Homemade: Granola Bars & Wheat Thins.

I've been good (for the most part) with my new eating habits (and I say 'most part' because those darn peppermint Joe Joes called my name a few times. They're all gone now, so hopefully that problem is solved! ;). I've gone back and forth with myself over what to eat for lunch at work. Before watching Food, Inc., I ate a turkey and cheese sandwich (dry), Baked Lays, and cinnamon graham crackers. After, I changed from turkey and cheese to PB&J and added apple sauce (in exchange for less chips). Since I've been reading the ingredients of the food I eat and buy, it has changed a lot of the brand of foods I've been buying, like peanut butter, jelly, and apple sauce for example. So many of the name brand food items have unnecessary ingredients like high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils. I now buy peanut butter where the only ingredients are 'organic peanuts'. I buy jelly where the ingredients lack high fructose corn syrup and anything else (I deem) unnecessary. I buy apple sauce where the only ingredients are 'organic apples and organic cinnamon'. But I still wanted to make more change than just the brands of food I was buying. I was trying to figure out alternatives to chips and graham crackers, all while trying to keep the calories on the low side, and of course, trying to be healthy. I have to have something sweet at the end of my meal (that darn Baker side is cursed when it comes to sugar!), and as a replacement for graham crackers, I thought of a granola bar. I love Nature Valley Oats 'N Honey granola bars, but they have a lot of fat and calories. So, I decided to try to make my own. Not only was it super easy, it's cheaper (in the long run), and much healthier: less calories, less fat, and most importantly delish! Here's the recipe I found, though after I made it, I decided to try it with brown sugar and maple syrup instead of cinnamon and honey, which ended up being easier (honey is so thick!) and I liked them better. My alternative to potato chips were wheat thins. I bought some at Target (not Wheat Thins but ones that had better ingredients) but then thought if I'm gonna make my granola bars, why not make wheat thins too? So I did. My first try, they were more like wheat thicks, and pretty darn hard (because following the directions, they were cooked too long). After calculating all the ingredients, I discovered they had a lot more calories (about 50% more!) and fat than the ones I bought from Target. So, I'm going to try to make them one more time to see if I can get them better (thinner, less hard, and less calories). It's all a learning process :) Oh and I also made my own butter too, which I used in the wheat thins. Just call me Martha or Betty ;)