Granola Bars

I've been happy with the all-natural granola bar selections at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, but thought I might be able to save a little money by making them myself. There are several different, but very similar, recipes floating around Pinterest, so I decided to try one. 

The first picture shows all the ingredients...every one all-natural, except the crispy rice cereal, because I couldn't find all-natural crispy rice.


They didn't turn out quite like I expected...they did not stay together at all. Don't get me wrong, they tasted delicious but definitely did not stay in bar form. I had substituted agave for the honey, which probably didn't help. The honey would have helped them stick together better I assume.

So, I am going to try a few more recipes, but I may be sticking to store-bought. 
To be continued.... :)

No Bake Chewy Granola Bars

• 4 tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 cups plain granola (I used 1 cup granola and 1 cup oats)
• 1 cup rice cereal (Rice Krispies, etc.)
• 1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Process

1. Line two 9×5 loaf pans or one 11×7 inch baking pan (see tip #4 above if you want to use 9×13) with foil or parchment. Lightly butter or spray the foil. Set aside.
2. Combine butter, honey and brown sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the butter is melted.
3. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
4. Add the granola and rice cereal into the saucepan and fold them into the sauce until evenly coated.
5. Spread the mixture into the prepared pans and press firmly with a spatula to evenly fill. Sprinkle the chocolate chips onto the top of the granola and gently press them down with the spatula.
6. Let sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes or until mostly cooled and set; lift out of the pan and cut into bars.

Eating Clean Day 5--Granola Bars

Speaking of all-natural, check out G's "all-natural" spike and mohawk :)

















Breakfast--banana
Mid-morning snack--nothing 
Lunch--leftover pork carnitas and peppers
Afternoon snack--two spoonfuls peanut butter

Dinner--Pasta with meat sauce 
I found that Barilla's whole wheat pasta is all natural and tastes pretty darn close to regular white pasta. For the sauce I used Prego (all-natural!! Yay!!) and added in some lean ground beef. $$ Both Barilla and Prego go on sale every 3 months or so at Kroger and usually have a coupon during that time too, so I stock up when they are 10 for $10. With coupons, that means I can get Barilla for anything from free to 66 cents a box and Prego about $1 a jar. $$
Bedtime snack--nothing
Workout--P90X Plyometrics

My kiddos LOVE granola bars and cereal bars, but unfortunately, both are chocked full of preservatives. I found some natural ones at Trader's Joes and was pleasantly surprised that they weren't much more expensive than what I usually buy. 

Here's a look at what I usually buy...not a great picture, but the ingredient list shows lots of unpronounceable ingredients. 

 

Here are the Trader Joe variety...not completely void of preservatives, but better than the others. My next adventure will be to make my own granola bars to completely cut out additives.

$$ Saving Green Alert! $$

Usually, I stock up on the Fiber 1 and other granola bars when they are on sale and I have coupon, which means I can usually get them for about $2 a box. The Trader Joe granola bars were only $2.49 regular price...pretty decent!