Chocolate Cherry Quinoa and Oat Bars

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Happy Wednesday everyone! I have a great breakfast/snack for us today. As a vegetarian, quinoa makes a regular appearance in my dinners but now I'm happy to say I found a way to include it in breakfast! Here's a link to an article about the health benefits of quinoa over on Well-Being Secrets! Surely you can see why I'm so crazy about it.

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When I was working in LA, I would get to work SUPER early so I could go home around 2:30 - 3pm to beat the traffic. I'm actually a morning person, so it worked out well for me, but the one thing that I never worked out was my poorly timed hunger. I would try so hard to wait until 8 or 9am to eat my breakfast at work, but I was always too hungry/tired to wait that long. Then came the lunch issue. I would have a constant debate with myself from 10:30am until whenever I gave in and ate. It went something like this...

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Kristin: "Okay...it's 10:30am, that's way too early to eat lunch."
I get back to work and try to distract myself. Tummy rumbles 
Kristin:  "What if I wait until 10:45? That's practically 11am which is so close to noon which is definitely lunchtime. I can do it, I can wait."
Five minutes passes
Kristin: "You know what, I will eat half my sandwich. That's the practical thing to do. I will eat half now and half around noon. I'm pretty sure they say you are supposed to eat several small meals throughout the day anyways"
I eat half my sandwich before 10:45. It's now 11:00am....
Kristin: That sandwich was really good and I'm still kind of hungry. The other half is just sitting there next to me wanting to be eaten...
I eat the rest of my sandwich and am super jealous when everyone else eats their lunch at noon. I then go home and eat dinner around 3:30. Sigh.

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Fortunately, I don't have that exact problem anymore, but we all get hungry throughout the day and I think this bar is just perfect for those times. It's packed with protein that will keep you full for hours. Best of all, it's delicious. Seriously. It is really yummy. I drizzled some chocolate over them, but you could really go either way with them. You can leave out the chocolate and it will still be delicious or you can go crazy and add some chocolate chips, drizzle it over the bars or full out dip the entire bar in chocolate.

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I made 12 medium-large sized bars that would be perfect for breakfast. If you prefer to eat these as a snack, you can certainly cut them smaller.

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Chocolate Cherry Quinoa and Oat Bars
Makes 12 bars

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked quinoa (rinsed and dried)

1 1/2 cups old fashioned oatmeal

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

3/4 cup sweetened dried sour cherries

2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

2 tablespoons + 3/4 teaspoon honey, divided

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups unsalted roasted cashews

1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon + 3/4 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and spray a large cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, add the quinoa, oatmeal, coconut and salt.

Add the coconut oil and 1 tablespoon of honey and stir until combined.

Spread the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until the oats and coconut are a light golden brown. Take out of the oven and let it cool.

Meanwhile, prepare the cashews. Measure the cashews into a small bowl and pour boiling water over them until they are completely covered. Let them soak for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, drain and add wet cashews to a food processor or blender.

Add the milk, remaining tablespoon + 3/4 teaspoon honey, vanilla and cocoa powder. Blend until smooth.

When the oat mixture is cool, add it to a large bowl and stir in the cherries and cashew butter.

Line a 8x8 pan with wax paper and press the mixture into the pan. Using an additional piece of wax paper, use your hand to really press the mixture down into the pan.

Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour before cutting.