machine by getting caught if they are big enough chunks unless you keep a watchful eye on it.

You can add alcohol (rum, vodka, champagne, etc.) to your blend. Because of alcohol’s ultra-low freezing point it makes it easier to scoop (but don’t go overboard. Usually only 1-2 Tbsp. of it are needed).

Experiment with when to add the pureed fruit – either at the beginning or at the end after the milk’s been frozen. I think the fruit is better left unfrozen, and simply mashed with a little bit of sugar or honey and then swirled in after the milk has been frozen. But you can always swirl it in and then pop it into the freezer for about an hour just to stiffen it up a bit if you prefer.

One of my favorite things lately is pistachio gelato. A company called Ciao Bella makes a good one but I'm going to try to make it myself with a little less sugar. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

I hope you enjoy your summer and stay cool! Of course, if you have any frozen dessert ideas you'd like to share, please leave a comment.

The many benefits of Coconut Oil

For decades, health care officials and the media have been telling us that saturated fats are bad for our health and that they lead to a host of negative consequences, including high cholesterol, obesity, heart disease and Alzheimer’s. Amazingly, during this same time, the levels of serum cholesterol, obesity, heart disease and Alzheimer’s have increased. Coincidence? Not likely.

Maybe it’s the type of saturated fat that needs to be looked at, and not just all saturated fats, because studies done on Pacific Island populations have shown that although their diets contain a 30-60% caloric intake from saturated fat, they have virtually non-existent rates of cardiovascular disease. The thing is, it seems, that not all saturated fats are created equal. The difference, it seems, lies in the fact that some are “created”, or artificially made, while others are natural. There is nothing natural about hydrogenated fats, which appear in just about everything processed these days, but what are they exactly?

Hydrogenation means that we’ve manipulated vegetable and seed oils by adding hydrogen atoms while heating the oil, producing a thickened substance that increases shelf life, but does nothing for our health. These hydrogenated fats are also called trans fats and although they have been banned in the United States, food manufacturers can get away with labeling their products trans-fat fee as long as a serving contains “less than 0.5g of total fat” according to the FDA (ever wonder why servings seem so small? It’s not because you’re a pig and like to eat a lot. It’s how these food manufacturers get away with adding trans fats into their food but stay under the radar). I often wondered about this: how could there be a listing of 0 trans fats on the nutrition label but yet on the ingredient list, there were still hydrogenated fats listed?

The good news is that for most of us with heart and/or weight problems, fat is not the enemy. Many leading nutrition experts tell us that fat is very much needed, to nourish not only our immune system, nervous system, hormonal system and skin, but to also control the inflammatory process in the body and be burned for energy. Our health is suffering as a result from not eating enough of the right kinds of fat! The body does a lot better burning fat for fuel than burning carbohydrates. It’s much more efficient. The thing is to give it “good fats” while avoiding “bad fats”. Good fats include avocados, raw nuts  like almonds, walnuts, pecans, and macadamias, and seeds like sunflower, pepita and flax seeds, olives and olive oil, organic butter and ghee, and fish, cod liver and flax oils.

But one other fat to add to the “good” list is coconut oil. Although it often gets a bad rap for its high saturated fat content, we know that coconut oil offers many health benefits. For example, it has been found to help normalize blood lipids and protect against damage to the liver by alcohol and other toxins, can play a role in preventing kidney and gall bladder diseases, and is associated with improved blood sugar and insulin control and therefore the prevention and management of diabetes. In addition, coconut oil has antiviral, antibacterial and anti-fungal properties. It is also thought to help strengthen mineral absorption, which is important for healthy teeth and bones, and can also help improve the condition and appearance of the scalp, hair and skin when ingested or applied topically.

If Nature hadn't wanted us to eat coconuts, then why do they exist?

If you’re still not convinced, then read on: coconut oil is nature’s richest source of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs). By contrast, most common vegetable or seed oils are comprised of long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs).  LCFAs are large molecules, so they are difficult for the body to break down and are predominantly stored as fat. But MCFAs, being smaller, are easily digested and immediately burned by your liver for energy – like carbohydrates but without the insulin spike. MCFAs actually boost your metabolism and help the body use fat for energy, as opposed to storing it, so it can help us become leaner.

So how do we get more coconut in our diet? You can start by using coconut oil. It's less sensitive to heat than other oils so it’s great for stir-frys and sautéing. Apparently, it’s better to use coconut oil than olive oil when heating. Some health professionals recommend not heating olive oil because of how it oxidizes when heated. They say it’s best to use it cold, drizzling it on food or using it in salad dressings. This is new to me. All these years of cooking and always using olive oil. Perhaps I'll do less of it now.

So what’s wrong with using regular oils like corn, canola, safflower, or sunflower? These polyunsaturated fats are omega-6 oils and they produce a variety of toxic chemicals as well as trans fats, especially when heated. Plus, most of these vegetable oils are genetically-modified, including more than 90% of soy, corn and canola oils on the market. But even if you buy these organic or from reputable sources, the use of vegetable oils contributes to the overabundance of damaging omega-6 fats in our diet. This heavy emphasis on omega-6’s throws off our omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, and as we’ve heard, insufficient omega-3’s contribute to numerous chronic degenerative diseases. Another reason to give up those oils or drastically reduce using them.

Coconut oil can be substituted for other fats when baking and in recipes that call for butter, lard, shortening or any other saturated fat. I haven’t tried that yet, but I will. The oil is hard in its jar, so it’s fairly similar in consistency to butter. You could probably spread it on toast. I also recently tried it in my smoothie. I used a dark chocolate organic whey protein powder, added some unsweetened shredded coconut and a small teaspoon of coconut oil (totally delicious). Some people use coconut oil as a creamer substitute for coffee or tea. I don’t think I’d go that far, but if you like it, why not?

When looking for the product in your store, make sure to select organic virgin coconut oil. Anything labeled extra virgin is just marketing hype and offers nothing “extra”. Coconut oil is now readily available everywhere. Even Trader Joe’s has it.

I bought a jar of it recently and had only used it so far for sautéing tilapia. I used a spoon to scoop it out and what initially looked like Crisco quickly melted into a glossy clear oil in the pan. I didn’t really notice a coconut-y flavor to the fish, although it smelled wonderfully coconut-y when I opened the jar.

Last night, I used it for a recipe my sister emailed me. Delicious over jasmine rice, or in my case, I had some cooked quinoa to use up. It was the perfect dish to add a slight coconut flavor to because it went well with the green curry and Thai flavors. I wanted some protein in the dish so I decided to dice up some firm tofu which I added during the last 5 minutes just to heat it through. Really good and super healthy.

Green Curry Vegetables with Sweet Potato and Eggplant

1 Tbsp. coconut oil

1 onion, chopped

1 Tbsp. green curry paste

1 sweet potato, diced
1 cup coconut milk

1 jalapeno chili, diced (optional. Use only if your curry is mild and you like a little bit of heat)

1 eggplant, diced
Lemon or lime juice
Cilantro or green onion for garnish

Cooked jasmine rice, brown rice, or quinoa

In a medium sized sauté pan, heat coconut oil until melted. Add onion and fry until slightly browned. Add green curry paste. Cook for another minute.
Add coconut milk, sweet potato and jalapeno, cook 10 minutes.

Add eggplant, cook 15 minutes (might take 20 minutes if your chunks aren’t that small). Remove from heat.

Sprinkle with lemon or lime juice, then either chopped cilantro or green onion and serve over your grain of choice.

Optional: add diced tofu or cooked chunks of chicken breast for the last 5 minutes of cooking to just heat through.

Next, I’m tempted to slather some coconut oil on my dry skin. Should make me smell very tropical and summery.