make your own muesli bars and ten things I know for sure.

these things i know for sure:

If it’s going to rain, it will rain at 8.25am and 2.50pm. School pick up and drop off.  If I’ve hung clothes on the line, the likelihood of preciptiation doubles.

My nose will be come itchy the moment my hands are covered in raw meat, chicken manure or (in days of yore) human excrement.

My children will have pressing needs and furious arguments the moment I step into the shower or sit on the loo.

When toasting nuts if I look away, even for a second, the nuts are instantly burnt.

By making a mid-week appointment, I almost guarantee that one of my children will fall sick the day before.

When I take the kids to the doctor, they make miraculous waiting room recoveries.

At department store sales, if the shoe fits, it’s ugly.

We drop something on the floor within two hours of it being freshly mopped.  Every time.

If I wear white, the Little Sister will have muddy shoes and need to be carried.

If my girls' have helped in dinner preparation, they'll loudly declare it as delicious. Even if they turned their noses up at it last week.

And finally, at school the kids with homemade lunch boxes wish they had packet biscuits and the kids with the packet biscuits long for home baked goodies.

make your own muesli bars

This recipe first appears in August 2013 as a guest post on the Little Bento Blog.

Ingredients

• 1 cup rolled oats
• ½ cup sesame seeds
• ½ cup sunflower seeds
• ½ cup pepitas
• 1 cup desiccated coconut
• ½ cup wheatgerm
• ¼ cup sultanas
• ¼ cup raisins
• ½ cup dried cranberries
• 125g butter
• ½ cup honey
• ⅓ cup brown sugar

Method

Grease and line a baking tray with baking paper.  (I used a rectangular pan 26cm x 40cm.)

Combine the oats, seeds, wheatgerm and coconut in a large dry frying pan.  Cook over a low – medium heat, stirring constantly for 10 minutes or until browned. Set aside to cool in a large bowl. Stir in dried fruit.

In a small saucepan, combine butter, honey and sugar.  Stir for 3-4 minutes or until the sugar dissolves.  Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer without stirring for 8 minutes.

Pour the syrup over the dry ingredients and stir well.  Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan. Cover with baking paper and press flat. Allow to cool.

Cut to size and serve.

One of the great things about this recipe is that there are a few kid-friendly steps.  I let the Big Sister help me by choosing which dried fruit we used and measuring out the dry ingredients.  You can also experiment with the ingredients; consider including puffed rice, nuts or dried apricots.

Here's one more thing I know for sure:

The likelihood of a child eating a meal without whinging is inversely proportional to how much time said meal took to make.  Bearing that in mind, I make no promises that your kids will actually eat these delicious (and pretty healthy) treats once you've made them.

what do you know for sure?