Homemade Granola

Another recipe from The Happy Housewife, and another winner! The first batch I made didn't even get used for breakfast by the kids ~ it was munched on as a snack until the bowl was completely licked clean! (I did manage to sprinkle some on a bowl of yogurt for breakfast)

3 cups dry oatmeal
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup honey
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup wheat germ (didn't have so left this out)



First melt the butter in a 3 quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the honey and salt and stir well. Turn off heat and add the oatmeal and wheat germ (if using). Stir well, then pour the mixture onto a greased cookie sheet. Try to spread the mixture out as flat and evenly as possible.


Bake at 375 for 10 minutes (I baked mine for 15). It will be a golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool. Store in an airtight container.


GREAT breakfast or snack, easy to make, and very popular with the children. I plan to make repeatedly!

Homemade Trail Mix

This is a fun snack to make because you can put lots of different ingredients together and have several varieties of this! Below are the ingredients that I use most often:


Walnuts
Raisins
Dried banana slices (bought from our food co-op)
Dried papaya chunks (bought from our food co-op)
Chopped dates
Chocolate chips

Just put a small handful of each ingredient into a snack cup, and voila!

Homemade Popsicles

Is it hot where you live? Want a nice cold treat for your children but can't afford popsicles from the store? And you don't have a set of popsicle molds for making your own? Not to worry. Just use an ice cube tray!


I buy frozen concentrate lemonade or cran-raspberry juice (or some other yummy flavor) when it's on sale, mix it up, and then pour some into ice cube trays. Cover with saran wrap (you need the saran wrap to hold the toothpicks up semi straight) and then stick a toothpick into each cube for the "handle".

Voila! Lovely, ice cold treats to enjoy on a hot day.


You can make dozens of these from one can of frozen concentrate. A cheap, fun treat.

Crockpot Baked Oatmeal Bars

We ran out of bars last week and I decided to try this crockpot baked oatmeal recipe from crockpot365 (and in case you've never visited Stephanie's blog, she was just on Good Morning America and posted about that experience on her blog today! Plus she has lots of fabulous recipes - check it out!). I normally buy a large box of Nutrigrain bars at Sam's Club and we eat them as snacks on Fridays during co-op. Co-op is a long morning and by the time we finish it has been about 4 1/2 hours since breakfast. So during second hour all students are allowed to eat a snack. Because of the $500 food budget challenge this month, I didn't want to go buy more Nutrigrain bars, and this was just the excuse I needed to try Stephanie's recipe.

Crockpot Baked Oatmeal

3 cups rolled (not instant) oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 T flax meal (optional, and I left this out because I didn't have any)
1 cup milk
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup dried fruit (I left this out because I wasn't sure my kids would like it)

It was with high anticipation that I combined all the ingredients into the crockpot, achieving the described consistency of slightly runny (not goopy) oatmeal.



I cooked on low for 3-5 hours (my time was almost exactly 4 hours) and then checked for doneness. Stephanie said it would be done when the edges are brown and beginning to crust like this:


Yep! Edges were crusting and a knife came out clean from the center. It was done! I let it cool for 2-3 hours before attempting to cut. That is where it got tricky. I don't know if I did something wrong or if it is supposed to be crumbly, but it was not bar-like, it was more like oatmeal cake. It made it a little trickier to eat than I had envisioned (we really needed spoons) but the taste MORE than made up for the crumbs. It was as delicious as Stephanie said it would be!!! This tastes hearty and not as sweet as store bought bars, but it's not bland. My husband described it as, "knowing you are eating something that's really good for you, and liking it."

I gave each child two pieces of this "cake" in a tupperware container along with a few chocolate chips and slices of banana. Oh yes, and a spoon. :-) It was a delicious snack that all but son L enjoyed!


Verdict: My husband wants me to make it with raisins next time. I am already imagining all the various dried fruit options I can experiment with in this recipe!