HallOOween (28Oct-12)

Granola Bars (22Oct-12)

I love granola bars, so do the kids :)
I never knew it was that easy to make them nor has it crossed my mind I could home-make some, till someone told me about it 2 years back :P

So there I went, googling for recipe and found a non-bake version which I made tweaks to. I could not get any granola at the supermart near my place but found muesli instead. Actually, I don't know whether to call these granola bars or muesli bars, since the former is usually coated with sugar and the latter is unsweetened. But since I am coating the muesli with honey, I shall stick to calling them granola bars ^^

My first batch didn't turn out too pretty, as I pressed down the choc chips a little too hard and they all melted and the bars look messy.
Tried another batch and it looked prettier =)

When I was taking pictures of the granola bars today, I realised the bars were a little too soft and didn't hold together very well when left too long in room temperature :( Is it due to the oven temperature in SG? They tasted just right when it's just out of the fridge.

 

But the kids love this texture, chewy and soft. I would prefer a slightly harder texture. I shall try baking them for 10-15mins the next time round. Hopefully it holds better?

 

 

While googling for granola bars, I was surprised that these so called health-snacks ain't as healthy as it is marketed. Those off-the-shelf granola bars, though it boast of high fibre content, usually has a pretty high sugar content too (and most uses corn syrup instead of honey).

 

By making these as on-the-go snacks for my kids, I will have the choice of what goes into the tum-tums of my children, and I can be assured it's definitely healthier than buying them off the shelf. 

 

I cut the bars into bitesize and wrapped them with brown greaseproof paper. Stick them down with washi paper tape.. looks really cute ^^

Anyway, this is still not THE recipe, but it's a start for those who wanna try some home-made granola bars. I will keep on trying and tweaking till I get the "right" granola bars ^^


Ingredients

• 56g unsalted butter
• 53g (1/4 cup) packed light brown sugar
• 85g (1/4 cup) honey
• 2 cups muesli (or plain granola)
• 1 cup rice cereal (Rice Krispies, etc.)
• Some semisweet chocolate chips to sprinkle on

 

Process

1. Line a 8x8 baking pan with parchment. Set aside.
2. Combine butter, honey and brown sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the butter is melted.
3. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
4. Add the granola and rice cereal into the saucepan and fold them into the sauce until evenly coated.
5. Spread the mixture into the prepared pans and press firmly with a clingwrap/spatula to evenly fill. Sprinkle the chocolate chips onto the top of the granola and gently press them down with the spatula.
6. Let sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes or until mostly cooled and set; lift out of the pan and cut into bars.
7. Fridge it till bars hardened.

Note: Do NOT press the chips down too hard. I used Hershey's semisweet choc chips and they melt really easily if I just used a little more strength.

Nöm #174- Halloween Alien (12Oct-12)

Argh. Overslept. Wanted to do a full body Alien with other decor but oinked too long today :(
 I was left with only 30mins to pack 2 lunchboxes and prep kids for school. That leaves me with only a "head"..*sob*.

Halloween-themed can be anything, no? Not necessarily gory monsters or eye-socket skulls, hor?
Today's nom ♥ wheat noodles, kyūri, breaded scallop & honey murcotts.

Nöm #173- Halloween Mummy (11Oct-12)

Remember my "finger & eyeball" pizza cup last year? Haiz.. it has freaked my boy out so much that he insists he will not have any Halloween bento this year.

The girl is fine with it. Here is my first Halloween bento for this year, nothing grotesque, will work along the cute version :P

Girl loves the tuna breadcup, and requested for it again.
 Today's Nom ♥ Tuna cheese breadcup, honey murcotts + happy hippo.
The boy gets undecorated bento, of course =)

Nöm #172- Beary yummy Bento (10Oct-12)

I wanted to mould a bear initially but got lazy and decided to use this shaped-lunchbox instead :) Saves me so much time :P

Today's Nom ♥ We have rice with a layer of salmon floss in between, topped with bonito flakes + buttered broccoli, chicken nuggets and some gummies packed in as treats ^^
I ran out of fruits. And the boy commented it's not exactly a complete meal today without the fruits :S

Nöm #171- Carrot breadcup with tuna & cheese (04Oct-12)

Nöm #170- Bread Pudding (03Oct-12)

What better way to use up those Purple black glutinous rice bread, Green spinach bread and all the bread cut-outs from yesterday?
Bread Pudding with cinnamon, raisins and apples :D

Nöm #169- Cut The Rope (02Oct-12)

The spinach bread I bought is not as green as the actual chap from Cut The Rope, oh well.. will do I guess =)

Today's nom ♥ Black Glutinous Rice bread with beef pastrami, cheese and butterhead lettuce.

No fruits today as this bread is pretty thick and filling so the kids shall have their daily dosage of fruits when they are back from school.

Nöm #168- Kutusita Nyanko (01Oct-12)

I always see this little fellow around in shops but never quite know the name. Just found out it's called Kutusita Nyanko, a cat wearing socks on its every paw. It's real name is Bon-Chan =^^=