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I bought a case of these bars at a Discount Store in our area and I loved them!  They were great to have on hand for something quick to eat.  Well, after they were gone, I decided to make my own version of them.

I like having these types of bars to grab when I need a quick bite to eat.  We have made these other types and I keep them in the freezer to grab when we need to run out the door :

• energy bites
• hemp, chia, flax seed bars

My husband calls them my bird seed bars:)  They do get tiny seeds stuck in  your teeth, be sure to check them after eating them:)

The ingredients on the bar say:  dates, almonds, walnuts, unsweetened coconut, and cocoa powder.

Yes we had all those ingredients—but I did something different.  I had an abundance of big plump raisins that no one will eat around here, so I decided to substitute that for the dates.  The raisins give it a more sweeter taste.  If I didn’t already have the raisins I would have used the dates, but I am using what fragments I had. 

I put the raisins into my food processor.  Dates grind up really quickly, but the raisins had to go for a bit longer.  I decided to add like a spoonful of water to help the mass separate.

Then it looked like this. Much better.

I added my cocoa powder—I bought 25 lbs of this at a bulk food store in this area.  We will be having cocoa powder for a really long time:)

I then beforehand chopped up almonds and walnuts in the food processor, I added them next.

Some unsweetened coconut, bought my online from Amazon a 15 lb bag.

It then got too hard for the processor so I put it into a bowl and started kneading it by hand.

I tasted it and knew it needed more cocoa powder, so I kneaded that into the bar. 

Here is my bar mixture and the Lara Bar piece at the top.  I had to keep going back and forth until I knew that the flavors were exact.  Like I said the raisins gave it a sweeter taste, but for the most part they tasted exactly the same.

I rolled them out and cut into bar shapes.  I rolled each one up in waxed paper sheets and put them into bags to freeze.

Madelyn walked by and wanted a sample.  She said they tasted like brownie bites:)  The other children weren’t so easily fooled—smile.

I made two bags to freeze. 

I then decided to roll some into balls to grab for a smaller bite to eat.  To these I added some chia, hemp, and flax seeds for added nutritional value.

Here is my recipes:

• 2 cups raisins–use dates if you have them
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup unsweetened coconut
• 3/4 cup chopped nuts–walnuts and almonds

Place all in a food processor and blend.  Place in a bowl and knead with cocoa powder until not sticky.  Roll out and cut into bars or make into balls.  Place in freezer. Enjoy!

 

I have this space above my mantle that I have never quite figured out what to put up on it.  I kept looking for different ideas and watched while I was at my thrift store shopping, but nothing came about.  Then my friend gave me this grapevine wreath for Christmas and I filled it with greenery from the pine trees here in North Carolina.  Well I am used to pine trees from Michigan and they are a bit more heartier.  My pine branches were quite flimsy and did not fill my wreath up very well and within a week the needles were falling off!  Needless to say, my Christmas wreath was only around for a short time.  I do not like pine needles all over the house.  I like simple, after googling images of grapevine wreaths, I created mine.

I started with leftover fabric from my bookshelf makeover to a benchseat and cut it into strips.  They were about  2 1/2 inches wide

I then cut out circles.  Nothing perfect or exact just circle shapes:)

I had a big stack of them–about 40 rounds and then created this. 

I didn’t do step by step  photos—but here is the site where I found how to make these. Very easy and simple.  I decided to do mine with the wrong side of the fabric showing more because I wanted to see it better on my darker colored mantle. 

Here is the back view of it.  We made fabric hair bows like this one time too for Christmas gifts.  Was easy and immediate—my qualifications for a DIY project. 

I then had my husband cut out our initial on his machine and I spray painted it with leftover paint used on my bookshelves.  There was no nail holders in the brick, but up on the top moulding there was a tiny nail.  I took some fishing line and tied it around the wreath and hung it down from that.  I hot glued the flower and the letter to the wreath.  Simple and easy.  I can easily pull off the flower bow and change it for seasons if wanted.  I will definitely invest in “fake” greenery for next year’s holidays:)

If you have some leftover scrap material try making these bows, very cute and easy to do.  Be blessed today.