Ah – as much as I hate to say good-bye to summer vacation, I am warmly welcoming the new school year and whole heartily excited to get back to a schedule.  A normal Menu Planning, Sleeping, Blogging, organized schedule!

 Why I haven’t I blogged in a while you ask?  Well, I have spent the last 3 weeks – sweating it out to get my classroom put together!

 Everything that I use to teach with (over 200 Montessori materials and books)must be shoved in these cabinets during the summer and then we must reconstruct our classrooms  in the fall! 

Now that my classroom is ready and the school year has begun, Jake and I have finally had a chance to menu plan and hit the grocery store!  Wa- la, now we have food to cook so I don’t have to blog about Easy Mac and plain ole’ chicken breast! Seriously, all we ate the last two weeks was plain ole' chicken breast! Less than glamorous, I know.

After a trip to 3 grocery stores yesterday - yes you heard me right - 3 grocery stores, we restocked our freezer and pantry!  Bring on the cooking!  Using some left over ingredients from the pantry,  I decided to whip up some homemade granola bars and no-bake cookies!  Both of these recipes are so terribly easy to make and even better to eat! 

Our school day now begins 15 minutes earlier and ends 15 minutes later than last year and I find  that I need a nap these granola bars are a perfect pick me up in the afternoon! Plus since they are homemade I can control what goes in them so they are nut-free, which is a must in my classroom!  Give them a try and let me know what you think!

No Bake Homemade Granola Bars

Adapted from Rachael Ray

Ingredients

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (I use splenda)
 1/4 cup honey
 2  cups granola or rolled oats and wheat bran
1/2 cup dried fruit
1/2 cup thin pretzel sticks
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation
1.  In Medium Sauce Pan combine butter, sugar and honey. 
2.  Bring to boil then simmer until sugar is dissolved.
3.  Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients.
4.  Pour mixture into 9x13 pan and press firmly. 
5.  Refrigerate for 15 minutes until firm. Then cut into squares.




What is your favorite No-Bake recipe?

I am huge fan of the new Chocolate, Peanut-butter and Oats cookies I made yesterday!  They are so simple to make!  Bring 1 stick butter, 1/2 c. milk, 2 cups sugar(splenda), and 4 tbsp. cocoa pwd. to a rolling boil.  Remove from heat and Stir in 1/2 c. Peanut-butter and vanilla. Once smooth then add 3 cups quick oats. Stir and drop on waxed paper!  Allow to dry then devour! 

adapted from browneyedbaker.com