Soft & Chewy Granola Bars
Plus, 5 Dinners in Real Life and big Back-to-School emotions
Hi Friends!
We’ve almost made it through the first week of 4th grade over here and I’ve survived shopping for school clothes with my 8th grader who starts school next week. All in all, I’d say it’s been a successful week. But also a very busy and exhausting one.
I still carry around a romanticized version of Back-to-School Week in my head. Those four words evoke a feeling of happy anticipation and comforting order. In my mind, Back-to-School Week carries the scent of autumn leaves and freshly sharpened pencils. It sounds like happy kids on a playground and looks like a new box of crayons.
Clearly, I was one of those kids who liked going back to school and enjoyed the transition from one season to another. I carried my positive feelings with me into parenthood and was dismayed to find out that as a parent, back-to-school season is an entirely different experience. It’s truly an emotional rollercoaster, a messy mix of relief and anxiety, excitement and exhaustion. It’s the joy of watching your kids grow up while also cursing the fact that it still takes them ten minutes to put on their shoes and socks. It’s a deluge of forms to fill out and the slow process of coaxing kids back into routines and schedules.
Also - news flash! Our kids are not replicas of us! It turns out that kids are individual human beings who experience the world in their own unique way and some kids (one of mine) really, truly do not like going back to school. Even the kids who do like going back to school come home feeling out of sorts and irritable from holding their pee for six hours and not eating enough lunch and feeling overwhelmed by the newness of it all.
Also, for many of us, back-to-school week no longer has the scent of autumn leaves and crisp, fresh mornings. School starts in August when it’s hot as h*ll and that makes everyone irritable at 3pm.
But all is not lost. I still like back-to-school season, just not as much as I did when I was a kid. This week, I’ve found that a snack of microwave popcorn and cold slices of watermelon are a simple remedy to the after school grumpies. We’ve also had “chill time” after school which means eating ice cream and watching TV. Highly recommended!
Another treat we’ve been eating this week are soft and chewy homemade granola bars. These bars are perfect for a quick breakfast or afternoon snack.
Recipe of the Week: Soft & Chewy Granola Bars
These are currently my favorite granola bars! Perfect texture, lightly sweetened with the flavor of vanilla and cinnamon and very easy to make.
Mix together the ingredients in about 15 minutes and chill the bars - no baking!
Not too sweet
Chewy, soft texture that holds together (similar to Rice Krispie Treats!)
The recipe on my blog uses almond butter, but these bars can be made with any type of nut butter or sunflower butter.
Chocolate and/or dried fruit is optional.
The one caveat that might prevent you from making these bars immediately is that you need to buy brown rice syrup first. Brown rice syrup is my favorite sweetener for no-bake bars. It has a thick consistency that binds no-bake granola bars together really well without making them taste too sweet or sticky.
Depending on where you live, brown rice syrup might be harder to find at the grocery store (look for it next to other sweeteners like honey). I buy Lundberg brown rice syrup at Whole Foods and it costs around $7.50 for 21oz; more expensive than sugar but about the same as honey. One jar* is enough to make 4 to 5 batches of these granola bars.
*I don’t keep the jar in the refrigerator. It keeps fine in a cool pantry and is much easier to pour when it’s not cold.
5 Dinners in Real Life
I’m always curious about what other families are eating. Aren’t you? I hope that my week of real life dinners will provide helpful recipes & cooking ideas for your family. Here’s what my crew ate last week:
Monday: Pan-seared salmon with baked potatoes. I also served sliced carrots and cucumbers with creamy herb dip - the dip is also great drizzled over baked potatoes!
I’ve recently become a big fan of pan-searing salmon. The texture is flakier and crispier than baked salmon and if you run the fan above your stove, it actually makes your house smell less like fish than baking salmon does. Win, win! If you have a paid Kitchen Skip membership this recipe walks you through three different ways to cook salmon.
My favorite method for baked potatoes with crispy skin is English Jacket potatoes. If I’m short on time, I pre-cook the potatoes in the microwave for 6 minutes (stab a few times with a fork first) then transfer the potatoes to the oven for to bake for 30 minutes at 400F. The skin isn’t as crispy, but they’re still good.
Tuesday: After a few weeks of “vacation eating” my husband and I were really craving vegetables and lighter meals. I made a big batch of ingredients for grain bowls: roasted vegetables, tofu crumbles, farro and a jar of miso citrus dressing from the cookbook I talked about last week, Feel Good Food.
I also made Trader Joe’s samosas, which we love with grain bowls, and white rice for the kids. Josie is not a fan a grain bowls so she personalized the dinner by opting for white rice wrapped in seaweed snacks.
Wednesday: Veggie and tofu bowls, again! At least for the adults. The kids ate a frozen pizza.
Thursday: I felt ambitious so I made homemade veggie burgers, which I always swear I’ll never make again and then always do. The burgers taste great but they take foreeevver to make. If anyone has an easy recipe for veggie burgers, send it my way! I served the burgers with frozen French fries and “Awesome Sauce” (mayo, ketchup and pickle juice).
For the first time I also made pickled red onions - so easy and so good on so many things! Just combine 1 cup water, 3/4 cup vinegar (rice, apple or distilled white), 1 teaspoon salt and 2-4 Tablespoons sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil then pour over thinly sliced red onion. Chill in the fridge for at least a few hours, ideally overnight.
Friday: My husband suggested tacos from our neighborhood taco truck for dinner and I didn’t argue. Taco Friday for the win!
Cookbooks
I’m intrigued by a lot of the recipes in A Modern Way to Cook by Anna Jones, although I’m not sure how many I’ll actually make. These vegetarian and vegan recipes might be too “healthy” for my family, although I’m really curious about the Amazing Lemon Cannellini Cake made with white beans (!) and tofu frosting (seriously, it looks really good!)
This cookbook is for anyone with a discerning palate is who looking for dairy free and/or veggie-forward recipes. It’s also for anyone who’s looking to be inspired by simple healthy recipes like sweet potato soup and smoothies. Anna Jones approaches vegetarian food in a fresh and creative way and has a nice balance of very simple and more complex recipes, everything from overnight oats to spinach and lemon meatballs. The recipes are organized by how long they take to make - 15, 20, 30, and 40 minutes - and include salads, mains, snacks and desserts.
That’s it for this week!
This newsletter is arriving in your inbox on Friday afternoon instead of the usual Thursday afternoon because life is busy and I’m human! It’s been a challenge to balance work and life this week, but I’m doing my best. I hope you also give yourself some grace this week if you can’t get everything done perfectly. We’re all just doing the best we can!
Have a good weekend,
xo
Jenny
That book by Anna Jones is one of my favorites! And I see she just launched a substack!
These bars sound awesome. Any recommendations for a nut-free version? Or something similarly easy/healthy to make for a quick snack.