No Bake Protein Bars

A friend of mine on FB shared this recipe and I thought I'd give it a try. My boys enjoy protein bars on occasion but I'm always hesitant to buy them because they can be pretty pricey. Now, some of the ingredients in this recipe are a bit pricey but it's all natural so at least I know what is in them when I make them. My family really enjoyed this recipe.

No Bake Protein Bars

Ingredients

• 2 Cups Oats
• 4 Scoops Protein Powder (we used French Vanilla flavored but I say be adventourous and try different flavors)
  
• 2 Tbs Ground Flaxseed
• 1/2 Cup Natural Peanut Butter
• 1/2 Cup Water
• Optional: Almond Butter
• Optional: Ground Pecans

Instructions

1) Mix dry ingredients together - Oats, Protein, Flaxseed
2) Mix in Natural Peanut Butter, then Water
3) Mix well, will be clumpy and take awhile (trust me when it says mix well and it will take a while...use something sturdy to mix)

Line 8x8 glass pan with aluminum foil, then use your hands to pack the mix into the pan.

Optional:
Spread a light layer of almond butter over the top
Sprinkle ground pecans over the top of the almond butter

Place into the freezer for 35 minutes

Easy Bread Pudding

My husband loves bread pudding...I do not. I have issues with texture and bread pudding is not a texture I enjoy. We had some leftover hot dog buns from our Boy Scout Court of Honor and we didn't want them to go to waste so he turned them into bread pudding. I found this recipe at AllRecipes.com

Kevin tweeked it a bit and then made caramel to pour over. He was very pleased with the results!

Easy Bread Pudding

Ingredients

• 6 slices day-old bread (he used one package of hot dog buns)
  
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups milk
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

He added about 1/2 teaspoon of orange zest and 1/2 teaspoon of chili cocoa powder.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Break bread into small pieces into an 8 inch square baking pan. Drizzle melted butter or margarine over bread. If desired, sprinkle with raisins.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Pour over bread, and lightly push down with a fork until bread is covered and soaking up the egg mixture.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly tapped.

Caramel Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 cup of sugar
• 6 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Method

1 Heat sugar on moderately high heat in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart or 3-quart saucepan. As the sugar begins to melt, stir vigorously with a whisk or wooden spoon. As soon as the sugar comes to a boil, stop stirring. You can swirl the pan a bit if you want, from this point on. Note that this recipe works best if you are using a thick-bottomed pan. If you find that you end up burning some of the sugar before the rest of it is melted, the next time you attempt it, add a half cup of water to the sugar at the beginning of the process, this will help the sugar to cook more evenly, though it will take longer as the water will need to evaporate before the sugar will caramelize.

3 As soon as all of the sugar crystals have melted (the liquid sugar should be dark amber in color), immediately add the butter to the pan. Whisk until the butter has melted.

4 Once the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat. Count to three, then slowly add the cream to the pan and continue to whisk to incorporate. Note than when you add the butter and the cream, the mixture will foam up considerably. This is why you must use a pan that is at least 2-quarts (preferably 3-quarts) big.

5 Whisk until caramel sauce is smooth. Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then pour into a glass mason jar and let sit to cool to room temperature. (Remember to use pot holders when handling the jar filled with hot caramel sauce.) Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Warm before serving.

Makes a little over one cup of sauce.

Salad Olvia

A friend of mine shared this recipe with me when I was stationed in Korea. I had just had Neil and was on maternity leave when she called and asked if she could come visit me and bring me lunch. I said sure. She came over with this very yummy cold potato/chicken type salad. Shirin was originally from Iran and she told me that this was a dish they would make to bless new friendships. She served it on a fresh baguette with tomatoes. It was so good and over a decade later it is still one of our favorite dishes (I say that a lot...what can I say we love food in this house). My boys love this, I make a huge bowl (I mean HUGE) and it never sticks around for long. I try to carry on the tradition and make it when I meet someone new.

I already had the recipe on a recipe card, so just click the image to make it bigger and you can actually just print it if you want.

Cookie Apple Cobbler

I love this simple recipe! It's a family favorite and so easy. I was introduced to this by my friend Heather who was my neighbor at Fort Riley. She made it for a party she had at her house and I was hooked! I love how simple it is and how yummy. You can certainly use whatever type of apple you want but I love the tartness and firmness of a Granny Smith. If you have a wonderful sugar cookie recipe you can use that or use refrigerated or even the package stuff. Seriously, whatever makes you happy! It all depends on my time and my mood as to what I use on any given day.


Cookie Apple Cobbler

6 cups apples (peeled, cored, sliced)
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon All-spice
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 package sugar cookie dough or your favorite sugar cookie recipe

Topping: 2 tablespoons sugar - 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Combine apples with brown sugar, flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, all-spice and lemon juice. Place into baking dish. Spoon cookie dough over apple mixture.

Combing topping and sprinkle over cookie dough. Cook 35-45 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Serve alone or with ice cream!

CrockPot Ribs

Can I just tell you how yummy and simple this is to do! Now I have made CrockPot Ribs a couple different ways. This works for beef or pork ribs, either way they come out deliciously tender!

One is just throwing them in the crockpot, seasoning with salt and pepper and whatever else tickles your fancy (personally I think you can never go wrong with just S&P). Set the crockpot on high for 4 hours or so, adding whatever BBQ sauce you want during the last hour or hour and a half. I said cook on high for 4 hours but I'll be honest here, I like to cook on low for a long time to let it get it nice and tender. There are lots of great BBQ sauces out there (today the hubby and I bought Apple Butter BBQ sauce at a Farmer's Market, can't wait to try it out on something) Oops sorry, got sidetracked (did I mention how yummy that BBQ sauce was!). Anyway, you can use storebought or make your own (I'll post a quick recipe for BBQ sauce at the end).

My friend Aubri told me how she does her ribs and this is pretty much how I did it today. (Hope you don't mind me sharing Aubri!)

"Put them in the oven on a cookie sheet for 25 min. or so, to get them browned. I sprinkled steak seasoning on them first. Then I just put them in the slow cooker for 4 hours on high, and put famous dave's bbq sauce on them 1 hr before they were done. yum-0 A real man pleaser, lol."

I didn't use Famous Dave's BBQ...at this moment I don't even remember what kind I used but it was good. Sometimes I use a sweeter sauce, others a more smokey and occasionally I'll even use something spicy. It's all up to what makes you happy! And as I mentioned before, you can even make your own (my husband LOVES making his own sauce).

Quick and easy BBQ sauce!

• 2 cups ketchup
• 1 cup chili sauce
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons vinegar
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 dash hot sauce
  

In a medium bowl, mix together the ketchup, chili sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, oregano, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and salt and pepper. Place ribs in slow cooker. Pour sauce over ribs, and turn to coat.

Homemade Granola

To go along with the Homemade Granola Bar recipe I just posted, I thought I'd share a granola recipe as well. I combined a few recipes to come up with this. The fun part about making your own granola is that you can add whatever you want!

I shared this recipe and had someone ask me if they could make it for a diabetic. You sure can! Try using raw honey and Splenda (remember only use half the amount of Splenda when replacing it for regular sugar).

Homemade Granola

2 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon Canola oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup chocolate chips (because I have boys who love a little chocolate, lol)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, toss the oats with cinnamon and salt.

In a medium bowl, stir together the oil, honey, brown sugar, and vanilla. Whisk until completely combined.

Pour the honey mixture over the oats mixture and use your hands to combine them. Gather up some of the mixture in each hand and make a fist. Repeat until all of the oats are coated with the honey mixture.

Pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Spread it out evenly, but leave a few clumps here and there for texture. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and use a metal spatula to lift and flip the granola. Sprinkle the nuts over the granola and return the baking sheet to the oven.

Bake for 5 minutes, then remove from the oven and use a metal spatula to lift and flip the granola. Return the baking sheet to the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven. Let cool completely.

Sprinkle the dried cranberries and chocolate chips over the granola and use your hands to transfer it to an airtight container. The granola will keep for 1 week.

A few extra tips for substitutions or add ins.

DRY
rolled (old fashioned) oats
ground flax seed
wheat germ

NUTS
sunflower seeds
pumpkin seeds
sliced almonds
pecans
walnuts
hazelnuts

FRUIT
dried cranberries
flavored Craisins
raisins, brown or golden
other dried fruits (banana chips, dried blueberries, etc)

SWEETENER
brown sugar (light or dark)
maple syrup
honey
agave nectar
shredded coconut

FLAVORING
pure vanilla extract
other extracts such as almond, lemon, cherry, etc
spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, etc)

Homemade Granola Bars

My kids LOVE these and so does my husband. I often make them when he is headed off to some training so he can have something healthy to snack on.

The fun part of this recipe is that you can add whatever you want to them. Where it says 1/2 cup chocolate chips/peanut butter chips you can change it to whatever you want. My favorite to make are with craisins, flax seed and almond slivers. The boys love theirs with peanut butter or chocolate chips. So really whatever makes you happy!

Homemade Granola Bars

* 2 cups rolled oats
* 1 cup whole wheat flour
* 1/2 cup chocolate chips (can sub dried fruits for the chocolate and peanut butter chips, whatever makes you happy)
* 1/2 cup peanut butter chips
* 1/2 cup brown sugar
* 1/2 cup wheat germ
* 1 tsp cinnamon
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1 egg, beaten
* 1/2 cup honey
* 1/2 cup canola oil
* 2 tsp vanilla extract

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 13 baking pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a small bowl, mix together the wet ingredients. Pour the wet mixture into the dry and mix well (it’s easiest to just use your hands). Pat the mixture out into the foil lined pan.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes if you want chewy granola bars or for 20-25 minutes for crunchy granola bars. When the edges start to brown, remove from the oven and let cool for a couple of minutes. Use a pizza roller to slice into bars. Finish cooling completely before removing from the pan or they will break apart.

I am pretty sure I found this recipe online and I apologize I do not remember the site. I always try to give credit and I searched but I guess I never bookmarked the page for this.