WE NEEDED MORE BREAKFAST options. So, back I went to The Sneaky Chef. Phoebe is a raisin fan and I’m a champion of whole grains which made “Mom’s Barley Breakfast Bars” a no-brainer. I followed the recipe this time, with the small exception of adding an extra teaspoon of cinnamon and doubling the raisins.
And as usual, I had help.
Cut into one by two inch squares, these little bars freeze perfectly and stay intact through both the thawing and schlepping processes (tossing a couple into a plastic bag for breakfast-in-the-stroller is not unusual around here). They hold up beautifully. They’re packed with nutritious, stick-with-you ingredients and Phoebe likes them. So, we’re adding these to our repertoire.
The cool thing about using barley, or orzo as its called in Italy, is that you pre-cook it. I love to make cold orzo salads for my lunches so I just made a whole batch, using some for these breakfast bars and keeping the rest for later. I mix in any number of things starting with a simple base of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Sometimes I make one big salad and other times I just toss the orzo with oil, salt and pepper then add my fixin’s throughout the week: tuna and cherry tomatoes, kidney beans and diced ham, raw carrots and zucchini, on and on… Phoebe doesn’t like the salads but she does like the add-ins so I fix her a plate sans the barley (which she already ate at breakfast so no need to force the issue, right?) One breakfast, one lunch, zero people screeching, “It’s no good for me! It’s no good!” Heaven.
Thanks for the idea! (and your daughter is so cute) After reading this Mom’s Guide (http://www.1dental.com/moms-guide/), I started taking inventory of what I feed my son and sure enough there was way too much sugar in his/our diet. I’d like to start making more healthy snacks like these.
Wow, great site Joy. Thanks for that link. Phoebe loves brushing her teeth; we usually can’t get her to stop once she’s started but I think it’s a smart idea to rub Estelle’s gums too.
As for the sugar, I’m pretty blood sugar sensitive and I noticed that Phoebe’s day is totally different when it’s packed with sugar–and not in a good way. Plus there’s so much hidden sugar (and fat) in store bought snacks that I just think it’s better to make them when I can, which is not always but often enough. We’re only two years into this so we’ll see what happens! 😉
In the meantime if you try any of our recipes or have any suggestions of your own, please send them my way. (Post your comments below the recipes and add your own recipe suggestions above where it says “Submit your recipe”.