No-Bake Homemade Granola Bars

I'll say it.  I'm cheap.  I don't like spending money when I don't have to, and I love saving some change at the grocery store.  In general, I try not to buy a lot of processed foods.  They are full of mystery ingredients and can be pretty pricey.  Plus, I like to make stuff myself.  Why would I buy something I could make it?

A great example of this is granola bars.  There was a time in my life when I used to eat a granola bar every afternoon as a snack.  They are convenient, delicious, and if you choose carefully, they can even be healthy.  But you can certainly pay a price for that convenience.  And who knows what you will find in them?  Fortunately, making  your own granola bars at home is easy and cost effective.  Plus, this allows you to tailor your bars to your own personal taste.  

Irish Soda Bread with Raisins and Walnuts

I'm not a big St. Patrick's Day fan.  Here are a few reasons: I own exactly one green item of clothing, I'm not Irish, I don't enjoy drinking until I make myself sick, and I am past the age where it is appropriate to pinch people who aren't wearing green (I'm not sure what the cutoff is, but I'm pretty sure I crossed that bridge several years ago!).  So March 17th is just another day for me.  But because I know not everyone else out there is a Srooge about St. Patrick's day, and curiosity finally got the best of me, I made some Irish soda bread this week.

I have an old cookbook with a recipe for Irish soda bread that I've been wanting to make for a while, mainly just because I have never had it.  I'm sure there's a million varieties of Irish soda bread, and I didn't even know how authentic mine was, but I decided to give it a shot.  I liked that the recipe I used included whole wheat flour and the option of adding some dried fruit.  I used raisins because that's what was in my pantry.  This recipe suggested 2 cups of dried fruit.  I like raisins, but I don't like them that much, so I did half raisins and half walnuts.  Adding raisins and walnuts made this bread a lot more interesting!