Yep – time for another completely random recipe blog posting. I’m posting this because these are on my mind – I have to make a new batch. For awhile I was really good about making these every couple of weeks so my kids had something healthy-ish for a snack in their lunchbag. But I started to slack off – now I’m hoping I’ll get back into it. I found these searching the web for a good granola bar recipe for my nut-allergic son. The thing is – granola bars can be a very handy snack. BUT I challenge you to find one that is nut safe. It’s unbelievable. And if when you do finally hunt one down, check out the ingredients and I’m sure you’ll find high fructose corn syrup. Crazy. So when I found this recipe I was excited – chewy, yummy (albeit a bit sweet) granola bars that lend themselves to be tweaked by adding whatever you want to them.

Nut-Safe Granola Bars

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 3/4 c packed brown suagr
• 1/2 c wheat germ
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 c flour (I use white whole wheat)
• 1/2 c raisins (or dried cranberries)
• 1/2 c chocolate chips
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 c honey (or blue agave syrup)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 c canola oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• Tweaks I’ve made: add some cheerios or rice krispies, add 1/4 c ground flax seed, throw in a few tablespoons of cocoa to make them “chocolate”, add other chopped/dried fruit, add some sunflower seeds for extra protein (or of course nuts if you don’t have nut allergies to worry about!). You might need to adjust the flour/oat/oil combination if you add too much of these things. Also – you can reduce the sugar a bit and it will be OK.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 inch baking dish well with oil spray like Pam.
2. In a large bowl, mix together oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, cinnamon, flour, raisins and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in the honey, egg, oil and vanilla. Mix well using your hands. Pat this mixture evenly and firmly into the prepared pan. Make sure it’s packed in well so it’s not too crumbly.
3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven until the bars begin to turn golden brown at the edges. Do no over cook them or they will be crunchy instead of chewy! Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. That’s VERY important – don’t let the bars cool or they will be too hard to cut.
4. I wrap these individually in plastic wrap then keep them in a big zip top bag. They keep for a couple of weeks this way, surprisingly!

I hope you try this. And it’s not just for kids – it’s better for you than many of the “power bars” and will give you some good energy!

I decided it might be fun to throw in a recipe once in awhile just for a little change! Since this blog has become all about (trying!) to live a healthy and eco-friendly-ish life, healthy eating is a part of that. Not that we are the picture of health in our house – I sadly have a very huge weakness for baked goods, chocolate, and basically anything that is sweet! And unfortunately one of my sons inherited that. The other son inherited my husband’s penchant for fruit. We always say – one has a sweet tooth like mom and the other has a fruity-tooth like dad!

Anyway, I do try to put a little something healthy in my sweets when I can. And since the whole family loves pancakes, we have adapted a recipe that was given to me from an old family friend when I got married. The original version had 1/2 whole wheat flour, and 1/2 regular flour which was great. But I have actually found that using all white whole wheat flour, you really can’t tell – so why not?

The best thing about this pancake mix is that you keep it in the freezer and it’s ready whenever you want to use it. You just need to add eggs and milk. Just as easy as Bisquick only much healthier! And it’s very forgiving – you can play around with it. Different “add ins” – depending on how healthy you want it.

They’ll-never-know-these-are-healthy Whole Wheat Pancakes

• 6 cups white whole wheat flour (or 3 cups whole wheat flour + 3 cups all purpose flour)
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt

(NOTE: I add about 1/3 cup ground flaxseed meal, and sometimes wheat germ. I have also played around with a little cornmeal which gives it a different texture and taste – it’s yummy!)

Whisk together in a big ziplock bag. Store in the freezer. When ready to make pancakes (or waffles) do the following:

For every 2 people (8ish pancakes) mix together:

• 1 beaten egg
• 1 cup buttermilk (you can use regular milk too)
• 2 tablespoons oil (I don’t usually add – I’ve never missed it. Sometimes I’ll add a spoonful of yogurt which works well – otherwise I just exclude it altogether. It’s probably in there for a good reason??)
• 1 cup mix

It will be lumpy – don’t worry! Cook them on a preheated pan coated with spray-oil. Turn over when they are bubbling a little and drying around the edge. I add chocolate chips, banana slices, blueberries, chopped apple/cinnamon or other berries. YUM.

This is the time of year that I feel like everyone gets back to everything they were doing before summer started. Back to school. Back to work. Back to schedule. Back to EATING right…

Summer is packed with outings, vacations and entertaining. It’s a blast and I absolutely love it. But each year it seems that September is perfectly timed. It comes when I am ready to have a schedule again. Ready to get back to work (clearly I slacked a lot on some things – including this blog!). And absolutely ready to eat right again (too many hot dogs, hamburgers, ice cream etc.)

It’s not only time to get me back on track, but time to get the whole family back to the basics. One of my favorite ways to give the kids something that they have no idea is healthy is to make them pancakes. This recipe is a family recipe from my sister’s godmother. They had it in their family for years. I have taken the basic recipe and I tweak it depending on how healthy I think I need to make it. The best thing is the boys have never realized they’re eating something good for them.

Also – this is a great recipe for quick breakfasts. It makes a “mix” and you leave it in the freezer. I put it in a big zip top bag with instructions on how to make the pancakes written right on it. Then I don’t have to look anything up. Plus – I always keep a quart of buttermilk in the fridge so we can make these whenever we want.

The Basic Pancake Recipe:

Whisk together in a big zip top bag (then store in the freezer) :
3 cups unbleached flour
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 T baking power
1 T baking soda
3 T sugar
1 T salt

Additional options to make healthier (and the kids won’t even notice!)

• 1/3 to 1/2 cup ground flax seed – excellent source of Omega 3Increase the amount of whole wheat flour, or exchange some of the white flour for the new white whole wheat flour
• Decrease the flour a bit and add corn meal (makes it a little crunchy – this is what is in Stonewall Kitchen’s pancake mix)

When ready to make pancakes (or waffles) do the following:
For every 2 people (8ish pancakes) mix together:
1 beaten egg
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons oil (I don’t usually add)
1 cup mix
(It will be lumpy – don’t worry!)

Other ‘add-ins’:

• Chocolate chips – hey, throw in a few for each pancake and your kids might eat more. Using only a few per pancake won’t negate the other health values
• Steam zucchini and/or carrots and puree it in the food processor. Add it and decrease the buttermilk. Healthy and they may never know! Great way to get veggies in! You could even try baby food.
• Fruit – sliced bananas, apples with cinnamon, frozen berries, peaches, pears. Whatever you have!

Fry in a skillet for a few minutes on the first side (until it bubbles and starts to dry on the edges) then flip and fry on the other side.

For the best taste, use REAL maple syrup. It’s one of the splurges that is so worth it!

Make a double batch and freeze the extra. It’s great for quick, healthy breakfasts during the week. You can even throw one in the lunch box for morning snack!

Have fun with it and enjoy. They are really good and you’ll find they are much easier than you think!