Homemade Granola/Energy No Bake Bars

Granola bars!

I found this amazing recipe on Pinterest!  I copied and pasted it into Word, printed it and saved it, but I must have never pinned it.  I went back to move it into my "Pins I've made and tried" folder and I couldn't find.  So I feel bad not given credit where credit is due!  However I have tweaked it a little.  

My husband likes to say I'm always taking good recipes and trying to make them healthier, which I do try to do.  I've followed this basic recipe and tried several different ways to cut out the brown sugar, so I will try and explain all the different ways I've done it and then you can decide which way you want to make it.

I LOVE these!!!!!  I eat so many of them!!!!!!  They are great for a quick breakfast, snack or pick me up!  And I've read granola bars are great for some energy before a work out!  You can't beat homemade!  No preservatives or any of that garbage! 

Ingredients:
 

• 1/2 C honey (I use local honey)
• 1/2 C brown sugar (read notes below to substitute this)
• 1/2 cup nut butter (I used my homemade almond butter)
• 2 C quick oats (I have also used rolled oats)
• 2 cups rice cereal (I use crushed up brown rice cakes but rice crispies work too!)
• 1/4 C flax seed meal
• 1 C total mix-ins – such as raisins, craisins, chocolate chips, sliced almonds, etc. (I like to use golden raisins, dark chocolate chips and sliced almonds and usually add more then 1 cup.)

Directions:

In saucepan mix honey and brown sugar over medium heat until sugar dissolved, stirring a few times.

Remove from heat and quickly mix in nut butter.  Let cool a bit.

Meanwhile, mix oats, cereal and flax seed in large bowl together.

Pour dry ingredients into honey and nut butter mixture and mix well. 

Add chosen mix-ins.

Press mixture into a 9x13 pan sprayed with cooking spray or lined with wax paper or parchment paper.  Make sure to really press hard or they will fall apart!

Let it cool and firm up (I put mine in the fridge for about an hour).

Then cut into desired size of bars and store in air-tight container in fridge. (If you house is warm, they kind of droop and fall apart, but still taste fine.)

 To make it Refined Sugar Free...
(Please note that sometimes when you make it without the brown sugar they aren't as firm.)

• I used all honey, so replace the 1/2 Cup brown sugar with honey, making it 1 Cup honey.  I just warmed the honey a little, do not boil it, then stirred in the almond butter.  

or

• I also used chopped dates boiled in water and mushed up in place of the brown sugar.  I'm sorry I didn't really measure it when I did.  It's about 1 cup chopped dates and 1/2 cup water.  In a saucepan simmer the dates in the water for about 5 minutes and mash it up with a fork or a potato masher.  Then I added the honey and nut butter.

To make it all Sugar Free...

I just used all dates, mushed up in water, no honey.  I've read that honey still spikes your blood sugar, but then someone told me it's in a good way... so I don't know.  All I know is when I did the Candida diet I wasn't allowed honey, only Stevia.  So about 2 cups dates simmered in 1/2-1 cup water for about 5-7 minutes and then you mash it with a potato masher or a fork.  Then stir in he nut butter.

I have some unsweetened coconut flakes that I also throw in, just about 1/4 cup maybe a little more.  You don't really taste or see it and it's supposed to be good for you.

I've also made my homemade chocolate or carob almond butter cups (click here for the recipe), chopped them up and put them in.  The carob I think can be a tad bitter so put in here with all the sweetness of the honey it is so yummy!!!!!  I have a carob bark recipe that is very similar to the almond butter chocolate/fudge recipe, the main difference is adding the almond butter.  Which I don't find to make too much of a difference.

I've given the recipe to some friends and they have also really liked these!  Try them!  They are very quick to make, healthier then the bought ones and I think so much tastier then the store bought ones!!!!!!

Chicken Money Saving Tip

When chicken breast is on sale I buy a lot of it.  I will cube it and spread it out on a greased cookie sheet and then freeze it over night.  Then I put it in a gallon freezer bag.  This way I can just pour what I need into my pan, crock pot, casserole dish or whatever I need cubed raw chicken for, which seems to be a lot of things.  It's a nice time saver and it saves money when you buy it on sale.

Please note in the picture below there isn't much chicken on the pan, I normally put more on.  However in the case below I had bought a big pack and cooked some of it that night for dinner so what was left I cubed and threw it on a greased cookie sheet to freeze.

I love not having to wait to thaw my frozen chicken breast, then cutting it up to use it.  This works so well straight from the freezer, with it being already cut up it cooks quick and by freezing it on a pan it doesn't all clump together when you put it in the freezer bag, making it nice to get just the portion you want.

I will also boil some chicken, shred it and then spread that out on a pan, freeze it and then place it in a gallon freezer bag.  For the shredded chicken I don't normally spray the pan.  But for the raw cubed chicken I've found that it needs to be sprayed.

The pre-cooked shredded chicken I use for my salad and I have some recipes that call for pre-cooked chicken.  Or I can shorten some cooking time in some recipes by already having the chicken cooked. 

It's real nice for my salads, I just put some in a small microwave safe bowl, put a lid on it and zap it in the microwave for about 40 seconds and throw it on my salad.

And you can trim the fat off the chicken breast, leave it whole and place it on a greased cookie sheet and freeze it that way.  If chicken breasts aren't on sale I normally just buy the forzen chicken breasts from BJ's.  However unless I'm grilling it, I usually cut it up to cook it, so I don't just trim it and freeze it whole.

I normally buy and freeze enough to have until the next time Chicken breasts is on sale again.  I don't get the paper with the sale ads, I just always walk past the chicken breasts and look to see if they are on sale when I go grocery shopping, which is at least once a week for milk and veggies.

Frozen Peanut Butter Pie

It's a super easy recipe!!!  and it's so yummy and can be low fat if you wish!

I copy and pasted the recipe below or click here to go to the website.  I made this with with full fat cream cheese for general conference weekend when we watched it at Dave's parents house.  And this time I used 1/3 fat cream cheese, 1/4 cup of Truvia in place of the 1/2 cup of sugar and I used coconut milk.  I thought either way tasted yummy!!!

Skinny Frozen Peanut Butter Pie

Ingredients:

OREO COOKIE CRUST

• 24 reduced fat Oreos (or regular Oreos if you prefer)
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) light butter, melted (I used Land O' Lakes Light)

FILLING

• 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 8 oz reduced fat cream cheese, softened (may also use fat free)
• 8 oz fat-free thawed whipped topping (I used Cool Whip Free)
• 1/4 cup chocolate syrup (I used Hershey's Sugar-Free)
• 1 cup crushed Reese's Pieces, divided

Directions:

First, make the Oreo cookie crust by crushing the Oreos into a fine crumb using a food processor or blender. Using your hands, mix the crushed Oreo crumbs and melted butter together. It may look like there is not enough butter, but it will come together. Place into a 9 or 10 inch pie pan, pressing the crumbs onto the bottom and up the sides as much as it will fit. Try to make the crust 1/8 inch thick all around. It does not have to be perfect, though. Set in the freezer as you make the filling.
Prepare the pie filling in a large bowl by mixing the peanut butter, sugar, cream cheese, and milk. I used an electric mixer, but a wooden spoon would do the trick. Mix until the mixture is completely smooth. Gently fold in the whipped topping.
Remove pie crust from the freezer and layer 1/2 of the pie filling onto the crust. Sprinkle with 1/2 of the crushed Reese's Pieces. Layer with the rest of the pie filling, swirling to make it completely smooth on top. Top with chocolate syrup and remaining Reese's Pieces.
Freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight. 20 minutes before serving, remove from the freezer and let sit out to gently thaw. This made the pie much easier to cut.

*Feel free to use any candy topping of your choice. Peanut butter cups, crushed cookies, candy bars, coconut, chocolate chips, etc. Layer with caramel sauce, use a graham cracker crust, or use less or more sugar depending on your taste. This is a highly adaptable pie.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins

Jayden loves Zucchini Chocolate Chip muffins!  I had posted the recipe on here about 3 years ago.  We love it!  

I had bought some zucchini at the farmers market the other day so Jayden helped me make some muffins.  We froze some so I can throw them in his lunch.   He's becoming quite a helper in the kitchen!
Sorry I don't have a picture of the muffins after they are made.  I used to, but I had deleted the pictures from 3 years ago, so I'll have to take some new pictures when we make some more.  We love these muffins!!!


Zucchini Muffins Recipe

For those of you who prefer to use oil over butter, be my guest (use 1 cup vegetable oil instead of the butter) but I have to tell you, I've made these both ways, and the butter version just tastes better.

Ingredients

• 3 cups grated fresh zucchini
• 2/3 cup melted unsalted butter
• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• Pinch salt
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup walnuts (optional)
• 1 cup raisins or dried cranberries (optional)

Method

You don't need a mixer for this recipe.
1 Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix in the grated zucchini and then the melted butter. Sprinkle baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add these dry ingredients to the zucchini mixture. Fold in the walnuts and dried raisins or cranberries if using.
2 Coat each muffin cup in your muffin pan with a little butter or vegetable oil spray. Use a spoon to distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups, filling the cups up completely. Bake on the middle rack until muffins are golden brown, and the top of the muffins bounce back when you press on them, about 25 to 30 minutes. Test with a long toothpick or a thin bamboo skewer to make sure the center of the muffins are done. Set on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the tin let cool another 20 minutes.
Note, if you are including walnuts and dried fruit, you will likely have more batter than is needed for 12 muffins. I got about 14 muffins from this batch, and that included filling the muffin cups up as far as they could possibly go (above the surface of the muffin tin).

I didn't put nuts or raisins in it, instead I put chocolate chips. I doubled the recipe and put it in cupcake wrappers. I used a whole bag of chocolate chips since I doubled it. I got 45 cupcakes out of it. I thought they were very yummy.

Canning Salsa

After Dinner Dave and I canned 12 pints of salsa.  This was the first time we had ever made salsa and it was a bit runny!  We didn't strain the chopped tomatoes.  But it still tasted yummy!!!

Here is the recipe I used this time from HGTV Gardens...  I doubled this...  And don't forget to strain the chopped tomatoes...

Canning Salsa

8 cups tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped

1 cup jalapenos, seeded and chopped

1 1/2 cup bell peppers, seeded and chopped

1 1/2 cup onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1 tablespoon salt

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup lime juice

Blanch your tomatoes in boiling water just long enough that their skins start to crack and slightly peel.  Then immediately put them in ice water.  Remove the skins.

Combine all ingredients in a large, heavy pot and bring to boil at medium-high heat.

Reduce heat to medium and simmer 10 minutes.

Ladle salsa into sterile pint jars, leaving 1/2” headspace.

Seal jars with bands and lids and process 15 minutes in water bath.

(Note: if you want it a little thicker you can add some tomato paste)

A week later we  made more salsa (well, I chopped the tomatoes and strained them, put them in the fridge over night, then the next day I was sick so Dave finished the salsa) and we 1.5 times the recipe above and 1 times this recipe (so we combined the 2 recipes)...

10 Cups Tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped

2 1/2 Cups Hot peppers

5 Cups bell peppers

5 Cups onion, chopped (I put some red onion in)

3 cloves of garlic

2 TBL parsley, chopped (original calls for cilantro, but I don't like it, so I used parsley)

1 TBL sea salt

1 1/4 Cup apple cider vinegar

Dave got 13 pints and 3 quarts out of the second batch we made.

We 1.5 times the first recipe because it was based on how much chopped tomatoes we had after we strained them again, after sitting in fridge over night.  Dave decided he strained the tomatoes a little too much.  This batch was a lot less juicy!  Again it is still very yummy!!!!!!!  But next time we'll do a happy medium between the first and second batch, 3rd times a charm, right?  Either way though, it's very yummy!!!!!

Rock Candy

Back on August 1st Tanner helped me attempt to make rock candy.  You do 3 parts sugar to 1 part water.  You boil the water adding 1 cup of sugar at a time, stirring until it's dissolved, then adding another cup, until it doesn't dissolve anymore.  Then you let it sit for 3-7 days. 

 You cut the tip off a wooden skewer and use a close pin to keep it close the middle of the glass and leave it about an inch from the bottom.  And you can use food coloring to make it different colors. 

 The first batch never crystalized!  I guess we didn't have enough sugar.  So I ended up re-boiling it.  I combined the red and clear, boiled it and added more sugar till it really couldn't dissolve anymore.  Then I combined the blue and green and added more sugar.  This time with in a day we had crystals forming.  The kids were so excited!

We finally had rock candy a few days after I re-boiled it and added more sugar.  However, I think I added too much sugar.  All the blues were stuck to the bottom of the glass, I had the the skewer too close to the bottom.  I managed to chip away with a butter knife and free one blue one.

Tanner didn't want to eat any!  So the other 3 ate them...

Kolin, Mackenzie and Jayden

 Because I believe I had too much sugar, we had a lot of crystals on the glass and I was only able to get 5 successfully out of the glasses, without breaking too much of it, because of it being stuck to glass.

And I had those glasses soaking in hot water for days until all that sugar was dissolved and gone, the stuff that got stuck to the glass.

But it was a fun experiment for the kids to do and watch!

Banana Swirl

On Sprout (a kids TV channel) they made Banana swirl and I've heard of doing it before, but this time Tanner watched them do it on TV.  The kids go through phases of eating bananas and we happened to have a lot of ripe bananas because they stopped eating them, so I froze them.  And while JJ was at a baseball clinic I made some banana swirl for Tanner.   He was so excited to try it!  But... he did not like it.  Oh well, it was still fun for him to make and try.

Oh, all you do is freeze ripe bananas and put them in a blender to make and ice cream constancy.  That's all!  So it's banana ice cream.

Zucchini Chips

I tried making some Zucchini chips, I followed this recipe from Table for Two.

They bake at 225 for over 2 hours!

I have another recipe pinned where they don't bake for so long, I want to try that recipe next.  

I actually thought these were good and gobbled them up pretty quick!!!!

Almond Butter

I made some yummy Almond Butter!  This was my second batch.  It's so easy to do!!!!

All you do is just get some natural almonds and put them in a food processor for about 20-30 minutes.  That's it!  I do NOT add anything else, it's just the almonds.

My little food processor can only handle about 4 cups or 1 pound of almonds at a time.  During the process you will need to stop and scrap down the edges.  And it will get hot.  Let it go till it's about as smooth as you'd like it.  I store mine in the fridge.  I'm not sure if you have to, but I do it just to be safe.  And I love eating it with celery!  Yum!

I do not roast mine.  I actually did try some almond butter that was made with roasted almonds and I don't really care for it.  I like the natural almonds.  And it's so much healthier for you then peanut butter!

 And of course Mackenzie had to help me.  She loves being in the kitchen with me and doing what I'm doing!  She saw me scrap the bowl, so she had to do it too.  She's a cute little copy cat!

Santa Hat Treats

I saw this idea on Pinterest and Tanner and I decided to make them for his preschool class.  It was his day to bring the snack in and he was so excited to make these Santa Hats and share them with his class!

Italian Shepherd's Pie

This has been my favorite recipe ever since I started making it!  I love Rachael Ray!  However when I make it I only use 1 pound of Turkey burger, one box of pasta and the whole small can of tomato paste and basically keep the rest the same.  And this is amazing as left overs!!!  I don't normally eat left overs, but this is fantastic reheated!!!

I used my own picture but copy and pasted the rest from her website.  I'm surprised she doesn't have a picture of it!

ITALIAN SHEPHERD'S PIE

by Rachael Ray | on 10/29/07

Click here for the link to the recipe on her website.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 pounds mini penne or any mini short-cut pasta (whole wheat pasta can be substituted)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 3 pounds ground turkey
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 5 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 2 medium-size or 1 huge softball-size onion, diced
• 3 medium-size carrots, diced
• 1 medium zucchini, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock, divided
• 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons (2 palmfuls) all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk (eyeball it)
• 2 cups provolone, shredded
• 1/2 cup shredded Asiago cheese, shredded plus additional cheese for garnish

Serves 8

PREPARATION

Preheat oven 400°F.

Place a large pot filled with water over high heat and bring up to a boil to cook the pasta. Once boiling, add some salt and the pasta, and cook until al dente according to package directions. Drain well and transfer pasta back to the cooking pot.

While the water is coming up to a boil for the pasta, place a large skillet over high-heat with 3 turns of the pan EVOO, about 3 tablespoons. Once the oil starts to ripple, add the ground turkey and break it up into small pieces as it cooks using the back of a wooden spoon or a potato masher. Cook until the turkey is nice and brown, about 8-10 minutes.

Add all the veggies to the turkey and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup chicken stock, tomato paste, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Lower the heat to medium. Continue to cook for 5 more minutes, stirring every now and then.

While the veggies and turkey are cooking, place a medium-size saucepot over medium heat with the butter. Once the butter melts, add the flour and cook 1 minute, whisking constantly so the flour doesn't burn. Whisk in the milk and the rest of the chicken stock and bring up to a simmer and cook until it has thickened. Once thick, turn off the heat, add both cheeses to the post and stir until completely melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cover the bottom of a large, oven-safe baking dish with the turkey and veggie mixture. Meanwhile, add the cheese sauce to the drained pasta in the pasta pot. Stir to coat then transfer the cheesy pasta to the baking dish. Spread it out to cover the turkey mixture evenly. Sprinkle the top with a little extra Asiago, place in the oven and bake until the top is golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Serve with a green salad and your favorite vinaigrette alongside.

Tanner's Preschool Halloween Party

Here are the chocolate covered Oreo Pops Dave made for the boys to take to their classmates.  They are supposed to be pumpkins.  I think they are cute and they were very yummy!

It was still rainy and wet from the hurricane so they paraded inside...

I have such a cute little Dino!

And look at this cute costume my friend, Jessica, made her sone... It's a Kubota tractor, she didn't have the tires on it for preschool, but afterwards at the Market she did.  Her hubby works for Kubota, so cute!

 Tanner's teachers and class...

Black Angry Bird Pizza

My Children love black olives (Mackenzie was crying in the bottom picture because we told her she couldn't eat an olive just yet)!!!  So I decided to make them the black angry bird, since it would almost  be all olives.

I took a frozen pizza and cut a little bit off of it to make the the piece that sticks up.  I cut the piece I cut off into 2 pieces and put them together to make the piece that sticks up.

I just carrot slices for the eyebrows.  White and orange american cheese for the circles and beak.  I used cooked turkey burger for the gray areas.  I put the turkey burger under the white circles of the eyes because I wanted it to be the same height as the rest, but I probably shouldn't have done that because it didn't look so white after it was cooked.

The kids sure loved their olive covered pizza! 

Angry Bird Pizza

I had decided to just make a frozen pizza since this was a very busy week for us.  This night Jayden had soccer practice and I had board meeting with the preschool and Dave had to finish taking up the carpet and linoleum floor that was in the boys closet to get it ready for the new carpet on Friday morning.  Anyway, I thought I'd make it a little fun and turned the frozen pizza into and angry bird.  I had seen this on Pinterest and thought I'd try it.  I used Turkey Pepperoni, american cheese (white and orange) and olives.  My boys love it!!!

 At some point while it was cooking, Tanner got hurt and Mackenzie kissed him to make him feel better, it was so cute!

I turned the oven light on so we could watch it cook and Mackenzie said "ooooooooooo" when we looked in at it, it was so cute!

 Tada, it's done... and I over cooked it a little...

After dinner Tanner stayed to help daddy and I took Jayden to his soccer practice with Mackenzie and then they came to my preschool board meeting with me.  They got to play with all the toys at the preschool during our meeting.  And ever since then Mackenzie has wanted to go into the preschool and play, I guess because now she knows what's in there.

More Pudding Pops

We love our pudding pops!

And these are my favorite Popsicle things to make them, they are from Tupperware.  They are so easy for the kids to hold, if you make ones that drip they drip into the mold piece that you click to the bottom when you eat the Popsicle (the green piece) and if the kids needs to put it down to go potty or whatever, they stand up.

If you didn't see my previous post in June, here's the recipe again...

Chocolate Pudding Pops

With a wire whisk, blend together 1 package of instant chocolate pudding (the magazine didn't list the size, I just used the smaller box), 2 cups milk, 1/2 cup cream, and 1/2 cup sugar.  Pour mixture into popsicle molds.  Or, pour it into small plastic cups, cover each with aluminum foil, and insert a craft stick through the foil.  Freeze and eat!

Pudding Pops and Pool Fun

Do you remember Jell-O pudding pops?  I think I read they stopped making them in 1992.  I was only 12 years old then, but I remember them!  And I loved them!!!!  I have no idea why they stopped making them.

Well, In the summer of 2011 the Family Fun magazine published a recipe for them and I've been making them since!  They are so yummy!!! And myself and the kids LOVE them!

Here's the recipe...

Chocolate Pudding Pops

With a wire whisk, blend together 1 package of instant chocolate pudding (the magazine didn't list the size, I just used the smaller box), 2 cups milk, 1/2 cup cream, and 1/2 cup sugar.  Pour mixture into popsicle molds.  Or, pour it into small plastic cups, cover each with aluminum foil, and insert a craft stick through the foil.  Freeze and eat!

 Tanner was so sweet sharing his pudding pop!!!

Bug Cupcakes

We made these cupcakes to take to Tanner's preschool for his birthday!  Aren't they so cute?  It's another idea I found on Pinterest.

And Jayden made these 4 for our family to eat...

Mackenzie loves to sit on the counter!!!  It's so funny how much she loves it! While I was whipping the icing she sat on the counter.

Julie's Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe!!!!  I call it Julie's because that is who I got the recipe from, I really don't know it's official name, sorry! 

As you can see in the picture below I'm using the wonderful recipe holder that my husband made me... LOVE IT!

Anyhow... It was my mom's last day at the nursing home, she had been there for 3 1/2 months and the nurses and aides where just so nice I wanted to bake them some cookies to say "Thank you." And I thought I'd share the recipe with all of you as well...

Julie's Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 Cup Shortening (I use butter flavored Crisco sticks)

1 Cup sugar

1/2 Cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

2 1/2 Cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream shortening and sugars in the mixer, then add eggs & vanilla.  In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients, then add them to the sugar mixture and stir in chocolate chips.  If you let it sit for a few minutes it's easier to just roll it in balls in your hands, no need to use spoons, and you have perfect circles too.  You could try putting it in your fridge for a little too, although I just let it sit on the counter for about 15 minutes.  Or I just dig in and the first set I do are a little sticky on my hands, and the second set aren't so sticky.

Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes.  and you know the rest... put on a cooling rack to cool... 

Enjoy!