Homemade Chewy Granola Bars - Our Favorite Recipe

One of my husband's favorite snacks for work are granola bars. They are portable, easy to snack on and calorie and nutrient dense. The kiddos love them, too. But with three guys in the house that love snacking, granola bars can get to be an expensive luxury if store bought. I've searched for years for a recipe that works for us, and finally, a few weeks ago, found one at the blog An Oregon Cottage. It is tasty, but not too sweet, and the bars stay together when cut (the biggest problem we've had with homemade granola bars). They can also be made with mostly local ingredients, which is important to us. The only problem I have with these bars is that my family eats them even faster than store bought bars. We are making some today, and I plan to put half in the freezer right away so that I can hopefully use them for hubby's lunches this week. I'll try to take some pics.

Check out the recipe at An Oregon Cottage.

A Couple of Firsts this Fall

Yesterday I had the opportunity to make our first apple pie of the season (Paula, I always think of you and Heather when making apple pie). I think it must have been much anticipated, because the boys cut into it before I was even able to get a picture. With all of the moving, I misplaced my usual recipe, so instead, I used this crust recipe from All Recipes and this filling recipe with some adjustments (I used Gala apples, so I left out about half of the sugar in the recipe and I substituted butter for the shortening).


This morning we had temps in the low 40's and so we decided to get a fire going in the fireplace. So cozy. It was nice to be able to cuddle up and enjoy my morning coffee in front of the fireplace.


We are really going to enjoy this wood burning fireplace this fall and winter.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Recipe

I cannot remember where I saw this (I read lots of food blogs and belong to lots of foodie yahoo groups), but we just had to try this really cute recipe for pumpkin oatmeal (please don't look at my dirty stove - keepin' it real here, lol).


It starts with a sugar pumpkin, top cut off and hollowed out (remove all the strings and seeds). Add to the pumpkin one cup of oats, one cup of milk and any sweetener you might like (we used about 1 tablespoon honey and a little brown sugar). In addition, put a pinch of salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon and I also used a couple of grates of nutmeg. We like a little crunch in our oatmeal, so we added pepitas (roasted and shelled pumpkin seeds). Once all of this is inside the pumpkin, put the lid back on and put it into a preheated 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes. Before serving, scrape some of the pumpkin off the sides and mix it in with the oats. We added a little butter and coconut oil right before eating.

This was a fun little recipe and got another orange veggie into my kids first thing in the morning. If anyone else saw this online and remembers where it came from, please let me know so that I can give proper credit.

Granola and Tomatoes

Last weekend at the farmer's market, I bought more cherry tomatoes from the heirloom grower than we could eat before they went bad, so I put the rest in the dehydrator this morning. They will be so yummy on pizza in the coming months.


I rarely buy cereal anymore and instead we make granola in the crock pot (it goes cooks more slowly so if I forget about it for 15 minutes, it does not end up a charred mess). I've got some of this going in the kitchen right now.

Here is how we make it:

Turn slow cooker on low and add a stick of butter, abut 1/4 cup coconut oil, about 1/4 cup brown sugar, about 1/4 cup local honey and a pinch of salt. Allow the butter to melt and then stir everything together. Add 6-10 cups oats (I use quick oats because my family does not like the results when I used old fashioned rolled oats, and we lean towards the high end - almost 10 cups of oats, as my family prefers the granola more dry and less sweet) and stir to combine. Add nuts if you like them. "Cook" with the lid off, stirring about once every 15 minutes or so for about 1.5 hours then turn off the crock pot and allow the granola to cool. Once cool, you can add all kinds of "goodies" like coconut flakes and dried fruit, if you like. Store in an airtight container. Don't know how long it will stay good, as it usually does not last very long at the cabin.

I am hoping to try a sprouted cereal soon. I just need to make time to get to the health food store for the raw materials. If I ever get around to doing it, I'll post pics and such.

edited to add finished granola picture.

Yummy Homemade Lemonade from our Homegrown Lemons!

This is all that is left of our first pitcher of homemade lemonade made with our homegrown lemons. It was so yummy! Here's how we made it:

Lemonade

1 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice (it took 4 lemons)
1/2 cup sugar (most recipes call for more, but we like ours sour)
3 cups water

Add all ingredients to a pitcher and stir until dissolved. Enjoy :o)

Are you enjoying anything from your garden this week?

Yummy Breakfast (or dinner) Burrito

Inspired by this blog post (and be sure to check out the website while there - tons of great recipes!!), we made our own version of a yummy breakfast burrito on Monday, when I forgot to defrost the chicken.

We used store-bought tortillas and then caramelized onions and frozen veggie blend in butter in my cast iron skillet. After those were done, I scrambled some eggs and sausage added them to the tortilla, sprinkled on some cheese then topped with the onions and veggies. These were so delicious, we ended up having them again the next day :o)

I'm linking this post to Mouth Watering Monday.

Yesterday, No. Today, Yes!!

Yesterday, I checked the fig tree and there were no figs ready, although they were starting to look like they might be full sized. Today, I happened to glance at them when walking past and saw that lots were ripe! Yay!


When I went inside to change from my jeans into my shorts and get a bowl, the boys got to work and by the time I was outside again, they were done collecting the ripe ones. Instead of cooking dinner, I cooked up the figs.
Four cups of figs made one pint and a little more. I canned the one pint and the "little more" will got into the fridge to be used up this week.


I just went out to inspect the trees again and found another 2 cups or so of ripe figs. I brought them in and will probably wait until tomorrow or day after tomorrow to see if we can get to 6 cups of figs before canning again. That way, I would probably get 2 full pints to can.

We use the preserved figs on toast, with biscuits, in yogurt (dh discovered this a few weeks ago and its so yummy), in fig cobbler and we are going to try fig pinwheels and fig sweet dough hand pies. What do you do with your fig preserves?

Salsa and Pickled Banana Peppers

Keeping it real: notice the messy counter and toaster oven behind the canning jars.

It smells like a Mexican restaurant in here, today. I tried out this recipe for salsa and this one for pickled banana peppers. Since we have some very particular people who live in this house (Hubby and oldest son), I decided to try the salsa recipe out in a small batch, only make half a recipe. Well, it passed the taste test for #1 son and knowing dh's tastes like I do, I am sure it will pass there as well. I made the recipe as written (a new thing for me - I usually alter everything, lol) except that I ran everything through the food processor for a less chunky salsa (as requested by #1 son).

I cannot believe how easy it was to make. I've avoided making salsa for years thinking it would be difficult and not come out tasting very good. Boy was I ever wrong. Next market, I plan to get enough produce to make a full batch and can it. If I can do this 6 times this summer, that would give us enough salsa (one pint per week) to last us through next summer, when the tomatoes show up at the market again. We use at least that much salsa, since chips and salsa are our salty snack of choice and we use salsa in cooking sometimes, too. Will I make that much salsa? I doubt it - but I'm sure going to try. Now to learn how to make the chips, lol.

The pickled banana peppers will be a lot easier to make a year's worth, since dh is the only one who eats them. I think one pint per month will be plenty, and since I already have two, the rest could be done in one canning session. Let's just hope the farmer's have enough peppers.

One thing I did not try yet, is the link Paula recommended for lacto-fermented salsa. I have a question for you, Paula. Is the whey called for in the recipe just regular whey, like what I strain out of our yogurt or is it something else? I want to try this, too and hope to do that as soon as possible.

Okay, so what else are you all preserving that I should try?

Hamburger Buns Recipe

Last night, we had burgers made with grass fed beef, locally grown onions (caramelized) and tomatoes, potatoes grown by my Dad and broccoli. We made the hamburger buns pictured above to go with the burgers. I did not get a picture of the finished burgers. We ate them too quickly. The buns were delicious and we are definitely going to make them again next time we have anything requiring a bun. I adapted our recipe from this link. Here's how we made them:

~ Hamburger Buns ~
Recipe adapted from the blog Rosa's Yummy Yums.

Ingredients:
1 Cup Water, lukewarm
2 Tbs Unsalted butter, melted
1 Egg
2 Cups unbleached white bread flour
1 1/4 Cup whole wheat flour
1/4 Cup sugar
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tbs yeast

Method:
1. Add ingredients to bread maker in the order recommended by the manufacturer.
2. Use dough setting.
3. When the dough cycle is complete, remove from machine and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll into a ball them flatten slightly. Place on greased baking sheet and let rise until doubled.
4. Preheat Oven to 375 degrees. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.
5. Cool on a wire rack.

My Grandma's No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

These cookies always make me think of my maternal Grandmother. Until she stopped cooking a few years ago, almost every time we went to her house she had these rich, yummy cookies for her grandkids. They are so easy to make, they were one of the first things I learned to cook.

1 stick butter
1/4 c. cocoa powder
1/2 c. milk
2 c. sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla
1/2 c. peanut butter
3 c. quick cooking oats

Boil butter, cocoa, milk, sugar for 1 minute. Add peanut butter and stir until mixed well. Add vanilla and stir. Add oats and mix well, stirring until mixture begins to thicken slightly. Spoon out onto wax paper. Once they are cool, they will become solid and you can store them in a closed container on the counter. Or you could just eat them all :o)

Recipe: Fig Cobbler

1/4 Cup Butter
1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1 Cup Sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 Cup Milk
1 Egg
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 pint fig preserves

Preheat oven to 275. Place butter in a 2 quart casserole and place in the warm oven to melt. When melted, remove and set aside. Raise oven temp to 375. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add milk, egg and vanilla and stir until smooth. Pour into baking dish. Spoon preserves over batter. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes.

Recipe: Chicken Enchiladas

Unlike most enchiladas, these are not tomato based. These enchiladas are in a cream sauce and are just delicious. I don't have any pictures yet, but will try to take some as I cook this week.

In a medium Dutch oven, melt butter (about 1/2 stick) over medium heat and sweat a medium onion (chopped) with a little salt. Once the onion is translucent, add about 32 oz chicken stock, a can of cream of mushroom soup (you could make this with sauted mushrooms and a white sauce) and chile peppers (I'm using chipotle peppers) to taste. To this sauce, add about 3 cups of cooked chicken diced or torn into bite sized pieces. Salt and pepper to taste (not usually necessary).

In a 9X13 casserole dish, pour a little of the sauce just to coat the bottom of the pan and prevent sticking. Cover the entire bottom of the pan with a single layer of flour tortillas. Add 1/3 of sauce over the tortillas. Add some shredded cheese (I use a lot of cheese - about 1 cup per layer). Repeat the layers 2 more times.

You can cover with foil and keep in your refrigerator for a day or two before you cook it or even freeze and the defrost before cooking. To cook, place in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until the casserole is heated through and the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Homemade Corn Tortillas

Here are a few pictures of our first attempt at homemade corn tortillas. It was a bit messy to make, but the boys and I had a lot of fun doing it and the tortillas, though not as perfect as store bought, were absolutely delicious. We ate many of them with butter as they came off the grill, and the few that were left after our snack were used for enchiladas.

This is our dough ball resting in a glass bowl.

As you can see, the dough was still a bit crumbly after resting, but it still made a nice finished product. The recipe suggested making 12 tortillas, so we cut the dough into 4 pieces, then each of those into 3 (cooking usually results in a nice math lesson). :o)


We don't have a tortilla press (yet - after our success, I definitely want one). We pressed the dough between two plates and though it took a bit of strength (see how hard he's working), it produced a nice round tortilla.

Here is one of the tortillas while it cooked.

I think next week, we'll make a double batch and that way we may have some extra to freeze, though I'm not going to count on it.

Mushroom Pizza

For supper Tuesday, we had yummy homemade mushroom pizza. I tried a new crust recipe made in a food processor. We loved it and it was sooooo easy. I think it will be our go-to pizza crust from now on. It "Works For Me". Here's how it was done:

2 - 2 1/2 cups flour
1 pack of quick yeast (or 1 tblsp)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 Tblsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 cup very warm water

Combine 1 3/4 cups of flour, yeast, sugar and salt in the bowl of the food processor fitted with the chopping blade. Add 1/4 cup very warm water and the oil and process until a soft dough forms (I had to add a little extra water to get the dough formed). Add as much of the remaining flour, a few tablespoons at a time, until the dough is manageable. Shape the dough into a ball and place it in an oiled bowl, turning to coat all sides with oil. Cover and let rise until doubled in size (about half an hour). Roll out and use as needed in recipe. (You can check out lots of great Works For Me Wednesday Tips at We Are THAT Family.)

Dough getting ready to rise

For the toppings on the pizza, we used a recipe that I found in a Better Homes and Garden's Special Interest Publication called "Italian". On page 90 of the magazine is a recipe called Mixed Mushroom Pizza.

Ingredients:
1 Recipe Pizza Dough
8 ounces Fontina, provolone or mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
2 large sweet onions, halved and thinly sliced
3 Tblsp olive oil
3 Cups sliced fresh mushrooms (we used shitake and portabella)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tblsp snipped fresh rosemary


Preheat oven to 375 deg. Prepare pizza dough in pan. Arrange cheese over dough in pan.


In a large skillet, cook onions in 2 Tblsp olive oil covered for 13-15 minutes or until onions are tender, stirring occasionally. Uncover; cook and stir over medium-high heat for 5-8 minutes or until onions are golden. Remove from pan; set aside.


In same skillet, cook mushrooms, garlic and rosemary in the remaining olive oil over medium heat until mushrooms are tender; drain.



Spoon over cheese. Top with onions. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until crust bottom is crisp and brown. Cool in pan on wire rack for 5 minutes. Cut and serve immediately.


This pizza recipe is definitely a keeper! Delicious!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Here is a "before" pic of the BBQ Chicken (and 1/3 olives) pizza we made for supper yesterday.

And here it is again, after coming out of the oven. Yummy! This recipe is very close to the one I use for my pizza crusts, except that I also use a little salt and a little sugar in mine and I use a lot more parmesan cheese in mine, lol. We formed the crust into a jellyroll pan, added bottled BBQ sauce, cooked chicken, thinly sliced red onions and fontina cheese (my current fav. cheese). It baked for about 25 minutes at 400 degrees. Once we get our grill moved here, we can once again bake our pizzas on the grill the way my friend Melanie does.

Hummus recipe

We love hummus and it is so easy to make. Our hummus recipe is based on this one. Here is a picture of the ingredients we used last week to make hummus.
We like to have it with bagel or pita chips, cut up vegetables or warmed up flat bread (pita or naan). We usually buy our bread dippers already made, but surfing the other day, I found this recipe which we hope to try in the next few days.

My Favorite Snack ~~~ The Kids Like it, too

I finally got around to visiting the local health food store yesterday to pick up some cashew butter. You can often find cashew butter at "mega-mart" type stores and some grocery stores, too. I absolutely love cashew butter spread on graham crackers. Its a nice alternative to peanut butter (which we also love). The boys and I snacked on these and they were sooooo yummy. I find that cashew butter on graham crackers makes not only a filling snack, but also a snack that keeps me feeling full for a long time. I usually have only a small "sandwich" (1/4 graham cracker spread with a thin layer of cashew butter and topped with another 1/4 graham cracker - like in the photo) and feel full for hours. I guess something in the cashew butter helps prevent blood sugar spikes or something.

One day last week, I saw an episode of Good Eats (I'm a Food Network addict) about making crackers. Boy would I love to try homemade Graham crackers. Maybe one day . . .

Recipe: Shrimp and Corn Chowder

Easy, easy, easy!

Shrimp and Corn Chowder

Boil about a pound of russet potatoes, rough cubed, until tender. Drain. Saute about 1/2 onion and butter in dutch oven over medium heat until onions are tender. Add a few tablespoons of flour (it will bubble) and blend. Then add milk or cream (about 1 cup) and stir to blend. Continue stirring until mixture thickens. Add chicken stock (about a quart), potatoes, creamed corn (one can - or 2 cups if homemade) and about a pound of shrimp (season shrimp with salt and pepper before you start cooking). Cook, stirring occasionally until shrimp are cooked through and soup is the consistency you want. Salt and pepper to taste.

Pumpkin Pancake Recipe

I make a double batch of pancakes when ever I make any - they are so easy to freeze and make a quick breakfast when all you have to do is heat and eat.

Pumpkin Pancakes:

1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup quick oats or oat flour
1/4 cup corn flour
1/4 cup flax meal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ginger
2 eggs
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1.5 cups buttermilk
1 cup cooked pumpkin

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, combine eggs and butter and mix. Once thoroughly mixed, add vanilla, buttermilk and pumkin and stir. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix just to combine. Allow mixture to rest for about 5 minutes, then cook pancakes on a lightly oiled surface.

We love this with butter and maple syrup - yummy!

MONDAY: Menu Plan Monday - Sept 15, 2008

Busy, busy, busy. In addition to home schooling, home keeping and our activities for the boys, we are starting to box up our things and prep the house for the move. Here's the menu plan for our busy week.

Breakfasts (to be served with milk and fruit):

Cold cereal
Baked Oatmeal
Banana Nut Pancakes
French Toast

Lunch (served with a fruit and a veggie):

PB & honey
Grilled Cheese
Homemade "Lunchables" (cheese, crackers and turkey)
Broccoli cheese soup

Snacks

Hummus and pita
homemade brownies (with spinach and blueberry puree)
Chocolate Chip cookies
biscuits with butter and honey
strawberries
peaches
carrots and cucumber with ranch dip
homemade salsa with chips

Supper

Tex-Mex Bowls (black beans with brown rices layered under seasoned meat (ground turkey) with cheese, lettuce, tomato and sour cream) with cubed melon

Chicken Alfredo Florentine Pizza (homemade crust with homemade Alfredo sauce chicken, cooked spinach, garlic and sliced whole milk Mozzarella) with Asian Broccoli Slaw (Broccoli Slaw mix - found in the produce dept of most grocery stores and mega marts - with Asian Style Salad Dressing, chow mien noodles and cashew halves and pieces). Be Sure to visit the link in the title to see how my friend Melanie grills her pizzas - great idea! We love this!

Yakisoba Chicken

Pan Fried (in olive oil) Chicken Strips (with wheat germ, flour and ground almonds to coat - tasty and healthy, and the kids love it), pan smothered sweet potatoes (brown in butter with a little salt), broccoli, cornbread

Tuna Burgers, dressed bun, oven roasted veggies (squash, zucchini, red peppers, asparagus, broccoli), Tater Tots (special treat for our oldest who loves these).

Check out hundreds of menus at Menu Plan Monday on Organizing Junkie.