Shnack Day

Whether you dread it, tolerate it or live for it, Snack Day is a preschool rite of passage. At least around here anyway where we pay more than good money for this privilage. I have now discovered from friends who live elsewhere that some places have public preK. What??? NH is the last state in the country to get public kindergarten so by the time an idea as novel as free preschool takes hold it will probably be my grandkids who reap the benefits. So for now, we have two of our three kids in preschool which means that the Blessed Festival of Trying to Find Food Other People's Kids Will Eat comes twice as often. Sweet!
I am so not bragging, people seem to think it's some kind of miracle, but my kids will eat almost anything. And tons of it. I don't know if I am just lucky or what, but once when I was on a kindergarten field trip with Noah the hiking guide opened a can of sardines and offered them (I think for a laugh) to the kids and who is the one little guy who steps up and eats one? Mine. And he loved it. The other parents didn't know whether to applaud or puke. But I digress.
Back to the snackipoos. It so happened that this week, both girls came home with the snack basket and we had SD back to back. My goal with snack day is to come up with something cheap, nutritious and with zero waste. I do NOT do squeezy yogurt or fruit snacks or juice boxes. I really don't buy anything individually wrapped. I do, however, bake. So I often do minimuffins with whatever needs using up, like bananas. My all time favorite snack day treat though, is Homemade Chewy Granola Bars. They are like little sticks of heaven. What I really love is that most people have never seen a granola bar that didn't come wrapped in its' own little piece of garbage.
So here is the recipe and I do hope you'll try it.

Homemade Chewy Granola Bars

4 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup honey or agave
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/3 packed brown sugar
1 cup add ins (raisins, dried fruit, choc. chips, etc.)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix all ingredients except add ins. I usually end up mixing it by hand. A little messy but does the best job. Then mix in the add ins of your choice. Press the mixture very firmly into a greased 9 x 13 pan. I do sometimes use a small piece of wax paper to press the mixture in and that is trash, but I have also had good success with a small greased roller or even my hands. Bake 20-25 min. Let cool completely then cut into bars. This makes about 16 good sized bars. Remove them carefully from the pan and store in an airtight container.

So the next time you are attacked by snack, give it a try. Let me know how it turns out. Once you have this snack, you'll never go back.