They tell us to eat breakfast— "the most important meal of the day." But who's got time when you're getting up at 5 a.m. already?

They tell us to replace refined flours and sugars with whole grains and natural fruit sweeteners. But how to convert the recipes we know and love?

And now, between fuel costs and a general recession, there's the problem of grocery store sticker shock with healthy foods generally costing more than less-healthy choices.

All this was on my mind as I worked to develop a homemade breakfast bar that could replicate the $6.50-a-box Kashi-TLC (Tasty Little Chewy) brand protein bars I've grown to love (they do often go on sale for about $5).

These half-ounce nut-fruit-grain bars offer 7 grams protein, 4 grams fiber, no cholesterol and only 5 grams each of sugar and fat (only half a gram of it saturated) and 115 milligrams sodium, all for just 140 calories. I can eat one for breakfast with some nonfat milk or yogurt and fresh fruit, one for a midmorning or mid-afternoon snack and be full and happy on each occasion.

But could I spend less and get a similar nutritional profile from a homemade bar?

And could I take on another challenge: to make a no-bake bar, allowing the flaxseed I wanted to incorporate in the mixture to retain its healthful antioxidant properties? (The compounds are destroyed by heat.)

Canvassing the Internet, I found dozens of cereal bar and protein bar recipes, but most involved a shocking amount of fat and sugar, and most were baked. The no-bake bars sounded too ... well ... health-foodish and some used too many hard-to-find ingredients.

I'm willing to visit the health- food store every month or two to stock up on whole grains, alternative sweeteners, nuts and seeds and other dry goods that can be stored for a few weeks. But I wanted to be able to buy most of the ingredients in a standard supermarket.

At the health-food store, I bought a large bag of flaxseed and another of skin-on roasted almonds; they keep well in a cool, dry place if you have one or in the freezer if you don't. Everything else can be found in the grocery store except an ingredient called whey protein, which is generally sold where bodybuilders buy their nutritional supplements, such as General Nutrition Centers, aka GNC. It's not necessary to the recipe; you can use readily available nonfat dry milk instead.

To save money, I bought an acre of Craisins and another of old-fashioned rolled oat at a big-box store.

The very first test, based on ideas borrowed from Internet recipes and on my fitness instructor's advice ("lots of dates so it will stick together" and "you gotta pump up the protein"), pleased me on all counts.

It went together quickly (active work time is about 30 minutes). The bars held together, cut easily and had the moist and chewy texture I prefer, but with enough crunch from the nuts and flaxseeds to be interesting. Another technique that added to the crunch was toasting the oatmeal and the nuts in the oven before combining them with the fruit and other ingredients. The squares were sweet but not cloyingly so, as can be a problem with some commercial bars sweetened with fruit concentrates.

With a general formula finalized, I went to work, creating variations with different types of dried fruit, nuts and flavorings.

As to expense, the experiment wasn't quite as successful there: My favorite Kashi brand chewy granola bars cost $1.06 per serving at full price, though they're often on sale for a price that works out to as little as 85 cents a serving. The homemade granola squares using nonfat powered milk for protein cost $1.98 per serving (not counting savings from sale prices or buying ingredients at big box stores). It should be noted that though the two are roughly the same size, the homemade bars are much more dense and weighty (1.5 ounces each, compared to 1/2 ounce each for the Kashi bars), which might make them more satisfying in smaller servings.

And in nutrition ...well, that's where the experiment fell apart. My bars have twice the calories of the Kashi chewies and more sugar and fat, too. I still make them. I still like them, I still enjoy them for a morning meal with a little milk or yogurt. But the bottom line: Gotta get the fat and sugar down while still getting that delightful chewiness.

Here's my recipe. I'd love thoughts on how to make an unbaked bar rich in nutrients but not so rich in sugar (and acceptable to someone who isn't a health-food fanatic).

HOMEMADE PROTEIN BARS