I wish I had more time to cook all of the fabulous recipes I come across in the food blog world. If I’m not creating my own recipes, I’m either eating out or eating on the run. Recently though, a girlfriend sent me this granola bar recipe and I knew I had to make it immediately. Not only did it feature my newest obsession, buckwheat grouts, but I also knew it was something that Bryan would love for breakfast and snacks.

Have you tried groats yet? Thanks to Kath, I have been putting them on just about every dish. I keep a bowl of toasted groats on the counter to sprinkle on smoothies, oatmeal, and last night- brussels sprouts! I kid you not. The obsession is real.

I’ve also been on quite the granola bar kick lately, making chewy bars, peanut butter chocolate bars, and Samoa bars- each one becoming a favorite. I really do love when BL begs me to remake items.

Mine turned out a bit crumbly, which was fine after we enjoyed the first few bars. I chopped the rest up to enjoy as granola. Hunks of groat bars on top of yogurt and blood orange slices? Divine.

What recipes from other blogs have you made lately?

I have a hard time keeping a straight face when someone tells me they enjoy granola bars as a ‘healthy’ snack.

Healthy, eh?

Let’s look at the ingredient list of Chocolate Chip Chewy Bars

GRANOLA (WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED OATS, BROWNSUGAR, CRISP RICE [RICE FLOUR, SUGAR, SALT, MALTED BARLEY EXTRACT],WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED WHEAT, SOYBEAN OIL, DRIED COCONUT, WHOLE WHEATFLOUR, SODIUM BICARBONATE, SOY LECITHIN, CARAMEL COLOR, NONFAT DRYMILK), SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS (SUGAR, CHOCOLATE LIQUOR, COCOABUTTER, SOY LECITHIN, VANILLA EXTRACT), CORN SYRUP, BROWN RICE CRISP(WHOLE GRAIN BROWN RICE, SUGAR, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, SALT), INVERTSUGAR, SUGAR, CORN SYRUP SOLIDS, GLYCERIN, SOYBEAN OIL. CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF SORBITOL,CALCIUM CARBONATE, SALT, WATER, SOY LECITHIN, MOLASSES, NATURAL ANDARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, BHT (PRESERVATIVE), CITRIC ACID.

Are we still calling this a healthy snack?

Ditch your packaged bars and make these instead. Not only do you have control over the ingredients, they taste much better than traditional granola bars.

And you save money. And wasteful packaging.

Hopefully you don’t need any more convincing.

Yes, these still contain chocolate chips (I still had to get BL to choose these over regular bars), and they contain a little sugar. Not nearly as much as the packaged kind though. Your choice of liquid sweetener; I used agave but you could experiment with honey or maple syrup.

Mmm. Chewy, chocolate peanut butter granola bars. And around 100 calories per serving as well.

Wham! Bam! These are kicking those quaker bars butts.

These will keep for two weeks in the fridge. Make a pan, slice them and eat as needed. They make a pretty good on-the-go breakfast as well.

DK’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Chewy Peanut Bar

1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown rice crispy cereal
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup agave nectar (or other liquid sweetener, see above)
2 tbsp. brown sugar
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
⅓ cup chocolate chips
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine rolled oats, flour, baking soda, brown sugar, salt and brown rice crispy cereal in a large bowl. Combine peanut butter and agave nectar in another bowl. Add the peanut butter mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir together, add the chocolate chips, and pour into a lightly-greased 8X8. Place a piece of parchment paper over the bars. Use a can or heavy object like glass measuring cup and gently beat down the mixture until it is compact and fills the pan.

Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.

Cut into 12 bars.

There’s a few things that are more of a luxury than a necessity when in comes to DIY food.

Homemade hummus: Often. I rarely buy store hummus unless I am in a major pinch and need something to spread on my carrots like yesterday.

Homemade bread: Rarely.There’s just not enough time in the day.

Homemade jam: Twice a year. Ideally I make enough to last us through the year. PB&J is an easy pantry staple, especially when I don’t want to go grocery shopping.

Homemade peanut butter: Always. Few store-peanut butters are peanut only and the one’s that are typically cost about $5 a jar. It’s a simple no brainer. In less than 10 minutes I can have enough peanut butter to feed a small family, without the added expense, salt, sugar and/or hydrogenated oils.

Peanut butter and apples is one of my favorite snacks. I keep a bag of apples and small jar of PB in my office for days when I need something to tide me over until after kickboxing or until I make it home.

My other favorite snack? Peanut butter on cinnamon raisin bagels. It’s my absolute favorite post-workout breakfast.

As I got to making my batch of peanut butter this week, I thought about combining those flavors into one.

Genius might the appropriate word here.

Fresh peanut butter mixed with raisins, cinnamon, and vanilla.

How did I not think of this sooner?

Ingredients:

4 cups peanuts
1/2 cup raisins
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Place 4 cups peanuts into a high-powered blender or food processor.

Puree for at least 5 minutes until very smooth. The consistency should be like creamy peanut butter.

Add raisins, cinnamon, and vanilla extract.

Puree for 2-3 more minutes.

Spread on toast, apples, or just eat it by the spoonful!

Have you ever made your own nut butters before? I hope I’ve convinced you to start! It’s very simple and taste a ton better than store-bought peanut butters.

There are a lot of things we eat in excess in my house. Topping the list: tomato sauce, spinach, frozen mango cubes, and salsa. I think BL single handily takes down a jar of salsa every week. Besides his chips and salsa obsession, salsa goes on most of his meal foods like salad, eggs, burritos, and more.

I have this very annoying compulsion to make most of my food from scratch. I’m sure I don’t have to dig too deep into my type-A personality to figure out where that need comes from, especially because I indulge it on almost a daily basis. Maybe it’s because most of the ingredients in packaged food disgust and/or scare me or that I like proving just how granola/do-it-yourself-y I really am. Whatever the reason, I also know that I get tired of buying endless amounts of salsa to feed BLs need, so I jarred my own. (P.S. Costco’s Kirkland Brand Organic salsa might be the best jarred salsa anywhere)

Thanks to my mother #2, BL’s Mom of Walnut Burger fame, I was gifted this recipe just in time for summer tomatoes. The other advantage of doing most things from scratch? You save a ton of dough. I bought lbs. of slightly-blemished organic tomatoes from the Farmer’s Market for just $0.75 a lb. Show me any market that you can get tomatoes for that price!

So, try it out! As far as canning recipes go, this one is pretty simple and only takes a few hours from start to finish.

Have you tried canning yet? It is easier than you think and totally worth it. Especially for those foods you find yourself consuming in excessive qualities

I am eagerly awaiting fall to try my hand at pumpkin and/or apple butter!