Granola doesn't mean death!

I don't recall if its been mentioned but my son, who is five, has life threatening allergic reactions to any peanuts, some of their legume cousins, and tree nuts. Its a bit of a double edged sword. On one hand, these items are easy to work around in my kitchen. He used to also be allergic to dairy, eggs, soy, all legumes (I'm talking green beans, peas, etc), and cinnamon. Having outgrown most of those, working to cook without nuts and peanuts is easy.

Finding food "off the shelf" or visiting restaurants? Still sucks.

So its my mission in life to give him variety. And a semblence of normalcy. And to understand that he needs to be vigilant, but we can deal with this.

With school starting up, I wanted him to be able to take a granola bar to school with him along with his juice, sandwich, trail mix (another homemade safe recipe!) and fruit. I want options for him, not just the same old lunch every day. However, the next time you're in the granola aisle at the store - spend 45 minutes reading every box from every granola bar maker - you won't find one he can eat.

Thankfully, I'm determined :) And this was really an easy recipe.

B-Safe Granola

Ingredients
2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup wheat germ
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup raisins (optional)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup honey
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Generously grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, cinnamon, flour, raisins and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in the honey, egg, oil and vanilla. Mix well using your hands. Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges. Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. Do not allow the bars to cool completely before cutting, or they will be too hard to cut.

I'll say, cut them while they're a little warm yet - but LET THEM COOL before you move them. Seemed to break less for me. B has never had granola before and thought they were ok but could maybe use some chocolate chips. Hey, I can oblige that - the rest of them IS pretty healthy. So we're trying them again this week with chocolate chips and I'll let you know the outcome!