Yep – time for another completely random recipe blog posting. I’m posting this because these are on my mind – I have to make a new batch. For awhile I was really good about making these every couple of weeks so my kids had something healthy-ish for a snack in their lunchbag. But I started to slack off – now I’m hoping I’ll get back into it. I found these searching the web for a good granola bar recipe for my nut-allergic son. The thing is – granola bars can be a very handy snack. BUT I challenge you to find one that is nut safe. It’s unbelievable. And if when you do finally hunt one down, check out the ingredients and I’m sure you’ll find high fructose corn syrup. Crazy. So when I found this recipe I was excited – chewy, yummy (albeit a bit sweet) granola bars that lend themselves to be tweaked by adding whatever you want to them.

Nut-Safe Granola Bars

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 3/4 c packed brown suagr
• 1/2 c wheat germ
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 c flour (I use white whole wheat)
• 1/2 c raisins (or dried cranberries)
• 1/2 c chocolate chips
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 c honey (or blue agave syrup)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 c canola oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• Tweaks I’ve made: add some cheerios or rice krispies, add 1/4 c ground flax seed, throw in a few tablespoons of cocoa to make them “chocolate”, add other chopped/dried fruit, add some sunflower seeds for extra protein (or of course nuts if you don’t have nut allergies to worry about!). You might need to adjust the flour/oat/oil combination if you add too much of these things. Also – you can reduce the sugar a bit and it will be OK.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 inch baking dish well with oil spray like Pam.
2. In a large bowl, mix together oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, cinnamon, flour, raisins and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in the honey, egg, oil and vanilla. Mix well using your hands. Pat this mixture evenly and firmly into the prepared pan. Make sure it’s packed in well so it’s not too crumbly.
3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven until the bars begin to turn golden brown at the edges. Do no over cook them or they will be crunchy instead of chewy! Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. That’s VERY important – don’t let the bars cool or they will be too hard to cut.
4. I wrap these individually in plastic wrap then keep them in a big zip top bag. They keep for a couple of weeks this way, surprisingly!

I hope you try this. And it’s not just for kids – it’s better for you than many of the “power bars” and will give you some good energy!

Last week, my whole household was excited to receive a package from NECCO! For those of you in New England, you are probably very familiar with the NECCO brand – which stands for New England Confectionery Company. But for those of you outside of New England – you may know them best for the Valentine’s Candy Hearts with the little messages on them.

Well, inside our package was a bag of mini rolls of NECCO wafers and some of their newest product – rolls with various chocolate flavors. Chocolate? Oh boy. I have to say – the chocolate wafers have always been my favorite (along with the yellows and pinks). So a whole roll of chocolate ones sounded especially yummy – and they were! Milk, dark and white chocolate flavors plus mocha. A great little chocolate fix that’s fat free!

The great thing about NECCO has always been its simplicity. These “old school” wafers in a few flavors packed the same way they always have been – in that waxed paper wrapper. Very nostalgic and traditional. Well now it turns out that they have gone all natural. The original roll is now flavored and colored naturally. But no worries – they still taste just the way you remember.

And one last thing that is very important in our house – they are nut safe (and actually free of most food allergens). Always a bonus!

So now there’s a great option for Halloween – a natural treat that’s fun, sweet and nut-safe. (Oh – and not to mention the fact that I won’t inhale them as fast as I would a bag of Hershey’s bars so my waistline will not have to suffer so much…)

ZERO – CALORIE, FAT FREE CHOCOLATE!!!

That’s the special this week. I don’t know about you, but I have eaten about 8 pounds of Easter candy this week and I was thinking how nice it would be to have chocolate without worrying about it. Then it dawned on me – duh – Smooches body butter!!!

Slathering on Smooches with its incredibly yummy chocolate/mandarin scent eases chocolate cravings, soothes dry skin and smells delectable.

Enjoy a treat that won’t pack on the pounds AND has the bonus of being an incredible moisturizer. Great for hands, feet, elbows, knees and anywhere else that needs some extra attention.

Similar to last week, the offer is a

FREE SMOOCHES BODY BUTTER
with a minimum $50 purchase

So you know the drill – the coupon is good for TODAY only. Go to:

www.GardenGirlSkinCare.com/bodybutters

and add Smooches to your basket, then continue to shop, spending at least $50 (so just to clarify – it has to total $65 or more WITH the Smooches). Then checkout and use coupon code:

MAR24

Then enjoy some guilt-free sweetness