Granola Bars

All I have to say is YUM! This is another recipe from one of my favorite blogs. From this blog I'm sure I've saved our family hundreds of dollars!
Often times I buy granola bars from the store, since with a good sale and some coupons I can get them for $1 or less for a box. I actually just stocked up, but decided to give this recipe a try and love it! I love the fact that this recipe is so versatile. I was able to use up cereal that I bought for under a dollar that is more adult cereal, and since I haven't been eating cereal very often for breakfast we haven't been going through it as fast.

Granola Bars

1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. corn syrup
2/3 c. honey
1/4 c. butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. peanut butter
1 Tbs. vanilla

3 c. rice krispies (I didn't have any so I used chex)
3 c. other cereal ( I used raisin bran and oatmeal raisin crisp)
3 c. quick cooking oats (I didn't have any so I used regular oatmeal)
4 Tbs. flax (I didn't have this but I had some wheat germ)
1 1/2 c. raisins, craisins, etc. (I didn't add this much since I had some raisins in my cereal)
3/4 c. chocolate chips (I used 1/4 c. each of chocolate chips, white chips, and butterscotch chips)

In a large bowl combine the bottom group of ingredients, rice krispies through raisins, leave the chocolate chips out. Line a cookie sheet with foil and then spray lightly with cooking spray.
Combine brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, honey and salt in a saucepan. Heat until just boiling. Remove from heat and add vanilla and peanut butter. Mix until smooth.
Pour peanut butter mixture over cereal. Mix together until well combined. By the time you do this it should be cool enough to add chocolate chips so they won't melt.
Once mixed well pour onto cookie sheet. Spread evenly and press firmly. This is important so they won't crumble when you take them out. You can put a plastic baggie on your hand and spray it with cooking spray and then press it down. Cool completely. You can stick the tray in the freezer for an hour to two and then cut them. I put them in individual baggies, then put them in a large ziplock bag and have them in my freezer.
I hope you enjoy these as much we do!

Monkey Bars

Recently a local store had bananas on sale for $0.18 a pound, so I bought about 10 pounds (the max you could buy). Well I still had several on my counter starting to brown and decided to give this recipe a try from one of my favorite blogs to read. I also did like she said and froze them since I didn't need a cookie sheet full of treats around, and it also makes it very easy for packing lunch. I love the fact that this recipe using whole wheat flour! You can also make this with pumpkin instead of banana which I think would be super yummy too.

Monkey Bars

1 2/3 c. mashed bananas (about 5)
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. applesauce
1/4 c. milk
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. chocolate chips (I actually did 1/2 c. chocolate chips and 1/2 c. mini butterscotch chips)

Heat oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.

Wisk together all the ingredients except flour and chocolate chips. Gradually add flour until just blended. Mix in half of the chocolate chips. Spread batter into cookie sheet and the sprinkle the rest of the chocolate chips on top.

Bake 15-20 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

Hawaiian Barbecue Chicken

This is a recipe that my neighbor told me yesterday and it is so completely simple (both ingredients and preparation) and really yummy. I should be able to remember it, but probably won't so I want to put it here. You may have already tried it, because I am sure it is not a new concept, but here it is in case you haven't.
2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 bottle bbq sauce
1 can pineapple

*Combine bbq sauce and pineapple (juice included) in a 9 x 13 pan (or in crockpot)
*Cut chicken breasts into small pieces (you could leave it bigger if you wanted to cook it longer) and stir in with sauce.
* Cook at 350 degrees for 90-120 minutes or in crockpot for a few hours.
* Serve over rice.

Coconut Fish Sticks with Coconut Rice

I had to hurry and write this recipe down somewhere I would be able to find it again because I just kind of threw everything together and it turned out so good we will definitely be having it again! I know some of you aren't big fish fans, but the coconut takes over any fishy flavor so you are getting the benefits of fish without any fishiness. :)

So the whole dinner was ready in less than 30 minutes. I had my fish thawing earlier so that helped.

First-Start the rice (we use our rice cooker)

2 c. rinsed white rice

2 c. water

1 c. coconut milk

* After rice is cooked, combine with a few TBSP. flaked coconut and half (or more) of a semi-drained can of black beans.

Coconut Fish Sticks-

3-4 pieces tilapia cut into stick size pieces (probably about 2 lbs.)

partial can of coconut milk-1/2 c.?

1/2 c. flaked coconut

bread crumbs (either regular or Panko-I switched in the middle and both worked great).

Dip fish pieces into coconut milk and coat in breading-crumbs mixed with coconut- Plop in a heated frying pan with just enough olive oil to cover the bottom. Make sure it is hot enough you are cooking quickly, but isn't too hot so the outside with just get super dark before the middle is done.

Dipping Sauce

Rest of can coconut milk

1/4 c. flaked coconut

1/4 c. Pina Colada Drink Mix

full 1/2 c. Vanilla Yogurt (we used Greek yogurt)

Add more of whichever to taste.

Quick Baguette

This is one of our favorite quick and easy breads to have with dinner!! It make 2 loafs easily. It would be yummy with your favorite garlic butter!

I found this recipe from Frosted bake shop blog - if you want pictures of each step go here http://frostedbakeshop.blogspot.com/2010/02/baguette.html

Baguette

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 1/2 Tbs. (2 packages) dry yeast

2 tsp. sugar

3 1/4 cups flour

2 tsp. salt

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. In a small bowl mix 1/2 cup of the water with the yeast and 1 tsp. of sugar. Mix it well and cover with a cloth.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, salt and 1 tsp. sugar. When it is mixed well, add the yeast mixture. Gradually add the rest of the water. Mix until the dough becomes a smooth ball.

Remove from the bowl and knead the dough, cut in half and then shape into 2 baguettes. Take a knife and core down the middle - that makes it authentic! You can see, mine aren't too fancy.

Cover and let it rise for 30 minutes.

Put water in a cookie sheet and put it on the bottom rack of the oven. Bake the bread for 15 minutes. Half way through, brush the bread with butter.

You could try it with wheat flour also. Enjoy!

Chocolate cake

So this has been my birthday Cake for the last 3 years. My sister in law turned me on to this recipe!! If you are ever caving chocolate cake this will do the trick!! The recipe come from the back of Hershey's Cocoa Powder. We always add strawberry's to the top because that is my favorite combination!! The frosting is also fabulous!!

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake!!

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans. 3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING. 10 to 12 servings. VARIATIONS: ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost. BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost. CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes. "

PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine 2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa 3 cups powdered sugar 1/3 cup milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting

Delicious Summer Salad

Tonight for dinner we ended up having this salad and it has become one of my very favorites. I don't know if there is a recipe for this out there (there probably is somewhere), but we just put together what we had. So filling, yet very light and refreshing and pretty healthy. We were planning on having a bbq so I had marinated some chicken tenderloins for a Teriyaki-ish flavor. And I was just planning on the salad as a side dish so when we ended up combining them I wanted to make sure the dressing actually complimented the salad and the raspberry pecan dressing in the fridge was past the Best Buy date (by quite a bit) so I just threw this together. It turned out so wonderfully (and it's so simple) I wanted to record it somewhere.
Dressing:
1/4 c. White Wine Vinegar
1/3 c. sugar
3 large spoonfuls of Blackberry Jam
Olive Oil ( less than 1/4 c.)
These measurements are not "scientific" at all. I made the dressing in a clean sour cream container (the 2 c. size) and covered the bottom about 1/3 in. deep? with the vinegar. Then I added some jam and sugar and finally covered the top with a little Olive Oil. I tasted it and it was too strong of a vinegar taste for me so I added another spoonful of jam and a little more sugar so I think the amounts above are about what I ended up with, but you can tweak it for your taste. Then just shake it up.

* We ended up making another salad this same size so next time I would just double it to begin with for 2 adults (but we like larger portions) and a 2 year old (who loved this salad!). There was enough dressing for both salads with just a little bit left over.

Rinse a few cups of Spring Mix lettuce (or spinach or a red leaf lettuce) and shake dry.
Add about 1 c. of rinsed and drained cottage cheese
1/4 c. sliced Smokehouse Almonds (we love Blue Diamond because they have such great flavor, but I'm sure a generic would also work)
Big handful of rinsed Blackberries
3-4 Chicken tenderloin sliced.
Handful of crumbled bacon (I hate having to cook it anytime I want to use it so I buy the bag of Hormel Bacon bits at Sam's Club).
Toss it all together, we hope you enjoy it as much as we did!