Healthy Banana Oatmeal Bars

I often wonder how some people got into college.  I'll be sitting in class and someone will say something that makes me stare at them and think, "Were the admissions people high or did you just have a really good letter of recommendation?"

In my fiction writing class, I think this a lot.  My befuddlement is pushed even further as I begin to peer edit my classmate's pieces.  I realize that not everyone is eloquent; refined speech does not necessarily mean intelligence.  Nor does intelligence necessarily mean refined speech.  You'd think, though, that the people taking a fiction writing class would at least be fairly proficient in writing.

Wrong.

I thought this would be the case, until I spent thirty minutes yesterday trying to sort through a piece with so many grammatical and structural errors that I felt like I was reading something by a grade schooler.  The formatting was all wrong.  Misspellings were rampant.  And he practically threw Webster's dictionary to the wind by using words in any way he pleased--even if they made absolutely zero sense in context.

His poor piece looked like a Jackson Pollock when I was finished with it.

I'm not looking forward to when we discuss his piece, purely for the fact that I think we will be hard-pressed to find anything positive to discuss.  And we already had to deal with the creepy character sketch guy last week who proclaimed after our discussion, "I can write conflict.  I just wanted to do something different."

This, after our professor went on for no less than four weeks about how the root of all fiction is conflict.  Once again, how do some of these people get into college?!  Luckily, I have some delicious granola-bar-cookies to get me through awkward peer editing discussions.

(Like that transition there? It's clunky and effective!)

These can be made in either bar or cookie form.  I chose cookie because I am driven purely by laziness and didn't want to wash a baking dish.  Yes, I realize I am ridiculous.  The ingredients list is short and wholesome.  They're vegan.  They're tasty.  They're simple.  Need I give you any more reason to make them?

Banana Oatmeal Bars

Sorry for the awful photo -- but these are too delicious not to share!

Ingredients:

2 very ripe bananas

1/4 cup appleasauce

2 cups oats

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1/2 cup coconut

dash of cinnamon

chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, mash the bananas.  Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until combined.  Scoop generous portions onto a prepared cookie sheet, pressing the dough into a flat disk.  Bake for 25 minutes, until the edged are slightly browned.

Serve with a smear of peanut butter for an added protein boost!

Source: A Modern Gal