I am blessed with three growing brothers who love to eat. Mom and I have fun concocting dense, tasty snacks to keep them satisfied between meals. One day, I needed to come up with a snack for Austin. He had politely requested some sort of  bar that was filling, slightly sweet, healthy(!!!!), soft, and topped with dark chocolate. I was excited to remember a recipe that my friend Heidi had posted on her lovely blog a while ago. It seemed to fit the bill perfectly, so I made them that afternoon. These bars completely exceeded my expectations and I couldn’t wait to share them with you! Heidi graciously gave me permission to re-post the recipe on my blog. :)

What I love so much about this recipe is its flexibility and how much room for variation there is without compromising the taste one bit. Do you have older dried fruit in your pantry or baggies of nuts from leftover trail mix that need to be used up? Use them to whip up this delicious recipe. I have used combinations of dried apricots, pineapple, raisins, cranberries, apples, dates, walnuts, pecans, and almonds so far and have been very pleased with the results. Using peanuts or peanut butter would taste also great, but I don’t use them due to allergies.

This is a power bar at its best, folks! Tuck one in your backpack for a midday snack, eat a few for a meal on-the-go, or even try one for dessert! They’re just that good. :)

Nourishing Protein Bars

3 cups nuts, any kind
1 cup dried fruit, any kind
1 cup shredded coconut (we use unsweetened)
3/4 cup coconut oil, melted
2 Tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1/2 cup nut butter, any kind
3/4 cup chocolate chips (we like dark chocolate)

Grind nuts in your blender until finely chopped. I grind them in a single batch in our VitaMix, but if you have a different blender, you may want to process them in several batches. Transfer to mixing bowl.

Put dried fruit and coconut in blender. Add the honey, vanilla and salt on top of that. Add the melted coconut oil last and blend until it’s a thick paste (I use the tamper to press the ingredients into the blades).

Add this fruity mixture to the nuts. Add the ground flaxseed and nut butter. Mix well. Spread into 9 x 13″ pan. (or 10 x 15″ if you want thinner bars). Melt the chocolate chips and smooth over the bars. Chill until firm, at least one hour. Cut into small squares, as they are very rich. Store in the freezer or refrigerator. Enjoy!

Hello friends! I hope you all had wonderful Christmas and New Year celebrations. Our family did! We didn’t travel or do anything huge for the holidays, but it was great to worship the Lord as a family and reflect upon His faithfulness, play games, talk, read out loud, watch movies, take walks outside, and enjoy good food and each other’s company. Family is such a gift!

I have been enjoying this month-long break thoroughly. It is nice not having to worry about deadlines, papers and assignments due, upcoming tests, etc. Daily activities include getting back into the Spanish groove (woowoo!), photography, quilting, lots of cooking & baking, catching up on projects, time with my brothers, reading good books, getting trained in my new job as a server, time with friends, and……organizing my closet, hence the name of this post!

So several weeks ago Mom invited us to join her on a month-long challenge to clean out our rooms and organize them, eliminating clutter and junk. She put a large box in the hallway and beginning on the first day in January, we put in it one item to be thrown out, donated, or sold. On January 2nd, we eliminated two items. Today (January 3rd) we gave away three items. We plan to do this all the way to January 31st or until our rooms are clutter free. It has been great so far! Simplifying always feels good.

I started preparing for this challenge 3 weeks ago by “re-discovering” my wardrobe of clothing and shoes. Now I tend to get stuck in a rut and just wear the same few tops or skirts over and over again, so I was well overdue for an organizing spree. I went through each blouse, skirt, T-shirt, and pair of pants, trying them on and combining them into new outfits. There were some tops that I had avoided wearing for a l-o-n-g time for one reason or another, so decided to put them in the donations pile. There were also shirts hidden away that I had forgotten about. By the end of my organization, it felt like I had a completely new wardrobe simply by pairing my clothing into fresh outfits!

When I was younger, I didn’t care much about dressing in a classy or tasteful way. If it was modest and the colors didn’t clash too badly, I was happy! :) But this past year I’ve had so much fun trying a few new accessories, such as scarves, jewelry, boots, and hats. Thrift shops are the perfect place to go shopping for accessories, as many are only lightly used and much cheaper. I’ve also learned that just a few will go a long way. Simplicity is key, my friends! Accessories don’t have to be complicated. It’s amazing how much variety a couple of good scarves or a hat will give you.

I also did the same de-clutter with my makeup and hair tools. I cleaned out almost everything that I don’t use on either a daily or weekly basis. They only added unnecessary clutter and I haven’t missed a thing!

So now, with all that said, I’d like to encourage you ladies to do the same thing! :) Unless you’re a SUPER organized person, I think we can all use a wardrobe re-discovery from time to time. I know I can. Find your style and embrace it! If you need some inspiration, try looking up some blogs on modest fashion. Here are three that I enjoy:

Fresh Modesty

Natasha Atkerson

Bramblewood Fashion

That’s all for now, folks! Thanks for stopping by. I’m planning to post a review on some clothing products that I really like, so be watching for it! :)