Happy New Year!
It is hard to believe it’s already 2014. It’s even harder to believe I start my internship tomorrow! It seems like just a few months ago January 6th was millions of days away, well clearly it wasn’t because here I am, trying to figure out what ‘business casual’ outfits make it to my carry on. If 2014 is anything like the last few months of 2013, I am in for an incredible year! With that being said, I am proud of who I became in 2013. I became a better leader, professional, friend, and an overall well-rounded person. I had countless opportunities and experiences that contributed to all these personal gains that I am still so excited about, even months later. With that being said, I hope I can continue to expand my horizons, achieve more success, gain new opportunities, and have even more exciting experiences and adventures (and with my Europe trip planned I know I will)! And obviously further all foodie skills!
Hopefully I’m not too hypocritical when saying I don’t want to change much about who I am this year, but the holiday goodies got to me so I need to clean up my snacking habits back to how they used to be! (By holiday goodies I mean dozens of cookies and multiple sweet potato casseroles that were basically consumed by only me…still think it was worth it though!!)
So here is what I made the other day to take with my while I spend a week away from home: “Kind-of Bars”. They’re basically like the delicious Kind bar, except homemade!
Though a little sticky, they are absolutely delicious!
- -2 Cups Slightly crushed pecans, cashews, and almonds **
- -1/2 cup honey
- -Splash of vanilla extract
- -3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
- -Sea salt
**As long as you have about 2 cups of nuts, depending on your preference, the recipe will work. I made my mixture pretty even of the three though.
These are so simple and versatile to make! You can really add anything to the recipe, next I would like to try and drizzle a little bit of dark chocolate on them, or add dried fruit to the mix as well.
Start by crushing the nuts a little bit, you can buy them crushed or make this into a nice DIY project and use a mallet, like I did for the almonds! Combine those in a bowl. Next, pour the honey into the bowl and mix until everything is covered evenly. After the honey add the cinnamon and vanilla; stir until well incorporated. Empty the mix into an 8×8 pan that is lined with parchment paper. Make sure to push down on the mix so they are even and flat. Bake for about 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Once you remove from the oven, let everything cool (completely!). It took my batch about 40 minutes. When everything is cool, remove from the pan and pat down everything again. I suggest wetting your hands for whenever you are pushing down on the mixture to prevent sticking too much! Next, sprinkle some sea salt to the top of the giant bar. I swear the salt makes it! Finally cut into bars and enjoy! I was able to get 16, but it all depends on what type of serving you would like.
The Foodie's Thoughts 