Chex Mix

[PIC soon]

I went through some serious check mix eating during my last pregnancy. And theres waaaay less guilt about that if you make it yourself out of things you can pronounce instead of the store bought kind.

note: I put a note on this recipe that the seasonings could be increased for more flavor. I’ll try that next time. If you find the perfect balance, let me know.

serving size: LOTS. I ate it so fast though that i forgot to notice just how much there was.

ingredients:

• 8 C. Corn cereal (or rice check or whatever combo you choose)
• 1 C. Broken PIta Crackers & pretzel goldfish (because thats what i had)
• 1 C. pretzels (< non negotiable)
• 1 C. peanuts (or any nut)
• 1/2 C. cashew
• 3/4 stick butter
• 3 T Worcestehire
• 1/2 T seasoned salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp aleppo (or chili pepper)

directions:

1. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl
2. Melt butter in the microwave and mix in seasonings.*
3. Pour over dry ingredients and toss to coat
4. Bake at 325 for 1 hour, stirring every 15 min

Banana Oat Muffins (No Flour!!)

These little muffins are the perfect way to eat oatmeal while driving your child to school.

serving size: makes a dozen muffins

ingredients:

• 2.5 cups old fashioned oats 
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup plain low fat greek yogurt or keifer
• 2 eggs
• a bit less than 1/2 cup maple syrup or honey
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 ripe bananas, (the more ripe, the better)
• Nuts and things (pecans? dried fruit? chocolate chips?)

directions:

1. preheat oven to 350
2. grease the muffin tin (I use coconut oil)
3. Put dry ingredients in the food processor and pulse for 10 sec.
4. Add everything else except for the “nuts and things” and process till smooth
5. Fold in nuts and pour into the muffin tins
6. Cook for 18 min.

Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies for one!

just TWO cookies…. one for now and one for later. Or 1/2 for you and the rest for your crying kid. OR you’re being healthy and now you can’t possibly eat too many. Done.

ingredients:

• 3 T Flour
• 1 T Oats
• 1 T Brown Sugar
• 1/8 tsp Baking Powder
• 2 tsp Cold Butter
• 1/2  T Almond Milk (Regular milk or Coconut milk are fine too)
• 1 T  Almond Butter (used to be 1 tsp. Also peanut butter would be great too)
• 1 T Chocolate Chips or chunks or whatever
• 1 tsp Walnuts or Almonds or whatever

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  (I use my toaster oven)
2. Combine the Flour, Oats, Sugar, Baking Powder in a small bowl.
3. Cream in the butter . (I just used my fingers.)
4. Add the Almond Milk and Almond Butter and mix until a dough forms.
5. Add the Chocolate Chips and Nuts last and mix well.
6. Roll into balls and fork them flat…. peanut butter cookie style.
7. Cook in a greased pan or cookie sheet for 10 minutes or till done.

Chia Almond Date Bars

Not only a yummy snack but also a way to occupy a 2 year old inside when theres a snow storm outside. Just dumping ingredients into a food processor and pressing buttons. Perfection. Also, the ingredient possibilities are endless! Expect some additions to this post.

3.29.13 Recipe updated and overhauled. I nixed the Raisins and added dates instead. Also added Pecans and Coconut Oil.

ingredients:

• 1/2 Cup Almonds
• 1/2 Cup Dates
• 1/4 Cup Pecans
• 1 tsp Coconut Oil
• chia seeds (for the top)

directions:

1. Dump the almonds into the food processor and process for a minute.
2. Add the dried fruits and process until everything is chopped fine and sticks together when you press it.
3. Form into bar shape or roll into balls. Pour chia seeds on a plate and press into them.
4. Store in the fridge.

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tags: Energy bars, snacks, toddler activity, cooking with kids, kids in the kitchen, kitchen aid food processor

Chia Pecan Granola Bars

These are based on my fabulous friend Kathy’s granola bars. I’m always searching for fast breakfasts because well… ahem… breakfast bores me to death. (yea, I’m working on that).  These, on the other hand, make me excited to eat in the morning.

note: While very customizable, the big thing to remember when choosing additions to this recipe is watching the balance of sweetness. Dried fruits are super sweet – nuts, not so much.

ingredients:

• 1 T Coconut Oil
• 3 T Nut Butter [I used my homemade Sun Butter]
• 1 Banana, mashed
• 1 T Real Maple Syrup
• 2 Cups Oats
• 1/4 Cup Almonds, chopped fine
• 1/4 Cup Pecans, chopped fine
• 2 T Chia Seeds
• 5 Whole Dates, chopped (around 1/3 Cup)

directions:

(You’re not going to cook anything, we just need it all warmed up so its easier to mix SO we’re going to do all our mixing in a medium sized saucepan, on the lowest heat)

1. Put Coconut Oil, Nut Butter, mashed Banana and Maple Syrup in the pan. Mash until its all combined.
2. Add in Oats and mix well to combine.
3. Add Almonds, Pecans, Chia Seeds, Dates and mix up really well.
4. Push mixture into an 8×8 square glass pan and refrigerate.
5. Put them in the fridge until they are ready to be cut into bars. Store in fridge.

(future ideas: apricots, honey, sunflower seeds, coconut flakes, sesame seeds, wheat germ, almond butter)

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tags: Snacks, Breakfast, Healthy Bar, Breakfast on the go, DIY Granola Bar, Chia Bar, Energy bar, protein bar,

Almond and Sun Butter Cups

THESE. these.

really.

You can use any kind of nut butter (peanut, almond, sunflower, etc) or a combination. This recipe is a combo and I even went a step further and made my own sunbutter (recipe here).  Also, keep these in the freezer – they’re just better that way.

(Hmmmm… ok so….serving size…. really depends on size of wrapper. I made 4 way-too-giant cupcake sized wrapper ones)

ingredients:

• 3 T Sunflower Seed Butter (recipe here)
• 3 T Almond Butter
• Salt (to taste – if you used unsalted nut butters)
• Honey, to taste (or Confectioners Sugar or Maple Syrup)
• A 3.5 oz bar of really good chocolate, melted
• 1 tsp. Coconut Oil (optional – for a hint of coconut flavor)

directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the nut butters. You may have to make more if you like a lot of filling in your cups.
2. Add salt (if you need it) and sweetener. Mix really well.
3. Melt chocolate bar in microwave.
4. Put a bunch of wrappers in a cupcake pan and fill the bottom of each one with a pool of melted chocolate.
5. Drop spoonfulls of nut butter in each one.
6. Drizzle chocolate over the nut butter until its covered.
7. Pop them in the freezer for as long as you can stand (the longer the better).
8. EAT them up

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tags: dessert, anti-peanut butter cups, Ghirardelli, Valentines Day, homemade Halloween candy

Refrigerator Pickles

I love making small batches of pickles but I cant ever seem to find a small batch recipe. Well  now i have one. One large perfect mason jar of pickles coming up….

Original recipe here

• 12 oz pickling cucumbers, quartered or halved depending on size ( 1.5 cukes for me)
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoons sugar
• 3/4 cups distilled white vinegar
• 1 tablespoons coriander seeds
• 4 large garlic cloves, halved
• 1/4 tsp crushed Aleppo Chillies
• 8 dill sprigs.

1. Sanitize 1 Qt. Mason jar and lid.
2. Pack the vegetables dill and garlic cloves into the jar, alternating ingredients so you dont have a whole bunch of dill on just one side.
3. In a pyrex measuring cup combine the salt, sugar, vinegar and coriander. Stir until the salt and sugar dissolve.
4. Add 1 cup of water  to the pyrex, stir and then pour the brine over the vegetables.  Add enough water to keep the vegetables submerged. Close the jars and refrigerate overnight or for up to 1 month.

note from Lottie & Doof: These are best the first week. They get less crunchy as they sit and I like them crunchy. [me too]

Soft Pretzels

I have a thing for the pretzels in the mall and these may even be a little better…. Yes, they’re that good. I always try to roll them out to the thinnest rope but they always puff up huge at the end? Still yummy. 

(Original recipe from here)

ingredients: 

• 4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 1/3 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar [I used a bit less]
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil [I used coconut oil]
• Oil to grease pan
• Butter, melted to paint on top of pretzels
• Kosher salt 

directions:

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.
4. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is shaped, paint each pretzel with melted butter and sprinkle with kosher salt.
5. Bake in preheated oven for  8-10 minutes, or until browned. (Mine go for 10min or so on Convection setting)

notes:
The bottoms burn fast on such a high heat so check them towards the end.

2020 Edit: I tried 8 minutes on 430 degrees and 5 min on 450 but they didn’t brown enough and weren’t quite done enough inside. Next time increase time on both.
2021 Edit: I followed original directions with no changes to time or heat but used the convection setting on my oven and they were perfect.

Hickory Lane Granola

The only granola thats not too sweet for me… mine. You can customize it as you like… chia seeds, pecans, apricots, cherries… Just don’t put the dried fruit in until the end or it will burn. (lesson learned the hard way. It sucks to have to pick through a giant batch of granola to find little burnt rocks)

ingredients:

• 6-8 Cups Rolled Oats
• 1/2 – 1 Cup Sesame Seeds
• 1 Cup Unsweetened Coconut Flakes (sweetened coconut will burn in the oven)
• 1 Cup Almonds (Rough Chopped)
• 1/2 Cup Oat Bran (Optional)
• 1/2 Cup Sunflower Seeds
• 1/2 Cup Pecans (Chopped)
• 1/2 Cup Oil ( I use coconut oil or vegetable oil)
• 3/4 Cup – 1 Cup Maple Syrup (The real kind, of course)
• 1 Cup Dates (I buy the whole ones and chop them up)

directions:

1. Combine all the dry ingredients together EXCEPT for the dates. (They will burn in the oven so you add those after cooking)
2. Mix oil and Maple Syrup together, pour over the dry ingredients and mix well.
3. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
4. Pour mixture onto 2 cookie sheets, being careful to spread evenly. (Any super thin spots may brown more)
5. Stir every 20 minutes for around an hour/ hour & a half. Cooking time always varies for me for some reason. Just keep trying it and cook it till its super crunchy.
6. When done, stir in dates and put in a sealed container in the fridge.

Homemade Potato Chips

yup…in the microwave.

I use a mandolin on the thinnest setting so that they cook faster… also because mandolins are so satisfying. Do you have one? You should. Theres nothing more fancy than paper thin sliced vegetables atop your salad.

ingredients:

• potatoes
• oil (we use olive)
• salt (we use pink Himalayan sea salt)

directions:

1. Slice up potatoes as thin as you can get them.
2. Put them in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil and salt them.
3. Arrange them on a plate so that they dont touch.
4. Cook for a minute at a time in the microwave until they start to brown. (If you want them crunchy, you have to brown them or they will be chewy)
5. Make a lot because they go fa-ast.