Granola Bars Part 3

I have an amazing husband for many different reasons, including he loves to cook and bake. I really liked the last homemade granola bars we made, but he wanted to experiment and come up with his own recipe. They turned out amazing!! They are a little more cookie-like, but they cut into bars well and really stay together like "regular" granola bars.

Here is his recipe:

Matt's Homemade Granola Bars
3 cups oats
1 cup rice krispies
1 cup flour
4 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter
3 eggs
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Mix together all dry ingredients. Melt butter and mix in brown sugar and peanut butter until smooth. Combine dry ingredients with butter mix. Add in eggs and mix well. Allow to cool before adding in chocolate chips. Put in pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool before cutting into bars. 

$$ On a money-saving side note, Walgreens has a great deal now on toilet paper and paper towels. They have 12 rolls of Cottonnelle toilet paper for $5 and 6 rolls of Scott paper towels for $5. If you spend $15, you get 3,000 Walgreens points, which equals $3. There are also coupons for $.55 off the Cottonelle and $.75 off Scott. So, I got 2 packages of Cottonnelle and 1 package of Scott for $15 minus the $3 for the points and minus $1.85 for coupons, so all three for $10.15 or $3.38 each. That makes the toilet paper $.28 a roll and the paper towels $.56 a roll!

Granola Bars Part 2

Last night we got almost 5 inches of snow. The kids and I had fun playing in it today, going for a walk and building a snowman. Tonight for dinner, I opted for easy-peasy chili with grilled cheese (on clean, all-natural bread). Simple, warm and filling! For my chili, I just brown 1 to 2 lbs of ground beef with 1 cup of onions. After the meat is cooked through, drain off grease and add in 1 large can of tomato paste and 1 can of kidney beans. Add about 1 to 2 cups of water and let it all simmer on the stove.

Also this week we tried another granola bar recipe my SIL suggested. They set up much better and we were actually able to cut them into bars. They also tasted good...so good, in fact, they only lasted two days ;)

 

Homemade Chewy Granola Bars
1/2 cup peanut butter or sunbutter
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup coconut oil (or another oil of your choice)
1 cup oats
1 cup total of any combination of:  sesame seeds, coconut flakes, sunflower seeds, dried fruit, mini chocolate chip (we used mini chocolate chips)

In a medium sized saucepan, melt together peanut butter, honey and coconut oil.

Remove from heat and add one cup of oats.  Choose your favorite combination of coconut flakes, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, dried fruit and mini chocolate chips, to equal a total of ONE CUP. Pour in and stir well.

Stir well, then spread mixture into a 8×8 or 9×4 pan.

Chill for two hours, then cut into bars.

Wrap in plastic wrap for a quick grab and go snack!