Back to school and don’t we know it in this house. Every day after the magical sleep dust has been brushed aside the ‘blue one’ suddenly realises the true horrors of the day ahead, with the dawn comes another school day. This in theory should not be a shock to anyone, we have been following the same routine now for over a term but anyone would think we are sending the little love off to boot camp. There’s a lot of stomping and ranting, silenced only by breakfast. Another fight follows trying to get the team out the door and then, a bit like ‘peace descending on the battlefield’, all is calm. We walk/ scoot/ run to school, all angry words long since forgotten.

In spite of the morning rant, school is broadly speaking good. The one bit that is not is the food. At least not for the ‘blue one’ who is one of the most fickle eaters I have come across. Now this poses quite a problem. Breakfast to tea with only fruit mid morning makes a growing boy pretty hungry. The upshot is I pick up my little darling at 3.20pm to find a rather ‘hangry’ (hungry and angry) chap. It’s too early for tea and yet I have to give him something because frankly the wheels will come up, they may well do anyhow, but that belly needs sustenance!

The pink and blue are keen little chefs and they have been helping me cook a few new creations, one being these rather scrummy fruit and nut bars. Stuffed with dates, apricots, almonds, walnuts and oats they are my instant go to when ‘hangry’ boy greets me at the doors. These bars are a reflection of my new trend setting larder. Made with gluten-free oats, sweetened with apricots, dates, a smidgen of date syrup and maple syrup, they have no refined sugar or butter. Stuffed full of nuts and cooked with raw coconut oil they are our new healthy snack. They just about keep the jaws of hunger at bay and everyone sane till tea time – but not always!

Hangry Bars – Apricot, date and oat bars

100g walnuts

100g almonds (blanched)

100g gluten free organic jumbo oats – or just normal jumbo oats

100g medjool dates( remove stones)

100g soft dried apricots

35g hemp seeds / or pumpkin seeds or a combination of sesame and poppy seeds

50 g organic coconut oil

1 tablespoon date syrup

2 tablespoons maple syrup

Pre heat the oven to 170

Line a square baking tray (about 23cm x 23cm) with parchment paper.

1.Put the walnuts, almonds in a magimix and chop finely – remove and pop in a bowl and add the oats.

2. Put the dates (stones removed) and apricots in the magimix and whizz till finely chopped.
3. Add back in the nuts and oats, coconut oil (which is very hard – it will melt in the oven but the magimix will break it up more evenly), seeds, date syrup and maple syrup and whizz. The mix should just come together in a soft dough .
4. Press into the tin and bake for between 12 and 15 minutes. It will have gone slightly golden and come away from the sides of the paper. Leave to cool and cut into squares or bars. These bars will keep for 4 days in an airtight container. Perfect little energy pick me ups!

URBAN DICTIONARY: Hangry. When you are so hungry that your lack of food causes you to become angry, frustrated or both.