No Bake Granola Bar Recipe

These are a favorite in this house so I thought I would share our recipe with you. 

1 cup quick oats

2 cups cereal

(I use rice puffs though I can't get them zero waste) You can probably put any thing in here like actual granola, fruit and nuts.

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Mix all of those in a bowl together.

1 cup peanut or almond butter

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup brown sugar

Mix these in a pot on the stove over low heat. Mix completely and when you see it start to boil slightly, remove from heat and pour over the mixture in the bowl. Get everything mixed up good. In a greased pan (I use coconut oil) pour the mixture in and with a spatula flatten it out over the pan. Let it sit in the fridge for an hour. Once solid you can cut it up into bars and store in an airtight container. 

These do not last long in our house. I make them every couple of weeks. Also, I absolutely love that you don't have to bake them. 

My Zero Waste Beginning

This is what I did to start at home. I have been at this for a year. It can be overwhelming, but if you start out slow you'll pick up good habits in no time. I started out with cloth napkins, micro fiber towels, and cloth feminine pads and the big change…I switched from wearing contacts to wearing my glasses.

I furthered my zero waste start by grocery shopping. I found a couple of stores that have zero waste food options and called them to see if they did tare weight. Tare weight is just the process by which the weight of the jar or bag you bring in for your bulk goods is zeroed out or removed from the weight of the bulk goods you're buying. I re used old jars made and thrifted a couple of cloth bags and went on my first zero waste grocery trip. It felt so good to not create so much waste. Even after a year my family of 4 plus a dog, 5 ducks, and 11 chickens…we still create waste.

Through out the year I began rethinking everything we were doing and purchasing. If I need something I stop and look around my house and see if I can find a way to do with out it. If I can't I try and thrift it or find it on Craigslist. I do with out if I can't find it. I love the saying "Use What You Have". I repeat it in my head daily. I have a long ways to go but we are doing so much better. I have done this in baby steps. Start with one thing and build on it.