Granola Bar Bites

Holy cow, it's hot. We've been having some unusual and warm weather up here in Michigan. It's kind of weird, actually...walking around in flip-flops and shorts when the beaches are still winterized with their fencing and hidden sidewalks. At 80 degrees, we actually turned on our air conditioner. The little one's room is quite small, and it heats up rather quickly (as does she) so we've had to regulate things around here. I'd actually prefer to keep the windows open myself, but doing what's best for her in this case wins out hands down.

I've been itching to get back out for a pavement run, but alas, to the gym I went this morning and hauled out three miles. Two on the tread, one on the track. It's safe to say I worked my butt off, having finally felt comfortable pushing the speed up a bit. I walked away with a sweaty red face, which is always a good sign.

It's been some time since I've been able to achieve the sweaty red face.
How I've missed it.

And speaking of missing things, I had an itch last night to make some granola bars so I pulled up an old recipe. But I made a major change which ultimately led to these:

Granola bar bites. Freakin' yeah. They're good. And good for you. I stashed two in the diaper bag (in a container, of course)...

...and ate them in between my run and my errand run. Yeah, I run errands when I'm sweaty and stinky:

Just sayin'.

Back to those bites. They're super good, and you need to make them. Here's the recipe:

GRANOLA BAR BITES
Inspiration: Oaty Cranberry Granola Bars

Ingredients
• 1-2/3 cup oats
• 1/3 cup oat flour (Pulse oats in the food processor.)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp wheat germ
• 1/3 tsp ground flaxseed
• 1 cup dried fruit (I used berries, raisins and pineapple.)
• 1/2 cup crushed almonds
• 1/2 cup crushed peanuts
• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Splash of water
• 1/2 cup honey

Directions
1) Combine all ingredients and mix completely. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

2) Preheat oven to 350F. Using a cookie scoop, scoop out dough and form into a solid and compact ball—this is important! Bake for 15 minutes.

3) Cool for five, then put on a dinner plate and cool in the 'fridge until they're completely cold. Transfer to an airtight container and store. Or eat. Whichever comes first.

This another one of those recipes that's highly adaptable. I'm already bummed that I didn't add Chia seeds. And the whole cooling in the 'fridge thing? Clutch move to keep the "cookies" from crumbling. I'm serious.

In other news, my prize pack of Chobani Champions from Nature Mom's Blog arrived today.

Dudes, I am so stocked with yogurt right now! I got six 4-packs in a combo of two flavors. Orange Vanilla and Vanilla Chocolate Chunk. Since I gave up sweets (chocolate) for Lent, I opted to dig right into the Orange Vanilla.

And I have no regrets about it. This is technically a kid-friendly food, but kids eat adult foods so whatevs.

I'm glad the expiration date on the Vanilla Chocolate Chunk is well after the end of Lent.

Question: What else would you add to the recipe above? Or how would you change it? And is there a kid-friendly food that you can't get enough of?