Root Newtrition: Homemade Lara Bars

As we are updating our kitchen, one of everyone's favorite additions is the pantry. We've never had a real pantry before! The kids (at ages 2 and 4) feel so independent when they can open the door and help themselves to a snack. Knowing this, I have stocked the shelves at toddler level with snacks that I don't mind them helping themselves to- even when I am not looking. Their shelves hold things like sunflower seeds and nuts, raisins, banana chips, fruit leather, and "baby food" packets of fruit/vegetable smoothie types. I love that even when given a choice, my kids will usually prefer snacks a Lara bar, Cliff bar or Z bar over a candy bar!

I am a firm believer in making as much of the food we eat from scratch as I possibly can, and every day I get a little closer to eliminating our dependence on processed foods. To clarify my view of processed food, I heard once in a documentary "processed foods are any food that goes through a building before it gets to you". This statement really hit home for me, and a light bulb went off over my head! Such a simple truth that had never occurred to me. So here we go, one more step in reducing the amount of buildings between my family and our food...

Instructions:
This style of snack bars really couldn't be easier to make! I wish I had known this years ago- I will never pay $$ for the store-bought ones again!

Combine ingredients in food processor beginning with nuts/seeds, then fruit, then lemon juice (driest or hardest to softest).
Press firmly in a glass baking dish (metal would probably work just as well, but I don't have one so I can't attest to how easily the bars would remove).
Chill and cut out. I only chilled them because I was afraid that they wouldn't hold the "bar" shape. I am not entirely sure this step is necessary, but we were happy with the results!
That's it!