My KIND of Day
Thank you all for the kind birthday wishes yesterday. I’m surprised you even knew it was my birthday!
I was so touched by how many of you Tweeted, left Facebook messages, emailed, and sent me coupons for $5 footlongs at Subway (I can’t accept it, it’s too much!). I’m just now getting around to thanking you because we got home late last night from Cirque de Soleil, and then this morning the girls wanted things like “breakfast,” getting their “hair done,” “rides to preschool” and an explanation of “where spiders go when they die.” I imagine this is a lot what Ken Paves life is like.
A few highlights of the birthday, before I get around to returning the kindness:
Pilates.
(“I shall call her, ‘Mini Me.’”)
Presents.
(Having a two and four year-old “help” you open presents is like having David Hasselhoff “help” you drink a bottle of wine.)
Peas.
(A dragonfly made out of peas that holds my rings whilst I cook? Ingenious!)
The Cirque de Soleil show was amazing, but in hindsight maybe not the best birthday choice as I have never felt so old or clumsy in my entire life. I felt like Kate Gosselin on Dancing With the Stars. I can’t even get up and down the bleachers in my 3-inch pumps without the assistance of a handrail and Pea Daddy’s arm and you are sitting on a chair balanced between two poles held by men riding a bicycle on a tightrope fifty feet up in the air?
Happy 82nd birthday to me. Pass the heating pad and BenGay.
We’d had plans to go out to dinner after the show, but it was two and a half hours long and we needed to get back to the girls, so we ate Whole Foods salads on our laps while we drove to rescue Mimi and Poppy from yet another song and dance performance. They only know about half the lyrics to “Single Ladies” and “Hot and Cold,” so it makes for a long, confusing night.
Mimi did have a special request for me, though, so in return for all of her and your kindness, I thought this would be the perfect morning to skip a shower and make all of her dreams come true.
I was surprised and excited when my mom asked me to try to replicate one of her favorite foods with a recipe of my own. She’s always been supportive, but I think she was waiting for this whole “vegan thing” to fall by the wayside along with a lot of my other ambitions, like teaching myself to play guitar, entering figure competitions and oil painting canvases to hang in our house. I could have done all those things.
Mimi’s recipe request? A homemade KIND bar that doesn’t cost $1.79 a pop. Challenge extended.
Challenge accepted.
My KIND of Bar
- 2 T. flax seeds, measured prior to finely grinding
- 1/2 c. maple syrup, agave, honey or a combination thereof
- 1 t. salt
- 1 c. roasted almonds, coarsely chopped
- 1 c. unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1/2 c. chopped dried apricots
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grind flax seeds and combine in a small bowl with syrup, agave or honey and salt.
Coarsely chop almonds and apricots,
and add to a large bowl with coconut.
Pour in flax mixture and toss until evenly coated.
Spread batter into an 8×8 pan that has been coated with nonstick spray. Bake for approximately 25 minutes, until bars are slightly browned and edges are crisp.
Let pan cool only slightly before cutting into bars. If they are too warm, they will not stay together (though you can press them back together), but if they are too cool, you’ll have to chisel them out. Like Goldilocks, they have to be just right.
So there you go, Mimi. Act surprised when you get a batch with your Mother’s Day gift.
Now I’ve got to go practice my guitar, while lifting weights, painting and eulogizing a spider. Call me what you will, but I’m not the quitting kind.
Sweet recipe! I love the cashew almond KIND bars so adjusting the ingredients for those would be a breeze and be delicious!
That ring holder is so perfect! I want/need one! I always have a mini-panic attack while cooking about losing my rings.
The KIND bars look delicious! I will have to go to the bulk bins at Whole Foods and try creating some.
OK, i’m making these tonight after i pick up almonds and dried apricots. HOLY HEAVEN they sound good! and waaaaaaaaaaaaay less expensive than KIND bars
My daughter likes to “esser-size” with me too
Those bars look divine!
Happy birthday, belated! Looks like a GREAT recipe! I’ll all about saving money and making my own healthy bars is a great way. My kids will love these. Thanks!
I love Kind bars – they are so delicious! I can’t wait to try these instead of spending all my good shoe-shopping money on packaged bars.
That pea dragonfly is adorable! I really love your hair curly.
Now I’m gonna go before this comment gets any more random.
Those bars look fantastic. Happy Belated Birthday, Mama Pea!
those look awesome – i’ve been weirdly into apricots these days.
annoying question – do you keep track of the nutritional info for the stuff you make?
Not annoying! I usually don’t calculate the nutritional info, but you made me curious (especially knowing how easy this would be to figure out). Here’s what I just calculated: if 1 pan makes 12 bars/servings, then each serving has: 172 calories, 9.5 g fat, 19 g carbs, 2.5 g protein. I think that’s about what a real KIND bar is!!! (I’m overly excited by this, obviously) Hope that helps!
I am so glad you had a nice birthday! Ok, I know this post is about bars, but all I notice are your cute outfits! Love the dress and the pink striped tank! I think you should do a fashion post
…or at least tell us where you bought the dress
HA! Lara, you crack me up. The striped tank is Target and those are my pjs.
The dress I bought on my traffic ticket day at a local boutique, but the designer is Hazel, and they have a LOT of cute stuff online here.
Happy Belated Birthday!!!
Sorry…I was definitely out of the loop this weekend. :-/ Glad to hear you had such a nice day!!!
Those kind bars look delicious and so simple! They may be making an appearance with MY mother’s day gift as well!
Yay! Love KINd bars but they are pricey to enjoy all the time. Thanks for the delicious recipe, and happy belated!
josh won’t take me to cirque… maybe when i’ve had two of his babies i’ll have better luck.
vita-mix??
The road show is at Costco a week from today, so we are going to consider it a belated Mother’s Day gift and go pick it up then.
Your blog is so inspiring, and your daugthers are so cute!!! I am a student right now and I have a lot of time before becoming a mother, but let’s say you are a really good model….maybe one day i’ll have my little family…..great blog, great recipes….! thanks!
I was actually drooling over KIND bars yesterday at Starbucks and decided not to spend the approximately $74 dollars it costs to buy one. I’m excited to try these!
Glad you had a great birthday!!
Love the “mini pea” working out with you, so adorable! Sounds like a great birthday, and recipe!
Those Kind bars look amazing! I am definitely going to try that recipe. Looks like you had a great birthday
Awesome re-creation! Those types of challenges ar always fun. Did they turn out chewy, or more crunchy? (I’m sure Mimi wouldn’t want anything less than true KIND bar authenticity, now … then again, you could just tell her that she gets what she pays for!)
I was actually pretty happy with the texture…they aren’t terribly chewy and are very crunchy. I put mine to keep in the fridge to keep them firm and from turning soggy.
HA! That ‘Hoff crack was priceless. I totally get what you mean.
I think I’m going to buy myself a pea dragonfly and hope it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy that I’ll soon have rings to hang on it.
happy belated b-day! sorry i totally missed your b-day! i feel like such a bloggie bum!!!
i’m glad you had an amazing day…you deserve it!!!
those bars look amazing!!
<3
First time commenter…I just discovered your blog over the weekend – love it! Happy belated birthday and those bars look awesome
I am glad you had a great birthday! I have never had a kind bar before. I will have to give these a try some time!
Oh that pea dragon fly is the cutest thing EVER!! Can’t wait to try the KIND bars. Don’t you just love Cirque du Soleil? Saw them in Vegas it was the best!!! Hailey
What a great post! Happy (belated) birthday, Mama Pea!!!
That pea/dragonfly ring holder thingamabob is precious! LOVE THAT! You & your Mini Me doing pilates is adorable, too.
HAHAHA to Ken Paves. That’s great, as is the Hoff joke.
Every day you win my heart more and more! Pilates hottie! Also, I love the photograph of you and Gigi reading the birthday card. There’s something so lovely in that picture, and you look positively stunning.
Happy Happy birthday
Sounds like ya’ll had a nice night 
These bars rock. Totally making these with cherries for the husband. Thanks for the idea 
You all are so cute it’s ridiculous! Also loving on the ring holder. How clever is that! I love Cirque but do have to close my eyes sometimes.
Kind bars look fab! I have all those ingredients too!
I’m a new reader and love your blog! This recipe looks great and I can’t wait to try it.
I need a safe place to put my rings too. I’ll have to keep an eye out for something equally cute! I have found that pregnancy has made my fingers change size throughout the day. My rings fit, and then all of sudden, they are cutting off circulation!
So glad you had such a nice birthday
That is so cute that your daughter does pilates with you! I was always intimidated by my mom’s tae bo workouts when i was younger.
It sounds as though you had a great birthday! Which Cirque show did you see? I’ve seen a couple and loved them both – those acrobats and contortionists are amazing!!!
Your Kind bar looks exactly like the ones I’ve seen on other blogs! I’ve never tried one, but it looks pretty darn close to the original…maybe even better?
I’m glad you had such a great day!
We saw Kooza. It was incredible. I wish the girls were old enough to sit for 2 1/2 hours. That’s challenging for me even!
I’ve made a few of your recipe but I will be making these tonight! I love those bars but not the price
I see some hot arm muscles going on, Mama Pea!! Your hard BFL work is paying off!! You look amazing!!
Those kind bars look great!! I will have to give these a try, for sure!!
Happy birthday! Glad you had a great night! Gigi really follows along on the pilates, huh? I’m impressed!
These are so perfect, simple, and awesome looking! And a much better value than umm about 2.79 per bar or whatever they get for a Kind bar. I JUST opened a bag of dried apricots that I’ve had laying around for a few months, yesterday. I think I know what I need to do with them if I get inspired!
Happy 18th bday, again, too!!!! I’m turning 21 next month!
xoxo
Those bars look really good. I love simple recipes like that where you know everything you will be eating. I’m saving this one.
Here it was your birthday and you give us a treat! You look great whatever your age is!! You take such great care of yourself, you will be around forever.
happy belated!!! i love your outfit!! aww i love the daughter/mother yoga pic
what advice would you give someone trying to gain weight? i really admire you and all your insight:-)
Thanks Katie. I’m not a nutritionist or a dietician by any means, so I would first start there. I have no knowledge of what conditions you might be experiencing (either physically, emotionally or a combination thereof) that would make you underweight, so I really can’t say with any degree of certainty what would be right for you. I do know the basics, though, and that is the more calories you take in and the less you burn, the more weight you will gain. So I guess to sum it up, that would be “Eat more, move less.” I know you are looking for something more specific, but not knowing your situation, it would be irresponsible for me to say anything more. Please email me if you want to talk about this more.
Happy Birthday!!!
LOVE those bars
OMG OMG OMG – did you see Kooza, by any chance? I recognize the circus tents from when they came to Chicago. I loved that one!
You look so purty with those curls
What a spectacular birthday – love the pilates and that pea ring holder is AWESOME.
The homemade KIND bars look out of this world delicious. Happy birthday once more, Mama Pea! What a fantastic day, indeed!
Homemade everything is so good; you’re very creative (still have a young mind
).
I hope you’re not saying anything bad about heating pads and bengay… well at least not about icy hot!
Katherine
i just tried a kind bar for the first time today – so glad you put up a recipie for one because i dont think the $2 price tag along with my starbucks addiction is really great for my college student budget!
I am so sorry I missed your post yesterday and more sorry that I missed the chance to wish you a happy birthday!!!!! If anyone deserves the most amazing day, it’s you. You are superwoman in my opinion!
So glad you enjoyed your birthday girl.
Those bars look great! And easy!! Can’t wait to make em
Happy Belated birthday to you!!!
That bar looks amazing!!! Thanks so much! And WOOHOO for your mom wanting to have you dream one up! Baby steps…. LOL!
Happy Belated Birthday! It looks like you had a fantastic birthday
Thanks so much for your super sweet comments! I absolutely love your blog and you are such an inspiration. I hope that if I have kids, I can as awesome as a mother as you!!
ah, what a birthday!
and i still have yet to try a kind bar…too expensive. i’ll have to try your version!
Awww – lovely pics, Mama Pea!
I´m glad you have a fun birthday
Thanks for the amazing recipe!
Have a great night
Brazilian XOXO´s,
Gabriela
You and your girls are too cute.
Those bars look great!
Glad to hear you had a great birthday! Love the Pilates action!
I have suddenly started to pay attention to what is playing on the radio. Nothing like your 4 year old wanting to sing “save a horse, ride a cowboy” at his preschool talent show.
you are so beaaaaaaaaaaaaautiful!
I love your hair curled like that! So cute! now if you’re like me, did you have to wash, dry, straighten, and THEN curl it to get it that way? Yep..me too.
Maybe I’ll do the same for my birthday this weekend! If I’m too tipsy from wine tasting.
Love that cute picture of you an Pea Daddy by the way! You two are adorable! And your “Mini-Me” doing pilates with you? Sometimes your blog is just too cute to handle!!!
Big (birthday) hugs!!!
Actually, I just diffuse it and then touch it up in a few spots with the curling iron. You should try skipping that straightening step!
Which Cirque show did you see? Take the girls when they are a couple years older – they’ll love it!
I had a Kind bar today, but homemade is always better. Love the recipe!!!
We saw Kooza, and yes, I can’t wait to take the girls!
Glad you had a good birthday and cirque du soleil sounds fun! Those KIND bars look amazing, I must try those stat!! You’re genius!
Those bars look AMAZING! Thank you so much for posting them! Culinary genius! Looks like you has a fantastic birthday!
Can I just say you are a complete babe? You make me want to hit the pilates mat and make some granola bars pronto! Happy birthday beautiful!
happy belated birthday! Great arms btw.
Omg, the Ken Paves line made me laugh harder than I’ve ever laughed at a blog! SO true. I just picture Jessica S: “But Ken, then where do spiders go when they die?” Hysterical.
Happy birthday!
Ohh my goodness I love KIND bars! Thank you thank you for posting this recipe!
But I want to know what was in the packages in the background? What did you get besides the dragonfly? Happy birthday again dear MP, can’t wait to see you at Gigi’s bday party! I still can’t believe our children are going to be 5, it’s NUTS.
Just found your blog, LOVE the name, that granola bar type thing looks awesome! Can’t wait to keep reading.
YAY i am glad you had a good birthday! and i LOVE that ring holder. how genius!
and during this whole post i was waiting to see if you were eluding to alecia silverstone’s book or the nutty, yummy bars of the same name. i was happy to see it was the bars because i LOVE them! the protein bar is perfect because it has equal carbs/protein and a lot of healthy fat
BUT. so pricey. momma b is gonna love me when i make her a batch of these. she’s always crying about the cost of the bars.
<3 you! so glad i had a chance to catch up! i am still on hold, by the way.
Oooh, MUST try that recipe! I am on a granola bar kick. Check out the ones I just made: http://balancingme.com/i-dont-have-time-to-eat-clean-and-a-recipe/ If you try them, let me know what you think!
You are GORGeous!!! Your birthday looks awesome! Thanks for the at home KIND bar recipe…my huz + I looove them but I hate that they use soy lecithin. Seems so unnecessary! Can’t wait to try them out!
You look amazing!! Happy birthday!
I totally love your little pea dragon fly for your ring. I’m surprised I haven’t lost mine yet from how much I take it off for gardening and cooking. haha
You just gave us each a birthday present, too! I love KIND bars, but never buy them because they’re so $$$. And… now I think I will have tried all of your bars!
Glad you had a nice birthday, lady.
Is the pea ring holder home made or where did it come from?? It is adorable!
They found it at the carousel gift shop (go figure). It’s made by Seagull Decor Co. Ltd., if that helps.
HA! I literally LOLd at that picture and comment about Ken Paves life.
mama pea, you look stunning!
Just made these bars…..OMG!!! Delicious. Thanks for another wonderful recipe!!!
Happy belated birthday! Love the mama/daughter pilates pictures. That is SO cool!
for the flax seeds, is that 2 tbs already ground or 2 tbs whole then you grind them? i think it makes quite a difference. i can’t wait to make this for my yoga teacher!
have a lovely day!
xox
You are right, Mandi, it does make quite the difference! It’s 2 T. whole flax seeds and then you grind them!
Just got done eating a KIND bar then I read this! Haha, now I’m going to go make them so i don’t have to spend so much money just because its packaged.
I love your blog!! How did you go from the recipes in a KIND bar to your own recipe?! I want to make my own Nature Valley Peanut Butter Crunchy Granola Bar but I don’t even know where to start!
I just looked at the ingredients and kind of played with what I thought would work. I love those Nature Valley bars! Maybe I should take those on too…
You’ll probably have more success than me given you’re way more experienced but if I manage to surprise myself with a fairly close recipe, I’ll let you know!
Do you think I can get away with using dessicated coconut instead of shredded? I’ve been eyeing these for forever but I just can’t find shredded coconut
Thanks in advance! 
I don’t know what dessicated coconut is, but I think it would work…
Just made these with dried cranberries instead of apricots. DELISH! Thanks for the fabulous recipe! Can’t wait to try the chocolate-drizzled pumpkin protein donuts next!
Glad to have found this recipe can’t wait to make almond coconut bars, just tried my first Kind bar from the local Roots Organic Store…$2.29 this is way cheaper and I’m sure just a good. Thank you
Still one of my favorite recipes, hands down. Enjoy!
Great recipe thanks this will save huge dollars. I made a batch the other day just like the one’s from the store. I omitted the apricots and I used ribbon cut coconut unsweetened I also used 1/4 tsp less salt and would probably cut that to 1/2 tsp next time. I also used 1/4c maple syrup (genuine) and 1/4c honey. These were the best. I toasted the almonds in the oven first at 350 for 13 minutes. Thank you for posting this. You could definitely do tons of variations.
Do you know how much flaxseed you would need if it was pre-ground?
Approximately 3 T.
Has anyone ever used soy lecithin in home recipes? I LOVE the coconut almond Kind Bars and notice that soy lecithin is on the ingredient list. I looked it up and it works as an emulsifier and to decrease stickiness. I’m going to make some bars for the first time and wonder how much lecithin to mix with my honey.