What a great Saturday it has been thus far! We went to the farmers market this morning to get some produce, then my friend and I went to Trader Joe’s to pick up a few things! My main reason for going there, however, was to get the ingredients to make homemade Larabars! I have recently became addicted to Larabars–especially the Peanut Butter Cookie flavor–and realized how easy and cheap it would be to make my own! I made them and I am beyond excited to say that I saved so much money (and even calories) per bar! Not only did I save, these bars taste EXACTLY like the real thing! They are absolutely delicious! Here are some pictures and a breakdown of my savings:
-Trader Joe’s Price per bar: $1.29 (after tax $1.41)
-Calories per Larabar: 220
Homemade Peanut Butter Cookie Larabar:
-Trader Joe’s Medjool Dates: $4.49; Calories: 1,265 for whole package
-Trader Joe’s 50% Less Salt Roasted and Salted Peanuts: $3.29 (I only used 2 cups, so for the recipe it’s only about $2.19); Calories: 1,280 for 2 cups
Here’s what I used:
-2 cups of pitted Medjool Dates
-2 cups of 50% less salted Roasted Peanuts
What I did:
-Blend the peanuts in food processor. Remove and put in another bowl.
-Blend the dates in the processor (this will take work! Lots of stopping and moving the dates around with a spoon because the dates are so thick and sticky). Make sure you remove the pits from the dates before blending as well.
-Add the peanuts back with the dates and continue blending until smooth.
-Spoon the mixture into a glass pan and press down to smooth and even out.
-Put in fridge for about 2 hours to form. Take them out and cut into desired size. Then wrap in saran wrap and store in fridge!
What it made:
-16 bars
-159.1 calories per bar
Cost per bar: About $0.46
– After tax I spent $8.48 on both items. What I used on the recipe came out to about $7.28 or $0.46 per bar! If I were to buy 16 of these bars at Trader Joe’s for $1.29, after tax I would spend about $22.50.
-Overall savings, about $15.22. How’s that for thriftiness? Never again will I spend $1.29 on a Larabar!
Fat Free Fanatic 