Little Bug & The Wolf

Once upon a time there was a girl named Little Bug who was cousins with Little Red Riding Hood. They both had a lot in common: they were beautiful, had a bold sense of style and they had a thing for wolves. And while Little Red Riding Hood feared them, Little Bug would fall in love with wolves trying to change them, make them love her and respect her like they might have done so once upon a time. And while everyone in the village would look at Little Bug and tell her to leave her most recent Wolf before he devoured her heart, she would stay with hope tightly nestled in her hands. Which begs the question, where does one find the strength to leave?

There is no question that this easier said than done. I know from personal experience that some of the times it feels as though there isn’t a way out. It becomes consuming, toxic and devours our heart, soul and well, in my case…clean laundry. Yep, that’s right, laundry is the first one to go for me and in the past I’ve found myself picking clothes off my floor like a teenager wondering if the item was clean.

**Pit sniff.**

Thank God those days are behind me.

Then there’s diet. If we can take a moment to analyze what we’re eating, we might just see that our diets are a pure reflection of how we feel about ourselves and what we think we deserve. Which is where we can begin taking our power back.

POWER BACK BARS

1 tbsp coconut oil
½ cup rolled oats
½ cup quinoa flakes
¼ cup ground flax
1 ¼ cups chopped mixed nuts (almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds)
¼ cup oat bran
1 scoop of vanilla protein powder
1 ½ cups unsweetened crisp brown rice cereal
1 cup dried cranberries coarsely chopped
¾ cup brown rice syrup
¼ cup rapadura sugar
½ tsp fine grain sea salt

Grease an 8” x 8”baking pan with coconut oil. Mix nuts, oats, protein powder, oat bran, cereal, cranberries together in a large bowl and set aside. Place rice syrup and sugar in a pot and bring to a boil until it thickens a bit – about 4 minutes. Pour over oat mixture and stir until the syrup is evenly combined.

Spread into the pan and cool to room temperature before cutting it.

Makes 16-24 bars.

While there is sugar in this recipe, understand there’s a fair amount of fibre and protein to help balance insulin levels. Generally for breakfast I’m looking for something a bit more substantial, so I’d save this for a mid day treat. It’s amazing comfort food and if you can’t stomach much else because you’re going through a lot, then a granola bar that contains oats to nourish the heart meridian and packs a lot of punch can certainly help you regain your power back.

Now I’m not saying seeing our true potential is easy – in fact, I grapple with it myself. However when we’re at such a low we attract much of the same both with food and our relationships. So instead, maybe if we can dig deep, build an inspiration toolbox that we can pull from and fuel our bodies with the necessary components, we just might be able to pull out of the mess we’re in. As for Little Bug, maybe it isn’t about having the strength to leave the Wolf that she should consider, but rather having the strength to let go of the part of her that keeps her with him.