Almond-Honey Granola Bars

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Make your own granola bars at home!  This recipe can be easily adapted to your preferences.  Mix and match nuts and fruit to create your favorite breakfast bar or lunch snack! You can store these in an airtight container for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 1 month.

Ingredients

• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1 cup unsweetened whole-grain puffed cereal
• 1/3 cup currants, dried cranberries, or substitute
• 1/3 cup chopped dried apricots
• 1/3 cup chopped golden raisins
• 1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter or almond butter
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat an 8-inch-square pan with cooking spray.
2. Spread oats, almonds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Bake until the oats are lightly toasted and the nuts are fragrant, shaking the pan halfway through, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Add cereal, currants (or cranberries), apricots and raisins; toss to combine.
3. Combine peanut butter or almond butter, sugar, honey, vanilla and salt in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-low, stirring frequently, until the mixture bubbles lightly, 2 to 5 minutes.
4. Immediately pour the almond butter mixture over the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon or spatula until no dry spots remain. Transfer to the prepared pan. Lightly coat your hands with cooking spray and press the mixture down firmly to make an even layer (wait until the mixture cools slightly if necessary). Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes; cut into 16 bars.

Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Chips

Wow!  I just found this recipe and yum, yum, yum.....  Did I mention, yum?

Ingredients:

2 apples
2 kiwis, peeled and diced
peaches
pineapple
2 bananas
strawberries
2 tablespoons white sugar
lime or lemon juice
10 (10 inch) flour tortillas
butter flavored cooking spray
2 cups cinnamon sugar


Directions:
1. In a large bowl, cut all fruit up into tiny pieces and add a little bit of lime or lemon juice for flavoring. Then add sugar. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. Coat one side of each flour tortilla with butter flavored cooking spray. Cut into wedges and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle wedges with desired amount of cinnamon sugar. Spray again with cooking spray.
4. Bake in the preheated oven 10 to 13 minutes. Repeat with any remaining tortilla wedges. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit mixture.

Best Biscuits

This is an easy, good recipe for biscuits.  Whether you are making biscuits and gravy, 
or combining these with some warm soup, or whatever else you can think of, 
these will hit the spot!

1 3/4 cup flour
4 Tbsp sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup of butter
2/3 cup milk

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Soften butter and cut it in.
Add milk, stirring with a fork only until flour is moistened
Turn out on floured surface and knead for 20 seconds
Roll out dough to 1/2" thickness.
Cut out biscuits and place on ungreased sheet

Bake at 425 for 9 minutes

Easy Chili Recipe

This is a great fast chili recipe.  Ranch beans are one of my favorite things, so adding them to this recipe makes it great.

Here's what you need:

• 2 lb. ground beef
• 2 cans of Ranch Style beans
• 1 med. onion
• 1 can stewed tomatoes (can use whole peeled tomatoes if that's what you've got)
• 4 tsp. chili powder
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. of Lawry's seasoning salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper (fresh ground if you have it)
• Optional: fresh chopped jalepeno or dried jalepeno

Ready...this is easy!

1. Cook your ground meat and chopped onion in a large stockpot over med-high heat. When it's no longer pink, drain the grease off the meat (Easy to do if you have a stock pot with a straining lid)
2. Return to burner and add your ranch style beans and tomatoes, keep one of your cans to add water. I think three cans of water is perfect, but if you like it "soupier" or thicker, adjust according to your taste.) Add your three cans of water, chili powder, seasoning salt, and optional, if you like it hot add a fresh chopped jalapeno seeds and all or even dried jalapeno seasoning.
3. Lower heat to medium/low and simmer for at least 30 minutes to let the flavors combine. The longer the better, just add some extra water if you're going to simmer for more than an hour.

One of my favorite blogs

Today I am directing you to another blog that I just love.  It's called Making it My Own.
Mostly very cute and fun crafts, but she just posted a yummy fish taco recipe that I
wanted to share.   Also, check out her avocado bean dip.  This is a definite winner!

So go check it out!

Eating the Left-Overs

Does your fridge ever get to lookin' like this?  It seems that whenever we have company, our fridge FILLS up with left-overs.  This happens because I feel bad feeding my visitors left-overs, so I cook something different every night for dinner.  I always cook way to much because I want everyone to get their fill and not have to fight over the last (insert any yummy food item here).

We just had some friends go home after a week-long visit, so it's time to eat all that food that had accumulated in the fridge.  I had cooked a roast on Sunday, so I sliced it up for Au Jus sandwiches.  I added a green salad and some mashed potatoes.  Easy, breezy, beautiful left-overs.  :0)

Honey Crusted Chicken

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easy, yummy, and quick.....  3 things that make a recipe good...

Ingredients

8 saltine crackers, each about 2 inches square 

1 teaspoon paprika 

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, each 4 ounces 

4 teaspoons honey

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Lightly coat a baking dish with cooking spray.

Crush the crackers on a cutting board, using the back of a knife. Place crackers in a small bowl and add paprika. Stir to mix well.

In a separate bowl, add the chicken and honey. Toss to coat evenly. Add the cracker mixture. Mix and press the chicken into the cracker mixture until it's evenly coated on both sides.

Place the chicken in the prepared baking dish. Bake until lightly browned and cooked through, about 20 to 25 minutes. Serve immediately.

Banana Oatmeal Hot Cakes

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just found this recipe and it sounds amazing!  Can't wait to try it!  

Ingredients

1/2 cup maple syrup 

1/2 cinnamon stick 

3 whole cloves 

1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats 

1 cup water 

2 tablespoons firmly packed light brown sugar 

2 tablespoons canola oil 

1/2 cup whole-wheat (whole-meal) flour 

1/2 cup all-purpose (plain) flour 

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 

1/4 teaspoon baking soda 

1/4 teaspoon salt 

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

1/2 cup 1 percent low-fat milk 

1/4 cup fat-free plain yogurt 

1 banana, peeled and mashed 

1 egg, lightly beaten

Directions

In a small saucepan, combine the maple syrup, cinnamon stick and cloves. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let steep for 15 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick and cloves with a slotted spoon. Set the syrup aside and keep warm.

In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine the oats and water. Microwave on high until the oats are creamy and tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in the brown sugar and canola oil. Set aside to cool slightly.
In a bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ground cinnamon. Whisk to blend.
Add the milk, yogurt and banana to the oats and stir until well blended. Beat in the egg. Add the flour mixture to the oat mixture and stir just until moistened.

Place a nonstick frying pan or griddle over medium heat. When a drop of water sizzles as it hits the pan, spoon 1/4 cup pancake batter into the pan. Cook until the top surface of the pancake is covered with bubbles and the edges are lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Turn and cook until the bottom is well browned and the pancake is cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Repeat with the remaining pancake batter.
Place the pancakes on warmed individual plates. Drizzle with the warm syrup and serve immediately.

Fried Potatoes

We have some friends that come over for dinner quite often.  The husband always asks for my fried potatoes.  I am an Idaho girl, so I like to think I can cook some mean potatoes.  Actually, I don't really know what's so special about this particular side dish, but since he seems to be so infatuated with it, I thought I would share the process.

Peel and cut 5-6 potatoes into smaller pieces (about 1 inch)
Put 3-4 tablespoons oil into pan
Place potatoes in pan
Add seasonings of your choice.  (I like to add garlic powder, salt, pepper, and onion powder)
Add a little water to the pan after the potatoes start to sizzle.  (It helps the spuds get nice and soft)
Continue cooking until potatoes are soft.  Enjoy!

Elk Roast in a bag

I had some friends over for Sunday dinner yesterday, so I cooked an 8 pound elk roast.  It turned out great!
I used one of those turkey oven bags.  Here is the process:

Let your roast totally thaw.

Put 1 Tablespoon of flour in the bag and shake.

Put roast in the bag and place in a glass pan.

Put 1/4 cup red wine vinegar and 3 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce in a measuring cup and fill with water until you have 1 cup of liquid.  Pour in the bag with the roast.

Close the bag with the tie, poke 6 holes in the top of the bag and cook at 300 degrees for 4 hours.

The roast came out sooo juicy and  tender!  It was amazing.

Steak Marinade

So, I told you about my earlier experience with my husband and his steak.  I thought I would share my
marinade with you.  Of course, as often happens, this was something I just threw together and didn't measure,
so here are the ingredients:

Red Wine Vinegar
Oil (I used canola)
Worcestershire sauce
Cajun seasoning
Pepper

I let the meat sit in the marinade for about 30 minutes before I grilled it.  The key is not overcooking your
steaks.  Pre-heat your grill on high until it's very hot.  Our steaks were small and about 1 inch thick, so I only
cooked them for about 4 minutes on each side.  "The best steak I had ever eaten" to quote my husband.  :0)

Cabela's Grinder

This is an essential item if you have a hunting family.  Although I only use my Cabela's grinder about once a year, I enjoy it's outputs all year long.  We have been very pleased with our 1 hp grinder.  It grinds the meat as fast as you can feed it in, and clean-up isn't too terrible.  It's great to know exactly what is going into your hamburger and sausages because you made them yourself!  It's a must have for anyone that processes their own meat.

Spaghetti Squash

I have never tried cooking spaghetti squash, but this recipe looks too good not to try.  Plus, it's low-fat so I think I will definitely have to try it.

http://dashdiet.org/spaghetti_sauce.asp

Vegetarian Spaghetti Sauce

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 small onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/4 cups zucchini, sliced
1 Tbsp oregano, dried
1 Tbsp basil, dried
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 6 oz can tomato paste*
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 cup water

1. In a medium skillet, heat oil. Sauté onions, garlic, and zucchini in oil for 5 minutes on medium heat.
2. Add remaining ingredients and simmer covered for 45 minutes. Serve over spaghetti.

* To reduce sodium, use a 6-oz can of low-sodium tomato paste.