Chocolate Date and Nut Bars!

Hi Everyone! 

This weekend my boyfriend and I were looking for things for him to take to work for lunch. He works in an office and he usually brings left overs and some fruit, but he just needs one more thing, one more power filled snack to get him through the rest of his day and it was a challenge figuring out what that could be. At first we thought mixed nuts, and then we thought granola bars... but my boyfriend is pretty high maintenance. He is prone to getting sores in his mouth, cause by the weirdest things; oats, walnuts, sesame seeds, peanuts, coconut.... So as you can see pretty much all store bought granola bars and nut mixes are off the table. In the end is it such a bad thing? All the store bought ones he wants are full of sugar and when you buy the nut and fruit mixes there are often lots of sugar or salt on the fruit and nuts. 

So I went on a mission: To make home made granola bars that tasted delicious and were good for you. But I could only use almonds or cashews. I looked at so many different granola bar recipes on pinterest. But soooo many had oats in them. It was really hard to try and find one that met all of our requirements, but I did find a few that I wanted to try.

Today I made Chocolate Date and Nut Bars from A Tasty Love Story's Cocoa & Cashew Bars. I essentially made these according to their recipe, but as I don't have a scale I changed the measurements to cups. In the future I would make some changes. I don't think the coconut oil is entirely necessary and might remove it as just two tablespoons adds 28 grams of fat. I would also add some chia, flax or hemp seeds to try and up the protein in them. But for now, if my boyfriend likes them, then I will be happy and ready to change them up for the next round. These are Vegan, Paleo, Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free, and could easily be made oil free. I look forward to trying a different kind of granola bar for next week!

Isn't it a great rich colour?

Chocolate Date and Nut Bars

Makes 8 bars, alternatively could roll into little energy balls.

1/2 Cup Cashews

1/2 Cup Almonds

1 1/2 Cup Dates (I used matazafi dates as they are really soft and gooey)

2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder

2 Tbsp Coconut Oil

1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F and roast nuts for 15-20 minutes, until lightly browned.
2. Blend Almonds in food processor or blender until finely chopped/semi ground, remove and place in medium sized bowl.
3. Blend Cashews for a shorter amount of time, just until roughly chopped remove and place in bowl with almonds
4. Place remaining ingredients in the blender or food processor and blend. I'll admit my blender did not handle this very well, I did as much as I could and then I just put them in the bowl with the nuts.
5. Mix the nuts and date mixture together in a bowl until you get a well mixed sticky dough. I used my hands and this was a sticky delicious mess. 
6. Place mixture in a lined pan, I used an 8x8 square pan, press the mixture down into a firm square with a spatula and place in the fridge to set for 1-2 hours. 
7. Remove from the pan and cut into desired shapes, I cut mine into 8 bars.

Nutrion Facts

1 serving = 1/8 of the recipe

Calories: 237

Protein: 4.25g

Fat: 11.34 g

The bars are full of whole foods that do nothing but feed your body exactly what it needs. They are great to grab if you missed breakfast and you need to run, or for a pre or post workout snack...or if your boyfriend just to get you to the end of your work day. I think that I met my goal of a healthy granola bar that my boyfriend will enjoy, we'll find out today after we go to the gym! 

Cinnamon

xx

insta: @cinnamonheartvegan

twitter: @cinnamonheartv

Healthier Vegan Dal Makhani

Hello!

Today I am going to share a recipe of a dish I love, but isn't normally very good for you. Dal Makhani. My boyfriend is Indian and that means he has taught me so many good Indian dishes, but a lot of them are heavy on the butter, oil or cream, Dal Makhani being one of those dishes. If you have never had Dal Makhani you are missing out. It is a rich, and hearty, very satisfying dish. But this dish is traditionally definitely not vegan. Makhan literally means butter in Hindi so it's pretty obvious there is supposed to be a lot of that.

Dal Makhani with Rice

I wanted to have the creamy delicious dish, but with less calories. I based this recipe off of Veg Recipes of India's recipe here. Their website is absolutely amazing for vegetarian Indian dishes, but they are not vegan for the most part. There are different kinds of Dal Makhani, Dharba Style, Restaurant Style, and Home Cooked Style. This I would say is a mix between dharba and restaurant style. I replace the butter with margarine, though in the future I think I would like to try it with coconut oil instead, and I replace the cream with Silk's creamy cashew milk which is really delicious and very low in calories. The kind of lentils you need are called Urad Dal or Black Lentils see here, I find them at my local Save On or Fruiticana. You should be able to find them at an "ethnic" food store, or if you have a well stocked grocery. You want to buy the whole black lentil, not the split ones. Enjoy!

Dal Makhani

• 1 cup Urad Dal (can take out 1/4 cup and replace with 1/4 cup of red kidney beans)

• 3 cups water for pressure cooking (+extra if needs more cooking)

• ½ cup finely chopped onions

• 1 or 2 green chilies, chopped

• 2 tsp ginger garlic paste or 6 to 7 garlic + 1 inch ginger

• 2 large tomatoes or 1 cup tomato puree (I usually use salt free canned diced tomatoes and blend them)

• ½ tsp cumin seeds

• 2 to 3 cloves

• 2 green cardamoms

• 1 small cinnamon stick

• 1 small to medium bay leaf

• ½ tsp red chili powder

• 1 cup of water or add as required

• ½ cup Silk Cashew Milk (You can use any plant based milk you prefer,  I find this the creamiest)

• 2 Tablespoons of Margarine

• salt as required

1. Soak lentils and kidney beans if using over night or all day in water, then drain and rinse.
2. Place the lentils and kidney beans if using in a pressure cooker with 3 cups of water, place on high heat and cook for 20+ whistles. Pressure cooking is more of an art than a science and you really will just need to check a few times to see if they are done. They should be very soft, squishable between your fingers. If when you check they aren't done, add more water and pressure cook for an additional 5 whistles at a time. Once done keep the lentils, and their water aside.
3. In a heavy bottomed pot heat margarine over medium heat and then add whole spices: cumin seeds, cardamom pods, bay leaf, cloves and cinnamon stick. Saute until they are aromatic.
4. Lower heat to medium and add the onions, cook until soft and golden.
5. Add ginger/garlic paste and green onions and cook until the raw smell of the ginger/garlic paste goes away.
6. Add tomatoes and chili powder, simmer until you see the margarine releasing from the sides.
7. Add cooked lentils and kidney beans if using, and their water to the pot, with 1 cup of water (or more if necessary) and stir. 
8. Simmer on low, with no lid for about 25 minutes, stirring frequently and adding water as necessary. It should not be too thick or thin.
9. When the gravy has thickened enough add the cashew milk, stir, and turn off the heat. It is ready!

Dal Makhani with Chapatti

You can eat dal with rice, chapatis, or naans. Feel free to throw some fresh chopped cilantro on top, I just hate cilantro with a firey burning passion.

Now that you are eating Dal Makhani, you can listen to the song Dal Makhani! It's from the movie Dr. Cabbie which is really good, about a young Indian doctor who moves to Canada for a better life. It's got comedy, drama, and romance, what more can you ask for?