Food Friday: Cereal Bars & Fruit Leather

CEREAL BARS

Kyle and Owen love cereal bars. I know cereal bars (or, as K & O used to call them, “syrian bars”) have showed up on the blog several times in the past… because… the boys have been semi-obsessed with them for at least a couple of years now. Cereal bars are, by far, their favorite snack — any time of day, every day. Morning, noon, and night. They’d eat a box a day each if we’d let them. We don’t let them. But still, over the years they have ingested a ton of cereal bars. And we’ve spent a ton of money on cereal bars. These things are expensive. The ‘Nutrigrain’ ones (or similar brands) are expensive enough— but I feel so intensely guilty feeding those to my kids that I basically cannot stand to do it; they are loaded with sugar, additives, and… worst of all… many of them contain Red Dye #40 (Red Dye #40 is a whole other post for a whole other Food Friday), or similar dyes. I was buying those kind (Nutrigrain or similar) from time to time (alternating them with the good — i.e., super expensive — ones), but a few months ago we swore them off for good and vowed to only buy the “good” (i.e., healthier) ones. Anyway… the bottom line is that I end up buying super duper pricey cereal bars. The organic, all natural, no preservatives, etc. type of cereal bars.’ Health Valley’ brand cereal bars are K & O’s favorite. And they are the ones I feel best about feeding them too (in terms of the list of ingredients). But they are around $5.50 for a box of 6 cereal bars. And, like I said, K & O would eat a box a day each if we’d let them. On one hand, I don’t want to discourage them–  I mean, I’d rather have them obsessed with eating cereal bars than with cookies or chips or ice cream. On the other hand, we’re shelling out a boatload of money on these things. And we have been for a matter of years now! So, I finally set out on a mission to make home-made cereal bars that the boys would love. And… eventually… mission accomplished!!! Here is a great recipe for cereal bars that the boys LOVE making and LOVE eating. They swear that they love these even more than their beloved $5.50 a box Health Valley ones!!!!!!!!

2 c oats
1 c whole wheat flour
1 c white flour
1/2 c brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
dash salt
1 c butter
1 – 2 c fruit filling — use whatever you like best: jam, jelly, compote, or any kind of fruit filling you prefer (note: ‘Lucky Leaf’ brand of canned fruit filling’s list of ingredients is pretty decent and we like it because it is not too sweet)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9×13″ baking pan. Combine oats, both flours, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt in food processor. Add in butter and pulse until ‘dough’ is a chunky, crumbly consistency. Press half of the mixture into the greased pan. Bake for about 15 minutes, until a bit brown and set. Meanwhile, prepare fruit filling. If using the ‘Lucky Leaf’ brand I recommend, then pulse in food processor until fruit is of a smooth, but slightly chunky consistency (or whatever ‘spreadable’ consistency you like best). Spread fruit in a layer over the cooked dough, cover with remaining raw dough, press down firmly, and bake another 15 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting and eating!

NOTE: the only problem we have with this recipe is that the finished product is slightly crumbly. they don’t hold together really firmly like “real” cereal bars. if anyone has any thoughts on how to improve upon this recipe, we’d greatly appreciate your comments here!!!   Thanks!

FRUIT LEATHER

Meera could not care less about cereal bars. But right now she is going through an intense fruit leather love affair. (Interestingly enough, K & O could not care less about fruit leather!) Fruit leather is, by far, Meera’s current favorite snack — any time of day, every day. Morning, noon, and night. This has lasted a couple of months now. And, kind of like cereal bars, these things can be super duper pricey!  ‘Stretch Island’ brand, for example (a good all-natural brand of fruit leather I feel good about feeding her — and the only brand available in our regular grocery store) is $0.59 per piece! Per piece!!! Meera could (and would if we’d let her) easily eat six of these per day. Per day!!! And homemade fruit leather….  well, let’s just say, been there/done that. Braydon and I have spent our fair share of time with a fruit dehydrator. And while I admit that we did have some good results from our efforts in that arena, for the most part… in our own humble opinion, homemade fruit leather is seriously, seriously not worth it (in terms of time, money, and flavor). So, I’m always on the look out for good (and cheap!) fruit leather for Meera Grace. And get this!!! Turns out that Target (of all places!!) has awesome ‘Target’ brand all-organic fruit leather for awesome prices! And Meera loves this stuff a whole lot more than the Stretch Island stuff (the Target fruit leather is more moist and easier for her to gnaw at). And, get this!!!— These Target ‘Archer Brand’ Organic “Fruit Strips” are less than $3 for a box of 10!!! I stock up on these for Meera whenever I’m at Target. We have yet to find a flavor that Meera doesn’t love.