Homemade Granola Bars

If you have a hard time finding the motivation to cook, I feel ya. So, I decided to make a Marshall's run to pick up a few new items to spruce up the ole dinner-makin' scene.

A couple new Calphalon knives (awesome. love them) - $9.99 & $15.99
Bamboo cutting boards - 2 pack $9.99
Cuisinart food processor (ok, ok, i didn't get this at Marshall's. I got it for Christmas, but it's SO AWESOME!!)

It's amazing what getting new knives can do for your i-don't-wanna-fix-dinner blues. Now all I wanna do is find stuff to cut up. And so, I've been doing a lot more cooking these days. Looking up recipes on foodnetwork.com and trying all sorts of new things.

The greatest discovery, as of late, has been homemade granola bars. DE-LISH!! I took this recipe and made it my own, but this will give you the general idea. Try it. You'll love it. Your family will love it. And you will feel awesome about your culinary skills.

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup bran cereal
• 1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 cup walnut pieces
• 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped stemmed dried figs
• 1/2 cup nonfat dry milk
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 large eggs

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.

Place the oats, cereal, flour, walnuts, figs, dry milk, cinnamon and ginger in a food processor; coarsely chop.
Add the honey and eggs; pulse until well combined.
Transfer the mixture to the pan; spread evenly with your fingers. Bake until lightly browned around the edges, about 20 minutes. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then cut into 16 bars. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or wrap individually and freeze for up to 3 months.
Photograph by Kana Okada

Per bar: Calories 149; Fat 6 g (Saturated 1 g); Cholesterol 27 mg; Sodium 31 mg; Carbohydrate 22 g; Fiber 4 g; Protein 5 g

Oh, and you're welcome.

love,
jess

p.s. got a good recipe??? Share the wealth!!!! Let's see what you got!!!