Make it Yourself!

With the economy still sucking and my husband out of work for his 3rd month AND being in the midst of the final countdown till baby #3 (she'll probably be here within the month or so), we are cutting corners everywhere we can.

2 things my kids love that we can't afford right now: Whole Soy Yogurt (you can get it for 99 cents per container at Whole Foods and $1.29 per container at Kroger) and Envirokidz Granola Bars.

It was up to me to find a way to provide them with these two staples.

My mom is trying to work out how to make your own yogurt thanks to a blog entry from the Hillbilly Housewife. Her first batch didn't work out but she will be trying again soon. Here's a link that explains how to make soy yogurt from the Hillbilly Housewife.

I attempted my own granola bars yesterday. On the plus side, the kids like them and will eat them. They also will save us a bunch of money because for approximately $9, I made 45 granola bars which would've cost more than twice as much storebought. The down side is that they crumble easily and my kitchen floor has had to be swept three times since I finished making them due to excessive crumbs.

I used this recipe but left out the seeds and used raisins instead of the fruit they called for. I used this cereal (which also has some dried fruit in it), realizing as I opened it that it was crisp rice, not puffed rice. (Perhaps that explains the texture issues?) I also ran out of GFCF margarine and instead substituted sunflower seed butter. I thought this would be sticky and hold it together. (Maybe this is why it had texture issues?)

Either way, I will give it a try again soon and you can experiment with it yourself based on what I've posted here. (If you find a better way, let me know and I will post the recipe!!!) Two swings, two misses, but there will be a huge payoff if we can get these figured out.