The Perfect Quick Snack

Homemade granola bars... my new favorite take-along food. These are easy, even if you don't cook (yes, you need to do a bit of cooking here). These are great as a pre/post-workout, grab-on-the-go or "Help, I'm about to eat chocolate cake" snack. If you have kids, they'll be a hit with them, too.

These granola bars are gluten, dairy, egg and soy free. In other words, nothing in them will slow you down.

This is a two-day project, but the actual time invested is minimal.

GLUTEN-FREE CINNAMON-RAISIN GRANOLA BARS

INGREDIENTS

List 1

3 cups rolled oats (I like Bob's Red Mill Organic Extra Thick)
1/2 cup quinoa (steamed)
1 1/2 cups blanched almonds
1 1/2 cups sunflower seeds or sprouts
1 cup sesame seeds

List 2

3/4 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon

List 3

1/2 cup rasins
1/4 cup chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life semi-sweet chocolate chips)

Evening of day one - 

Take the ingredients on List 1, place in a large bowl and cover with water. Let sit on the counter overnight.

Day two -

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Drain and rinse the pre-soaked ingredients. Squeeze out the excess water.
3. Place the ingredients from List 2 into a food processor and give it a good whirl. Add the ingredients from List 1 to the mixture. If you like your granola bars more like cake, let the blender go longer. If you want some texture and crunch, leave the batter lumpy.
3. Add List 3 and mix by hand.
4. Spread in a thin layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 1 hour.
5. Remove from oven and cut into bars. Place back into oven and bake for another 30 minutes.
6. Cool on a wire rack.

Don't eat all at once!

Tomorrow: Chocolate-chocolate chip granola bars!

Did I ever tell you about my friend Elly? She's at the Union Square Market each day it is open. Her farm, Patches of Star Dairy, produces some of the best goat products I have ever tasted. She has several varieties of goat cheese—raw aged havarti and edam, and ricotta—as well as yogurts and amazing ice cream. I love her cranberry-almond chevre on my morning bagel or the plain salted chevre in my salad for lunch. The kids love their Friday night pizza topped with the aged havarti.

Why goat cheese? One major reason is that goat's milk is much more digestible than cow's milk. Actually, and this may come as no surprise to you, we are neither baby goats nor cows, and were not designed to digest milk from other mammals. Enzymes in our digestive tract that break down the protein in the milk disappear by the time we are adults—that's why some of us have lactose intolerance. The protein in goat's milk is similar to the protein in human milk and our bodies are able to understand and digest it better. It also is less likely to trigger our immune system and cause allergies. In the end, the nutrients are easier to assimilate and use by our bodies. Stephanie Clark, a dairy researcher at Washington State University says, “Goat cheese is very nutritious, and adds a nice variety to the dairy products that are out there.”

Are Pesticides Safe?

It's no wonder most of us are confused about the safety of pesticides; even in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary, pesticide manufacturers continue to insist that pesticides are safe. The government requires—and manufacturers conduct—studies of individual chemicals in high doses, looking for immediate and obvious toxic effects. Unfortunately, our bodies store toxins, and the effects are not immediately detectable. Biomonitoring studies by scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have found measurable amounts of multiple pesticide residue in most of the US population (www.cdc.gov/exposurereport/). The cumulative health risks of exposure to these multiple toxic chemicals are unknown. The effects on children, whose developing bodies are especially prone to severe and permanent damage, are completely unstudied. However, we know that exposure to toxins in infancy and early childhood has subtle, but irreversible adverse effects on the nervous system, brain, reproductive organs and the endocrine (hormonal) system.

We are all left to fend for ourselves when it comes to this important and complex subject. As always, I urge you to do your due diligence and educate yourself. Trusting just one or two sources of information is never a good idea. I am restraining myself from providing a list of links that skew towards my take on the situation. (Those of you who know me personally will appreciate what a herculean effort that is.)

These days, food in general—never mind organic food—is becoming less and less affordable. So, where do you put your organic dollars? Keep in mind that foods with the highest concentrations of toxins are usually at the top of the food chain. So—excluding, erm, humans—meat, poultry and dairy products are most likely to be heavily polluted. Frequently, though not exclusively, imported produce can exceed even the FDA's lax standards as farmers in tropical and semi-tropical climates often face tough pest management challenges. The FDA is only able to test one percent of the produce imported into the US, but considering current funding, it's amazing that they can even do that much. As a guide, I love to use the EWG's best to worst list of the most popular produce.

Your best bet may be right under your nose. The farmers markets are full of clean, inexpensive, sustainably grown produce. If you are in New York City, you are in luck! Starting in April, I will be conducting monthly Union Square Greenmarket tours which will introduce you to all of the best and safest farms. So sign up for my newsletter and stay tuned.