recipe | good for you granola bars

spelt? millet? seriously?... For the past few years I have been plagued by chronic back pain. I've always just thought it was something as simple as being out of alignment. Well, the other week I received the diagnosis that I actually have a progressive disorder with my spine that will only continue to get gradually worse. The outlook I was initially given was pretty bleak, but since then I have connected with a great source who filled me in on incorporating a PH balance into my diet. In a nutshell, our bodies tend to be too acidic in our normal diets. The goal is to increase your alkaline level, thus helping reduce the inflammation around your joints, helping to decrease your daily pain. So I look through some of the ingredients that I should be adding into my diet and they are things like spelt, millet and buckwheat. What in the world is spelt?

I'll be honest, I love all foods way too much to ever fully adopt one diet lifestyle. I have no problem incorporating more alkaline friendly foods into my diet, but I will never abandon my breads and cheeses. I rather deal with some pain and happy taste buds, than little pain and no delights. So I have been on a quest over the past few days to stock up on some healthy additions to my pantry and then find some yummy ways to use them.

First up were these extremely tasty good-for-you granola bars. The thing that I love about granola is that you can pretty much incorporate anything you desire into the recipe. I'll share with you mine, but feel free to substitute as you desire. I have to say, these bars came out absolutely delicious and you can make a batch on the weekend and store the individually-wrapped bars in the freezer for a quick anytime treat.

Good-for-You Granola Bars

1/3c raw wheat germ

2/3c spelt flakes

2/3c rolled oats

1/3c buckwheat groats

1/3c spelt berries

2/3c sugar

1/3c oat flour

1/2tsp salt

1/4tsp cinnamon

1c dried fruits (I used a variety mix)

1c nuts, chopped (I used almonds)

1/3c almond butter

1tsp vanilla extract

1/4c honey

2T light corn syrup

6T melted butter

1T water

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Stir all the dry ingredients together in one bowl. In another bowl, whisk together all the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dried and mix together. The mixture will be slightly wet, but not clumpy.

Lightly grease an 8x8 pan. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and press down gently to mold mixture into the pan.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until the edges begin to brown. Cool in pan for 30 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack until completely cooled. To easily cut these into bars, refrigerate for 30 minutes, then use a large knife to cut into desired bar size. Refrigerating the bars prior to cutting helps cut down on the crumble factor. Store in the refrigerator or wrap individually and freeze for later snacking.