Date Nut Bars

In the kitchen I am the human equivalent of ten natural disasters rolled in to one. Tsunami, squall, earthquake, hail storm, blizzard, hurricane, tornado, volcanic eruption, locusts, and raging wildfires. I'm great at reheating and okay with pasta salads but give me any other recipe and it will turn out only barely edible. My foray into a quote unquote easy date/nut bar did not go exactly as planned. But here's the recipe I kidnapped from the @foodwithfeeling Instagram account with slight alterations by me.

• 12 Medjool dates

• 1 1⁄2 cups of nuts (I used dry roasted & salted cashews, dry roasted & salted peanuts, and sunflower seeds.)

• 2⁄3 cup of Enjoy Life mini chips

• soupy nut or seed butter to drizzle over top - optional

As directed, I soaked the dates in water for a few minutes to soften them but I was too lazy (big surprise) to drag out the food processor, so I threw the dates in my Bullet and spun them round and round. Then I tossed in the nuts and seeds. Yeah, the nuts became dust, which was clearly not the intention. Whatever. I smooshed the mixture into a Pyrex container then melted the chippies on low heat, stirring til they were ready to pour over the date/nut slab. I topped it off with plops and drags of Sunbutter and crumbles of the date/nut mixture, tossed it in the fridge and waited. They actually taste pretty good but I think next time I'll follow the directions to the letter and use the food processor so the nuts remain nuts.