Homemade Granola Bars

I love homemade granola for breakfast or as a snack. I've tried quite a few combinations of oats, nuts and dried fruits and I pretty much like them all. I was recently watching the Food Network and saw Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, making these granola bars. They turned out to be a delicious, sweet and slightly chewy combination of oats, almonds, coconut and dried fruit held together with golden honey. To me these are just as good as a cookie and much better than commercial granola bars!

Homemade Granola Bars

Ingredients:
2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup shredded coconut, loosely packed
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup honey
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup chopped pitted dates
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 by 12-inch baking dish and line it with parchment paper.

Toss the oatmeal, almonds, and coconut together on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the wheat germ.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.

Place the butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for a minute, then pour over the toasted oatmeal mixture. Add the dates, apricots, and cranberries and stir well.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Wet your fingers and lightly press the mixture evenly into the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool for at least 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares. Serve at room temperature.

Click on the recipe title to go to the Food Network site and print out the recipe.

I'm sure this would be great with your own favorite combination of dried fruits and nuts. Do you have a favorite granola recipe? I'd love for you to share a link!

Handmade Holidays Part 2, Delicious Gifts

It's been said, "No gift is in better taste than one you make yourself". Whether you're famous for your homemade jam, bread or cookies, consider homemade treats for everyone on your list.

Pack up a batch of favorite cookies in small boxes covered in wrapping paper. I used some small boxes I had saved from other gifts, lined them in parchment paper and wrapped both the top and bottom in pretty holiday paper. Then I filled the boxes with cookies from one of my favorite recipes, Mexican Wedding Cookies. You can find the recipe here.

These jars are filled with two of my favorite salty snacks, seasoned fish crackers, and my own recipe for Chex cereal based snack mix. I found vintage glass canister inspired jars at Target and cute decorated glass containers at the local dollar store. These would also be great filled with homemade granola or you could layer the ingredients for a favorite cookie and include the recipe. Add a pretty ribbon and cute gift tag for a gift everyone will enjoy. You can find my recipe for the seasoned fish crackers here or try my recipe for Chex cereal snack mix.

Everyone has a favorite recipe for Chex cereal snack mix. Here's mine:

Cheryl's Party Snack Mix

1 box Chex corn cereal
1 box Chex wheat cereal
1 box of Cheez It snack crackers
1 bag of Hanover Butter Snaps preztels (you could also use pretzel sticks or tiny twists)
1 can of LaChoy rice noodles (found in the Asian section of your grocery)
Mixed nuts of your choice, about 3 cups - I used a large can of Planters Deluxe Mixed Nuts
1 1/2 sticks of butter
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Evenly divide the first six ingredients into two or three large baking pans. You don't want the pans too full because you'll need to stir the ingredients several times. Place the pans full of the cereal mix ingredients in the preheated oven for 5 minutes to heat. Melt the butter and add the garlic powder to the melted butter. Once the dry ingredients are heated, drizzle the melted over the cereal mix then sprinkle with the parmesan cheese. Stir well and bake agin for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. When cooled, store in airtight containers.
This makes a lot of snack mix, so unless you are having a party you might want to consider freezing some. I usually save about half of the mix in a good quality air tight container, like Tuppereware or Rubbermaid and place it in the freezer. It doesn't actually freeze, it just stays fresher longer.
I hope you enjoy this as much as we do!

Do You Have a Favorite Food?

When recently asked the question, What is Your Favorite Food?, I wasn't able to come up with just one answer. I love to cook and I love great food, but my tastes often change according to the seasons and circumtances. Some people would automatically say "a great steak", "Mom's special lasagna" or "anything chocolate". My current tastes run the gamut of all the wonderful, seasonal, fresh fruits and vegetables found in the garden and farmers' markets this time of year, especially here in the Midwest. Warm, fresh from the garden tomatoes - I love a thick slice on a hamburger or a BLT. Or how about some sweet, buttery corn on the cob? This is a sampling of vegetables fresh from my garden.

And then there's all the luscious, juicy fresh fruits - peaches, apples and blueberries. So I decided my favorite for the day is fruit desserts, specifically blueberry crisp. Then I had to make some for dessert and thought I'd share the recipe. This is a super simple fresh baked dessert. You could use mixed berries instead of just blueberries, or add fresh sliced peaches to the blueberries, a great combination!

Blueberry Crisp
(4-6 servings)

3 cups fresh blueberries
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1/3 cup butter, softened
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
cream or ice cream

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Arrange blueberries in an ungreased baking dish, 8x8x2 inches. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Mix brown sugar, flour, oats, butter, cinnamon and salt; sprinkle on top. Bake until topping is light brown and blueberries are hot, about 30 minutes. Serve warm with cream.

Do you have a favorite food?

Spice Up Your Life!

Did you know that a teaspoon full of spices can help boost the antioxident power of practically every snack, entree and beverage you enjoy? Here are some great tips to add healthful flavor to your meals.

Try the seven "super spices" - cinnamon, ginger, oregano, red peppers, rosemary, thyme and yellow curry.

Cinnamon - Perk up your morning coffee with Ground Cinnamon. Sprinkle ½ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon over ground coffee before brewing.

Ginger - For a fresh fruit pick-me-up, try a light sprinkling of Ground Ginger on peaches, pears, cantaloupe, pineapple or honeydew melon.

Oregano - For a twist on the typical grilled cheese, prepare sandwich with sliced mozzarella cheese, sliced tomato and ¼ teaspoon Oregano Leaves.

Red Peppers - Serve bread with olive oil like it's done in an Italian restaurant. Mix ¼ cup olive oil, 1 teaspoon grated Parmesan cheese, ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder, 1/8 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper and sea salt to taste in small shallow dish.

Rosemary - Dress up ready-to-bake rolls. Just before baking frozen dinner rolls or ready-to-bake rolls, brush tops with olive oil then sprinkle with crushed Rosemary Leaves and Sea Salt before baking.

Thyme - Wake up your taste buds with Herbed Scrambled Eggs. Beat 1/8 teaspoon Thyme Leaves into 2 eggs before scrambling.

Yellow Curry - Turn tomato soup from dull to delicious. Add ½ teaspoon Curry Powder to 2 cups tomato soup. Sprinkle with chopped cashews.

For more tips and lots of recipes, check out the McCormick Spice website, SpicesforHealth.com.

And if you can't find the spice you are looking for at your local grocery, try the SpiceBarn.com or try searching on Etsy.com.