Delicious Granola Bars

Here's a great recipe that a friend gave me that I've been meaning to post on here for a while. She got it off the food network and they are amazing!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/granola-bars-recipe/index.html

I made the recipe almost exactly as it was listed there except I used regular salt instead of kosher and I used whole almonds instead of sliced (I bet they'd be great with other nuts too). I've made them several times. I've used cranberries and raisins for the fruit. I like both but I prefer the cranberries. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. Sorry no pictures - they get eaten WAY to fast to get a picture! :)

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How to keep fruits and veggies fresher longer

This was a great article from the deseret news today. I learned some new things about storing fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator. They did some experiments with different storage containers to see what works the best.

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Tips for Eating Out Less

Many of us are trying to cut our food budgets during this challenging economic time. I mentioned some ideas for cutting your food budgets in a previous post. Obviously, one of the best ways to cut your food budget is to cook more home meals and eat out less. Not only are there economic benefits to eating out less, there are health benefits as well. I am a strong supporter of eating healthy family meals together at home around the dinner table. In addition to health benefits, I believe that eating together as a family is an important part of building strong family relationships. I talked about this earlier in a previous post.

In our family we have really tried to cut back on eating out. It was hard at first and I want to share a few ideas for how we were able to make the transition for those of you who might be struggling with this as well:

• Change Eating Traditions - If you take a look at your past eating schedule, you'll probably find, like we did, that there is a definite pattern for the days/nights you eat out. For us the temptation was greatest on weekend evenings, times of travel, and busy times. Next we had to ask ourselves the question why we were eating out during those meals and and then implement new eating traditions that would satisfy the needs that our family had. For example, we discovered that we ate out on the weekends for a "treat" and a break from our regular routine. Now we try to cook meals on the weekends that satisfy that need. Friday night is our family's pizza night and we all look forward to homemade pizza every Friday night. For us, it's a "treat" that takes the place for the need to eat out. We've tried to have faster, easier meals to cook on Saturday night and busy nights to encourage us to eat at home. We have tried to plan ahead to bring plenty of food when we travel -including "splurge" food (extra special food that we don't have everyday) - to make it easier not to eat out.
• Consistently Eat Healthier Food - We've found that as we have tried to include healthy food into every meal, our tastes have changed and we've lost a lot of the desire to eat unhealthy food. As our cravings have changed, we no longer have the same desire to eat at the restaurants we used to. Fast food, along with being (for the most part) unhealthy, is also highly addictive. You can break the addiction by forcing yourself to eat healthy food (even though it may not "taste good" to you). Start out by just including something healthy into every meal and gradually increase the healthy and decrease the unhealthy. Shoot for the goal of eating 80% healthy and 20% unhealthy (see the 80-20 principle post). Over time your tastes will change and healthy food will start to taste good and you will enjoy it! This same process works to decrease the amount of processed foods your family is eating, but I'll save that for another post...
• Eat a Variety of Foods - Convenience and comfort are two main reasons that many people eat out rather than cook at home. Both of these can be achieved with home cooked meals with a little planning. As you incorporate a variety of foods into your diet, home-cooked meals will become exciting to you and your family. Eating the same thing over and over leads to what is sometimes called "appetite fatigue" and can result in wanting to splurge and eat out more often.
• Freeze Meals - this is actually something that I want to do a little more when we get a larger freezer. For the busy nights when you need something quick, it's nice to have something healthy that you've already cooked waiting to be reheated in the freezer.
  
• Experiment with Recipes - If you have a dish that you really enjoy from a restaurant, experiment with recipes until you come up with something that is similar. You can find a lot of these "mock" recipes by searching online. I really enjoy getting Chicken Parmesan at a local Italian restaurant and my husband was able to come up with a recipe that he makes for me that we think is even tastier than the restaurant's!

Well, there are some ideas. I hope they are helpful! I'd love to hear your comments or any more ideas that you've thought of!

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More Bread Tips

A friend of mine called me the other day for some advice. She had just finished making bread dough and had to leave the room for a few minutes. While she was gone her three-year-old got involved and when she came back the bread had way too much flour in it and bread dough was smeared all over the kitchen. Believe me, I know how she felt! Of course after all that work she didn't want to waste the dough, but figured the bread wouldn't turn out if it had too much flour in it. She asked me if I had any ideas. Should she add more water and try to get it back the regular consistency? Or just leave it and hope for the best?

I ruled out the "add more water idea" because in my experience I've found that baking is very much a science. The minute you change the amounts in the recipe, you have a different recipe. Substitutions are okay, but if you change the amounts even by a little you end up with a completely different product.

I've found that out especially recently as I've been experimenting to find a sprouted wheat bread recipe. I've tried three different recipe variations to my regular bread recipe and have had three different complete failures. Oh we ate them alright (all except the last which I made into bread-crumbs, which is a great way to use a failed bread attempt), but they weren't very appealing.

What I've had the biggest problem with is the cooking time. When I change the recipe, like adding sprouted wheat instead of wheat flour, the cooking time changes. I've tried to decrease the amount of water to see if that will help and it doesn't. It's not a predicable thing, at least not for an amateur like me. So anyway, I'm still working on that one. If I ever get it right I'll post it for you all so you won't have to go through what I have... By the way, maybe someone has come up with a Bosch sprouted wheat bread already out there? Anyone want to share?

Back to my story...she also asked me how the cooking time is affected if you make smaller bread loaves. I told her that in my experience the cooking time decreases, the smaller the loaf pan. By how much is the big question. It depends on the size of your loaves. So you just have to keep checking. The problem with that is that I haven't found a good way to check without actually cutting open the bread. Maybe someone has an idea for that one? How do you check to determine if your bread is done without actually cutting a slice (which ruins the bread automatically if it wasn't done)?

Well...to make a long story short, I suggested to her that she make rolls instead of bread. The nice thing about rolls is that if you cut one open and it wasn't done, you only lose one roll instead of a whole loaf of bread that you worked so hard to make. She sent me a message the next day saying that she let her kids use the dough to make rolls of all kinds of fun shapes - burritos, people, snakes, braids - and they turned out really good! I thought that was a great idea. I'll have to use it next time I have a bread dough fiasco!

So the moral of the story is this: don't change amounts in your baking recipes. Substitutions are okay if your substitution has similar cooking properties to the original ingredient. If you do have a fiasco, look for a way to make the best of it like my friend did and laugh about it! Cooking is supposed to be fun!

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Tamale Lentil Casserole

A friend of mine asked me if I had any recipes that use lentils. She's writing a cookbook for expecting mothers and lentils have a lot of folate which is good for the developing baby. I remembered this recipe that I had made once before a while ago. I hunted it down and made it tonight. It turned out delicious. At least my husband and I thought so. Our 1-year-old also devoured it (but he'll eat pretty much anything). The 4-year-old wasn't so excited about it. I've found that many young children have a hard time with casserole-type dishes. They'll eat the same foods if they are separated on their plate, but if you put them in a casserole form they won't touch it. So anyway, this might not be the best one for young kids, but who knows...there's a good chance yours might be less picky than mine!

Tamale Lentil Casserole
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large onion, chopped (1 Cup)
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped (1 Cup)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 C. water
1-1/4 C. dried lentils (10 oz), sorted and rinsed
2 8-oz cans tomato sauce
1 1.25-oz pkg. taco seasoning mix (or make your own)
Cornbread topping (see below)

1. Heat oil in pressure cooker (without lid) on medium-high heat. Cook onion, bell pepper and garlic in oil, stirring frequently, until vegetables are tender.

2. Stir in water, lentils, tomato sauce and seasoning mix. Increase heat to high and put on pressure cooker lid. Heat to first red ring and reduce heat. Cook 14 min. Let steam release naturally.

*Note: if you don't have a pressure cooker, cook in 3-qt. saucepan. After adding water, lentils, tomato sauce and seasoning mix reduce heat to low. Partially cover and simmer 35 to 40 mins or until lentils are tender.

3.Heat oven to 400 F. Grease 9x13" pan.

4. Prepare cornbread topping. spoon lentil mixture into casserole. Spread topping evenly over lentil mixture. Bake uncovered 45-55 min until topping is cooked through.

Cornbread Topping
1/2 C. cornmeal (I used freshly ground popcorn)
1/2 C. wonder flour
1-1/2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 8.5-oz. can cream-style corn
1/2 C. shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 C. milk
1 large egg

Mix all ingredients just until moistened.

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Heathy Kid food...Again

You can tell this topic has been on my mind a lot by the number of posts I've made lately about it. This idea was given to me by a friend - she suggested to me a book that she loves Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfield:


I haven't read the book, but Oprah did a show a while back (which I didn't watch) but there is a website about it that I found. You can find some of the recipes from the book on there and a lot of good ideas about adding pureed vegetables into your kid's food.
http://www.oprah.com/article/health/nutrition/about_book/1
I'm still deciding whether I'm going to buy the book or not. I do a lot of what she talks about already in my own cooking so I don't know if it would be worthwhile or not. Have you read the book? What do you think about it?

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Whole Grain Waffles

I love waffles! We had them this morning and they were delicious. We always make ours 100% whole-grain and they are very light and fluffy. There's a few secrets that I've learned about making good whole-grain waffles, here's my recipe:

Waffles
2 large eggs
1 C. wonder flour*
1 C. white wheat, freshly ground*
1-3/4 C. milk
½ C. vegetable oil**
1 Tbsp. white or brown sugar
¼ tsp. salt
4 tsp. Rumford baking powder (this is important!)

Heat waffle iron. Beat eggs in large bowl with hand beater until fluffy. Beat in remaining ingredients except baking powder just until smooth. Add baking powder and stir just barely until mixed (don't over-beat). Let sit for a few minutes to let the baking powder get bubbly. Pour a scant 2/3 C. batter onto center of hot waffle iron. Close lid. Bake about 5 min or until steaming stops. Carefully remove waffle. Serve immediately. Repeat with remaining batter. Makes six 7-inch round waffles.

*You can make this recipe gluten free just by using brown-rice flour or other gluten-free flour.

**For lower fat, you can substitute ¼ C. unsweetened applesauce (or cooked, pureed pumpkin or yellow squash) for ¼ C. of the oil.

Here's some healthy toppings that you can put on top of waffles instead of syrup:

• Unsweetened Applesauce (we love this!)
• Low-sugar jam (but if you buy it, check to make sure it doesn't have harmful additives)
• Cut up fruit (peaches, strawberries, etc) and whipped cream (you can make your own low-fat, low-sugar version)
• Agave Nectar - we had waffles with agave nectar over Christmas and it was delicious - a great substitute for syrup and better for you.

What about you? Any great waffle recipes out there? What are your secrets? What toppings do you like to use?

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Homemade Whole Wheat Tortillas

For those that have been following my blog, you know that I've been trying to make whole-wheat tortillas for my family instead of buying the store kind. I've tried several recipes, but today I made one that was superb! I'm very excited about it because it's just what I'm looking for. There were just a few, basic ingredients. The dough was very elastic just like a bread dough and they rolled out beautiful. They cooked up perfect and tasted delicious. I guess the only test left is if they store well and I'll find out that this week. Meanwhile, here's the recipe - it actually originated from my sister-in-law's recipe in our family cookbook. I modified it a bit to make it whole-wheat. Here's what I came up with:

Whole-Wheat Tortillas
2 scant tsp. salt
1/3 C. oil
3 C. Whole-wheat flour

Place above ingredients into bosch mixer and mix with dough hook. Meanwhile heat up 2 C. water in microwave until very hot. Start adding water gradually into Bosch until starts to pull away from the sides (I didn't use the full 2 Cups). Let mix 6 minutes. Turn off mixer and let dough rest 5 min. Break off small round balls about 2 inches in diameter. Then roll the dough out into the shape of a tortilla. Place the tortilla into a flat skillet pan on medium heat. Rotate when air pockets start to form or until slightly brown around air pockets. You will know if you overcooked the tortilla because it will be stiff like a cracker. Make sure your tortillas are very bendable. Better to undercook than overcook.

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Whole Wheat Garlic Parmesan Bread

If you can't tell already from my other posts, I love bread. It's one of my favorite foods to eat in the whole world! Fresh bread is the gateway to my heart. Last year a friend brought over the most delicious garlic parmesan bread for us. I fell in love and got the recipe from her. It's not very healthy, but I've made it a few times for special occasions. On Sunday, I was craving it, but I didn't have the loaf of French Bread that the original recipe called for. So instead we decided to try it with a loaf of my whole-wheat bread that I had made the day before. We were impressed with the results - it was delicious! We all thought the whole-wheat bread gave it extra flavor and made it all the better. As an added bonus - our son loved it (and he's never eaten the French Bread kind). I'll probably make it more often now that I have this new and improved recipe:

Whole Wheat Garlic Parmesan Bread
Printable Recipe

INGREDIENTS:
1 Loaf of Whole-Wheat Bread (for recipe click here)
1/4 Cup butter
3 Tbsp. Parmesan Cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
Italian Seasoning, to taste (parsley, basil, oregano, rosemary)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375 F. Slice bread vertically in 1" thick slices partway through (leaving about a half inch at the bottom to keep the loaf together). In a small bowl, soften 1/4 Cup butter. Then mix butter with 3 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, 1 clove minced garlic and Italian seasonings to taste (parsley, basil, oregano, rosemary). Spread butter mixture on bread slices and tops of bread. Cover completely with aluminum foil and bake at 375 F for 10-15 min. Serve warm.

Recipe Source: Adapted from a recipe given to me by a friend Sheriece

Brandon's actually the one who made it on Sunday after I told him the recipe. When we sat down to eat, I made the comment, "Wow I can smell the rosemary. I love the smell & taste of rosemary on bread." He looked at me funny and then started to laugh. "Whoops, I forgot the rosemary!" He said. We all had a good laugh about that. He had also forgotten the garlic, but it was good without too! :)

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