Every year without fail, Maryland football ends up with a couple of games that start at noon. Those days our tailgates start at 6 a.m.


Yes we tailgate before the sun comes up.

Getting to campus that early is rough, but our breakfast tailgates are always a hit. It's impressive the number of breakfast foods that you can cook on a grill.

To fit last week's breakfast theme, I whipped up a batch of delicious granola bars, loosely based on this recipe.

Ingredients:



3/4 c rolled oats
1/2 c rice cereal
1/4 c pumpkin seeds
1/4 c sunflower seeds
1/4 c chocolate chips
1/2 c honey
1/3 c creamy peanut butter
Splash of vanilla

Directions:

1. Combine the first four ingredients in a large bowl. Mix and set aside.

2. Combine the honey, peanut butter and vanilla and warm in the microwave for about 30 seconds. This will make it easier to spread.

3. Pour the warm ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix until everything is well coated.

4. Add the chocolate chips and mix well.

5. Spread the mixture into a 13 x 9 pan and refrigerate.

6. Once the bars are set, cut them into individual serving sizes and enjoy.



These bars ended up turning out great. I wasn't sure how the peanut butter and honey mixture would work, but everyone loved the peanut butter flavor and the honey added just a touch of sweetness. These were the perfect early morning treat.

My family is coming into town for this weekend's tailgate so I'm taking the week off from cooking since they are bringing down delicious Philly pretzels. We play Temple on Saturday and so of course our tailgate is Philly themed. We'll be grilling up lots of cheesesteaks. I can't wait!