Granola bars

If you an make Rice Krispie treats, you can make this recipe. We have a few different ways that we like to make granola bars, and this recipe is a modified version of my girl Heidi Swanson's Big Sur Power Bar recipe (which you can find at 101cookbooks.com). 

Ingredients:

1 cup brown rice syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup sugar (I used organic Demerara)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 1/4 cups oats

1 1/2 cups Rice Krispies

1/4 cup choc chips

1/4 cup mixed dried fruit (I used golden raisins and cranberries)

1/4 cup nuts

1 tbsp flax seeds

Grease an 11x7 in pan and line with parchment.

Mix all berries, nuts, choc chips, flax seeds, Rice Krispies and oats in a large bowl.

In a saucepan, mix syrup, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Stirring constantly, let it boil for 4 min so that it thickens.

Mix the syrup mixture with the dry mixture. Spread into the pan and refrigerate so that it firms up a bit. Makes 24 bars:) 

SO much better homemade:)

Almond Poppyseed Muffins

It's overcast and 62 degrees...perfect baking weather! I adapted this recipe from joyofbaking.com's lemon poppyseed muffin recipe. I love adapting recipes to meet your needs! We always use organic eggs and unsalted butter.

3 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

3 tablespoons canned poppy seed filling (we had this on hand, otherwise you can use regular poppyseeds)

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup softened butter

4 large eggs

2 cups plain yogurt- do not use fat free! (I used 2% plain Greek yogurt)

2 teaspoons almond extract (3 if you want intense almond flavor)

Preheat oven to 400.

Whip up butter and sugar  until it is light and fluffy. Scrape sides as needed. Add eggs one at a time and mix in. Add poppyseeds and almond extract. Next add salt and bakin soda and mix in. Now add flour slowly and don't over mix. The dough will be thick. 

Using a scooper, portion into cupcake pan so that cups are about level but full. Bake 18-20 min until a toothpick inserted into middle comes out clean. 

These muffins will be dense and almost pound cake-like. Perfect with coffee:)

Hard-boiled Eggs

I'm slightly obsessed with hard-boiled eggs. They are a great source of protein and are contained in their own shell, making them a great grab-and-go snack. But...I won't eat just any egg. They have to be perfect.

I steam my eggs in our veggie steamer pot. Get the water boiling- I'm talking a roaring boil. THEN put the steamer on (covered) and let them go for about 15 min. While they are boiling, get a large bowl and fill it with cold water and ice. When the eggs are done, you will take te steamer off and put it in the water to stop the eggs from cooking.

I use organic eggs. They are more expensive, but they taste soooo much better. In cooking them like this, you won't get that nasty gray coating around the yolk. That layer actually means they are overdone and it makes them smelly.

One of these egg snacks is 70 calories.

Breakfast for Dinner (Brinner)

My husband's family really enjoys having a big breakfast. My family was never really too into breakfasts like that... but I'm getting used to it:)

This delish-ness is a fritatta, friends:) To make this fritatta, you will want to heat a small amount of EVOO in an oven safe skillet. Saute' your veggies so that they soften up just a little bit. If you are adding meat, you can put that in the pan after the veggies are soft-ish. Beat some eggs (I think we did 9 or 10 in a 14 in skillet) and add them. Top with cheese (or you can mix it into the eggs) and bake in the skillet at 350 for 10 min (or until the eggs are the texture of scrambled eggs). We also really like crispy cheese, so we broiled it until it was starting to brown. We sauted mushrooms and garlic in some butter and added those on top after cutting and plating. NOTE: If you throw in the mushrooms when you saute the other veggies, your eggs will have a brownish hue to them.