I had a really rough few days this week.  I don’t want to get graphic but it was not pretty.  I don’t normally like to share the “woe is me” type of stuff on my blogs or even on social media {Facebook or Instagram} but I feel like we are on this journey together called life.

If you have been following Spoonful of Health you may have seen we brought two feathered friends into our family.  We had Flicka and Cinnamon, our backyard chickens, just over one month before the bandits figured out how to break into Fort Knox! Mother nature can be so barbarous sometimes!

This raccoon was clever {apparently they all are so beware} and worked really hard to get my girls. We are heart broken but I must say my daughter handled it better than me, because I wanted revenge on the coons {of course without hurting them}!

They were in unison pecking away at the melon!

Here Cinnamon is jumping to retrieve a tomato for a treat before my daughter could get it to her beak! She was our “kitty hen” because she liked to be rubbed under her neck and would let us hold her.

I suggested we trap the coon and send it packing but Adriana was concerned it was a hungry mother with babies and the mini bandits would be orphans.  Thank God someone had their wits about them.  Boy it hurts right in the gut every time I look outside for my chicks, and I don’t see them pecking or peeking in through the door for us.

They had such an amusing way of walking and bobbing their heads or scratching the ground to turn up a bug to eat. We often would “bug hunt” ourselves just to feed them a treat out of our hands!

Backyard chickens {pasture raised} are really a great experience and the eggs are very nutritious.  I highly recommend it but know what predators you have and go above and beyond to protect them.

Right now we have a vacancy sign on the Hen’s coop but I am still trying to figure out the course of our plan with consideration to the bandits.  I read cayenne pepper deters raccoons and don’t laugh, but I ordered a motion-sensor activated alert night guard!  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

So between dealing with the aftermath of losing our chickens and my attempt for a nut free chocolate chip cookie that went bad {3 times was not a charm this time around}, I was empty handed on what my post would be for this week.

Enter my dear friend, Lori, is extraordinary in the many hats she wears. I especially admire her diligence as a mother.  She inspires me and goes the extra mile for her family- always! She saved the day when she modified one of my recipes and made it her own amazing creation!

Here you have the Hawaiian inspired, low sugar yet sweet treat that Lori calls Aloha Bars!!  So thank you Lori for listening to my chicken woes and feeding me with such inspiration!  I dedicate this post in Honor of Mother’s Day to you {and you too dear mommy reader}!

Aloha Bars {paleo, raw, vegan, dairy & gluten free}

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Total time

15 mins

 

Author: Dawn Rofrano

Serves: 10

Ingredients

• 1 cup soaked macadamia nut
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• ½ cup dried apricots {about 16}
• ½ juice of orange
• 1 tsp orange extract
• or 8-10 drops orange oil
• 1-2 tbsp. raw honey *optional
• or few dashes stevia *optional

Instructions

1. In a food processor, pulse nuts, coconut and apricots for 1 min.
2. If you didn't have time to soak nuts as long you may need, add 1 tbsp. water.
3. Add extract or essential orange oil to juice and add to mixture.
4. Pulse until ingredients are blended well and it sticks together.
5. Taste and add honey or stevia if you like it sweeter.
6. On a cookie sheet with wax paper flatten out into a 10 x 4 block and 1 inch thick.
7. Enjoy right away, refrigerate for up to a week or freeze them up to a month.

Notes

If time is of the essence, you can soak the macadamia nuts for an hour. Over night is best in fresh water and then empty and refill with clean water. The nuts will last in the refrigerator for a few days. Just change the water when it is cloudy. You can change the nut choice to almond or walnuts too. It has a very Hawaiian flare to it with the orange and macadamia nuts. I love using apricots to sweeten my recipes because it is a whole food and lower in sugar than dates. If you cut these into 10 bars you are only eating about 2 grams of sugar. If you need it sweeter the honey does the trick but if you want to keep it on the lower glycemic scale, use stevia.

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