Granola Bars

As you can tell I am totally addicted to Kath Eats because here is another one of her recipes. I actually took hers and made my own little additions and whatnot to it and these turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. They are soft not crunchy and I ate one fresh and then put the rest in the freezer to make sure they would keep without going bad. I tried one right out of the freezer today and most likely I will let it thaw a bit before diving in next time even though it was still good I think I will like it better a little less frozen!

This is Kath's recipe:

Ingredients
• 1.5 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup dried fruit (I used 1/4 cup cranberry trail mix, 1/4 cup raisins, 1/4 cup chopped dried "just banana" from TJ’s)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1.25 cups skim milk
• 1 egg or egg substitute
• 1 tsp vanilla
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350*
2. Mix dry ingredients.
3. Mix wet ingredients.
4. Pour wet into dry. Stir to combine.
5. Pour into a 9×9 baking dish either coated in cooking spray or lined with parchment.
6. Bake for 40 minutes.
7. Cut into 9 squares.
Makes 9 servings . Each bar is approx. 165 calories, 3 grams fiber and 5 grams protein.

The changes I made were; instead of the chopped walnuts and fruits she calls for, I did some walnuts, sunflower seeds, almonds, coconut, chocolate chunks, dried cherries and craisins. I didn't really measure but just added until approximately a cup+ of stuff was in there. Everything else I did was pretty much the same. I also cut mine into 12 bars instead of 9.

No Ordinary Pancake

Another recipe from Kath Eats, she calls these Pumpkin Oat Pancakes but they are not your ordinary pancake and if you want pancakes these aren't really what you want but they are really hearty and really good. This recipe also only makes about 5 pancakes so if you made them for your whole family you need to double and maybe double again depending on how hungry you are and how big your family is!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup pumpkin

1/2 cup oats

1/2 cup egg whites (or whole eggs if you want)

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla

(her recipe calls for 1/4 cups of first three and 1 tsp. for last three, I forgot to double the last 3 and it still worked for this I left the measurements as I did them)

Combine ingredients and cook up as you would pancakes, top with broken up sliced almonds or whatever nuts you like, butter and syrup. YUM!!

They weren't quite what I expected and it sounds a little weird but trust me, very good and very filling I only had 2 and a yogurt and I was totally full.

Minestrone Soup

This is another recipe from Kath Eats Real Food (see my side bar). I am lovin' her site and feeling good about what I am putting in my mouth!!! Not only is the food totally YUM, it's healthy and leaves me feeling energized and best of all NO GUILT!

Kath calls for whole wheat pasta shells but I didn't have that so I used macaroni noodles and she called for Klamata olives but I don't like those so I didn't add them either.

Ingredients
• 2 zucchini, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1 celery stalk, diced
• 2 cups fresh green beans, bite-sized
• 1 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 14 oz cans Diced Tomatoes
• 15 oz can great northern beans, drained and rinsed
• tsp garlic paste
• 1 heaping tsp dried herbs of your choice, such as oregano and basil
• 1.5 cups macaroni noodles
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• Pinch red pepper flakes
• Cracked black pepper to taste
• 3 cups baby spinach

Directions:

• Toss first four veggie ingredients in olive oil, salt and pepper.
• Roast at 400* for 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine broth, tomatoes, beans, garlic and herbs and bring to a boil.
• Add pasta. Cover and lightly boil until pasta is tender.
• Pour in roasted veggies. Cook for 1 minute more.
• Place spinach into bowls and pour soup on top.
• Garnish with Parmesan

Meatball Sandwich

We used leftover meatballs to make these yummy sandwiches. We just heated up the meatballs and sauce and topped them on our mozzarella toasted buns. We cut the meatballs in half so they would be easier to eat. Remember I am not a big meat fan but these were really tasty!

The Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich

When we lived in Maryland we had this little breakfast place we liked to go to called Market Lunch and they made the BEST breakfast sandwich in the WORLD! This is my feeble attempt to recreate it from memory 5 years later!

English muffin toasted with cheddar cheese, fried egg, hash brown patty and turkey bacon. Turned out pretty YUM! I love food! I totally miss Eastern Market!

I found some pictures of the Market Lunch at Maryland's Eastern Market at this website. Made me seriously homesick for Maryland. Great place to live and EAT!http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/SRGZ0oUgMoJrgAEDiKmbow?select=8qbUtjaQFUxmUw0QipaEtw

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Even though I am really picky about meat, I do like it, I just have to have it a certain way. I thought Spaghetti and meatballs sounded good and Dennis found a great recipe by Alton Brown online and adjusted it to our tastes. This is the recipe he altered for the meatballs.

Ingredients
1 lb. ground turkey

1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan
1 whole egg
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoons dried parsley
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3/4 cup bread crumbs,

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the meat, cheese, egg, basil, parsley, garlic powder, salt, red pepper flakes, and the bread crumbs. Using your hands, mix all ingredients until well incorporated. Use immediately or place in refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

Using a scale, weigh meatballs into 1.5-ounce portions and place on a sheet pan. Using your hands, shape the meatballs into rounds, roll in the bread crumbs and place the meatballs in individual, miniature muffin tin cups. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

The great thing about meatballs is you can do whatever tastes good to you. We don't like red meat so we used turkey, but you can use ground beef, lamb, whatever you like. You can also add a variety of flavorings and seasonings Dennis likes spicy so he kept the red pepper flakes but if you don't like spicy just omit that. Any way, they were really yummy and tonight for dinner we will be having meatball sandwiches with the left overs. YUM!

Baked Oatmeal

I'm on a mission to eat better. The problem is it takes effort and let's face it, I am just lazy sometimes or sometimes I really am just tired. Still, I know that healthy eating is critical to my health and my family's so I am really wanting to try and eat a little bit better than I have been. I went online and found some great healthy food blogs. This morning we tried one of the new recipes I found on Kath Eats Real Food.

This is baked oatmeal and it was really tasty. I added 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, applesauce instead of mashed banana and milk over the top of mine and that was the only difference to the following recipe:

Slice 2 bananas. You can add these however you like – in with the wet ingredients or arranged in a pattern on the top (and/or bottom!) of the dish. (You’ll need an additional mashed banana for the wet ingredients below)
2) Combine the dry ingredients:
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
3) Combine the wet ingredients:
• 1 egg, beat
• 1 mashed banana ( I used 1/2 cup applesauce)
• 1.5 cups skim milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
4) Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Mix well.
5) Line an 8″ pan (square or round) with parchment paper (for easy removal and cutting!). (I just sprayed my square pan really well and it came out fine)
6) Layer some banana slices on the bottom. Pour batter into pan. Top with remaining banana slices.
7) Pop into a 375* oven for about 26 minutes.
After 26 minutes, increase heat to broil, sprinkle oatmeal with 1 heaping tbsp brown sugar and broil for 3-4 minutes.
Makes 4 portions about 275 kcal, 6 grams fiber and 11 grams protein each.

Chocolate, Carmel, Shortbread Bars!

YUM, YUM, and more YUM!! I think I ate half the pan of these and that my friends is why I gained two pounds this week!!!!

Ingredients:

Crust

8 Tbsp. butter

1 1/4 cups flour

1/4 cups sugar

Filling

3/4 cups butter

1/2 cup sugar

3 Tbsp dark corn syrup

14 oz. condensed milk

7 oz. semisweet chocolate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cake pan. Combine butter, sugar and flour and mix until combined. Press into bottom of pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.

For filling, place butter, sugar, dark corn syrup, and condensed milk in a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 6 minutes, stirring, until the mixture becomes thick. Pour over the shortbread base and chill in the refrigerator until firm.

To make topping, melt chocolate and spread over carmel. Chill until set. YUM!