Work from Home & Baked Ragi Chocolate Hemp Bars(gluten-free, vegan)

I have been working from home for 8 years now. I know many folks who have been forced into a situation to do so now due to the lockdown, are finding it difficult. They struggle with the way things seem to flow. They are wondering how what they viewed as a work-life balance approach has ccompletely changed into what we call work-life integration. As days keep changing, they find it difficult at times orient themselves towards a life which does not seem to have ‘Monday blues’ or the ‘Friday vibes’. Well, that’s the truth for all those who thought work from home is a ‘benefit’. When it suddenly became a necessity, you discover the truth about all the times you might have passed a joke or made a judgement about a colleague who was working from home. It’s brutal because it has no boundaries of time. Or space. Or people.

Not everyone has the luxury of a separate space to make a home office in.

So remember work from home is a necessity for many of us – it was that way even before the pandemic hit the world.

And we have to work even harder on our self-care and nutrition to ensure that we can manage this delicate balance of work and home. Day after day. Year after year. My go-to snack recently has been this Baked Ragi Chocolate Hemp Bars. They have a beautiful mix of flavours and one is sufficient to keep you full for a long time. It makes for a delicious snack even for children with just the right amount of sweetness from raw unrefined sugar.

Recipe –

1 cup Ragi flour

1/4 cup Hemp Powder

2 tbsp unprocessed unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup raw unrefined sugar

1/2 tbsp melon seeds

1/2 tbsp chia seeds

1 tbsp Almond Butter ( you can use any other nut butter like peanut or cashew too)

1/2 cup Almond Milk ( use only as much as is needed to bring the dough together)

Method –

1. Mix the ragi flour and hemp powder together with a whisk.
2. Add the sugar and keep whisking.
3. Add both the seeds and mix well.
4. Add the almond butter and rub it into the mix with your fingers.
5. Slowly add the milk only as much as is needed to bring the dough together.
6. Grease a rectangular or square baking pan and keep it ready.
7. Use a spoon to place the mixture inside the pan and press it into the pan.
8. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes, at 170 degrees C ( this is the same temperature at which to preheat for 10 minutes)
9. While it is still warm, use a sharp knife to cut into bars.
10. Allow it to cool off and then take it out of the pan. Store in air tight container.

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