Tuesday, July 31, 2012

No-Bake Bars

This recipe is courtesy of my cousin, Anna. I tried them out one day when I was having a serious sugar craving and LOVED them! They are just like haystacks (no bake cookies), and I think they taste like eatmore bars (although that might just be because it's been years since I've had one...).

Anyway these are worth a try! They're easy, you don't have to turn on the oven, and sugar free! I use rolled oats in my baking, just because they are less processed, but you will notice it makes these a lot more chewy than quick oats will. You decide which oats to use!



No-Bake Bars

3 cups oats
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
5 tbsp cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup butter

1. Boil honey and butter for 1 minute. Add vanilla and peanut butter, stir til smooth.
2. Add oats, coconut and cocoa and stir til combined.
3. Press into a 9x9" pan.
4. Refridgerate.

Bran Muffins

Apparently I'm not going to be one of those 'post every day' type bloggers. Sorry! Life somehow always seems to get busy.

I make the muffins frequently and eat them for my snack during my break at work, I really enjoy them and it's a bit of a relief to enjoy some baking of my own in the midst of all the baking I'm surrounded by at work! I make a big batch and freeze them. Even my husband gives these his stamp of approval!



Carrot Bran Muffins


1 1/2 cups bran
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup applesauce
1 egg
1/3 cup honey
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp soda
1 tsp powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup carrots
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

1. Mix the bran and buttermilk together. Let stand 10 minutes.
2. Beat applesauce, egg, honey and vanilla.
3. Add to bran mixture.
4. Mix dry ingredients.
5. Combine with wet ingredients.Mix just until it comes together.
6. Fold in carrots and raisins.
7. Line 12 muffins cups and divide batter equally.
8. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Watch them and take them out as soon as they spring back or they will be dry!

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Pineapple Mango Pops or Smoothies

Last week we were elbow deep into kitchen renovations, this week it's 30 degrees plus outside! Needless to say, I have not been baking. I desperately want to be, but right now the stove is off limits and all cooking is happening on the BBQ (which I can't complain about, grilled zucchini is amazing!). So until I can get back to my oven, I have to share what I made yesterday. I had a mango I really needed to use in my fridge and pieces of pineapple in my freezer, components to a smoothie I had found a recipe for. Of course I couldn't find the recipe when I decided to make it, but it's so simple it's not really necessary. Once it was all in the blender I realized it was going to be too much for my snack and happened to see my popsicle mold sitting nearby. So yep, I poured the rest into the molds and waited and waited til this afternoon to try it! Both versions = superb!

A yummy, healthy way to cool off and if I think really hard I can imagine it's mango ice cream I'm eating off my popsicle stick!






Pineapple Mango Mix


1 cup frozen pineapple
1 ripe mango
About 1 cup milk
1 cup ice (if wanted)

1. Throw everything in a blender and mix til smooth.
2. For just a smoothie, add ice to make it thicker if you want.
3. For the popsicles don't use ice and the pineapple doesn't really need to be frozen.

Enjoy!