of tart cherries and another of apricots. Both plain, nothing added to them, just water taken away. So what if they get a little dark? Still great snacks, loads of energy in small packages, and nothing artificial about them whatsoever.
I also make a big batch of granola (sometimes leave it in big chunks for "bars" instead of crushing it) about once every other month or so. Almonds, sunflower kernels, oats, honey, sesame, walnuts or pecans, peanuts, and so on.
Another goodie is what I call Anadama bars. Sprouted seeds, usually wheat or barley or mung beans or alfalfa (almost always a mix of some or all of these, actually), ground into a paste in a regular hand-crank grinder (like for sausage or relishes). No motor powered devices like blenders, they get too hot and you don't want to cook this stuff at high temps, destroys too many enzymes and vitamins.
Once you have the glop all ground up, you add some olive oil (tablespoon or two, to help keep down the stickiness) and either sunflowers, almonds, peanuts, sesame seeds, etc, roasted and ground pretty finely for a binder, a little sea salt, and then pat the mess out on a well-oiled cookie sheet. I use sesame oil for this, I like the flavour that adds. Cut it into rectangles or squares, not too big each, and be sure both sides have a little oil on them.
Since my big oven doesn't go below 170F I use a food dehydrator to "bake" this, at around 145-150 F until it's dry and sort of chewy. If it's summer and sunny, I just leave the dehydrator outside in full sun to do the cooking. It's covered, the plastic the dehydrator is made of happens to be (sheer dumb luck here) of a sort that blocks a lot of ultraviolet so it doesn't kill all the vitamins and enzymes in the sprouts.
Taste may take a little getting used to, but they're -packed- with dietary good-stuff, and one square a day will keep you healthy, vitamin-wise, when your diet may not be too well balanced for some reason.
I carried this junk on extended hiking trips, as well as a sprout bag and a baggie full of various seeds, for fresh sprouts with my camp meals. I can truthfully say that the flavour of "Mountain House" freeze-dried turkey tetrazini is very greatly improved by the addition of a big handful of radish and alfalfa sprouts. VERY MUCH improved. And nutrition out the EARS.
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