Homemade really is better.... Poptarts.

I am sure that I'm not the only mama who dreads going to the grocery store with her kids. Not just because it's the grocery store... with your kids, but because, inevitably, at least one end cap will have the brightly colored, kid eye catching, junk food. I can see it in the oldest eyes, she wants it. I then have to explain that we don't eat "foods" that are loaded with the by products of genetically engineered corn and soy. High fructose corn syrup is in EVERYTHING! I mean seriously, everything. Do we really need sugar in our canned tomatoes?! Just because it's cheap doesn't mean it's good or necessary.
My sister and I were at Costco a few months ago and Brielle caught sight of the giant box of pop-tarts while we were waiting to check out. "Mom! Can I pleeeease have those? They look so good!" Now I knew from the last time I caved and let her have them that she doesn't really like pop-tarts once she gets past the shiny paper. I was about to remind her of that when my sister piped in "wow, those are really cheap. I mean $4 for that huge box?!" So in the cart they went. Auntie said it was ok. Anyway, jump forward 5 or so days. Brielle had tried one pack from each of the "flavors" and had, once again, decided she didn't like pop-tarts. I made a mental note to find a better option.

I found one! A better option that is. I stumbled upon this book while I was trolling around bloggerville. It is loaded with super cool recipes and ideas for making convenience foods from scratch with better ingredients. Some of them I already do, some I don't but will be soon.

I don't want to break the rules and give you the exact recipe from the book but I'll give you the jist of it. It's not rocket science.

Homemade toaster pastries:
adapted from Homemade Pantry
- 2 pie crusts (use any recipe you like, I don't think it really matters). Sidenote: you are always making extra pie crusts and freezing them right? You have too. Pie crusts are not super hard to make, but they annoy me.
-one egg, beaten
-filling of choice
-powder sugar for dusting top (optional)


Roll the first pie crust out into a rectangle and cut into 6 smaller rectangles
Brush them with egg and smear with your choice of goodness. We did blackberry jelly and cinnamon sugar.
Roll out the second pie crust and cut into matching rectangles. Then place them on top of the bottom ones.
Crimp the edges with a fork and brush with remainder of egg. Poke a few holes in the top to allow the steam to escape.
Bake for 20-25 minutes at 375.
Let cool for at least 20 minutes before sugaring or eating.

3 sets of little thumbs up! They taste different than the junk in the blue box. They taste. Like food. Not cardboard. I'm sold. It really wasn't hard. If you need to make them even more convenient. Make a few batches and freeze them, unbaked, on parchment paper then stack them in a freezer container until you are ready for them. A few would fit perfectly in a toaster oven and you wouldn't even have to heat up the kitchen.

Now, let me balance with this statement. My kids have eaten pop-tarts, oreos, goldfish, icecream and all sorts of other junk foods that I didn't make. I am not claiming to be the vision of health and good choices. I am claiming to be a mindful mama who, when I can, tries to make the best choices for my family on what they eat.