Here's something I used to make just about every week for that mid morning/afternoon snack. At one point I used protein powder in it for that extra boost but now I've altered my recipe yet again by omitting the powder and using quinoa flakes rather than rolled oats. At the end of the day it's a "muesli" bar that's soft and crumbly, not crunchy, uses fresh fruit juice to bind and is kept in the fridge. If you have a penchant for other varieties of dried fruits or nuts just go ahead and swap them around. Play around with it!

quinoa, fruit + nut bars

Makes 12 bars

• 1 cup quinoa flakes
• 1 cup almonds, whole
• ¼ cup dessicated coconut
• 100g dried apple
• 200g dried cranberries
• 200g dried apricots
• ½ cup fruit juice
• ¼ cup mixed sunflower and pumpkin seeds (plus a little extra to garnish)

Preheat oven to 200°C. On a baking tray place the quinoa, almonds and coconut. Mix together using your hands and spread evenly over the tray. Bake for 6-7 minutes until lightly golden. Allow to cool.

In a processor add the toasted quinoa mix, all of the dried fruits and seeds and blitz until finely chopped. While the motor is still running pour in the juice until it starts to come together.

Line a 20 x 25cm dish with baking paper. Tumble in the mixture and press down evenly and firmly. Sprinkle over some extra sunflower and pumpkin seeds and press those down as well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight before slicing. Simple!