Snack: Peanut Butter Oat Bars with Chocolate Chips

There is this big black hole in part of our Montessori Homeschool. 

It's snack time. 

How exactly am I supposed to have them make their own healthy snacks exactly? How do we transition from packaged granola bars and gogurt to "look mom! I peeled some carrots for everybody!?"

Today we *may* and I repeat *may* have reached a momentary glimpse of clarity. I was about to make up a fancy set of instructions with pictures for the kids detailing a recipe we could work on together but our printer wasn't working. So that wasn't going to work out. 

But... Oh look! I have a white board. 

Go figure. 

I wrote up a recipe really quick:

(ignore my chicken scratch handwriting)

I called the kiddos over to show them the ingredients and read the instructions out loud. We worked together combining ingredients. Talking about measurements. Stirring. Patting. And finally, eating! 

The whole process wasn't necessarily something new. The newness was in fact the simple white board. I write the afternoon snack on the board, include a recipe if it is needed, and hopefully it will help guide them in creating healthy snacks. Tomorrow may be "peel carrots." or "pour milk and place crackers on plates." You get the idea. Easy enough to write at the last minute and no real prep time needed for me to have everything ready for them! 

Peanut Butter Oat Bars with Chocolate Chips

1 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup maple syrup or honey

1 cup (sometimes 1 1/4) oats

1/2 cup chocolate chips (always optional)

-Heat peanut butter and maple syrup on low heat. Stir until combined. (this is the part you really want to supervise as, well, you are using an oven)

-Add oats and stir. 

-Add chocolate chips. 

-Pour into a small square dish or onto wax paper and press down to desired thickness. 

-Refrigerate until set. This can take anywhere from 10+ minutes, the longer the firmer it will be.

Easy enough for any kitchen and perfect for a couple of munchkins.