Knock-Off Kashi Granola Bars - guest post

Hi, my name is Riley. I am 10 years old. I like purple. My mom asked me to write to you about how we are eating different foods. We are eating different foods because it is healthier.  Some of the changes we are making are to not eat as many white flour products or white sugar products, and to eat more fruits and vegetables. We are also eating more fibre and Omega-3 fatty acids.  Mom is reading a book called “Skinny Chicks Eat Real Food;” that is where she got the idea of eating so healthy.

We eat oatmeal for breakfast most mornings. We put big, fat blueberries in the oatmeal, and it makes our oatmeal purple. One time, for lunch, we had salmon sandwiches. We are eating 1/2 cup of fruit every day, if we have fruit, and also 1/4 cup of pecans. Today we are making some Knock-Off Kashi Dark Chocolate Coconut Bars. Here is the recipe:

Knock-Off Kashi Dark Chocolate Coconut Bars

Ingredients
2 cups oats
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 unsweetened coconut

1/4 cup ground flax seed
1/2 cup honey
pinch pink Himalayan salt

Topping 
340 grams (3/4 lb) chopped dates
6 tbsp water
6 tbsp cocoa

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper.
2. Toast oats, pecans and coconut for 5-10 minutes until just starting to turn brown.
3. Combine oats mixture with flax seeds, honey, and salt.
4. Spread mixture evenly over parchment paper.  Pat down and bake for 10-15 minutes.
5. Combine the dates and water.  Microwave for about two minutes to soften dates.  Add cocoa and mix very well.
6. When oats are cool, spread date mixture over the top.  You may need to wet the spreading tool (spoon, knife) so the date topping doesn't stick. Over and over.  Just keep a bowl of water handy and keep wetting your spoon.

Makes 16 bars.

You can add chocolate chips to the granola bars if you want.  We didn't this time.  Instead we put 1/4 cup of natural peanut butter in the mixture.

So far, I like eating this way because Mom buys more fruit for us.  And did you know that blueberries are the healthiest fruit around?  That's why we have big, fat juicy blueberries in our oatmeal.

I hope you like our recipe.  We think it's very tasty.

Wise sayings

I tend to avoid overly-used, common proverbs, simply because I get tired of hearing them and I figured my kids would too.  So when my oldest spilled some milk just now, I shrugged and told him to just clean it up. Then, in a silly voice, I said, "There's no use crying over spilled milk."

"Have I ever said that to you before?" I asked.

"I don't think so."

"It's an old saying to help people understand that once the milk is spilled, there's not much point in crying about it because crying doesn't unspill it.  So, you might as well just get over it and clean it up."

My boy, nodding, "And that's just what I'm doing."

Thinking a bit more about wise sayings, my 11 year-old continued the conversation.  "You know, a wise man once said, 'What's for dinner?' Wise men don't always say wise things."

We don't have a drum set, so there was no rimshot.

He also pointed out that one could say to another, "Wise things!" and still not be incredibly wise.

I have quite the philosopher/comedian on my hands.