Wow, you could cut the tenseness in this house with a knife...I can't say the same for these granola bars... [a.k.a. my weekend]

Hi there. Erica here. I had a pretty busy weekend...so obviously no blogging. But here I am, on a Tuesday. Shocking...Mondays and Tuesdays are usually the least-likely-to-blog-days...but not this week. I'm mixin' it up.

I went shopping all day on Saturday with my Mom. Things are a bit tense at our house these days with all we have going on...and trust me, there's a Lot. And as a result, unfortunately our outing wasn't as fun as ones we've had in the past. But one block of time where there was no tenseness or grumpiness was when we were eating lunch at Chipotle. It's like a Celiac's dream. EVERYTHING except for the flour tortillas is gluten-free. Beef, pork, chicken, guacamole, 4 salsas, sour cream, cheese, cilantro-lime rice, black & pinto beans...and the beat goes on. Yummm...I'm seriously drooling right now.

And another AWESOME perk? All you have to say is "I have Celiac, so I have to eat gluten-free..." and the people on the line pull off their gloves, wash their hands, and put on fresh, un-glutened gloves. I feel so special when I go there. 

"Really? For me? Just for my little tired villi, you changed your gloves?! How sweet!"

All this to say...if you are a Celiac and haven't tried Chipotle, do yourself a favor. Just go! :)

And then, on Sunday after church, I was feeling hungry for granola bars. Just in case you are still wondering...yes, the house was still tense - everyone was cranky about something and stressed to the point of cracking.

So I did what any stressed-out foodie would do. I ran to the kitchen...the place where I am in control. I armed myself with honey, agave nectar, gluten-free oats, craisins, chocolate chunks, and almond butter...and I set to work.

Now, this recipe isn't like my other recipes thus far. Honestly, this recipe is not blog-ready. Why? Well, because my execution clearly left something to be desired. The 8x8 pan I baked my granola bars in still has baked-on granola-bar "sticky" on it. And I had to literally PEEL the granola bars out of the pan. No easy cutting and bagging here...oh no. I actually had to scrape as much as I could salvage into a new wax-papered and greased pan, pressed them down - hard - again, and refrigerated again.
Then I cut them.
And they were messy.
But they were GOOD.

Epic fail? No!
Epic win? Definitely not.

But the taste...oh. Oh, the TASTE. Sweet chocolate and tart cranberries.
And the texture! Ahh...chunky fruits and chocolates, sticky honey and almond butter.

So while I deal with my roller-coaster life, my crazy family, and while my family deals with crazy me (poor them!)...I will perfect these granola bars.

Only then will I share the recipe...in the meantime...eat your heart out with these pictures...after the battle they fought, they're looking good. Versatile, valiant little buggers, aren't they?

I chose chocolate chunks, cranberries, walnuts & almond butter to flavor these.
Maybe that's why they were so sticky...

I ate one today, and get this - I wasn't hungry for nearly 3 hours. For me, that's saying something,
considering I was sitting in an infinitely boring training at work that usually makes me eat nonstop to stay awake.
Good times.

Be back soon with the recipe...wish me luck. :) I'd really rather not have to scrape hardened and petrified sugar, honey, and agave crystals off my pyrex bakeware anymore.

xoxo

Erica