Rachel Robin's Nest

Crafts, Projects and Recipes to Help Feather Your "Nest"

Homemade Granola April 30, 2013

Filed under: Recipes — raediantphoenix @ 9:46 pm
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As you read in my Back to Basics post, I’m trying to be more eco-friendly, more healthy and more self-sufficient.  With that in mind, I present this recipe for Homemade Granola with no refined sugars.

When you think granola, you usually associate it with “healthy.”  And when made properly, granola can have a great balance of whole grains, protein and carbohydrates which provide a nutritious, healthy snack, especially when combined with yogurt or fruit.  However, most commercial granolas are high in processed sugar and carbohydrates.  They also get a bad rap for being high in fat, however the fat should be good, heart healthy fat from nuts.

This recipe, which I got from The Paper Mama blog, is granola as it’s intended to be.  Full of almonds, sunflower seeds and oats, and sweetened with honey and no sugar-added applesauce, it’s absolutely delicious.  I love to put some in my yogurt to give it some crunch and extra protein.

Homemade Granola (via The Paper Mama)

Ingredients:

  • 7 cups old-fashioned oats*
  • 1.5 cups slivered almonds (can be food processed to make smaller pieces)
  • 0.5 cups shelled sunflower seeds (can bee food processed to make smaller pieces)
  • 1.5 cups shredded coconut**
  • 3 T cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/8 tsp ground ginger
  • 3 T pure vanilla
  • 1.5 cups no sugar added applesauce
  • 1/4 cup honey

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.  Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Combine all wet ingredients in a separate bowl.  Add wet ingredients to dry and mix well.  Granola should be slightly moist.  If it seems dry, add a little more applesauce

Divide the granola between 2 baking sheets and spread it out evenly.  Bake for 40-50 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes to ensure even cooking.  Allow to cool completely before storing.

* I used quick-cooking oats.  They’re smaller and lighter, and didn’t get particularly crispy, so I think I’ll try old-fashioned oats next time.

** I forgot to put the coconut in!  I was so sad because I didn’t realize until it was done cooking.  It still tastes wonderful, but I think the little bits of toasted coconut would really kick it up a notch.

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BBQ Lentil Burgers August 3, 2012

Filed under: Recipes — raediantphoenix @ 11:54 am
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Ah, summertime.  Official grilling season.  There’s nothing quite like a meal cooked over an open flame.  Those charcoal briquettes really impart a special flavor to the food.  However, all to often we get stuck in the burger and hot dog rut, because they’re classic, simple, and easily available.

But this summer, I wanted to try a little something different.  Also, I’ve been on a major health kick, and trying to do at least one meat free dinner each week, both for my health and the health of my wallet.  Meat is expensive!  But I digress.  After some poking about on the internet, I found a really easy, simple recipe for lentil burgers.  It was actually a little too simple, in my mind, and would likely be very bland, so I doctored it up a little bit.  The results were quite delicious.  The lentils actually have a very dense, almost meat-like texture, and take on the flavor of whatever you add to them, so they make a great burger.  Give them a try!

BBQ Lentil Burgers

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups cooked lentils (1 1/2 cups dry)
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 cup bread crumbs
  • 3 tbsp BBQ sauce (I love Sweet Baby Ray’s)

Directions:

  1. Combine eggs, lentils, salt and BBQ sauce in a blender or food processor.  Puree until the consistency of runny hummus
  2. Pour into a mixing bowl and mix in the onions and breadcrumbs.  Let sit for a about 10 minutes so that the bread crumbs can soak up some of the moisture
  3. Form into 12 smallish patties
  4. Pan fry, or grill until the patties are browned and crisp on the outside and heated all the way through

If you want the basic lentil burger recipe, omit the BBQ sauce and add another egg.  This is the starting point, and you can add any flavors or extras you want.  I think they’d be great with some black beans mixed in as well, and maybe with some chili powder and served with cheddar cheese and onion for a southwestern burger.

What combinations did you come up with?

 

Homemade “Lara” Bars May 8, 2012

Filed under: Recipes — raediantphoenix @ 11:17 pm
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I first became aware of Lara Bars on a weight-loss blog I was reading.  Yes, I read weight-loss blogs from time to time.  Sometimes they have great recipes!

Anyway, I was intrigued by their schtick–soy free, dairy free, raw, vegan and nutritious, made mostly from fruits and nuts.  So I went out and bought a few on sale for a dollar each at Stop and Shop.  I was instantly hooked.  Sweet, slightly savory, and ultra filling, but usually maxing out somewhere just over 200 calories apiece, they made a great on-the-go snack, and for someone who’s on-the-go a lot, this was very appealing.  Less appealing was the $1 each price tag (more when not on sale).

So, I hit the web, and started looking for recipes for my own.  And I found Damy Health.  Amy Layne came up with recipes that approximate the flavors and ingredients of almost all of the varieties of Lara Bars.  I bow down to her awesomeness.  I then went out to Whole Foods and purchased ingredients for my favorite so far, the PB&J bar.

Homemade PB&J Lara Bars (via Damy Health)

Ingredients: 

I quadrupled(ish) the recipe, to yield 12 bars.  The recipe below yields about 3 bars)

  • 1/4 cup dried cherries
  • 1/4 cup seedless, pitted dates
  • 1/2 cup raw peanuts (I used roasted, salted)
  • 1tbsp creamy natural peanut butter
  • pinch sea salt (I omitted this since my nuts were salted)

Directions:

1.  Place the dates and cherries in a food processor.  Blend until it forms a paste.  Transfer to a separate bowl.  (I do not own a food processor.  I used a blender.  It sucked.  A lot.  I ended up with lots of chunks because my blender was not up to the task.  If you don’t have a food processor, be forewarned that you’re in for a tough time of it.)

2.  Add nuts to the food processor and chop until they are very small pieces.

3.  Add nuts, salt and peanut butter to fruit paste.  Knead together with your hands.  This is fun!  You get your hands all gooey and yucky!

Yum! Fruit paste!

4.  Spread parchment paper onto a sheet tray, and press your fruit and nut “dough” evenly into the pan.  I used an empty bottle to roll it flat and a cutting board to keep the edges clean.

5.  Let set in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes, then, using a sharp knife, cut into individual bars.

6.  Wrap in saran wrap or use individual baggies to seal in freshness.

And there you have it!  Homemade fruit and nut bars.  Unfortunately, because I bought my ingredients at Whole Paycheck Foods, the bars ended up costing about the same as they would in the grocery store:

The Peanuts were $4.49, the cherries were $4.99 and the dates were $4.99, for a total cost of about $15.00 (including PB I already had), and I only got 12 bars.  However, I’m sure that if I bought non-organic ingredients at the regular supermarket, they would be cheaper to make.  And despite the cost issue, they are SUPER tasty!

What’s your favorite flavor?

 

 
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