Chewy Granola Bars

Is it just me, or are mommy blogs and pinterest loaded in no-bake granola bars these days??!! I've bookmarked so many varieties that I've lost count! Finally this morning I decided to give one recipe a whirl. I say 'recipe' loosely cause I needed to use just what I had on hand, so I made a few switcharoos! In the end...I can now understand why everyone is talking about them...they are so yummy! I'm anxious to try more flavours now! My blog of choice to use a recipe from was my new favourite blog... The Marathon Mom ...she inspires me on many levels. She is a self-proclaimed 'granola bar junkie'...so I figured she knew what she was talking about:) Here's her recipe, with the switches I made based on what was in my pantry this morning...I'm guessing you can be pretty flexible with these guys...gotta love that in a recipe! Thanks Brandy at Marathon Mom...check her out!

Our boys LOVED these...and had fun helping make them...I'm guessing Jay loved them too since half the pan was gone when we got home from town this morning!!! A good & filling go-to snack for all ages! Beats any packaged granola bar, anyday:)


Chewy Granola Bars

1/2 cup natural peanut butter (I used almond butter)
1/3 cup local honey
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 1/2 cups oats
1 1/2 TBSP wheat germ (I used flax meal)
1/2 cup ground flax seed (I used Chia)
1/4 cup peanuts (I used sliced almonds)
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions

1. Melt peanut butter, honey, and coconut oil together in a small sauce pan over low/medium heat, stirring constantly. It only takes a minute or two to melt.

2. In mixing bowl, combine all other ingredients except for chocolate chips, and stir well.

3. Pour liquid mixture over dry mixture and stir til well combined.

4. Press mixture into parchment lined 8×8 pan.

5. Sprinkle chocolate chips over top and press down firmly with hands.

6. Place in fridge or freezer to set.

7. Flip the foil out onto cutting board and cut into desired bar sizes. I like to cut a dozen rectangle shaped bars.

Store in fridge for best results.

I'm a self-proclaimed peanut butter and chocolate junkie...so I can't wait to try her version of these!!

Enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day...from our family to yours! Made these last night to enjoy at lunch today...totally a favourite of mine...so there was a slight selfish motivation there!! Gotta love having a sharp edged heart cookie cutter on days like today!

Baked this cake again on the weekend as well to share with some great friends...simple, healthy and festive!! Whipped up another batch last night to use in my heart-shaped muffin tin...you'll get to indulge in those if you're attending my husband's Dr's Report tonight:)

Had intentions of trying about 300 new ideas from Pinterest for Valentine's Day...but was apparently too lazy!! I'll file them away for next year:) In the meantime our boys are still impressed with cutting their toast into hearts with a cookie cutter at breakfast time! I have a feeling that might change as they grow up:)

Hope you're feelin' the love today too!!

Morning Carrot Muffins

I dream of starting most of my days with a nice warm homemade muffin and a coffee. Is this attainable for me? Absolutely! Is it the best thing for my body everyday? Not in my books. However...it does make for a wonderful afternoon snack while our boys are napping:)

I love muffins...our boys really love muffins, or 'mops' as Levi calls them. I have a few standby recipes that always give great results...but for the most part I love to try something new every time. This week I've been craving a nice moist and healthy carrot muffin...I have no idea why...just am. I was watching the Food Network while running at the gym on Monday...that's almost an oxymoron!...and Giada was making a version of these. I would have totally made her muffins if I would have been able to write down the recipe...or find them online...but neither option worked! She did such a great job, they looked amazing. So here's my version of them. I know she used shredded zucchini instead of the banana...but I went with what I had on hand:) They turned out amazing...very pleased. Hope you enjoy them as much as we did! In fact...these are so healthy you could definitely start your day with them!

Morning Carrot Muffins

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 cups flour(I used 3/4 cup brown rice flour & 1/2 cup almond flour)
1/2 cup maple syrup or honey
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup oats
1/2 cup raisins (optional...but add sweetness)
3 Tbsp olive or coconut oil
1 egg
1/3 cup almond milk
4 medium shredded carrots
1 medium ripe mashed banana

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Stir in oats, syrup and raisins. Add oil, egg, milk, carrots, and banana and stir until blended.

Fill muffin tin with batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, 23 to 25 minutes.


Boys are napping...I'm making tea and heading to our sunny dining room to finish up my Beth Moore study for the week...talk soon!

Chili!!

CHECK IT OUT!!!

Look who's chili was used at Quality Greens this week for their feature recipe??!!! A great recipe to have on hand for these chilly snowy days...no pun intended!...or for Superbowl Sunday perhaps? I'm cooking a variation of this to share with friends after Code Orange Revival tomorrow afternoon!! Can hardly wait!! My favourite thing to do lately is add chopped fresh pineapple at the same time you add the Corona...soooo yummy!! For you meat lovers you can also add some grass-fed beef or ground turkey to the beginning stages of this recipe...always turns out great and is a crowd pleaser!!

Cinnamon Chia & Almond Crunch Cereal

I started 2012 thinking I should post some healthy recipes that will make people feel great and give them a nutritious jump-start to their year...something that will help them stick to their "resolutions". After about two minutes of brainstorming I realized...THAT IS MY WHOLE BLOG!! What a great feeling to know that all my readers could make any of these recipes and know they are fueling their bodies in a good way!!

It's fun to look over my blog stats and see what some of the biggest hits have been! Wiebe Style Cereal definitely was a top fan favourite! In celebration of that...I thought I'd try out another option! Mixed this altogether while making dinner one night last week...it smelt AMAZING while toasting in the oven...and it got thumbs up all around the breakfast table the next morning! Quite similar to my other cereal...yet different. A little more of a granola texture to it...but so good! Like always, feel free to be quite flexible with substituting in your favourite grains, seeds or nuts...make it your own:)

We might even like this one a little better than Wiebe Style Cereal...just sayin':)


CINNAMON CHIA & ALMOND CRUNCH CEREAL

INGREDIENTS
4 cups oats
1 cup raw sliced, chopped or slivered almonds
1 cup quinoa flakes
1/2 cup chia seeds
1/4 cup coconut sugar...or sugar of choice
pinch of salt
1 TBSP cinnamon

1/3 cup applesauce
1/4 cup maple syrup, or honey
1/3 cup nut butter (I used almond)
1 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients together.

In a small pot on low heat, melt all the wet ingredients together. Pour over dry mixture. Stir until all combined...might take a minute or two.

Spread out on parchment lined baking sheet...might take two depending on size. Lightly toast for about 25-30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so.

Store in air tight container for about 2 weeks...if it lasts that long:)

Enjoy over yogurt or with your favourite milk...that's Unsweetened Almond Milk in this house:)

Roasted Vegetable Soup

Well...apparently my readers are fans of soup! So here's a second recipe for the week! Made this one for supper last night...and all four of us were huge fans of it! I often grab a bunch of veggies from our fridge, steam them, puree them, add some broth with a little seasoning and attempt to make soup. Sometimes it's amazing, sometimes....it's just soup. Last night I decided to try roasting the veggies first...and let me tell you, it was worth the extra effort! This soup is so simple for the amount of flavour you get...you must try it! It tastes gourmet...seriously...a great and simple way to wow some company:) You'd pay top dollar in a grocery store or restaurant for this soup! Fancy grilled cheese would be a great add-on to this meal! Garnished mine with fresh ground pepper and a swirl of homemade spinach humus:)

Roasted Vegetable Soup

INGREDIENTS

6 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed into 2-inch chunks
4 carrots, cut into large chunks
4 parsnips, cut into large chunks
1 bundle of celery, cut into chunks
2 sweet red peppers, seeded
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp nutmeg
1 bulb garlic, peeled
2 boxes of chicken or vegetable stock

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Prepare all vegetables and garlic.

Toss lightly with olive oil, salt and pepper, and nutmeg. Place veggies and garlic cloves in baking dish...it may take more than one...lightly cover with tin foil so the veggies don't dry out.

Roast in oven for 40-45 minutes. Veggies and garlic should looks nice and caramelized...and be soft enough to puree.

Let cool slightly. Puree using food processor, in batches, gradually adding stock.

Pour pureed soup/stock mixture into a large pot and heat. ENJOY!

*This soup tastes even better the next day...and freezes amazing!

Lasagna Soup

Wanna know something funny? I actually use my own blog when making my meal plan each week and writing up my grocery list! So YES...this is really how we eat all the time!! I hadn't even really noticed I do this until Jay caught me the other day...we both had a good laugh over it.

On that note...remember the challenge I put out there back in January to eat better...plan better...and save a few bucks each month? How are you doing at that? I know in our house it's made a huge difference! I now shop intentionally for groceries by planning all meals, and only buying at the store what is on my list. I've found we can sometimes even go 8 or 9 days with out stopping in at the store again. And by making the list, I don't forget anything! Those quick stops to pick up the one thing I was missing...like eggs or cilantro, two or three times a week...would quickly add up to an additional $10 or $20 a stop because I would be swayed by things on sale, or easy snacks that looked tasty! I've for sure saved about $20-$30 a WEEK this year by planning our meals.

I still often feel that it's pricey to feed our family of four. We were talking about it on the weekend though and decided to break it down per person, per day. We buy everything organic or all-natural, we value that. For our family, it came to about $6-$7 per person, per DAY. That's NOT bad if you saw how amazing we eat!! Not bad when you consider that's the price of a daily venti fancy Starbucks, which we don't buy...the price of a husband grabbing a quick sandwich to-go for lunch, which Jay doesn't do...the price of a magazine at the til in the grocery store (for the record I would LOVE to always buy a food/cooking magazine at the til, but am too cheap to pay the price)! So, we've cut out some luxuries so our kids will grow healthy and strong...worth every penny:)

Alright...on to the soup! This one is SOOO yummy...our boys love it too! Ripped this recipe out of a magazine once...I believe it was Rachael Ray?...and pulled it out of my recipe stash one day to try...I've made it many times since. Pretty quick to whip together...about 30 minutes. This batch makes enough for two meals for us...and actually tastes better the second time around:) ENJOY!




Lasagna Soup

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb ground beef - we use grass-fed
Salt and pepper
1 onion, finely chopped
4 carrots, finely chopped or grated
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 or 5 handfuls of fresh spinach, finely chopped
4 cups chicken broth
One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 lb lasagna noodles, broken into jagged pieces - I use brown rice lasagna
1 cup basil leaves, torn
1 cup ricotta

Directions

In a soup pot, heat the olive over medium heat. Add the beef, season with pepper and cook until browned, 3 to 4 minutes.

Stir in the onion, carrots and garlic and cook until softened, about 7 minutes. Add the spinach and let cook-down for a minute or two with the lid on.

Stir in 2 cups water, the chicken broth and tomatoes...cover and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 15 minutes. Stir in the basil and season with salt and pepper.

Serve the soup in bowls with a spoonful of ricotta on top.

*We love to sprinkle ours with fresh parmesan too!