Homemade No Bake Granola Bars

Take a look at the following ingredients found in Quaker Chewy Chocolate Granola Bars.

That's quite the list of ingredients in what is suppose to be a healthy snack if you ask me! Most of those ingredients are not even necessary and in my opinion, if you have never heard of an ingredient, not sure what it is, and/or have a hard time pronouncing it, how can it possibly be healthy for you?! I was determined to make my own granola bars for my family with ingredients that I already had in my baking cabinet. I used quick oats, rice krispies, honey, vanilla, peanut butter, butter, brown sugar, and chocolate chips.

These are SUPER easy to make!! Line a baking sheet with wax paper and set aside. In a saucepan over medium heat, add 1 stick of unsalted butter, 1/2 cup honey, 1/2 cup peanut butter, and 2 tsp vanilla until melted. Next, stir in 4 1/2 cups quick cooking oats, and 2 1/2 cups rice krispies. 

Press mixture into lined baking sheet and top with either chocolate chips or peanut chips. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Remove from baking sheet, cut into bars, and store in either an airtight container, or zip lock bag. 

Although they fall apart a little easier than the store bought bars, they are SO delicious! I had a hard time not eating them while taking pictures!! We have been making our own granola bars for about a year now and definitely will not be buying the store bought ones again!

HOMEMADE NO BAKE GRANOLA BARS 

1 stick unsalted butter

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 1/2 cups rice krispies

4 1/2 cups quick cooking oats

DIRECTIONS: 

• Line a baking sheet with wax paper and set aside. 
• In a saucepan over medium heat, add butter, honey, peanut butter, and vanilla until melted. 
• Stir in quick cooking oats and rice krispies until evenly combined. 
• Press mixture into lined baking sheet and top with either chocolate or peanut butter chips.
• Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. 
• Remove from baking sheet, cut into bars, and store in an airtight container, or zip lock bag.

Have you made granola bars or any other homemade snacks for yourself or family? If so, I would love to hear about it! If not, set aside 5-10 minutes to make these. I PROMISE you will not be disappointed!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today I am sharing some Valentine projects and a recipe with you! I had planned to share this BEFORE today but I thought I had lost SEVERAL of my pictures that I had previously taken with intentions of starting this blog one day! My hubby went through about seven or eight hard drives that we have trying to find my pictures but no luck:( The other night he took the micro SD card out of the phone I had two years ago, plugged into our laptop, and THOUSANDS of pictures starting loading!! 2,676 to be exact! I know.....craziness! Oh happy day;) Ok....back to the post now! 

I wanted to do something fun and different for Alana's 'last' year of giving out Valentine's prior to going into middle school {you know.....because they are too cool for that kind of stuff!} I found this idea on Pinterest {how surprising!} Pop Rocks in a clear bag with a label that read, You ROCK, valentine!! Love, Alana. These free printable labels can be found here. 

Girls putting the Valentine's together. 

Alana felt the need to be on top of the table to work.....

How cute are these?!!

We also made some Valentine's Day Bark. Spread pretzels onto a cookie sheet that has been covered with wax paper. Drizzle melted white chocolate all over the pretzels, coating them well.  Then, decorate with sprinkles, Valentine M&M's and crushed candy canes (optional.) Chill in the fridge to set and then break apart into bite sized pieces. ENJOY! Source found here. 

Go here for these fun and free printables!

Alana made this box to put her Valentine's in. 

How did you spend your Valentine's Day?!

An Organized Baking Cabinet

I love to bake! What I don't love is a super messy and unorganized kitchen cabinet full of baking ingredients, preventing me from being able to see exactly what I have. I decided to take the time to empty out two cabinets, one for all of my baking ingredients, one for my baking pans, and also a drawer for baking utensils. 

First, I took note of what I already had and what I needed to purchase. Second, I figured out exactly how many storage containers I would need to store all of my baking ingredients. Third, I looked into some different storage containers and prices and ended up getting some round plastic containers with lids from the Dollartree. Mason jars are another great option for storing these items!

I decanted all of the ingredients into their new containers and then created some labels using the software 'paint' on my computer for editing and adding the different fonts. I just printed them out, cut them, and attached them to containers using clear packing tape, covering the entire label. This project was done last summer and they have held up quite well although I will be updating them soon by laminating them for some extra coverage. 

Here are the containers all filled, labeled, and neatly organized in my 'new' baking cabinet! I love being able to see exactly where everything is and being able to quickly locate and grab what I need! 

Using the empty space on the insides of your cabinet doors is a great use of valuable space, especially if you are limited on the amount of storage space your working with. When you stop to consider the square footage of level, usable space on the interior of your cupboard doors, you can start to envision new possibilities for controlling kitchen clutter. Using cork board, magnetic board, hooks, or clothespins are just a few other options to store recipes, spice containers, hang utensils, store lids, hang dish gloves and store other kitchen items. 

I chose to hang all of my measuring cups and spoons for easy access by simply measuring the door, cutting a strip of wood to size, pre-drilling holes for the mounting screws and cup hooks, and then installing it to the inside of the door. I could have left it as is but I love to label everything and this was no exception! Nothing too fancy....I just printed it out and taped it up. I also typed up a common measuring chart by using a graph in a word document. I refer to this chart quite often, it has been so helpful and definitely a time saver. (Pictures will be added soon of the measuring cups and spoons actually hanging in here!!)

Frequently used items such as the rolling pin, cookie scoop, a few cookie cutters,  spatulas, and beaters to the mixer go in a nearby drawer. 

Below is the cabinet where I store our baking sheets, muffin tins, mini loaf pan, and cake pans using a metal file folder organizer. 

Having everything organized makes it so much easier to find what I need and has also been a big time saver! How do you organize all of your baking supplies?! 

Healthy Homemade Dog Treats

Why buy dog treats when you can make them yourself?! Not only are they less expensive to make and super easy, they are also healthy and you know exactly what you are feeding your dog!

HEALTHY HOMEMADE DOG TREATS

Prep Time:  15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes


INGREDIENTS (makes approximately 3 dozen treats)

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup wheat germ 
1/2 cup ground flax seed
3 eggs & shells* (optional)
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup water
3/4 cup applesauce
3/4 cup pumpkin puree 


INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside. 

• In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, wheat germ, and flax seed. Set aside.

• In another mixing bowl, combine honey, eggs, oil, water, applesauce, and pumpkin puree until well combined. Gradually add dry ingredients and stir until mixed well.

• Form into a disc and roll out on a well floured surface until about 1/4" thick. Using a cookie cutter, cut out shapes and place on prepared baking sheet about 1" apart. 

• Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until treats are very brown and hard. 

• Let cool completely before giving them to your pooch to try out. Store in an airtight container out of reach from your puppy or in your freezer for up to 2 months. Microwave treat for about 6-10 seconds to soften. 

*Egg shells are an excellent source of calcium and protein for your pet. For strong bones and teeth, crush the eggshell and add to your homemade treats or dog food. 

We made some regular size treats and some small letter shaped treats for our puppy, Brandon and my sister's puppy, Nala as well! They both LOVED them!!

Do you make homemade treats for your pets?!