Spring fever

I have a serious case of spring fever. Temps have been balmy (like 50s balmy) for the last few days with some actual sunshine for most of the day - I'm in heaven! Today we took 2 walks (1 walk for each dog) much to the delight of my toddler. My older girls are at a friend's house this afternoon enjoying this amazing weather. Please, oh please let spring finally be here!!!!

Speaking of spring... we are headed to FL for spring break :) Bring on the heat!!!! In preparation I had my tires rotated and balanced this morning. It is free for the life of my tires (love Costco!) and it will help with wear and tear so I'm all for it! Next on my list is an oil change - need that one for help with gas mileage. Then I need to plan what snacks we are bringing so I can cook and freeze them. I did buy some fruit snacks today (Welch's) and need to find a few other surprise goodies that the girls are not normally allowed to have. The element of surprise is important on a 16 hour road trip!!!!

Last, but certainly not least, I need to sit down and put together my shopping list and hit the market. I'm really watching what we're spending on food - it eats up so much of my budget (haha - no pun intended!). More on that later!

Organic yet frugal snacks

I'm struggling with this concept. My kids come home from school and they are hungry. I need to get food in them or they will melt into puddles of their former selves... cut up fruit only goes so far before they take the last bite and complain, "but I'm still hungry!". Honestly, I think my 8 year old daughter has become a human disposal - her hunger never lets up! I have to say I can't imagine having boys with bigger appetites... I wouldn't be able to keep up. OK, so back to my topic at hand - organic yet frugal snacks. I should add that I prefer them to be relatively healthy - too much junk is never a good thing!

I have a few tried and true recipes that I've gathered from different places and I've made them organic simply by using organic ingredients. The only way I can make them frugal at this point is by buying in bulk - things like sugar, flour, quick-cooking oats, salt and whatnot. I generally don't use organic chocolate chips - mostly because they are way expensive!

Here is one of my all-time favorite snack recipes - Apple Butter Bars
1 1/2 C All-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 C uncooked quick-cooking oats
1 1/2 C sugar
1 C melted butter
1 1/2 C Apple Butter

1. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; stir in butter.
2. Press 1/2 of mixture into a greased 9x13 inch pan; top with apple butter.
3. Sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture and press gently with the back of a spoon.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes or until lightly browned.
5. Cool and cut into bars. Makes 3 dozen.

And fyi, you can freeze the finished product for later use :) My kids love these and so do DH and I. I have a few more recipes that I'll share this week - if you have good ones let me know! I'm always in search of good recipes.