Breakfast Rounds

Joshua and I have been experimenting lately. Awhile ago, he learned about a meal replacement bar that sounded great. They are supposed to supply the right balance of carbs, protein, and fat with the recommended vitamins and minerals, but they are made out of whole foods, so should have all the good things we don't necessarily know about too. He really liked the idea and managed to track down an ingredient list, so we decided to try making them. Of course, they don't publish the recipe, but he wrote down the list of ingredients. I pulled out some granola bar and scone recipes and mixed up a first batch. We made a couple changes to the ingredient list, like using wheat flour instead of rice bran and adding a touch of honey. The first batch was surprisingly good. Then Joshua took the amounts that I used, plugged them into a nutrition calculator, and adjusted the amounts to get close to an ideal balance of carbs, protein, fat, vitamins, and minerals. I made a second batch with the new recipe and it was a bit dry because we had cut back on the oil. So we increased the oil to halfway between the first and second batches, cut back on the honey a touch, and made a third batch. This batch was a winner; good texture and taste with a reasonably well-balanced and complete nutritional content. Each one is about 400 calories. The flavor is pretty subtle, which is what we were going for, but they taste pleasant enough.

This was a fun project. I've never attempted to make up a baked goods recipe before and it was fun to work together on it and have such good results. Joshua loves eating them for breakfast and is looking forward to having something fast, easy, and healthy to take to school in the morning.

Feeling ambitious? Here's our ingredient list:

Whole grain oats

Eggs

Almond milk

Dark chocolate chips

Whey powder

Orange juice

Wheat flour

Sunflower seeds

Dates

Sweet potatoes

Apples

Chickpeas

Carrots

Olive oil

Iodized salt

Cinnamon

Baking powder

Honey