Chewy Granola Bars

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups old fashioned oats (gluten-free if you prefer)
1/3 cup coconut oil*
1 cup raw honey*
4 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon of sea salt
1/8 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups almonds, chopped (a food processor works great for this)
1/2 cup cocoa nibs* (optional) - These are unsweetened bits of chopped cocoa that contain no sweeteners or other ingredients.

* This ingredient is often not available at regular grocery stores. You may need to shop at a natural health market or online.


DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place oats on an ungreased 11" x 17" rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven for 10 minutes, stirring every three to four minutes.

Meanwhile, melt honey and oil together in a medium saucepan over medium heat, being careful not to burn it. Remove pan from heat; and add vanilla, salt and cinnamon. Stir until dissolved.

Add toasted oats to the saucepan mixture and toss to coat evenly. Add chopped almonds and stir. Add cocoa nibs (optional) and stir to combine.

Line a smaller (10" x 15") rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. (Tip: Sprinkle the sheet with a few drops of water first to help keep the paper in place.)

Transfer batter to this cookie sheet and gently spread to all edges. Once entire sheet is covered, press batter firmly into the pan. You can use a large spatula or your hands for this step. To prevent the batter from sticking to your hands, wet your hands or place a sheet of parchment or wax paper between your hands and the batter before pressing.

Bake 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees. The bars are done when they just begin to turn brown at the edges. Don't wait too long or they may burn. Bars will be moist and crumbly when removed from the oven, but they come together as they cool. (It may take a few attempts for you to figure out the best amount of time in your own oven.)

Let bars cool completely (about 90 minutes on a cooling rack; longer if you don't have a cooling rack). Transfer bars and parchment paper to a cutting board and cut into 24 bars.

If you like your bars a little firmer and sweeter, store them in the fridge. They also freeze well for later use; and they can be eaten frozen as well if you forget to thaw them out.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/037101_chewy_granola_bars_recipe_healthy.html#ixzz2H9mesYGe

DARLA'S NOTE: You can substitute regular honey for raw, normal salt for sea salt, and mini chocolate chips for cocoa nibs. Would taste great with dried fruit added (craisins etc).

PRICING - I priced these out with ingredients I use - honey from Costco, coconut oil from trader joes (5.99 for 16oz), great value brand whole plain almonds - and the total comes to about .26cents per bar. This does not include any "topping" (chocolate, raisins, etc). The price is slightly more than purchasing the Great Value brand chewy granola bars, but without the additives etc, and using all natural ingredients, so I feel it worth it for just a little extra money.

Nanaimo Bars

1/2 C Butter
1/4 C sugar
1/3 C cocoa
1 t vanilla
1 egg
2 C graham wafer crumbs
1 C coconut
1/2 C chopped walnuts (optional)

FILLING:
1/4 C butter
2 T Vanilla instant pudding mix
3 T milk
2 C icing sugar

ICING:
3 squares semi sweet chocolate
1 T butter

Melt butter in saucepan. Blend in rest of ingredients. Press into 9x9 pan. Cream the butter for filling in mixer. Blend in rest of ingredients and whip. Spread over crumb base. Chill. Melt chocolate and butter. Spread over filling. Chill.

Apple Dream Salad

2 pkg lemon jello
1 dash salt
3 T sugar
2 red apples, chopped (leave skin on)
1 banana
1 can drained crushed pineapple
1 egg
4 T sugar
1 T flour
pineapple juice (reserved from crushed pineapple)
1 pkg dream whip

Make jello according to package direction, and add 3T of sugar & dash of salt (can omit these, its optional), make in a glass serving bowl. Chill until syrupy. Add apples, bananas, and pineapple. Return to fridge until set. Cook egg, flour, 4T sugar and pineapple juice on stovetop until thick. Prepare 1 pkg dream whip. Fold into cooled egg mixture. Spread over jello, once it's fully set/firm.

Easy Crumble Top Apple Pie

PIE
1 pie shell (9" - make your own or use a refrigerated one from store)
6 C apples - thinly sliced/chopped
1 T lemon juice (optional)

3/4 C white sugar
2 T white flour
1/2 t cinnamon
1/8 t nutmeg
1/2 C raisins (optional)
1/2 C chopped walnuts (optional)

CRUMB TOPPING
1/2 C flour
1/2 C brown sugar
3 T butter

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Place sliced apples in a large bowl. Sprinkle with lemon juice if desired. In a small bowl, mix together white sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Sprinkle mixture over apples. Toss until apples are evenly coated. Stir in raisins and walnuts if desired. Spoon mixture into pastry shell.
3. In a small bowl mix together 1/2 cup flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter or margarine until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle mixture over apple filling. Cover top loosely with aluminum foil.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 25 to 30 minutes, until top is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Caramel Chicken

1 C sugar
1/4 C water
3/4 C chicken broth
3 T fish sauce
2 T soy sauce
chicken pieces
1 t salt
2 T vegetable oil
4 T fresh ginger, chopped, OR 1/2 t ground ginger
2 T fresh garlic, chopped
1/2 large onion, chopped
1-2 jalapeno pepper, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
4 T fresh mint, chopped
4 T fresh cilantro, chopped
4 T fresh basil, chopped

Preheat oven to 325. Combine sugar and water in a high sided sauce pot. Bring to boil and simmer until the sugar turns a dark caramel color, but not burnt. Do not stir the sugar while cooking or it may crystallize. Add the chicken broth (the broth will boil quickly and spatter because of the hot sugar so be careful. This is the reason for the high sided pan). Stir in the broth and continue stirring over low heat until the sugar dissolves, then add the fish sauce and soy sauce. Set aside.

Season the chicken pieces with the salt. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet and brown the chicken pieces on all sides. In the same pan, (using the extra vegetable oil if needed) sauté the ginger, garlic, onion and jalapeno over medium heat for a couple minutes until soft and fragrant. Add the browned chicken pieces and the caramel sauce, turning the chicken in the caramel broth to coat all sides. Arrange the chicken in the pan so it is all submerged in the sauce as much as possible and bring the pot to a boil. Cover the pot, put in the oven and braise until done, about 35-45 minutes.

While chicken is cooking, combine the green onion and the other herbs and set aside.

Serve the chicken over your favorite rice, with the herbs sprinkled on top. I like jasmine rice.

NOTE: We dip bite size raw chicken pcs in cornstarch, and then cooked them in oil. This gives a slightly crunchy/crispy "skin" to the boneless skinless breast pieces.

ALSO: We substitute the jalapeno pepper for a red chili pepper too, depending on availability.

Homemade Hot Chocolate

2 C milk
4 T white sugar
3 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 t vanilla
pinch of salt

whisk all together in saucepan on medium heat.

Pumpkin Bread

1 ½ c flour
1 t baking soda
½ t baking powder
¾ t ground cinnamon
½ t ground ginger
¼ t ground cloves
¼ t allspice
½ t salt
4 eggs
1 c sugar
¼ c brown sugar
½ t vanilla
¾ c pumpkin puree
¾ c canola oil
¼ c chopped pumpkin seeds, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a loaf pan.

Combine the flour, soda, powder, spices and salt in a bowl.

Beat the eggs, sugars and vanilla together in an electric mixer on high speed for 30 seconds. Add the pumpkin and the oil and mix well.

Add the dry ingredients and mix well. Pour into prepared loaf pan and sprinkle with pumpkin seeds, if desired.

Bake 60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool in pan 10 minutes, and then turn onto cooling rack to cool completely.

Sometimes instead of making the bread, I put the dough into muffin papers for muffins. When I do that, I add a crumble topping to the muffin, which is

2 T butter, softened
2 T rolled oats
2 T flour
1/4 C packed brown sugar

cut/mix until crumbly and place a spoonful on each muffin. Muffins bakes for approx 15mins.