Homemade Snacks

I spend a large chunk of our grocery budget on snack food. I hate it. Every time I throw a box of goldfish or granola bars into the grocery cart I cringe a little. I've thought about going without them and forcing the kids to eat fruit and veges only, but that's not realistic. Our afternoons are a whirlwind of backpacks and binders as we try to get homework done. I don't have time to chop fruits and veges. The kids also have to take a snack to school and the teachers prefer a "dry" snack. I get it. I wouldn't want to clean up twenty applesauce and ranch dressing spills either. So I buy snack foods because I feel like I don't have another option.

But I do. I was complaining about this a while back and my husband suggested that I could probably make all of these snacks from scratch. I let that idea float around my brain for awhile until I knew that he was right. I really could make most of these snacks. And I could do it with real ingredients, no yucky chemical extras.

I decided to start with the easy one. Granola bars. And I did it. I made a product very close in texture to the Nature's Own Crunchy Granola bars that we love. I'm thrilled with them and so is my family.

Next week: Goldfish. Only, I don't have a fish cookie cutter, so we'll call them cheese circles. Oh, and I found a recipe for "twinkies", not that they're one of the snacks I buy, but I think it would be pretty cool to make some.

I can already tell that this is going to be a fun little challenge. My success may stop at granola bars, but that's alright. The fun is in the trying.


Crunchy Chocolate-Banana Nut Bars

2 cups oats
1 1/2 cups finely chopped walnuts (can substitute other nuts)
1/2 cup flax seed
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup dried banana chips, finely chopped (can substitute other dried fruit)
1/4 cup chocolate chips (opt.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread oats, walnuts, and flax out on a cookie sheet. Toast in the oven for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, combine honey, sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.

Reduce heat to 300 degrees. Add oat mixture to the liquid mixture. Stir in dried bananas and chocolate chips. Turn out mixture into a prepared baking dish and press down evenly. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Allow to cool completely. Then cut into squares. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.