granola bars

My wonderful friend who has supplied me with many a great recipe gave me one for granola bars.  They were very simple to make and called for ingredients I mostly had on hand with the exception of wheat germ and ground flaxseed meal.  Do you have these in your pantry?  If so you are a better woman or man than I.  I must admit I didn't even know where to look for them in the grocery store.  My friend directed me to the health food aisle and there I found them.

Apparently to keep them fresh longer you should store them in the fridge, who know?!  Ok moving on you will need:

2 cups oats
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup dried fruit
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ  *note, I didn't toast my wheat germ but the directions are on the package
3/4 cup ground flaxseed meal
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup honey
2 tsp vanilla
1 egg

Mix all ingredients well.  Press into a greased metal 9"x13" pan and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until edges brown.  Cool then cut.

Here they are going in

and here is one being devoured by me after baking

I'm cutting them in squares but I'm sure you could cut them into a longer bar shape if you prefer.

I added golden raisins and dried apples for my dried fruit but I can't think of any dried fruits that wouldn't be delicious.  Dried cranberries, apricots, you could even get a little crazy and add some chocolate chips.

The little guy has a cold so he and Mama shared an Amy's organic pizza for lunch

My husband's company gets pizza every Friday for lunch.  I'm extremely jealous of this and since a day with a sick toddler is a seriously long day a lunch treat was in order.  It was delicious with a little extra romano cheese sprinkled on top and his exclamation of "pis-a, pis-a!" when he saw it in the oven made my day.

Happy Pizza Friday to you!  Have a great weekend and bake up some granola bars, they are yummy!

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