You often hear people say why not to get dogs. You have to train them, take them out, buy dog food, get them groomed and they occasionally puke on the carpet.

Well here is the argument back to that, dogs are good for your health! My dog encourages me to get out and take her running or swimming, its exercise for her and me. Owning a dog can help reduce stress, stave off loneliness, control your mood, and help lower blood pressure. Source

I have a miniature Australian Shepherd named Holly. I rescued her this past July from a neglectful situation, so every month she changes a bit and her personality comes out more and more. We had 3 or 4 days of bad weather last week so she was stuck inside, but the sun is out so I figured we could go running and then I would let her cool off in the lake.

We got home and I had 2 hours before yoga and I needed a snack to hold me over until dinner. I had some nuts, flax seeds and dried cranberries and wanted to make some sort of healthy bar. I looked at recipes from every website there is, but it seemed like none of them had what I wanted. They either had brown sugar, sugar, butter or shortening. Yuck! So I just threw some stuff together, made sure to write it down, and I got some good results!

They were chewy like Cliff Bars but the halved almonds, pistachios and cranberries gave the bar a nice crunchy/chewy texture. It was a great snack before a workout. If you are used to Quaker Oatmeal Bars, you may want to add some sugar, otherwise these are pretty darn healthy.

Natalie’s Darn Healthy Oat Nut Cranberry Bar
Yield: 8 bars

1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup flax seeds
1/4 cup almonds, halved
1/4 cup pistachios
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup honey
2 TBS veg oil (or any oil)
1 TBS soynut butter (or any nut butter)

(preheat oven to 325 degrees)

1. Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Add all wet ingredients. Stir with spatula until it is evenly moist and all the flour is absorbed and incorporated. (if dry and extremely crumbly add more soynut butter)
3. Grease a loaf pan and put all the mix in the pan and push it down as much as you can to make it flat and compacted.
4. Bake for 30 minutes or until the edges are brown and pulling away.

Cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting.