Through researching vegetarian eating with my daughter, I began to become educated on true pure nutrition.

I learned about Organic, about eating whole foods in their natural state, as close to the farm as possible. I learned the science behind raw foods and why eating Organic, Raw, and Vegetarian was so healthy and so important I began to experiment with different recipes and cook in a very different way. My husband bless his heart was supportive “You just cook your vegetarian way and if I want meat I’ll eat it for lunch or something” (4 years later he eats almost all vegetarian-some fish. A true healthy flexitarian diet + Oreos J).

I began to cook almost exclusively vegetarian and incorporated raw food into every meal. (Please know that there was and is nothing gourmet about this, we’re talking pasta, a salad and fresh peach cut up). Baby steps were the key, no pressure, if we ordered pizza one night I added cut up veggies, and some fruit to the kids’ plate.

Lunch box food was a real challenge for me. How many peanut butter sandwiches can a kid eat? I did fresh fruits, veggies, hummus, chips and salsa, but honestly, Anna was feeling really out of it…

The other kids: EWWWWW what’s that?

Anna: It’s called hummus

The other kids: That’s gross

She wanted a packaged food like everyone else. Something fun with bright colors she could open like all the other kids. I searched the natural stores for a healthy organic energy bar, something convenient that contained whole foods, no refined sugar. Big NOTHING. At the time there was really one organic bar and she hated the taste.

So back at home a few weeks later I was making a raw peach pie. The crust was organic dates and almonds. I thought it would be a great consistency for a bar and I just started adding things I thought were healthy- walnuts for Omega 3 fats, brown rice protein, agave nectar to sweeten it up and cocoa to make it taste like a brownie. It took a long time to get it just right, but I was kind of on a mission. I would make a pan of these raw chocolate brownies and cut them with a reindeer Christmas cookie cutter that I reshaped into a square (the reindeer cookies never turned out anyway-ears always fell off). I would wrap them in wax paper and put them in the fridge and pull them out for lunches and treats. “Anyone want a brownie?” hahaha if they only knew what they were eating.

The first Pure Bar had been born.