Day Seven - Lara Bars and DIY Lara Balls

Day Seven!!  Great job everyone, you've made it through the first week which can be the hardest!  I'm so proud of all of you for sticking with it and even if you've had a beer or a sliver of rhubarb pie you've just continued on and not thrown in the towel which is the important part.  :)

So now to the recipe part.  Today I'm going to talk about one of my favorite clean snacks: LaraBars.  For those of you who don't know, LaraBars are a clean eating "granola" bar that is prepackaged, delicious, convenient, filling, and gives you a burst of energy.  So they are pretty much amazing.  The only not amazing part of LaraBars is the cost, at $1.49 per bar they can be a little pricey.  If you can handle that then I have a review of three Whole30 compliant flavors and if not keep reading because I have a simple DIY recipe for LaraBalls.

LaraBar Review

I tried the blueberry muffin, coconut cream pie, and apple pie flavors.  Hands down the coconut cream pie was my favorite!  Then again I love coconut cream pie.  The blueberry muffin surprisingly tasted like a blueberry muffin and I even bought a five pack of them at Target (sadly they didn't have five packs of coconut cream pie).  The apple pie was the only one I felt "eh" about.  I'm not a real fan of dried apples anyway but I just felt it lacked something.  Maybe it needed some nutmeg or something.  I would eat it again but only if the other two flavors were not available.  I ate most of them as a snack between when I got home from work and taking Tucker for a walk.  They gave me a little boost and kept me full till dinner time.  They are also a great hiking snack for a quick boost of energy.

Recipe for LaraBalls
(I'm so immature that I giggled when I typed balls.  How are any of you friends with me??)

The recipe is a basic ratio that can be mixed and matched to make a variety of different flavors.  The basic recipe is:

1/4 c. dates
1/4 c. dried fruit (make sure no sugar is added)
1/3 c. nuts
dash of whatever seasonings you need

Pretty simple right?

To make them you:
1.  Process dates and dried fruit in a food processor till it comes together in a ball.  Remove and put in a bowl.
2.  Process nuts in food processor till nuts are finely chopped.  Add seasoning and pulse to combine.
3.  Add nuts to fruit mixture and combine with your hands.
4.  Roll into 4-6 balls and refrigerate.

Here is a couple of my favorites:

CB&J.
1/4 c. dates
1/4 c. raisins
1/3 c. cashews

Cran Almond
1/4 c. dates
1/4 c. craisins (hard to find sugar free so I have done sugar sweetened ones, if you find a brand let me know!)
1/3 c. almonds

Blueberry Muffin
1/4 c. dates
1/4 c. dried blueberries
1/3 c. mix of cashews and almonds
dash of cinnamon

Apple Pie
(haven't tried but I feel this is basically what the recipe is)
1/4 c. dates
1/4 c. dried apples
1/3 c. mix of cashews and almonds
dash of cinnamon and nutmeg

Again I want to say how proud of all of you I am!!  Let me know how you did.  What was the easiest part and the hardest?  What do you miss the most and what did you discover that was delicious?

Have a great weekend!

(Also as a disclaimer all reviews are my own.  LaraBar has no clue who I am.)