Real Granola Bars

This is what you will need:

4 1/2 Cups Oats
    1   Cup Whole Wheat Flour
    1    tsp Baking Soda
    1    tsp Vanilla
    1    Cup Butter (softened)
    1    Cup Honey

I also add:

1/2 Cup Non-Dairy Chocolate Chips
1/2 Cup Raisins
1/2 Cup Sunflower Seeds
1/2 Cup Slivered Almonds
1/2+ Cup Extra Honey
 2-3 T Chia Seeds

To acclimate the children and husband *grin* I made these each time adding one more ingredient  to the batch. I've never gotten a complaint and we eat these as snacks or even for breakfast with some apple sauce on the side.

You want this to be on the stickier side, not crumbly at all, so I eyeball the extra honey until it sticks together.

Butter a 9x13 pan and smash down.

Bake 15-20 mins at 350*

Until golden brown...

^ This is an absolutely horrible picture! Sorry. *Cringe* 

Wait at least 10 mins until cutting. I usually make this at night and wait to cut in the morning because I like crisp cuts. If you are a little Martha Stewart-like then I'm sure you will cut all your pieces and put them into individual packages that look so neat and cute. Or you can leave them up on the counter covered with a cloth napkin and devour the whole pan in about 48 hrs like our family.

Hope you enjoy these as much as we do! We do not treat these like treats because they are a great source of  protein and the oats should keep you regular *grin*. Merry Christmas everyone!

Where I take forever to give you a pancake recipe...

     I know I've talked about this before but after a dreaded trip to WinCo on a Sunday I just have to say it again. My heart is saddened to see cart after cart bursting at the seams with boxes and cans of gross food...if you can call it food. But, it was not that long ago that we were there too...Pop Tarts, dessert-like cereal, mac 'n' cheese, 24 pack chip bags, corn dogs (I do miss those sometimes *grin*), Uncrustables, frozen waffles, Lions, Tigers, and Bears, oh my! Man, this stuff is slowly killing us.

    Now let me rewind and give you some Me history *smile*. I was not taught how to cook. I don't think my mom was either. I don't think many of us were taught how to cook. Seriously, I had no idea you could make pancakes without a mix. I thought you had to have a sort of talent to bake and cook. It was not until I met two wonderful friends, Jess and Anna, that I discovered people actually do prepare Real Food for their families! Thank you girls! You inspired me!

    A friend of mine asked for my pancake recipe a while back and that's when I thought, "Hey, there are people just like me that want to learn about Real Food. Where do they start? Where did I start? I remember feeling overwhelmed and intimidated by this whole Real Food thing. So here's a challenge for you...toss your pancake mix (and your pancake syrup while you're at it) and try it from scratch! It can be done!

 


Rule #1: If you are going to spend the time to make something from scratch then double or triple it! (if you can)

Pancakes:

1 1/2 Cups Unbleached Flour 
1 1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
    2   T Baking Powder
    3   T Sugar
   3/4 t Salt
    1   T Vanilla
    3   T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
    3   Eggs
2 1/4 Cups Liquid...we use Almond or Rice Milk...sometimes I use half water or all water and it works
    2   T Chia Seeds

Some days we add dairy free chocolate chips. Recently I've been sneaking in a couple tablespoons of pumpkin puree. 


*Make them to fit in your toaster so you can heat them quickly in the morning.
*Buy some Quart Jars like the ones above and make a few ahead of time.
*Use honey instead of pancake syrup...why?? Go check the label.

Tada! This recipe is tripled and makes about 17 1/2 pancakes. We go through these in about 2-3 days. Make sure your pancakes go from the skillet to a wire cooling rack (Do Not Stack! This will make them soggy for the next day.) Let them cool completely. I prefer to store them in glass in the cupboard but you can use plastic and store in the fridge.

This was one of my first 'from scratch' recipes and I can make them with my eyes closed now...Miss Adventure helps me sometimes and she already can tell me what comes next *beam*.