overflowing

We had a busy week, followed by houseguests all weekend and I made a TON of food. Good food! I tried a few new recipes and they were all soooo good! I also made a few old regulars that we love and I realized that for some reason or not, they are not on this blog. I want to finally get them on here so I have access to them when I'm not at home. That's one of my favorite perks of this blog... I can get to all my favorite recipes wherever I am! That, and I don't have to email or write down recipes for people anymore... I can just direct them over here!

So. I have lots of recipes to get up on here and get caught up.
First I have to get these granola bars out of the way:
I've made these up quite a few times this winter, twice in the past week actually! The kids (usually) like them and since we no longer buy granola bars from the store (the peanut allergy) they've been happy to have granola bars again! These are a great filling snack or breakfast and you can doctor them up however you like. Thanks to Kim for the recipe!

Homemade Granola Bars
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I usually use a bit less)
1/2 cup wheat germ
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup raisins (optional)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup honey
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350*. Generously grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

In a large bowl, mix together the 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 (this is why Sawyer LOVES to make this recipe!).
Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes in the preheated oven, until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges.

Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. Do not allow the bars to cool completely before cutting, or they will be too hard to cut.

I always use a smaller pan... 7x11 or even 7x9x2... it makes for softer, chewier bars.
You can add whatever you like... I was out of raisins earlier this week so I just made them plain. I've also done plain with chocolate chips for a treat. This past weekend I did raisins and dried apples. Yum!

These were tried by four different people in and out of our house this past week and all gave rave reviews... they really are about the yummiest granola bars I ever expect to have!