Hey Bernice!

I was waiting at the local child and maternal health centre for Heidi’s check-up and noticed great poster on the wall; it was comparing the cost, sugar and fat content of kids lunch/snack options:

• Piece of fruit vs. roll-up
• Yoghurt vs. flavoured milk dessert
• A packet of chips vs. popcorn
• Homemade muffin/muesli bar vs packaged muesli bar
• Cheese and biscuits vs. package biscuits and cheese dip

The point they were trying to get across was how much healthier homemade or non packaged options can be (often half the sugar content!), and in some cases a quarter of the price!

So it got me thinking about replacing the ‘bought’ muesli bars we eat in our household with homemade ones – ensuring we get our daily fix of seeds, fibre and fruit. So here is the recipe I sourced, and changed slightly… they are fantastic!

NOTE: the changes I made to the recipe were based on my understanding of Low GI cooking (from my gestational diabetes experience), I have replaced some sugar with dried fruit, the cereal with a lower GI options, and white flour with wholemeal flour or Spelt – no one will ever notice the difference!! Oh, and I I also added some more seeds, because they are so good for us…

Homemade (baked) muesli bars

3/4 cup of Special K (because it is low GI) you can use Wheaties, corn flakes etc
1 cup rolled oats (try not to use the quick oats as they are more processed, and not as low GI)
1/3 cup sultanas
1/3 cup of chopped dried apricots
1/4 cup dried apple chopped
1/3 cup pepitas
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons honey, maple syrup or rice bran syrup
1/4 cup wholemeal flour or spelt flour (because it is low GI) or you can use white plain flour
75g butter (melted)
1/4 cup milk
1 egg (beaten)

Grease a shallow tin or tray about 20cm square. (I have also used a mini muffin tin to make ‘bites’ as an alternative!)
Line the base with baking paper.
Place the all the dry ingredients in a bowl and combine.
Add the butter, milk and egg and stir.
Spread evenly into pan, pressing down the mixture with the back of a spoon.
Cook in a moderate oven (180C) for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Allow to stand int he pan for 5 minutes before cutting.
Cool on a wire rack, then store in an airtight container (for up to 5 days).

Speaking of containers….I noticed in a magazine yesterday that Tupperware have launched new containers called T-bar keepers for storing homemade (muesli) bars – ingenious! (welcome to the world of motherhood – it hasn’t taken me long to be drooling over the latest Tupperware products – somebody rescue me… please!!!!)

They also have a T-bar set that includes a bar mould (not for baking, just setting bars). The set also comes with a recipe book with 12 bar recipes to try (that don’t require cooking).

These bars are great for kids, but I am making them for my husband and I to have as a snack during the day, that is low GI, so keeps us full in between meals.

Cheers,

Bernice