I passed on taking the morning walk today because I wanted to tackle a few jobs in the house that were niggling at me. Having dispensed with those minor irritations I sat down at my computer with a large mug of Cider Vinegar and Honey.
I had woken this morning feeling as though I had a load of gunk on my chest and I wasn’t successful in coughing it up (sorry for this detail). I have no idea if this is Virus #2 lingering on (it does linger, oh, how it lingers!) or just a manifestation of hay fever. What I do know is that if I do catch the current nasty then I want my chest to be as clear as possible before I start.
One thing that I have always found effective in loosening up my chest is vinegar. My favourite application is a good Chinese meal – a really tangy Sweet and Sour does the job beautifully. When we were kids our mother used to make up big jars of homemade cough remedy based on malt vinegar, onions and brown sugar. Clearly the same principles at work. That’s why I headed to the honey and vinegar brew. I haven’t coughed for the remainder of the day so perhaps it did the trick.
For whatever reasons I am aware of feeling a little bit low today and desiring a little treat. Mr L loves a little treat with his afternoon coffee whether he’s low or not. So I had a ponder and decided that I probably had the wherewithal to knock up some Granola Bars.
The recipe that I use is a Low-Carb version. Even though we are not adhering to Keto at present, it seems prudent to eat as well as we can. Besides, I like these very much! There is no sweetener in them other than the natural sweetness of the nuts. Slightly salty, slightly spicy and with a hint of vanilla… they are delicious and they contain CHOCOLATE. What’s not to enjoy?
Full of good things, like nuts, seeds and chocolate (did I mention chocolate?) these bars are very good. It’s tempting to eat more than one but necessary to remember that they are high fat and calorific. They are deeply sustaining, so it is worth pausing for a few minutes after the first one to register a feeling of fullness and the lack of need for a second bar!
Today’s bars didn’t turn out very good-looking. I confess that I put little effort into their production and I also made them by hand as I wanted to use the Magimix for something else later and couldn’t be bothered with excessive washing up.
It was interesting though to find that in fact, these were the nicest batch that I have yet made. I had to substitute Pecans for Walnuts (having used those up last night) and I chose to sub Peanut Butter for Tahini (Mr L isn’t fond of Tahini). The chocolate was 90% cocoa – previously I have used 99% chocolate bars. It may be that the less challenging nature of the chocolate used made these bars a little more accessible.
As written, approx 3g carbs per bar.
I am now going to undo all of that conscientious low-carb work by making…
…Potatoes Dauphinoise!
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