Granola Bars. {Carrie}

I haven't a clue why these aren't up on this blog yet. They're a family favorite and I've been making them for years. Starting the day after Carrie made some for me.

Shayne loves them because I sent a batch with him to France when he went with my dad and brothers to watch the Tour de France and go cycling... so it takes him back to the mountains of France. May not to the same for you... but I promise, you'll love them.

 

Double the batch up and freeze a pan, they're awesome from the freezer. Keep them in the fridge. You can change them up with what you like... but here's our favorite way...

 

2/3 cup natural peanut butter

1 cup honey

Mix together- will be very difficult. I let the kitchen-aid have at it.

1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour

2 2/3 cup oats

1/3 cup wheat germ

1 1/2 cup nuts (combo is best)

1/4 cup chia seeds

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1/2 cup raisins (we omit, aren't raisin in bar fans)

 

Add into the peanut/honey mixture and blend until all incorporated. Press good and firm into a 9x13 pan.  Bake at 350*F for 15 minutes.

Let cool and cut into squares. Keep in the fridge when you're not chowing down on them.

 

*Ours are usually a bit crumbly because I add more nuts and not any more "glue". But it's all good.

Monkey Buns.

This was a recipe I merged into making it vegan from a recipe from Rachael Ray and Reversing Diabetes. I loved these little buns prevegan days and remembered the yummy Oatmeal Drop Scones, and figured I could merge them. And I did. And they were yummy! Here goes...

1 large banana, thinly sliced
1 cup honey
2 to 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon sugar/agave nectar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups nondairy milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Spray 10 cups of a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In each cup of the tin, lay down a few slices of banana and cover with about 1 tablespoon honey and a pinch of cinnamon.

Grind the oats to a fin meal in a dry blender. Pour into a medium bowl and add the flour, sugar/agave, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.

Mix the nondairy milk and lemon juice or vinegar in a small bowl. Pour into the dry mixture and stir briefly with a fork. Drop spoonfuls into muffin tins. Smooth the tops a bit with a wet fingertips. Bake for about 15 minutes.

When the scones come out of the oven, let them cool for a couple of minutes then place a large platter or baking sheet on top of the muffin pan. Carefully, but quickly, invert the biscuits. Remove the muffin tin and serve warm. Yum.

Raw Cashew Dreamcake.

These are sooooo good! A for sure treat staple in my house. I first had these at Mandy's house, who got the recipe on our friend Brooke's blog, who got it on My New Roots (just giving credit where credit is due... very important). And holy yum! It's originally made in a pie pan, but I converted them to mini muffin tins so I could freeze and have them on hand whenever the hankering for some yumminess came.

The hankerings came real fast... and they were gone from my freezer all too fast. Which means I need to stock pile again. My whole family loved these, and I don't feel a bit bad for them eating them either. Good, and good for you!

Crust

1/2 cup raw almonds (pecan or walnuts will also work)

1/2 cup soft Medjool dates
¼ teaspoon sea salt

Filling
1 ½ cups raw cashews, soaked for at least 5 hours, overnight is best
juice of 2 lemons
the seeds of 1 whole vanilla bean (or 1 teaspoon alcohol-free vanilla extract)
1/3 cup raw coconut oil, melted
1/3 cup raw honey (Vegans use agave nectar.)
1 cup raspberries (thaw completely if using frozen) [i've used blueberries too]

Place nuts and dates in a food processor with sea salt and pulse to chop until they are to your desired fineness (process a finer crust longer than a chunky one). Test the crust by spooning out a small amount of mixture and rolling it in your hands. If the ingredients hold together, your crust is perfect. Scoop out crust mixture in a 7” spring-form pan (if you don’t have a spring-form pan, use a pie plate lined with saran wrap), and press firmly, making sure that the edges are well packed and that the base is relatively even throughout. Rinse food processor well. [I filled my mini muffin pan with liners, used my small pampered chef cookie scoop, dropped mixture into liners and pressed.]

Warm coconut oil and honey in a small saucepan on low heat until liquid. Whisk to combine.

In the most powerful food processor / blender you own (you decide which one has the most torque) place all filling ingredients (except raspberries) and blend on high until very smooth (this may take a couple minutes so be patient).

Pour about 2/3 (just eyeball it, you can’t make a mistake!) of the mixture out onto the crust and smooth with a spatula. [I used the same small cookie scoop, filled it halfway, and filled each muffin tin] Add the raspberries to the remaining filling and blend on high until smooth. Pour onto the first layer of filling. [Then I used the same scoop and scooped about a full scoop onto the cheesecakes.] Place in freezer until solid.

To serve, remove from freezer 30 minutes prior to eating. Run a smooth, sharp knife under hot water and cut into slices. Serve on its own, or with fresh fruit. Store leftovers in the freezer (what leftovers?). [I froze them in the muffin tray, then when they were all good and frozen transferred them to a freezer ziplock and had them on hand for a few days.]

Yum.

Chia Snowballs.

These are so, SOOO good and pretty cute.

1 cup peanut butter (natural, without added sugar)
½ cup honey (don't use agave, it's not sticky enough to form into balls or keep in bars)
¼ cup brown rice syrup (or date syrup)
2½ cups brown rice cereal (i used puffed millet)
½ cup oats
2 tablespoons chia seeds
optional: 1 cup finely shredded coconut

Mix all of the ingredients together except for the coconut. Roll the mixture into balls and then roll in the coconut. Or, if omitting the coconut, press mixture into an 8x8” pan and let it sit until soft, about 1 hour.

{I've added the shredded coconut in with the mixture before I rolled it into balls. The first time I made these, using agave, the balls weren't staying in balls and the coconut wasn't sticking very well. Conclusion: agave isn't sticky enough. So, stick to the sticky honey and I'm sure the coconut would then stick on.}

Note: Chia seeds are a power food. Packed with nutrition, they contain 19-23% protein. Two ounces of chia seeds will give you more Omega-3 than 1¾ pounds of salmon. Chia also has three times more flavanol (to fight cancer) than blueberries.

Gooey Chewy Caramel Corn.

In attempts to find a healthier treat for Shayne to take to a couple people this Christmas season, I turned to some of the GreenSmoothieGirl holiday recipes I've been wanting to try. This one's not full of the expensive ingredients that I don't want to hand out if I don't think people will really appreciate it... and it's not junk that I'll feel bad giving to people.

I've come to realize that I'm starting to be know for something... and with this 'healthy' label I can't very well hand out complete junk. Right?

When they were all done, I asked Shayne if 'regular people' will think it tastes good - he gave me the thumbs up. Although, he's almost as 'messed' up on the taste buds as I am (especially with being off white sugar for 7 1/2 years now). I omitted the craisins and used sliced almonds to make it a little more mainstream... Now, I just wonder how they liked it because my kids tore.it.up!!

10 cups popped popcorn (about 1 cup kernels)

½ cup honey

½ cup sucanat

½ cup brown rice syrup (i used date syrup)

1 teaspoon molasses

2 teaspoons vanilla

½ cup coconut oil

1 tablespoon salt

½ cup pecans

½ cup dried cranberries

Mix the honey, sucanat, molasses, vanilla, coconut oil, and salt together in a medium sauce pan. Cook on medium heat until it is just about to boil. Take off of the stove and pour over popped popcorn. Fold in the pecans and dried cranberries.