The best homemade granola bars!

My kids go through granola bars at a very unusual pace! I hate buying the store bought ones that are filled with preservatives, and well, they can get very expensive. I've been searching for a good homemade recipe for a while now and I think I've finally find out!

Don't these look delish! (not the best photo but I had to snap it quick before they were eaten by 3 little monsters).

No-Bake Peanut Butter Pretzel Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

1/4 c unsalted butter
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c honey
1/4 c natural peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c oats
1/2 c crispy rice cereal
3/4 c chopped pretzels (you can substitute for extra nuts if you want)
1/4 c mini chocolate chips (substitute with raisins if you have something against chocolate)

1. In large sauce pan, add butter, sugar, honey and peanut butter. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until mixture starts to bubble. Once bubbling, cook for 2 minutes while stirring. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

2. Stir in the oats, crispy cereal, and pretzels. Stir until well coated. Prepare 8x8 pan with layer of parchment paper. Pour into pan. Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips and gently press into the granola bars.

3. Place in refrigerator and let cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting.

Note: I individual wrap the bars and store them in the refrigerator. You can also keep them in the freeze for lunches, but mine don't usually last that long!

Enjoy!

Valentine's Day ideas for kids!

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I've started exploring fun valentines ideas for the kids to make and give to their friends. I love having them give something original rather than the boxed valentines from the store, it's so much more fun! (Although I have nothing against Spiderman and Dora).

Here's a few cool ideas I've found and done in the past.

My kids made these cute little bags last year. So easy, and so quick! Just have them draw or take a photo and print out on white or colored paper. I bought the little bags at Michaels for super cheap, and then just filled them with candy and stapled the printed paper on top. Easy!



I love this idea: Just draw a face on white paper, photo copy, then let the kids decorate with hearts, eyeballs, hairpins or mustaches.

The Tic Tac Toe pack in this photo is soooo cute! 

These are the cutest little matchbox/candy boxes!