Zero Waste Granola Bars

 

 

Before turning our house into a zero waste home, one staple the boys enjoyed daily were granola bars. It seemed as though we went through at least 5 boxes a week. Not only was this very costly but it wasn't the healthiest snack I could have fed my kids. My excuse to justify this was that we were busy, on the road most of the time, and how much harm could come out of eating a granola bar. Boy was I wrong. Since going zero waste, and researching not only plastic and trash issues but also the health risks of processed foods, my entire perspective has changed.

We have been flirting with the idea for quite some time to make our own granola bars. I am not sure why we have waited so long to make them.  Early this week, Noah came home from school hungry. He started to complain that he missed the convenience of ripping open a package of granola bars and having something to eat immediately. He was not in the mood to make a snack. He asked if we could look up a granola bar recipe, make a weeks worth at a time, and then he wouldn't have to prepare a snack every day after school.

I opened the laptop and started to search for a recipe. There are hundreds of different recipes for granola bars and we knew we wanted a simple one that had the least amount of ingredients possible. We were pleased to find one that required all of the ingredients we already had at home. All of the ingredients were zero waste.  The oats, flour, chocolate chips and brown sugar were bought in bulk. The honey we got from our neighbors bee farm and will reuse the container. We will burn the butter wrapper and baking soda box when finished. We instantly went to work.

 

Trey stirring all of the ingredients together.

The after picture. Not bad for a first attempt.

The recipe took about 10 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes in the oven.  Since we made the bars ourselves, there are no hidden ingredients or white sugar.  So easy and delicious.  This will be a staple in our house each week. They store well up to 7 days, if they last that long, and will satisfy the hunger pains of three boys after a long day of school (served with a piece of fruit or veggie of course).