Make your own snacks

Out of all the things my daughter eats, the most expensive one would have to be her morning snack or afternoon snack. This one is easy to replace with:

• An apple. Although kids won't like it, it works
• A slice of home-made cake or a home-made muffin. Problem with this? Some schools won't allow cake, even if you choose a relatively healthy recipe.
• Home-made meusli bars. This one wins hands-down: they are simple and fun to make and despite being higher in fat and sugar than many cakes, schools tend to accept them as a snack when they may reject other foods.

There are many meusli bar recipes on the Internet. Personally I like one made from about 3 cups each of rolled oats and rice bubbles, about half a cup of sultanas, choc chips, nuts or dried fruit (or combinations of all those) and then enough melted butter, sugar and honey to hold it together. About 150g of butter, half a cup of sugar and 1/3 of a cup of honey combined in pan on the stovetop until the sugar dissolves should do it, but we're still experimenting. Mix the lot together, squish it into a shallow dish lined with baking paper, and bake until it goes a nice colour. Cut it into bars while it is still just a tiny bit warm. Makes lots, and boy does it taste good, and works out far cheaper than a pack of 6 tiny commercial meusli bars that retail for about $4.