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One of the many things that my kids do that makes me beam inside with proudness is when my kids show the world how caring they are. They do this in a multitude of ways from simply being helpful and nice to each other to helping out friends and others. It is one of the many ways I know that I must be doing something right. The day I watched my oldest son buy something for his friend (without asking me for money, if he could or should) was an eye opening moment. Maybe it shouldn’t have been because kids learn by example and I have tried to be a good one for my kids. They have always known that mommy volunteers and is a helper. It is how I try to make the world a better place. Whether it be a random act of kindness to giving a friend a surprise gift, you never know how your action may be that one thing that turns their no good, horrible day around. I know personally, I love those random gifts that say hey I’m thinking of you! Seriously, who doesn’t like receiving a gift?
Right now if you head over to Walmart you will find some extra special boxes of Cheerios™.
On specially marked boxes they have a special “Give a Box” peelie. Boxes with this peelie allow you to buy your box and share another box with someone you care about by entering the special code on the peelie. Isn’t that awesome
After all who doesn’t love Cheerios ™? It was the first finger food of many kids. I know I fed my kiddos the wholesome goodness of Cheerios ™ and always had a baggie full in my diaper bag for them for while we were out and about. Heck, I think my kids sometimes survived on them. They loved them! My kids didn’t just eat them though. They were perfect for potty training to give my boys some potty time target practice.They were perfect for working on fine motor skills and we would make necklaces with them looped on. When learning letters we even glued them onto paper in the shapes of different letters. The things you could do with them were endless!
Once I had gone to Walmart and bought my box, I needed to decide who to give my special code to. I decided to give my code to Brandy from Glue Sticks, a fellow Social Fabric blogger. I hope she likes the gift and it brightens her day a little bit! With a big family like mine I have a feeling it might. I know cereal never lasts that long around my house. My boys, especially my oldest, can polish off a single box in one sitting if we aren’t watching!
A bowl of cereal on school days is a rarity around my house though. Breakfast tends to be grab something quick and go. Making sure my daughter gets to elementary school, my other son middle and the oldest to high school can be a juggling act some mornings so I have gotten creative in the kitchen. I created Dark Chocolate Cherry Almond Cheerios ™ Bars. They have the wholesome goodness of Cheerios ™ with the added protein of almonds and a bit of sweetness. They have become my kids new, on the go favorite breakfast!
The recipe is pretty simple. I mix Honey Nut Cheerios ™ with sliced almonds, chia seed and dried cherries and set it aside while I cook the mix that holds the bars together.
The glue that holds the bars together is a combination of honey, brown sugar, almond butter and vanilla extract. You cook the honey and brown sugar together until the brown sugar has dissolved. Then you remove from the heat and add the almond butter and vanilla and combine well.
Carefully pour the hot almond butter mix into the cereal mix and stir well, making sure everything is well coated.
Pour into a prepared pan and evenly spread out.
Top with melted dark chocolate.
Place pan in the refrigerator and allow to cool 1-2 hours. When cool remove from pan and cut into bars. I typically can get 12 bars.
My kids now have a grown up way of eating Cheerios™ that they love! I have made them several times now with and without chocolate to the same reaction, “can I have more?” I am planning on making up some more real soon. I think they would be perfect as a gift in a care package! It would be another great way to brighten someone’s day with Cheerios™.
How would you brighten someone’s day? Who would you give a box of Cheerios™ too?
Dark Chocolate Cherry Almond Cheerios ™ Bars
Author:
Country Girl Gourmet
- 4 cups Cheerios
- ½ cup Dried Cherries
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- 1 Tablespoon Chia Seed
- ½ cup Honey
- ¼ cup Brown Sugar
- ½ cup Almond Butter
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla paste (or extract)
- 1 10oz bag of Dark Chocolate Chips
- Line 8x8 square pain and cover with foil. Lightly spray with cooking spray.
- Mix Honey Nut Cheerios ™ with sliced almonds, chia seed and dried cherries and set aside.
- Cook the honey and brown sugar together until the brown sugar has dissolved.
- Remove from the heat and add the almond butter and vanilla and combine well.
- Carefully pour the hot almond butter mix into the cereal mix and stir well, making sure everything is well coated.
- Pour into prepared pan and evenly spread out.
- Melt Chocolate chips in the Microwave in a microwave safe boil. Stirring every minute until melted.
- Top cereal mixture with melted dark chocolate.
- Place pan in the refrigerator and allow to cool 1-2 hours. When cool remove from pan and cut into bars.
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As you may have heard, some select boxes of Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios produced over two weeks in July at the Lodi, California plant, have been recalled due to a wheat allergen. This recall only affects consumers with Celiac disease or a gluten-sensitivity. To learn more about the recall, and if your product is affected please go to: http://blog.generalmills.com
