G-bars!

I completed a few projects this weekend, making granola and granola bars being two of them. Now, when I set out to do something, I tend to weigh the effort versus benefits of said activity. We have been eating Nature Valley g-bars for quite some time now, and they just keep getting smaller and smaller, like we don't notice, come on! So my goal was to create a healthier, cheaper, more filling version. I got the recipes from my How to Cook Everything cookbook, by Mark Bittman. I love this cookbook! He gives lots of recipes and then shows how they build upon one another. For example, he teaches how to make granola, and then shows how to make granola bars using the granola you just made. The good thing about granola is that there are a million ways to make it and update it. I think my first batch didn't come out chunky enough and therefore I can't eat it by the handful. Not quite sure how to remedy that problem except to mix it with some yogurt and get on with life. As for the granola bars, they turned out decent, as well, but are a little to honey-y. The top part of each bar is great but the bottom, where all the honey sunk to, is very heavy and realllly sweet. At the end of the day, is granola something I want to continue making on a regular basis? The answer is, I'm not sure. You will have to get back to me on that one after I experiment with a few more variations! Right now, effort-wise they are about a 5 on a scale of 1-10. Benefit-wise, they are probably at about a 4. So you see, I am looking at that smug Nature Valley box right now thinking it may have won this round. But I will try at least one more time before I admit defeat - muahahaha!

Whew! Enough about granola. I feel like I'm turning into one of the ladies from SNL's Delicious Dish, remember that skit? Hilarious.