Honey Oat Granola Bars

On Black Friday I bought three cookbooks. I didn’t really need them but they were A Taste of Home cookbooks so I knew I would be able to find recipes I would like and want to spend time adapting for one or two. I promised myself I would try a minimum of 5 recipes from each cookbook.

This is the first recipe I tried from Taste of Home’s Best Loved Cookies and More cookbook. I chose to make the granola bars because I love them but had to give them up when I started removing processed food from my diet. I have tried making granola bars before but they all turned out to on the dry and crunchy side. There is nothing wrong with that but I prefer my granola bars on the soft, chewy side. These granola bars are soft and chewy and stay soft and chewy even when you leave them on the counter with only a towel over the for several days.

Feel free to experiment with different seeds, nuts, chips, kinds of flakes and extracts. This is a recipe you never have to make the same way twice.

• Difficulty: Easy
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Ingredients
2 cups oat meal
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 chopped salted peanuts
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chip
1/4 cup sunflower kernels
6 TBS butter, melted
1/3 cup honey
1/2 tsp vanilla

In a bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, peanuts, chocolate chips, and sunflower kernels. Stir in butter, honey and vanilla. The oats will be crumbly. Press into a greased 8 x 8 inch baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until browned. Cool on a wire rack 15 minutes and score with a knife. Cool completely before removing from the pan.

Adapted from A Taste Home’s Best Loved Cookies and More

Cranberry Baked Oatmeal

A challenge has been given and accepted. My coworker is rabidly anti-cooking for yourself. Deb insists it is too expensive and a steady diet of processed food isn’t going to have any negative effects on her health. Deb doesn’t believe me when I tell her my average weekly food budget is usually under 40 dollars a week and I eat very well for that amount of money. Deb wants me to prove it so I am.

For the month of November, I’ll be posting menus, grocery lists and receipts from all my food shopping trips, in addition to my normal recipes. It is possible to eat well and healthy on a budget.

I have many recipes like this one from Lauren Smith’s blog, The Oatmeal Artist, to keep us from getting bored.

Cranberry Baked Oatmeal