So, here I stray from my typical (at least somewhat) healthy recipes.
My uncle’s mother is one of the sweetest women i know and she comes to the beach with us nearly every year. This year she brought some interesting looking cookies with her. I admit that i was apprehensive at first, but these cookies taste better than they look. They are super simple to make and serve as a satisfying, crowd pleasing dessert.
- 2 C mini marshmallows
- 4 C rice crispies
- 1 C peanut butter
- 1 C raisins
- 1 C crasins (or other dried fruit)
- 2 lb bar or blocks of white chocolate
- 2 C dry roasted peanuts (unsalted)
- heat white chocolate in a large bowl in the microwave for approx. 2 minutes, stir, then repeat to melt completely
- add peanut butter till mixed
- add peanuts, fruit and rice crispies and drop 1/4 cup portions onto a wax paper lined cookie sheet. Refrigerate to harden for at least 2 hours.
I am trying to help out in the kitchen here a little bit every night. We have been not only staying in the same house for 10 years in a row, we have also been eating prettymuch the same foods each year. The ‘grown ups’ honed the meals so that each one has a something for everyone and we eat a good variety of foods throughout the week. Last night we made about a dozen eggs woth of deviled eggs and by the end of dinnertime they were all gone.
Here is the no longer secret family recipe:
- 12 eggs
- 1/2 C light mayo
- 2 t mustard
- 1 t salt
- 2 t vinegar (white wine)
- dash of pepper
- paprika to garnish
- boil eggs in a large pot of salted water for 10 min.
- place in cool water for 10 min, or until eggs are room temp. You can leave them for longer if you want, just don’t let them dry out before peeling the shell off.
- Shell eggs, slice in half, and put yolks into a small bowl and mash.
- Add remaining ingredients to the yolks and mix.
- Re-stuff the eggs and sprinkle with paprika.
Filed under: BREAKFAST, SNACK | Tags: apricots, nuts, oats, peanuts, raisins, vegetarian
This is a simple, two step thing. First, to make the granola, then form the bars. I have made granola a few (three) of different ways in the past and have my favorite recipe prettymuch down. To make the bars, i just added a bit of maple syrup to my usual granola recipe, to make it more sticky. Next time i might add some chocolate chips…
Homemade Granola Recipe:
- 2 C rolled oats
- 1 C peanuts or toasted almonds
- 1/4 C sesame seeds
- 1/4 C flax seeds
- 1/2 C toasted sunflower seeds
- 1/2 C coconut (this time i used the fresh coconut i had hand cut at the beach)
- 1/4 C fiber one (crushed in a coffee grinder)
- 1 t sea salt
- 1/2 C raisins (i like to mix golden and regular)
- 1/2 C dried fruit (dried apricots + craisins)
- scant 1/4 C canola oil
- 1/2 C honey
- 1/4 C maple syrup
- Mix the oat, nuts and grains in a large bowl.
- Measure oil into the measuring cup and swirl it around before pouring into bowl.
- Then measure out the honey in the same, unwashed cup. The oil will help the honey exit the cup.
- Toss everything together until evenly coated and then pour out into a baking pan. I use a large roasting pan, as it keeps everything contained. A cookie sheet with a lip also works, but you have to stir it slightly more carefully if you use that.
- Bake at 300° F for 30 minutes, turning it with a spatula every ten minutes or so. You want everything to be an even golden brown.
- When it is finished cooking, returned the baked granola to the mixing bowl, add the raisins and fruit and stir to combine.
- To form bars, line a rectangular baking dish with wax paper. Immediately pour the warm granola into the dish, cover with another piece of paper, and press down HARD, packing the granola as tightly as possible.
- Let the pressed granola harden cool for at least 3 hours (i let mine sit overnight) before cutting. My pan yielded 14 thick granola bars. For lack of more sustainable packaging ideas, I wrapped them up in some saran-wrap.
I eat at least two of these a week for breakfast… and sometimes for lunch on the weekends. they are so easy and cheap to make, i cannot see why ANYONE would go to one of those expensive smoothie places.
- 1/2 C frozen strawberries …..large bag of frozen strawberries: $9.50/64 oz. bag~ $0.70/serving
- 6 oz Fat Free Plain Yogurt: $2.70/32 oz tub~$0.50/serving
- 1/4 C Orange Juice (or milk if you’re Joe): $2.60/64 oz canned~$0.16/serving
- 1 small banana: $0.19 at Trader Joe’s
- first add yogurt, then berries, using an immersion blender cup,
- Optional ingredients: flax seeds ($5/lb~$0.25/serving), rolled oats ($4/carton~$0.10/serving)
total cost: $1.54 – $1.79 per smoothie
For two people it is really best to make just two avocados worth of guac. The original recipe i used called for three, but it always leaves too many leftovers that turn brown in our fridge.
- 2 large Haas Avocados
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 large clove garlic, minced (let the garlic sit for a min. after mincing to let the juices intensify)
- 1/2 C petite diced canned tomatoes, drained (i just scoop in a couple spoonfuls)
- 1 1/2 t red pepper flakes
- 1/2 small onion, diced
- stir together avocado, garlic, salt, and lime juice in small bowl. Add tomato, red pepper, and onion. Let sit in the fridge for 15 or so minutes before serving.
what could be more perfect for a summertime road trip than some really good limeade? it is super simple to make and DELICIOUS. why bother wasting money on a sugary drink at a gas station? we paid a dollar for 15 limes as our local (Alexandria) Latino grocery store, and cents for the sugar. It tastes better than any limeade i have ever had.
- 1 1/2 C sugar
- 8-10 limes (16 oz. lime juice thanks to our beach house’s electric juicer)
- 4 C water
heat sugar and 3 C water in microwave, stirring once, until sugar is fully dissolved. juice limes and mix with sugar water, adding additional water to taste.
Riight… so i bought these plantains from a local Hispanic grocery store about um, ten days ago? I have no idea how to tell when plantains are ripe, so the following day i tried to peel one and COULD NOT. the peel was so stuck to the fruit that it started coming off in little pieces. So, after waiting patiently this past week and a half, i tried one them again. The peel reluctantly came of this time and the fruit felt plenty soft. I went ahead and cooked them up per my adapted recipe from Weight Watchers Magazine. They are VERY tasty!
- 4 t Canola oil
- 2 green plantains, peeled and cut on the diagonal into 1/2″ slices
- 1 clove garlic, cut in half
- 1/2 t salt
- 1/2 t paprika
- heat oil in a large skillet over med-high heat.
- add plantains and cook until golden brown on both sides (about 5 min on ea. side), then transfer to a paper towel. place another paper towel on top and press down on the slices to flatten into about half their thickness.
- rub the plantain slices with garlic.
- spray the skillet with cooking spray and set at med-high heat. add the pressed slices and cook for another 1-1/2 min on each side.
- sprinkle with salt and paprika and serve.
Mmm… this bread was SO good! As i stated yesterday, i love bread with stuff in it, so i was predisposed to like this. The texture is nice and soft, and not as dense as it appears in this photo. With the honey glaze on top, it makes a great dessert. It would also make a good snack. Or REALLY good french toast for breakfast. Oh, the possibilities!
Okay, I feel like i should issue a warning. I have been on holiday for the past couple months and am returning to work TODAY. We’ll see how this goes - balancing the blog and a job… Joe and i will now be sharing cooking duty, so there will be posts from both of us, which is exciting. The really good news is that I will have off every friday for my BBA Challenge Baking!
You may find a portion of the recipe on googlebooks.
a quick lunchtime dessert while i read up on my next BREAD BAKER’s APPRENTICE CHALLENGE.
- 1 fuji apple, sliced
- 1 T raisins
- 2 T honey (i used 1 T honey + a splenda packet – my vice)
- 1 t cinnamon
- 1/4 t salt
- place apples and raisins in a small, microwave safe dish. drizzle w/honey and sprinkle with cinnamon and salt.
- bake in microwave for 5 minutes on 70% power.
a slight variation on the last time i made pickles. i used apple cider vinegar and i’m really happy with the results. you can boil them to your crunchiness preferences. I let them cook for a total of 10 minutes and they were boiling for about 4 of that.
- 2 large cucumbers, thinly sliced
- 1/2 C salt
- 1 C (white or apple cider) vinegar
- 1/2 C sugar
- 1 T mustard seeds
- soak cucumber slices in salted water for about 8 hours or overnight.
- drain cucumber and bring vinegar, sugar, and mustard seeds to a boil over medium-high heat in medium-sized saucepan.
- add cucumber to the pot and cook for 10 minutes.
- can and keep for a month or two.
