Girli's Groovy Granola Bars

I've been called a hippie-chick many times in my life.  I suppose because I've always been pretty in-tune with nature...free-spirited...tree-hugging...music-loving...peace sign-flashing...tie-dye shirt-wearing...  amongst other things.  I probably found the love for most of those things being raised by two "once upon a time" hippies.

That's my mom and dad...mere months before I was born.  Look how young and cute and free-lovin' they were!  Man, if only you could see my parents threads better in the picture on the right....I'm tempted to "undo" the collage just to show you moms red, white and blue platform sandals and dads white-ish hightop chucks...what a gas!   

So, lately I've just been waxing nostalgic for some reason.  Maybe it's because I've been foraging in my own yard and getting my hands in the dirt, planting veggies a lot lately... maybe it's the Dead albums I've been vibin' on ...or the grass I smelled drifting on the air a few days ago...whatever the skinny...my inner peace-child is showing.

Girli’s Groovy Granola Bars

Yield: ~20 (2 x 3 ½”) bars

2 c. rolled oats

¾ c. whole wheat flour

¾ c. brown sugar, packed

½ c. wheat germ

¼ c. Whole Flaxseed Meal

2 c. groovy goodies: I use hazelnuts (½ c.), pepitas (½ c.), sesame seeds(¼ c.), shredded unsweetened (or sweetened if it’s all you can find) coconut (½ c.), poppy seeds (¼ c.)

1 tsp. sea salt

freshly grated nutmeg- a few scrapes

½ c. coconut oil

¼ c. honey

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tsp. pure almond extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 13” pan well, then cut a long piece of parchment or foil to fit long way down center and hang over the end (this will make for easy lifting once baked). Grease that as well.

With your hands, mix together first 8 ingredients (groovy goodies count as 1 ingredient). Once they are well combined, add remaining ingredients to bowl and prepare to get messy. Work your hands through the mixture until everything is evenly moistened. The dry ingredients will just be moist and tacky, but there shouldn’t be any patches of flour left.

Using your hands, press the mixture into your prepared pan.

For chewy granola bars, bake ~20-25 minutes. For crunch granola bars, bake ~30-35 minutes. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes, then carefully lift the whole thing out and place on cutting board. Make your cuts now, while the bar is still warm. If you forget and they get hard before you’ve cut them into individual bars…don’t fret! Simply crumble it up and eat it in granola bits!

Delicious, nutricious, flavor-licious...can you dig it?  I do have to site a couple of known inspirations for this post...first off, Kim and her Hippie Rice Salad post in which she showed and old photo of her folks...and second, Stephanie and her granola bars, which were the starting point for mine!  Both of these hip chicks laid down some far-out posts...

You chicks are welcome to chill at my pad anytime.  Just don't tell the man...cuz that would totally harsh the vibe- if ya get my drift. 

The fuzz simply don't dig the hippie lettuce...they're just a bunch of jive turkeys!

I remember the days when munchies didn't cost me all my jing*....

You don't even have to be stoned to scarf some of these babies down...groovy Mama!

Peace, love and granola!

I am submitting this post to My Meatless Mondays, Just Another Meatless Monday, Two for Tuesdays Blog Hop Carnival, Tuesday Twister, Wholesome Whole Foods and Vegetarian Foodie Fridays (click on the badges below for more info on each).


*fun slang words from the 70's found here.  I woulda worked 'em all in if I thought you woulda kept reading...

Wishing everybody a safe and happy 4th of July filled with family, friends and FOOD...whether you're in the U.S. or on the other side of the world...let FREEDOM ring!