Coconut Granola Bars!

Recently my friend, Haya, asked me to recommend a good granola bar as they were fed up of buying them and had begun to realise that what they were buying wasn't quite the healthy, energising snack they were aiming for. Most store bought granola bars are full of sugar and syrups that it's more like a candy bar than any thing health giving! Obviously if a candy bar style treat is what you're after then those fit the bill but I prefer mine to pack more of a nutritional punch; especially if I'm using them to fuel my runs! A lot of race and running fuel tends to be gels etc but I prefer to refuel with real food.

Anyway, back to the granola bars! My go-to recipe has always been one from the amazing blog oh she glows. So many amazing vegan, gluten-free and naturally sweetened recipes over there (I prefer not to use refined sugar in any of my food). Naturally this was the link I sent over to my friend! But then came the list of things I actually now do differently to the original recipe so I decided to make a batch today to share on here. These bars are so scrummy you don't miss the sugar at all and they are full of nutritional goodness - what's not to like?! 

I love that these bars are naturally sweetened with dates and the protein punch from the seeds, especially the chia, is amazing - perfect for refuelling on the go! Personally I love the taste of cinnamon so I bumped the quantity of that up a few notches and swapped out the cranberries for unsweetened desiccated coconut (I find the bars hold together in my teeny running pockets better that way - plus I love coconut!). I also sprinkled some on top for aesthetics as I knew I would be taking pictures, but even though I pressed it in, most of it hasn't stuck very well so I wouldn't recommend that if you're planning to wrap them up and stick them in your pocket like me! 

So without further ado, here is my recipe for coconut granola bars (adapted from oh she glows)! If you try them or would like to share your favourite granola bar recipe please let me know! 

Coconut Granola Bars

(Makes 12 bars)

3/4 cup pitted dates

1 cup of water

3/4 cup of oats, ground into a flour

1/2 cup of chia seeds

1/4 unsweetened desiccated coconut (plus extra for sprinkling if you desire!)

1/4 pumpkin seeds

1/4 sunflower seeds

2 tsp of cinnamon

1 tsp of pure vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 150C and prepare an 8x8inch dish or pan (I use a glass dish and don't feel like I need to grease it - the bars come out super easily).

2. Put dates and water in your food processor and blend into a paste. If your dates aren't super soft and your food processor is having trouble breaking them up you can leave them to soak for a while and it should get easier!

2. Put oat flour, chia seeds, coconut, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon and salt into a bowl and mix together. 

3. Add the date paste and the vanilla into the bowl and throughly mix together so everything is coated in the paste.

4. Pour the mixture into your prepared dish and spread it out as evenly as you can. If you want to sprinkle on some coconut do it now!

5. Cook in the oven for about 25 minutes; until firm to the touch. Allow to cool in the dish for at least 20minutes before cutting and removing to a rack to cool completely. 

Once they are cooled I wrap them up and put them in the freezer so they are always fresh when I want them but I imagine they would last about a week in an airtight container in the fridge! 

Staying grounded

I knew it had been quite a while since I last wrote anything on here but I can't believe it's been as long as two and half months! Time really has been flying for me lately and a lot of changes have been coming along with that. Where I was two and a half months ago in my journey is very different to the part I'm at now. With all the craziness and things I've been doing its sometimes difficult to take time out from your to-do list and just take time for yourself. And by this I don't mean just sitting watching TV or something because then you're not really giving your mind a break, just your body! Making sure that I stay 'me' through this crazy period is really important and definitely is a benefit of those around me too!

Yoga is something that always helps me stay grounded and connect my mind, breath and body together as one. While my running also helps me clear my mind it's a different kind of sensation than I get from yoga. I enjoy the feeling of the ground through my mat and physically supporting myself through the moves with my feet and hands. The philosophy of yoga with its element of meditation is also hugely calming and teaches you to empty your mind and connect to your breath; be at peace in your body as you work through your practice. But yoga isn't all serious either! There are plenty of seemingly ridiculous poses I am so far from mastering but it's fun to play around and test my body with the idea that one day I might get there!

When life gets busy it's sometimes hard to find time in your schedule to fit in everything you want to do. My approach now is that my yoga and my running are priorities and everything else slots in around it. This might sound unealistic but it's just about having a different mindset! In my life, maintaining my balance and grounding is fundamental for my happiness and well being; and therefore MUST happen. My friend, Jaki, bought me some gorgeous yogic anklets when I left work to remind me to stay grounded and make time for myself and they even remind me to just stop and take a breath when things are getting a bit mental!

'Yoga with Adriene' is my favourite YouTube channel full of amazing free yoga videos to do at home and Adriene herself is amazing and so inspiring. Her philosophy is 'find what feels good' and I think that's the perfect attitude to approach yoga. Sometimes it can seem really intimidating when you have the idea in your head of these incredibly bendy, flexible people and you feel like you'll never be able to do it but it doesn't matter if that's not the way you are to start with, or ever really! Heaven knows I wasn't - and I'm still not! - but I've definitely come a long way and its just about doing as much as you can and finding what works for you. That part of yoga is also about finding peace with yourself and your body and accepting who you are.

Recently my mum and I have started '30 days of Yoga' with Adrienne. It's the perfect way to find motivation to do some yoga everyday and not have to think about which video to pick because you simply do the next one in the series! You cover all different kinds of yoga and poses and it's a wonderful showcase of what is possible within your yoga practice. I'm hoping it will encourage my mum to keep going with it once I've moved because so far she's loving it! We're on day 15 now and it's definitely a challenge I recommend to anyone looking to start a regular yoga practice. And if yoga really isn't your thing, spend time finding or thinking about what it is that keeps you grounded when all the craziness is going on and share your thoughts! Remember to always find time for YOU.