Raspberry Granola Bars

I found this recipe while searching Ziplist. My changes or additions are noted in red.


Neena loves packaged cereal bars, but they contain a lot of sugar, and many times the fruit isn't real. Plus, I was getting tired of paying so much for six scrawny bars, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and whip up some homemade cereal bars that are healthy, have real fruit, and taste delicious. Oh, and these are great for nursing mamas since they have old-fashioned rolled oats!


Bars freeze well. So double the recipe. :-)


Back-to-School Raspberry Granola Bars (recipe source:www.kitchendaily.com)


Ingredients:
1 C pecans, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour -- I used 1/2 cup wheat, and 1 cup all purpose
1 1/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup granulated sugar--I cut this to 1/4 cup
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
1 cup raspberry preserves -- I made my own by using a bag of frozen raspberries, a bit of sugar, a bit of water, and a bit of cornstarch
2 tablespoons wheat germ
Dash of cinnamon


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. .Butter and 8-inch square baking pan and line with parchment paper.


In a large bowl combine pecans, flour, oats, sugar, brown sugar, baking soad, salt, wheat germ, and cinnamon. Stir in melted butter until the mixture is througly combined.


Press 2/3 of the oat mixture in an evne layer into the prepared pan and top with raspberry preserves. Sprinkle the preserves with remaining oat mixture.


Bake the bars for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Let granola bars cool. Cut into squares and serve or package.

Oatmeal

I've become inspired to eat more oatmeal thanks to a great new blog my friend Chelsey reccomended. Kath Eats Real Food is a fantastic website full of great healthy foods prepared by Kath (who is going to school to become a RD). Kath is also an oatmeal fanatic; she makes all sorts of delicious looking oatmeals and her blog was even featured in an article on dailyspark.com that talked about National Oatmeal Month (yes, it's National Oatmeal Month-get out the horns and celebrate!)

One thing that makes Kath's oatmeal look so good is all the yummy stuff she adds to the steaming bowls of healthy heart goodness. This morning I made up my own bowl of yumminess. I started with quick oats and flax seed. I added bananas, a teaspoon of peanut butter, and some chopped pecans to the oatmeal. WOW! It was so good and so filling.

I will call this little creation Banana Nut Oats.