Whether or not you are headed out of town for Spring Break, your kids are going to tell you they are hungry.  Why not have them make a batch of these Energy Bites to enjoy on the road trip, after sledding (hey, it's going to snow, right?), or about 30 minutes after they finish their breakfasts and claim they are already hungry!  Feel free to swap out any ingredient for something similar to make it more to your liking.  

There are lots of benefits here:  these delicious little gems only have 7 ingredients and you can pronounce ALL of them, compared with a lot of packaged granola bars out there with 30+ ingredients.  And I'm serious - the kids CAN do this!  You may up with a mess in your kitchen, but they will be involved in an activity for a short while :)

Mix all of the ingredients in a medium size bowl with a spatula:

• 1 cup oats (use Gluten Free if you need to)

• 2/3 cup unsweetened coconut (it can be hard to find unsweetened, Trader Joe's has it for a reasonable price)

• 1/2 cup ground flaxseed

• 1/2 cup peanut butter (you can substitute sun butter, almond butter, etc. I use sun butter in the classrooms to avoid peanut allergies)

• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (you could substitute dried fruit if you want)

• 1/3 cup honey

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

You can roll these into little balls; I use a small icecream/melon baller to make them uniform.  They refrigerate well (unless they get eaten right away).  I originally found the recipe in a HyVee flyer, and made some modifications.  So far, they've been a hit with my family, and the many students, faculty, and staff that I've worked with.  Enjoy!