Oatmeal Snack Bars

I received this recipe from a family friend and I made it before our camping trip as a packable snack.  You could also use these to put in a lunch box (they're chock full of all kinds of good stuff)!  I made a half batch that day because I was low on peanut butter, but I will give you the recipe with the full batch amounts.

Oatmeal Snack Bars
2 cups oatmeal (want it healthier?  use Soaked & Ready Oats)
1 cup chopped peanuts (or other nut)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I used pecans)
1 cup sunflower seeds (I didn't have any so I used cashews)
1 cup ground flax seeds
1 cup wheat germ (or you could substitute dried coconut)
1 cup raisins
1 cup dried fruit (I just used more raisins)
1/2 cup honey
1 16 oz jar peanut butter (2 cups)
1 cup fruit spread (jam, jelly)

Preheat oven to 350.  Combine all ingredients in a large bowl & mix together for about 2 minutes by hand.  Take a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan (I would recommend jelly roll pan) and line it with parchment paper.  Dump mixture onto pan or cookie sheet, and press down (easiest to do this without sticking if you use another piece of parchment paper between your hands & the bars).  Bake for 25 minutes (do not over bake).

 You can see in this picture here what stirring it with a spatula did to my spatula!  Yes, it is thick & sticky stuff!  fyi: The half batch was just the right amount for the pan that fits in my toaster oven.

Once cool, slice into bars & cover.  Will keep for several days at room temperature.  I would suggest putting half the batch in the freezer and then pulling it out when you're almost out of the first half of the batch.  Or, package individually & freeze so they're ready to toss into a lunch box as needed.

Enjoy!

Lisa

This post was written a few days ago and scheduled for today.  As you read this my family is on our way to our new home for the next 9 1/2 months- Rwanda!  We will spend about 28 hours traveling to get there - almost half way across the world from Washington state.  Pray for us!

Chocolate Pudding Pops & Mocha Smoothie

Do you ever have extra milk you need to use up?  Last week I did, and I decided my choices were either to make yogurt (but I already had 2 large containers of that) or make pudding pops- guess I have to make pudding!  I found this recipe on the Everyday Life blog, where she says you can either refrigerate for pudding or freeze for pudding pops. Start with the chocolate pudding & you'll be on your way to making some mocha smoooooothies...

Chocolate Pudding
5 1/2 cups milk
1 cup sugar (I used rapadura)
6 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1/3 cup arrowroot powder (or cornstarch, I used arrowroot)
2 Tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons vanilla

Start out with a low heat on the stove and dissolve the sugar into milk, stirring or whisking until dissolved.  Then add the cocoa powder and arrowroot.  Increase your stove temperature to medium and stir with a spoon (to be sure it doesn't stick on the bottom- keep on stirring!)  After several minutes the mixture will thicken and you can remove it from the heat.  Stir in the butter and vanilla.  Allow to cool slightly and then either refrigerate or freeze.

Now I will be honest & say that I usually don't care for the "stand and stir" recipes (which most pudding recipes fall into).  It just doesn't feel efficient to me: I have to multi-task!  Of course this has been the death of more than one "stand and stir" recipe.  [Thanksgivings come to mind when I used to make a pumpkin custard pie every year for my father-in-law, and sometimes I would have to make it twice because of not minding it closely enough- ugh!]  Thankfully, my mom was visiting and could help me stir the pudding while I made blueberry jam.  Yes, I was multi-tasking: I can't help it!

Last week I posted about Creamy Probiotic Popsicles and I suggested that if you don't have a popsicle mold that you use a muffin pan.  So, this time I tried it.  Did I mention this recipe makes a lot?  Oh, yes it does!  And do you see how pitiful my popsicle mold stock is (I only have 5 containers, it is supposed to be 6 but one went missing years ago when my daughter was a toddler...)

After I took this picture I placed a toothpick in each mini muffin cup, just layed it in there, and put the whole thing in the freezer.  A day later I pulled it out & ran hot water over the bottom for a few seconds to loosen them (don't take too long with the hot water, they melt fast, and be careful not to impale your hand on the toothpicks- ouch!)  It worked great!  I put them all in a ziploc bag & tossed it back in the freezer.  Voila!

 Hmm, well that picture looks a little messy.  Certainly not going to win me any awards.  But we did end up with mini popsicles!

Now, I am going to share with you my favorite way to enjoy these.  See that ice cube tray up there?  I also popped those out & put them in a ziploc in the freezer.  The next day we had some coffee that did not get finished in the morning, so I put it in the fridge.  Later that afternoon when I was ready for a snack, I pulled it out & threw together this awesome mocha smoothie!  


Mocha Smoothie
1 cup cold coffee
3/4 cup milk
5 cubes of frozen chocolate pudding
small amount of stevia, honey, sugar, or maple syrup to taste

Combine all ingredients in blender until smooth.  Pour into a tall glass & say yum!  (Makes about 2 servings- so share, but only if you want to...)

 This picture was taken when I made it using 1/2 cup milk and 1/4 cup homemade vanilla ice cream- oh yeah!  Why not use all ice cream & make a mocha milkshake?  Now we're talking!

Enjoy!
Lisa

Raw Cashew Cream

The original recipe for this Cashew Cream came from the She Let Them Eat Cake blog.  I thought I was making a non-dairy substitute for sour cream... but this is more similar to peanut butter than anything else.  She talks about both cashew sour cream and sweet cashew cream, so I discovered this is actually sweet cashew cream.  Great spread for breads, and I also have put a tablespoon in the blender when I make my iced coffees (coffee, milk, sweetener, ice) which was very tasty!

Sweet Cashew Cream
1 1/2 cups raw cashews
1/4 cup water
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
4 Tablespoon maple syrup

Place cashews in bowl, add water, and cover.  (I used a pie plate to soak them in, so more of the cashews would be in contact with the water.)  Allow to soak for overnight (or 8 hours).

After soaking, place in food processor along with lemon juice and maple syrup.  This is what mine looked like after a minute.

Keep processing until smooth.  Cover & store in refrigerator.  Use within one week.

I would make this again to use in my No Bake Granola Bars to replace part of the peanut butter.

Enjoy!
Lisa

This post is a part of Pennywise Platter Thursday.

Flourless Blender Pancakes

In my last post I shared about my adventure with sprouting wheat & making it into bread.  With the sprouted wheat berries I had left, I decided to make blender pancakes for the next morning.  Normally I make this with wheat berries (unsprouted) and oatmeal.  This recipe is easy & I love it.  Using sprouted wheat made it a little different, but I still want to share it with you.

This recipe comes from Sue Gregg's Breakfasts Cookbook.

Flourless Blender Pancakes (or Waffles)
1 cup cultured milk (buttermilk, or yogurt diluted with milk) 
*use 1 1/4 cup milk if making waffles
1 Tablespoon melted butter, coconut oil, or olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup raw brown rice, corn, buckwheat, or wheat berries
1/2 cup uncooked rolled oats

Place these ingredients in a blender & blend at highest speed for 3 to 5 minutes.  Let stand (in mixer) in warm place for 12 - 24 hours.

1 egg
1 Tablespoon ground flax seeds (optional)
1 teaspoon baking soda 
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat waffle iron or griddle.  Add egg to the batter in the blender and blend on highest speed for 1-3 minutes.  Add in flax seeds, baking soda, and salt and blend to combine (scrape down sides if needed). Grease waffle iron or griddle & pour pancakes (so easy from the blender).  Cook until bubbles on surface pop & then flip.

The batter I got using (over) sprouted wheat berries was very thin (the berries had already absorbed water during the sprouting stage).  At first I had a very rough time cooking them as they were more crepe like.  You can see they were making a mess there.  But then I learned that cooking them at a lower temp & longer would work.

Mmmm- yummy!  Tried & true even with my crazy wheat berries this recipe came through.  However, when I decided to throw some blueberries into the last part of the batch I discovered these are way too fragile to support that!

You may not be able to tell in this picture, but this is after the flip & they were sticking & making a horrible mess, all tore up inside.  I'm thinking to myself, "Things I do for my daughter!"  (My daughter loves blueberry pancakes.) 

Try out this recipe with raw wheat berries.  I've tried it with brown rice, but definitely prefer it with wheat.

Enjoy!
Lisa

This post is a part of Tuesday Twister.

(Flourless) Sprouted Wheat Bread... oh my!

That "Oh my!" in the title there is not as in, "wow, this was so tasty!"  It was more as in, "Lions and tigers and sprouted wheat, oh my!"

I have had some wheat berries sitting in my pantry for weeks & weeks waiting for me to try this recipe for flourless sprouted wheat bread.  It sounded so amazing, making bread by sprouting the wheat berries and then making dough by running them through the food processor (and *not* having to grind them into flour).  This week I finally got up the nerve to try it... with mixed results.

It's a fairly simple process.  Day one:  take 3 cups of wheat berries, cover with generous amount of water & allow to soak for 24 hours.  I started mine in the evening & had to add more water in the morning (did you see my post yesterday about all the stuff I had soaking?)

Day two: drain in sieve, rinse thoroughly, leave in sieve & cover with damp towel.  Rinse at least every 8 hours and allow to sit for up to 24 hours.  Since I started in the evening, I rinsed them again when I woke up, and again the afternoon.  But in a warm summer kitchen this is what I found after 24 hours of sitting...

I don't know if you can tell in this picture- but these wheat berries are way over- sprouted.  The sprouts should not be longer than the wheat berry, and quite a few were already too long, some even with multiple sprouts...  ::sigh::  But despite her warnings about them being no good for bread baking, I was not to be deterred that easily.

The next step is to seal & refrigerate over night, which worked out perfectly since this was the evening/end of the second day.  The next afternoon I got them out & prepared to make the bread recipe:

Sprouted Wheat Bread
6 cups sprouted wheat berries (my 3 cups turned into more than this)
1 teaspoon yeast
2 Tablespoons warm water
2 teaspoons salt
3 Tablespoons honey
loaf pan, greased
clean kitchen towel
gallon zip lock bag

Dissolve the yeast in the water in a small cup.  Put half of the wheat, salt, honey, and yeast mixture in the food processor (that means 3 cups wheat, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 1/2 Tablespoons honey, + yeast mixture).  Process 30 seconds & then scrape down sides.

This is what mine looked like.  Now the next step is to continue processing until a ball of dough forms.   Do you know what happens when wheat over-sprouts?  It turns very starchy.

After several minutes of processing I still did not see what looked like dough, and it smelled like my food processor motor was starting to overheat.  Maybe it had something to do with what I saw when I lifted up the bowl...

Eww!  Look what it did!  The "stuff" went up inside the blade & down under & eww....  At this point you are supposed to repeat the process with the remaining ingredients.  I do (after cleaning up the first mess) but I don't process it for as long this time & the mess is much less, but I don't think this is what your dough is supposed to look like.

Again, I am not deterred that easily!  I decided to add 2 cups of spelt flour to the glob and knead it for several minutes.  Now, put your dough in a greased bowl & let it rise for several hours.  I figured it has yeast & flour, it should rise...  (I had to help mine out by putting it in a warm oven with a pot of boiling water.)  Eventually my dough did rise, my hopes are going up now!

Next form it into a loaf & place in a greased pan for the second rise.  I put mine in a warm oven again & after a few hours, it looked like this (I was also making sourdough bread at the time so I put them next to each other).

And look at me: I even remembered to slash my loaves!

Now, bake at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes.  The sad news is the sprouted wheat bread did not do it's third rise in the oven.  The good news is my sourdough loaf did & this was the first time for that!  My best sourdough loaf ever!  Wrap your sprouted loaf in the towel & place inside the zip lock bag for 45 minutes.

The taste of the sprouted wheat loaf was very starchy & chewy- no big surprise there.  I still had sprouted wheat left, so my next post will be about the pancakes I tried to make from it.  How about you?  Have you tried making sprouted wheat bread before?  Give it a go & let me know how it works for you!

Enjoy!

Lisa

This post is a part of Real Food Wednesday
Fight Back Fridays
Family Food Fridays
and Monday Mania

Soaking....

How's this for a busy night?  What all is going on here?  In the oven I had soaking: wheat berries (for sprouting- those are up front), the granola I love (back left), cashews (bottom shelf- for cashew cream), and under the towel is a bowl of pancake batter in one bowl and blueberry muffin batter in another.  On top of the stove I have oats soaking for "Soaked & Ready Oats".  And if you see back in the upper left corner of the picture is my jar of sourdough starter.  When you have a small kitchen the oven can come in handy for nights like this!

I made the Soaked & Ready Oats because I am planning on making more No Bake Granola Bars, and I also want to make the Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Ice Cream recipe from the Just Making Noise blog.

To make the oats all you need to do is soak 4 cups oats with 4 cups lukewarm water and 5-8 Tbsp. of whey (I used 6).  Allow to soak for 12 to 24 hours, then drain in a sieve for 10 minutes.

Mine actually drained for a lot longer than 10 minutes because I walked away & got busy elsewhere!

Spread the oats out thin on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet (she suggests oiling the paper, but I didn't & it was fine).  I put them in the oven at 250 and dehydrated them for about 4 or 5 hours (doing this at the same time as I dehydrated my granola on another rack, meant I was getting the most out of having my oven on that day).

This is the second time I have made them & this time they were still a little soft in the middle- I probably could have dehydrated them for longer, but I went ahead & processed them into oat sized pieces, put them in a container & now they are in the fridge waiting to be used.

Do you soak your grains?  Do you want to know why I do?  You can read more about it on the new page I've added on the top of my blog "Why Soak?"  (Maybe I should have called it "Whey Soak?"  That's a soaking joke!  Sorry- couldn't help myself- tee hee!)

Enjoy,
Lisa

P.S. I'll post more about the other recipes I had soaking later this week!
This post is a part of Tuesday Twister.

Creamy Probiotic Popsicles

When I saw this recipe for popsicles using buttermilk, I knew I wanted to try it out.  The day I made mine, I decided to give them a little extra boost.  I substituted some of the buttermilk with 1/4 cup raw milk kefir.  I was unsure if freezing kills the probiotics in kefir or yogurt (or cultured buttermilk for that matter) and after doing some digging on the internet I find myself - well, still unsure.  It seems as though the jury is out on whether or not freezing kills them, but even those who say it kills them admits it does not kill all of them- so you are still getting some benefit.

So, if you're going to have popsicles, why not boost them too?  I also added a teaspoon or two or flax seed oil to the mix.  It completely goes undercover & gives you the benefits of essential fatty acids too.  I might try drizzling in a teaspoon of melted coconut oil next time too.  I was out of fresh fruit when I made mine so I used frozen strawberries.  I also ran out of popsicle molds (this recipe makes quite a bit) so I poured the extra into an ice cube tray (pop them out, put in a ziploc bag, then I throw a few at a time into our smoothies) and a couple small containers.  I ate those with a spoon like sorbet.  Mmmmm.

Here is girlichef's recipe with my adjustments...

Creamy Probiotic Popsicles

1 cup buttermilk (real & cultured preferred)
1/2 cup kefir (or yogurt)
1 banana
1 1/2 cups fruit (fresh or frozen)
1/4 cup raw honey
optional: 2 teaspoons flax oil or coconut oil (melted)

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend completely.  Pour into molds (or muffin tin?) and place in the freezer.  (If adding your own sticks add them in after one hour & freeze for an additional hour.)

If you don't have popsicle molds, why not use muffin tins (or mini muffin tins)?  I remember as kids we used to use dixie cups, cover with plastic wrap, and then put a stick through the plastic wrap so it would stay in place.  I bet that would work for mini muffin tins or ice cube trays too!

Enjoy!
Lisa

This post is a part of Slightly Indulgent Tuesday and Pennywise Platter Thursday.