Hey guys — I am a big advocate for making food yourself, whenever possible. If time was unlimited, I think I’d bake my own bread, make my own cheese, and probably spend more time in the kitchen…

For now, I’ll settle for making things from scratch every now and again to realize something: it doesn’t really take that much time so I don’t really like settling for the “I don’t have enough time” excuse.

“Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresea, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.”

I am aware they were talking about bigger things than making your own granola bars, but that’s kind of where I think people need to realize something: you are going to eat every day for the rest of your life. If you want to feel good, take the time to eat well. If you want to be ignorant and eat whatever you want, don’t complain about it. Don’t use lack of time or energy or money really as an excuse to be an idiot. Yes, that’s harsh, but I really think you can control the things you choose to eat and that you should.

Example, I’ve wanted to make this rant for a while…I am still going to carry my leather purse despite the fact that I think eating beef is a pretty big strain on the environment/doesn’t agree with me right now because of where that meat would come from … not carrying my purse every day vs. not eating that steak or burger on a regular basis — which one is going to have a bigger impact? People might attack vegetarians for not being 100% veg or something stupid like that–but eating is a personal choice and attacking someone personally is wrong, in my mind. Educate them instead, if you have something worth saying. Eating should never be all or nothing.

Enough of my opinion, onto the recipe you’ve been waiting for…which was inspired by Kath’s Baked Oatmeal Snack Bars.

Homemade/I Don’t Wanna Look At Another Clif Bar Oat Bars 

Ingredients:
Dry:
1 1/2 c oats
2 tbsp cocoa powder
sprinkle of salt
1/3 c shredded coconut (unsweetened)
1/4 c flaxseeds
1/4 c almonds

Wet:
1 egg
1 c milk or milk substitute*
1/2 c water
1 tsp vanilla

Toppings:
mini chocolate chips
2 tbsp shredded coconut (unsweetened)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine wet ingredients in large bowl.
Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
Add dry to wet, stirring ’til moist.
Place mixture into a 9×9 baking pan lined with parchment paper (or sprayed), pressing down and into corners.
Sprinkle toppings on top.
Bake for approximately 30 minutes or til set and browned.
Remove, cool, and slice into 9 squares (a pizza cutter works well, as Kath suggested).
Store in fridge or freezer, or ENJOY!

*I used vanilla soy milk

I literally made these while most of my classmates were probably hitting snooze. I mixed them up after breakfast in about 5 minutes, threw them in the oven, and by the time I was done getting dressed/ready for the day, they were coming out of the oven!

So simple.

So tasty!

Have you ever made something from scratch just to prove you could?
Do you feel like you have time (make time) to cook?
What’s your fav clif bar flavour?