Snacks & Sides

The fourth of July is only days away, and I have bbq on my mind. Since many of us will be grilling out this coming weekend to celebrate, I thought it would be fun to find some unique bbq side dishes.

I’m a busy mom of two under two and a lot of times it’s a challenge fitting in a proper meal. My husband was out of town recently, and the only time I ate a full meal was when the kids were both napping, which I think happened, like once. During busy times, I sometimes grab an energy bar to tide me over to the next meal. The downfall of these convenience snacks is their price and (sometimes) their artificial ingredients. I decided it was time to try a homemade version, so I chose to make pumpkin spice granola bars.

I decided to make these honey-oat no-bake homemade cereal bars because my kids are obsessed with ‘Papa’s cereal’. Somewhere along the way, Honey Bunches of Oats became known as Papa’s cereal in our house. It’s pretty darn cute when they ask for it, but I hate when they eat it because the tiny little flakes and oats end up all over the floor and them. I often find little flakes in my daughter’s hair.

My kids aren’t in school yet, but my toddler son already loves snacks. He especially loves those animal-shaped crackery snacks. Even the the whole grain organic versions I buy are still more processed than I’d like and his snack selection is seriously lacking at this point. He will eat most fruits, an occasional string cheese, dry cereal, and yogurt. Most of the time, the crackers win the snack selection battle.