Back in April, I blogged about my personal Make It Instead challenge. I’m happy to report that it was a success and that I’m carrying it over into May as well. I’m enjoying the feeling that comes with not buying certain foods just for the sake of convenience. I’m finding that at the grocery store I am more and more shocked at prices that only a few short months ago, I was more than willing to pay. One of the main reasons for my challenge was because I’m finding it hard to find foods that B can have with his no food additives "diet" and also because the things I find that he can have seem to cost an arm and a leg. I’m fine with paying more for certain things but others, like the things that I can make at home, I’m not so keen to shell out for.

Later this week or early next week I expect to make hamburger buns and hamburger patties. This week, however, I am making granola bars and possibly pita bread. The boy who made this cute little craft at school needs some lunchbox eats and granola bars fit the bill.

I’ve blogged before about the recipe I use. I found it over at quietfish. Tonight I used orange pulp (from juiced oranges) which I had puréed, papaya leftover and frozen from muffins a few weeks ago, and a few tablespoons of homemade applesauce to top it all up to 1/2 cup; I used that in place of the oil called for in the recipe. I put in the last handful of carob chips, chopped up some dates, threw in some raisins and dried currants, pumpin seeds, and some of the dried cranberries that I dehydrated a week or so ago. I also added in the extra 1/2 cup of oatmeal mentioned in the recipe as well as an additional 1/2 cup due to the liquidy ingredients being slightly over one cup but I think I could have left the last extra bit out. The granola bars look and taste fine but they didn’t need the extra oatmeal.

Pressed into the pan and ready to bake.

Kashi is the only brand I’ve found at my regular grocery store that is on B’s "list", but at roughly $3.50 to $4.00 a box for six granola bars, if I buy two boxes a month in order to put one in his lunch at school on occasion, I’ll be spending upwards of $96 a year on granola bars. (I included the summer months because he will be going to daycare for several days a month once school is out.) The ones I whipped up in my kitchen tonight cost me a fraction of that. I have not figured out the actual cost of making a pan of bars but seeing as I get 14 to 16 bars out of each pan, I know that it is nowhere near the cost of Kashi bars. (Please note that I do understand there are cheaper options than Kashi but B is not able to eat those nor am I impressed with the ingredients listed and their lack of nutritional value.)

Give it a try. Take just one item that you normally buy and that you know you could make yourself. Whether it’s granola bars, bread, yogourt, crackers, pizza, or any number of other things, ignore the extra bit of time it would take to make it (these granola bars take me 10 minutes to mix up at the very most and 25 minutes to bake) and think of a) the money that will be saved and b) the elimination of all those unnecessary additives like articial colours and flavours and all those unpronouncable preservatives.

Head over to beingfrugal.net for more Tightwad Tuesday postings.