Granola Bites

3 cups old fashioned oats
1  cup toasted unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup ground flax
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup smooth peanut butter
2/3 cup honey
2 tsp vanilla

Mix everything together, and form into balls. Refrigerate.

Peanut Butter Granola Bars

This is really an adaptation of my moms peanut butter cornflake cookies.  I like to call them granola bars, and pretend they are a healthy.

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 cup peanut butter
3 cups quick oats
1- 1 1/2 cups cocoa crisp (or Rice Krispies, puffed millet, etc)

Mix oats and cereal together in large bowl.  Heat sugar and honey just to boiling.  Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter.  Pour over oat and cereal mixture.  Mix, and spread in 7x11 pan lined with buttered wax paper.  Press firmly in pan.  Cool, cut, and serve.  (Sometimes I wrap them individually, sometimes I store them in a tupperware container).

Edible Playdough

I realized the other day that I have never made edible play dough for my kids.  I loved that stuff when I was little!  I don't have my moms recipe, and didn't want to bother her in October so I did a google search, and came up with this combination.  The kids loved it!

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup nonfat dry milk

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Mix, create, enjoy!

No Bake Granola Bars

Fast, easy, versatile, and the kids love them!  Some favorite versions are plain, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter, and peanut butter chocolate chip.  I like mine with roasted almonds.

"Plain" granola bars
(Dry ingredients: 4 cups quick oats, 2 cups puffed millet, 1 tsp cinnamon)

1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
6 cups dry ingredients (oatmeal, granola, cereal, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, etc)
1 tsp vanilla

Line 9x13 pan with buttered wax paper, long enough to fold over the top of the granola bars once they are in there.  Boil honey, brown sugar, and butter for 1 minute.  Add dry ingredients and vanilla.  Mix well.  Press firmly into prepared pan (I wrap the wax paper over the top of the mixture, press with my hands, then use a fondant rolling pin).  Cool.  Use the wax paper to pull the granola bars out of the pan, dump upside down on cutting board and cut into bars (press down, don't saw).

Microwave popcorn

Put 1/4 cup popcorn kernels in brown paper lunch sack.  Fold top over a few times.  Microwave until you can count 1-2 seconds between pops.  Season as desired.

Granola

from NPR

8 cups rolled oats
2 cups nuts
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom (or extra cinnamon)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
2/3 cup butter
dried fruit (optional)

Preheat oven to 300.
Mix oats, nuts, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom in large bowl.
Combine sugar, brown sugar, honey, and butter in small saucepan.  Bring to simmer.  Pour over oat mixture and stir well.
Spread granola on greased cookie sheets.
Bake until golden brown (about 30 minutes), rotating pans halfway through.
Cool.  Add dried fruit.

Graham Crackers

Click here for the recipe from Weelicious

I don't have dark brown sugar, so I used light brown sugar and added molasses the first time I made these.  They were good, and reminded us of gingerbread.  I left out the molasses the second time, and they were still good, and not so gingerbread-ish.  I cut in the butter with my pastry blender (or I may have used my hands) because I don't have a food processor.

Cheese Ball

from my mother-in-law

I don't ever measure any of the ingredients, and I doubt my mother-in-law does either.

Mix together:
8 oz cream cheese
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
ranch to taste

Form into a ball and roll in nuts (or don't) and refrigerate.

Granola Bars

adapted from this recipe

2 1/4 cups oats

1 cup wheat germ

1 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3 TB brown sugar

1/2 cup honey

4 TB butter

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp kosher salt

3/4- 1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 400.

Mix oats, wheat germ, sunflower seeds, and cinnamon in baking dish. Toast for 10-12 minutes, stiffing every few minutes.

Line 9x13 pan with parchment paper, making it long enough to fold over the top of the bars once they are in there.

Bring brown sugar, honey, butter, vanilla, and salt to a boil. Boil for about 2 minutes and remove from heat.

Mix all ingredients together.

Dump granola mixture in pan and spread evenly.

Fold parchment paper over top, and press firmly (or use small rolling pin) to compact it together.

Cool completely.

Peel parchment paper from top of granola bars, and carefully dump entire pan of bars onto a cutting board. Remove remaining parchment paper.

Cut (pressing down, not sawing) granola bars.

Wrap individually in plastic wrap and freeze.

Juice Jigglers

1 12oz can frozen juice concentrate (grape, apple, etc) thawed

3 envelopes unflavored gelatin

1 can water

Soften gelatin in juice. Boil the water. Stir in juice mixture until gelatin dissolves. Remove from heat, pour into lightly greased 9x13 inch pan and chill until firm. Cut into squares, or use cookie cutters to cut shapes.

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

1 egg white

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups almonds

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 250.

Lightly grease cookie sheet.

Lightly beat the egg white.

Add vanilla and beat until frothy.

Add the nuts and stir until well coated.

Mix sugar, salt, and cinnamon, then add to nuts. Mix, until almonds are evenly coated.

Spread on cookie sheet.

Bake for 1-1 1/2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes.

Wheat Crackers

These are surprisingly easy to make, and Audrey loves them.

1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups white flour

1/3 cup oil

3/4 tsp salt

1 cup water

1. In large mixing bowl, combine the flours and thoroughly mix.

2. In separate bowl blend the oil, salt, and water.

3. Add liquid mixture to dry, mixing well but as little as possible.

4. Roll as thin as possible on unoiled cookie sheet − not more than 1/8" thick. (I divided the dough in half and used 2 cookie sheets). Mark with knife for size crackers desired, but do not cut through. Prick each cracker a few times with fork. Sprinkle lightly with salt or onion salt, if desired.

5. Bake at 350 until crisp and light brown, about 30 minutes.

6. When cool, separate into individual crackers.

Orange Cream Popsicles

1 1/2 cups vanilla yogurt

1 1/2 cups orange juice

OR

1 1/2 cups plain yogurt

1 1/2 cups orange juice

2 TB sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix everything together, pour into popsicle molds, freeze.

Applesauce Popsicles

In an attempt to eat healthier, I decided to make popsicles instead of buying them. All I did was put applesauce in popsicle molds. Dakota loved them, and even Adam approved.