energy boosting

Hello, hello and a Happy New Year to one and all.

I bet you had too much of the sweet stuff over Christmas? Oh yes you did and don't deny it. Well, here is a perfect little recipe, especially ideal for this time of year when over indulgence is the word on everyone's lips. It's healthy, tasty, full of vital omegas and made with only natural sweeteners.

I read about it on Natacha's Piou Piou blog over the Christmas break and it sounded so good I had to try it straight away. De-lish-ous! It's one of those recipes where you can easily use whatever's to hand so there's no mad dash to the shops. For this second batch, destined for school snacks, I have varied the ingredients from the original. I didn't have much butter so used extra coconut oil, and since the Model's school have banned sesame seeds I used hemp seeds instead. Hemp gives a crunchy, nutty flavour but when unhulled it can get stuck in your teeth so you may prefer the sesames. I always cut down the sweetness dramatically in recipes but you must do as you and your conscience see fit ..

Use all butter if you wish but we always have coconut oil in the house and cook with it most days. Think about using different dried fruits such as apricots and perhaps a few prunes, although sparingly with the latter I think .. or suffer the consequences! Try adding coconut flakes (coconut is a wonder food due to its anti viral properties), different seeds even and guaranteed this will care for your bod far more than Messrs Mars and Hershey ever will. For weekends, I would chuck in a selection of chopped nuts but alas not for school lunch boxes as, like many schools I'm guessing, they are strictly verboten as well!

Beware though, when I first made these bars, the Boy asked whether it was intended for the birds!

Here is my adapted version of Natacha's muesli bar, which has also been converted into 'english speak'. And since the Model has taken a greedy shine to this recipe, I let her rename it. Start the day before you want to eat, because some of the seeds are soaked overnight .. not only are they easier to blend, they're also easier to digest that way!

raw nutrient bar

110g (1 cup) sunflower seeds

110g (1 cup) pumpkin seeds

110g (4 oz) coconut oil/butter mixed (proportion doesn't matter)

1 good dessertsp runny honey

110g (1 cup) chopped dates

55g (1/2 cup) pumpkin seeds

55g (1/2 cup) sunflower seeds

55g (1/2 cup) hemp seeds

Soak the first batch of sunflower and pumpkin seeds in a large bowl of water overnight.

Next day, rinse the soaked seeds thoroughly and leave to drain. Lightly toast the remaining dry seeds on the hob or in the oven. Put the coconut oil/butter into a medium pan, together with the honey and chopped dates and heat gently until the oil/butter has melted. Set aside to cool slightly.

Put the drained seeds into the food processor and whizz till fairly mushy. Next add the oil and date mixture and blitz again. Add the toasted seeds and pulse briefly to mix but avoid turning to pulp.

Turn the mixture out into a medium baking dish, flatten with the back of a spoon and place in the fridge for several hours to firm up.

Keep refrigerated.

Anyway, that's enough virtuousness. Just before the Christmas holidays I was introduced tothis German delight. Have you had it before? It's herbal and warming and wait, there's more .. it's medicinal, don't you know?!