Recipe: Oatmeal Flax Bars

No matter how nice of a meal I make for my growing ones, no matter how much time, effort and love I put into it - my children are occasionally "starving" in between meals.

"Starving?!?! Why don't you think about the kids in Africa who eat ONE meager meal a day?"

Growing up I vowed never to say such things. They just made me roll my eyes at the pathetic attempt my mother was making in trying to get me to appreciate the green slop (or whatever it was) lying on the porcelain plate in front of me. . . but I do say it. Because it's true.

But I realize the kids are growing. They do need food. And I'm not about to let them "starve".

So, here is a healthy snack recipe we make every so often.

Oatmeal Flax Bars

½ cup Butter (You can also use cooked and blended white beans)

½ cup Agave Nectar

¼ cup + 2 Tablespoons Flax Seed Meal

4 Tablespoons Water

1 ½ cups Sprouted Whole Wheat Flour

1 ¾ cups Rolled Oats

2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cups raisins or craisins or whatever else meets your fancy

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix all wet ingredients and then add dry ingredients one at a time. Flatten out dough on a cookie sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes until the edges are slightly browned. Cut into bars. Wrap each bar with saran wrap.

I love to wrap these. I could hear other's complaints about having to wrap each one. (They would just end up one big crumbly mess if you don't.) I really find a lot of fulfillment in seeing my children unwrap these deliciously healthy granola bars that were wrapped just for their individual fingers and their hungry tummies - from a mother who made and wrapped these treats with love (even if it is in a rather rushed way some days) rather than some huge machine picking up and dropping down one of the hundreds of thousands of treats being carried away on a conveyor belt.

Thanks Tiffany for giving me this wonderful recipe!