Crunchy Mama?

A friend of mine once defined herself as a “Crunchy Mama”. Before that moment, I had never heard of that title. Have you heard of it before now? No? I’ll explain.

You know that friend or person in your family who only eats organic, non-processed foods? The one who made her own baby food by pureeing fresh fruits and veggies rather than buying the little jars with that pudgy-faced baby on the package? The one who has banned refined sugar from her home forever?

Crunchy Mama.

Back when I heard that name, I was most definitely NOT a crunchy mama. I’m still not, really. I have white sugar in my home. Once in a while my kids eat Kraft Mac and Cheese. There are still boxed cheese crackers and microwave popcorn in my cupboard. I don’t use buckwheat (not that there’s anything wrong with buckwheat!).

I do, however, have leanings towards being crunchy. I don’t ever buy (outside of the mac and cheese named above) processed boxed meals. I cook from scratch… all the time. I try to avoid additives and preservatives as much as possible.

I don’t buy packaged cookies anymore. I bake my cookies and have a cookie jar on the counter.

I would call that crunchy tendencies, no?

Today, I actually laughed at myself. I came across a recipe for homemade chewy granola that was both peanut and gluten free. As I scanned the ingredients, I thought, “Oh, and look! No refined white sugar. Just honey!”

I think I may be crossing over to the dark side, slowly but surely.

And I’m totally fine with it. Yikes.

Crunchy Mama status, here I come!

Gluten Free (and Peanut Free… and Dairy Free!) Chewy Granola Bars

½ cup almond butter (I used Barney Butter)

1/3 cup honey

¼ cup oil (your choice – coconut, canola, veggie)

1 cup oats

1 cup total of any mixture of sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, coconut flakes, dried fruit, mini chocolate chips, etc… be creative!)

In a medium saucepan, melt almond butter, honey and oil together over low heat.

Remove from heat and add the oats and the 1 cup total of your extras (I used coconut, dried cranberries and mini chocolate chips). Stir together and pour into an 8x8 pan.

Refrigerate for 2 hours and cut into bars.