With the cost of living on the rise, I don’t know how anyone can afford to eat tons of pre-packaged goodies anymore. Dare I say you will eat better, and for less, if you make your own snacks to go? But finding things that my kids will happily take along can be tricky. Here are a couple tried and true recipes that have passed my research and development team’s stringent testing!
Caramel Granola
2 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, melted
5 tablespoons caramel sauce
2 tablespoons white sugar
Directions
Stir together the oats, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a wok or large skillet over high heat, cook 5 to 10 minutes; remove from heat and add the butter and caramel sauce; stir until evenly coated. Spread the mixture onto a flat platter or baking sheet in a thin layer. Sprinkle the white sugar over the granola. Allow to cool completely before serving.
Snowy Snack Mix
(An idea inspired by Family Fun magazine.)
1 bag of pretzel sticks or pretzel waffles
1 can of mixed nuts
1 container of raisins or other dried fruit
2 bars of Ghiradelli white chocolate
Mix together the raisins, pretzels and nuts in a large bowl.
Place chocolate in microwave safe bowl. Heat on regular power for 30 seconds. Stir. Continue to heat in 15 second intervals until the chocolate is mostly melted. If there are still a few lumps, that’s okay because they should melt in the warm chocolate.
Pour the chocolate over the mixture and stir thoroughly until all the pieces are coated. I confess I enjoy eating it right then and there and getting gooey, sticky chocolate fingers. However, technically, you’re supposed to wait until the chocolate cools! (But I won’t tell if you don’t technically do what you’re supposed to do!)
Valorie Delp shares recipes and kitchen tips in the food blog, solves breastfeeding problems, shares parenting tips, and current research in the baby blog, and insight, resources and ideas as a regular guest blogger in the homeschooling blog. To read more articles by Valorie Delp, click here.
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