Granola Cearal

OK time for the granola cereal recipe. Sadly, I will be giving it to off memory because my computer failed to save it (probably user error). This should help you a lot though and of course you can adapt it to your own family. I am sorry on the delay for this post.  Since there was a delay don’t forget to look for the clues to the giveaway mystery box.

• 2 cups of creamy peanut butter
• 6 cups of rolled oats
• 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chips (as many or as few as you want).

1. In a saucepan on medium warm the peanut butter, agave nectar, and brown sugar till it is almost liquid. Make sure you stir constantly or it will burn.
2. Line a baking pan with wax paper or foil.
3. Mix oats and liquid mix in the pan. This is best done with your hands.
4. Put chocolate chips on top.
5. Press entire compact.
6. As for baking I baked at 350 for 35 minutes and put in refrigerator over night.
7. Once they have set just pull up the wax paper and it will begin to crumble.

I am not sure how long this will store in a ziplock bag as my kids ate it all in a week. It cost about the same as a box of cereal and I knew exactly what was in it. I may not have got my granola bars but the cereal was a fantastic mistake. A small amount in milk fills my kids up quickly. I also gave them some dry and it seemed to be a nice energy perk while we played at the park.

Advertisements

Abracadabra! The Granola Bar is Now Cereal! Part 1

Yesterday I attempted to make homemade granola bars. Have I told you I can cook but I can not bake? If not, now you know. I thought these would be easy.

First let me clear up some confusion; its hard to go to the store and buy granola. Being new to being healthy I did not realize with the oats and honey and such you are actually making the granola. Boy did I feel dumb when I looked up the definition of granola. Anyways, I looked at several recipes and found I did not have this or that for each one. UGH! I did not feel like a trip to the store so I got creative! I took a little but from 4 different recipes and combined it while crossing my fingers.

Just like with the ingredients my cooking methods were a combination. To start with I mixed my wet ingredients and my sugar in a pot and cooked it on medium till it was runny. I had to do this twice, so remember STIR! The first time I put my ever handy Robostir  in to the job. Typically this works great to stir things for me but the mixture was too thick and burnt. The second batch came out much better!

I went to line a pan with wax paper only to find out my only option was tin foil. Oh well, I figured maybe it would give them some crisp. The trio of recipes all had different “cooking” methods; bake , refrigerate, and just let sit. I mixed my dry ingredients and mixture in the pan by hand. I did as all three recipes said and packed it down tight. My bars got topped off with some chocolate chips and tossed in the oven an 1/2 hour. I thought it wont be long and I will have a yummy and gooey treat. Wrong! After allowing it to cool it still fell apart.

Methods 2 and 3 now needed to be tried. I covered my creation and let it sit a few hours only to see it crumbled. This time I had hubby pack it really tight and it found a home for the night in the refrigerator. This morning was like Christmas for a kid untill I saw my still crumbling “bars.” I was sad but this failure was no shock. As I said I cannot bake. Hubby got smart. He tossed all the crumbles – big and small –  in a bag and told me we had cereal. Hmmmmmm. Just maybe we was right.

The girls LOVED it. All three ate every bite and did not complain about being hungry an hour later. Overall it cost about the same as a bag of cereal and I know whats in it. We will be making Granola Cereal more often with different varieties! Tomorrow I will post a recipe and a picture!

Giveaway Clue#1 Step by Step you will get healthy! Win the giveaway and you can take a step towards measuring your daily health!