Granola Trail Mix

imageI made a goal to make granola as part of my 101 Goals, but when I started the Paleo diet, I figured that one would never get accomplished. But, I’ve switched back to my hypoglycemic diet, so that my body can get the benefits that diet offers, and oats are not evil for the time being. I stumbled across this Applesauce Granola recipe, happened to have all the ingredients already on hand, and decided to make it. I cut out the brown sugar, so the only sweetener is a tablespoon of honey. By itself, the granola is quite bland, and I was worried that it was just going to sit around for a few months, before I threw it out. Then I got the idea to make a snack out of it, and I created this delicious trail mix. The practically unsweetened granola allows the other flavors to stand out and shine. I’ve even considered eating this as a cereal, because it would be fantastic. My girls are constantly begging to snack on this, and I’m okay with them doing so.

2 C Granola
1 C FD* Raspberries
1 C FD Strawberries
1 C FD Vanilla Yogurt Bites
1 C Raisins
1 C Unsalted Pumpkin Seeds

*freeze dried

Mix together and store in an airtight container. If you really want to be super healthy, leave out the yogurt bites, as those have sugar added, made glaringly obvious by how my girls eat all of those first. If you don’t have any of the freeze dried foods, it’s still really good with just the raisins and pumpkin seeds.

Zucchini Raisin Cookies

Hi everyone! It’s been a while, and to make up for so much time not posting anything, I have a fantastic recipe that will use up all your giant zucchinis that got away from you. One giant zucchini can probably make three or four batches of these delicious cookies.
zucchini cookies

2 C water
1 C raisins
2 C flour
1/4 t salt
1 t soda
1 t cinnamon
1 t nutmeg
1 t cloves
1/2 C butter, soft but not melted
2 C zucchini, shredded
1/2 C honey

1. Boil raisins in water until only 1 C of water remains. Reduce heat to medium so as not to loose too much water, and add more water to bring up to 1 C if needed.

2. While raisins are boiling, combine flour, salt, soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in a large bowl.

3. Add butter to the flour mixture and cut in with a pastry blender.

4. Add zucchini and honey to the flour mixture.

5. Add 1 C of raisin water and raisins to the flour mixture. Dough/batter (it’s kind of in between the two) should be thick.

6. Spread on greased cookie sheet.

7. Cook at 375°F for 15 minutes.

Viola! Delicious zucchini and raisin goodness in mere minutes.

Spelt Pancakes

IMAG1702Spelt is a grain, very similar to flour, but it behaves slightly different. It has gluten, so it will hold things together, but it doesn’t keep things in a nice, tidy package. I experimented with Spelt today by making pancakes for breakfast. When I got it right, they looked amazing and were delicious. The first two attempts, however, produced flat pancakes, that nobody has wanted to try so far. Those two were just Spelt. With mouths to feed, I gave up on my Spelt experimenting, and added some whole wheat flour. The results were great. Still mostly Spelt, with a bit of flour, the pancakes held a perfectly round shape and fluffed up nicely. I cut up a peach for topping, and put some butter, honey, and applesauce on the table as well.

IMAG1683

Here is the recipe:

2 C Spelt flour
1/2 C whole wheat flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
2 fresh chicken eggs (or just one if your chickens lay large eggs)
1 1/2 C buttermilk
3 T butter, melted
1 T honey

In a large bowl, combine spelt, wheat, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, and butter. Add wet ingredients all at once to the dry ingredients. Mix until moist. Add honey and mix as well. Cook 1/4 C at a time on a hot skillet. Top as desired, like this little girl is doing.

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Healthy No Bake Peanut Butter Bars

Well, healthier than these. I switched the graham crackers, which usually have high fructose corn syrup in them, for oatmeal and flax, which a full of fiber, iron, and omega-3s. Then I switched the powdered sugar for much less honey. These could easily be made into lactation cookies just by adding some brewer’s yeast.

Healthy No Bake Peanut Butter Bars

Ingredients

  • 1 C Oatmeal, ground
  • 1 C Flax, ground
  • 1 C Butter, melted
  • ¾ C Honey or less
  • 1 C Peanut Butter
  • 1 ½ C Dark Chocolate Chips or Carob Chips
  • 4 T Peanut Butter

Instructions

  1. Grind your oatmeal and flax in a food processor.
  2. Combine oatmeal, flax, butter, honey and peanut butter in a large bowl.
  3. Mix with a spoon.
  4. Spread into a 9X13 pan.
  5. Melt Chips and Peanut Butter in a microwave, stirring every 30 seconds.
  6. Pour over top of peanut butter mixture.
  7. Refrigerate for one hour.
https://kstuff.net/healthy-no-bake-peanut-butter-bars/

 

If you don’t have flax, use another cup of oatmeal. This recipe is super flexible, so experiment away!

You can find ground flax and carob chips in the bulk section at Winco or at any health food store.

This is what the peanut butter and dark chocolate topping looks like while you're mixing it.

Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies -or- Multivitamin Cookies -or- Lactation Cookies

These cookies are so delicious and healthy for you, too.  I found this recipe by Kathleen Major when I was searching for some lactation cookies to help Leah through a growth spurt.  I changed a few things, and this is what I came up with.

1 ½ C flour
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1 t salt
¾ C peanut butter
½ C butter, softened
1 C honey
2 t vanilla
3 T brewer’s yeast
1 C flax
1/3 C water
2 large eggs
2 C craisins
1 3/4 C oats

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a bowl.  In a large bowl, beat peanut butter, butter, honey, vanilla, brewer’s yeast, flax and water until creamy.  Mix in eggs.  Gradually beat in flour mixture.  Mix in craisins.  Add oatmeal slowly, mixing along the way.  Place balls of dough onto greased cookie sheet.  Press down each ball lightly with a fork.  Bake for about 12 minutes.

The oatmeal provides iron and fiber.  The brewer’s yeast provides B-vitamins, selenium, and chromium.  Chromium is a trace mineral that many people are deficient in.  It helps maintain blood sugar levels, and some people believe it helps with morning sickness.  Flax provides omega-3 and fiber.  These cookies rock!  I got my milled flax and brewer’s yeast from Sunflower market.  You can get them at any health food store.

My favorite thing about these cookies is that you get all of those vitamins, minerals, and nutrients from whole foods, which means that they are easier for your body to digest, and there is less of a chance that you will dispose of them before using them all up.  On top of that, I’ve been munching on these for a few days now, and I don’t feel the slightest bit sick from them.  I can eat as many of these as I want, and it’s good for me.