Rainy days were made for cooking!

I work at a pizza place and you'd probably think that on my days off I would stay clear of the kitchen, but that is not the case. My days off usually have me trying out new recipes and taking the kitchen over for myself, and this day off was no different. I knew I was going to make the Larabars, if you haven't tried them, they are granola-y type bars made with only fruit and nuts, no added sugars or fillers, but the downside is they are ridiculously expensive. I had seen many recipes online on how to make your own versions so I figured my day off would be a great time to try it out. Since I was already on my way to the grocery store, I decided I should come up with something to make for dinner - kale soup! I have been craving kale lately and the crock pot has become my favorite appliance(just ahead of the food processor) so I knew how my day was going to go from there.

Supplies/Ingredients:

Kale soup -

1 bunch of kale

1 chopped carrot

1 chopped celery stalk

2 small or 1 medium diced onion

3 cloves of minced garlic

Small bag of baby potatoes cut in half

12 oz of sausage (I used vegan Smoked Apple Sage)

1 can of navy(or any white bean) beans

2 vegan chicken boullion cubes

5 or so cups of water

Salt and Pepper

Dash of sage

Dash of thyme

Larabars - 

Chopped nuts of choice(I used walnuts)

Apple of choice(I used granny smith)

Dates

Figs

Coconut oil

Coconut flakes

Dried cranberries

Oat bran

Cinnamon

I started with the kale soup knowing it would need to simmer for at least 4 hours.

The potatoes were just too cute to resist, though I'm sure any other potato would have worked just as well in this soup.

Full to the brim and ready to work its magic!

While being taunted by the smell of the soup, I got to work on the Larabars.

Using that trusty food processor, I chopped everything down to a size that is relatively the same - a little bigger than grains of sand. 

Here are the ingredients ready to be mix and matched for different varieties. All of the Larabars use dates and figs as their base and sweetener. They also all have nuts in them almost as a binding agent. I used the coconut oil to smooth the mixture out a bit, and when necessary I added the oat bran to thicken it up. 

Here are the three variations I made from left; Apple Cinnamon(based off of Larabar's Apple Pie), Cranberry Coconut and a mixture of the two(just to use up the rest of the ingredients).

I then patted the mixtures out on a cutting board and divvied them up. 

Ready for the fridge!

What good timing, once I wrapped up the Larabars, cleaned up the disaster of a kitchen and got the dishes started my soup was ready to eat! It was a bit early for dinner but I hadn't eaten lunch yet so this was a perfect mid-afternoon meal to fuel me back up for yoga tonight. Bon Apetit! 

--Heather