Granola Bars...a staple at our house!

We love running, hiking and backpacking at our house
and so I'm always making some kind of granola/trail bar,
but some recipes I've tried are too sticky, some are too soft, some are too sweet,
but, this one, is JUST RIGHT!!   

 The perfect blend of ingredients,

the perfect texture 

and they hold together and don't get your hands sticky.

We just got back from a major hike 
and they provided much of our energy to get up the mountain!

This is my main stay recipe and best part of all, 

I always have all of the ingredients to make them up!  

While these granola bars are great running/hiking energy, 
 Kids LOVE them as an addition to their lunches they take to school everyday,
and they also make a great afternoon snack, OR, a great energy bar to start the day out!

Granola Bars 
2 cups rolled oats (NOT quick oats)
1 cup chopped almonds
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
2/3 cup coconut 
1 teaspoon salt 
1/4 tsp cinnamon 

Heat oven to 350 degrees
Spread out rolled oats and chopped almonds on cookie sheet and toast in oven for 15 minutes (stirring every 5 minutes to keep from burning) 
Put oats/almonds in large metal bowl and then add in coconut, sunflower seeds, raisins and dried cherries. 
Heat Sweetened Condensed milk on stove until it's runny in consistency and then add salt and cinnamon and stir well.
Pour heated milk over rest of ingredients and stir well.
Pour into an 8x8 inch pan that has been LINED with parchment paper.  
Flatten mixture with spatula or spoon. 
Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour, until mixture looks dry and it is no longer sticky to touch.
Remove from oven and pull parchment paper out of pan and let cool slightly.
Cut into 12 pieces (you may have to reform into rectangle shapes after you have cut them)
Let cool completely.

If you would like, melt some dark chocolate in the microwave and drizzle over the top of the bars.  

Once they have cooled, wrap individually in plastic wrap and store in a cool place, or in the refrigerator!!  

Enjoy 

some homemade granola bars today!!

Flax Seeds...make wonderful energy!

Tis the time of year for...

 Running...

 and backpacking!

And with these two events, 

it means we need GOOD energy snacks!

I have been seeing Energy Ball recipes all over Pinterest and I decided to tweak the recipe to things we had on hand and I can honestly say my family is LOVING these! 

We have been making them weekly for the past month so Jade has plenty of good energy snacks for his running practices for Track

(I've loved them on my early morning runs as well!)

Also, they have been wonderful to add to lunches instead of sending cookies for a treat.

  I actually like them much better than my homemade granola bars...they are more "hearty" and not as sweet...

 and they go together SO quickly and you don't have to bake them...

just mix basic ingredients together, 

let chill 45 minutes to an hour, 

roll into balls and keep chilled until ready to serve.

 BTW...I was given some "mini- chocolate chips" from one of my good friends and the first batch I added in some of those...

 However, I just like taking my 60% Cacao Dark Chocolate Chips and breaking them into chunks to add in instead. 

 What I love about these energy balls
 is the ground Flax Seeds. 

I always try to add ground flax seeds to many of my baked goods, because flax seeds are high in 
 Fiber, Phytochemicals
AND Omega-3 Fatty Acids...
This energy ball recipe uses 1/2 cup of them.  

 I just buy whole flax seeds in bulk and then I grind them with a coffee grinder and store them in my fridge.  

Energy Balls

1 cup rolled oats (OLD fashioned, NOT quick)

1/2 cup peanut butter (or almond butter)

1/3 cup RAW honey

1/2 cup ground flax seeds

1/3 cup unsweetened coconut

1/3 cup raw sunflower seeds (unsalted)

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, OR, dark chocolate chunks
1-2 Tbsp. Chia Seeds

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

Mix altogether and refrigerate 45 minutes to an hour

Roll into small balls and keep refrigerated...

BTW....I'm sure you could add in whatever other things you would like...the sky is the limit!  I bet dried fruit or different nuts would be yummy as well!

 Enjoy 2 balls for energy before or after running

Perfect for kiddos to take in their lunches instead of cookies for a treat
OR, for an after school snack,

OR, the perfect thing to bring instead of granola bars 

for energy when hiking or backpacking!

Happy running, hiking and

backpacking energy to all of you!

Dried fruit...so easy and yummy!

21 years ago, 
I entered the wonderful world of marital bliss! 
I was SO excited for the adventure of being a wife and homemaker and I still remember the day that I purchased the Home Canning book shown above.  
It was full of all kinds of helpful tips for canning, freezing and drying fruits and veggies and had many yummy recipes. 

I feel ancient
as I think about how times have changed since the early years of our marriage.    
The year 1990 meant,
if you didn't have a cookbook in your house that had a recipe you wanted to make up, you either had
to go to the library and look for recipes,
purchase cooking books from the store, OR, 
go to the store and read magazines and hope a recipe you would like to make, would be featured in it.  
Nowadays, we are SO blessed with having the internet that if you are looking for a recipe, you can usually find it "lickety split", with just a few clicks of your mouse.

(Sorry, I digress...now back to my story)
I was SO excited when we purchased a $5.00 food dehydrator (small and cheap) and ventured out in making up dried fruit for our trail mixes that we like to take hiking/backpacking, OR to just enjoy as an afternoon snack.
This is what I did back then and what I am still doing...
I open a can of Pineapple Tidbits, drain off the juice,
take the pineapple tidbits and place them on one or two of the dehydrator trays,
slice bananas real thin (between 1/8 inch and 1/4 inch thick)
and then dip the bananas into the pineapple juice to help in preserving them and to keep them from going brown,
put the bananas on the trays as well and depending upon your dehydrator you will have perfectly dried fruit in 24-48 hours.  (I've also done apples and apricots)

I pull the fruit off when it is pliable and no visible sign of moisture is showing,

HELPFUL TIP...

pull off the fruit while the dehydrator is still on as it hardens quite quickly when cooled and it is almost impossible to pull it off after it has cooled.

Take Mason Jars and line the inside with waxed paper, put the dried fruit it after it has cooled,
fold the wax paper over the fruit,
put a lid on and
you are ready to have dried fruit to munch on, or, add to nuts to make your own trail mix.

BTW... 21 years later, I still have an inexpensive dehydrator...it was about $20.00, doesn't have a fan, or fruit leather making trays, but it works great, for what I need to use it for.

Easy, YUMMY  and most of all something that ANYONE can do!

Such a yummy snack for
kids and adults of any age to eat!
Ethan wanted popcorn one afternoon for a snack to enjoy as he read his Harry Potter book and I had just pulled off dried fruit from the dehydrator and sprinkled a few pieces on top of his popcorn and I heard him say all afternoon...
 

"Mom, I LOVE that dried fruit...it is so sweet
and I think it is better than candy"!

Enjoy, the fruits of the season,

Enjoy, taking the abundance you have today 

and preserving it for tomorrows enjoyment

You'll find out yourself that it is absolutely delicious

AND it is fun to do as well!

Rolled Oats = Granola and Pie!

I am a lover of Oats!

I just love the flavor SO much and enjoy anything and everything with Oats in it...
from our Steel Cut Oats for breakfast,
cooked oatmeal, baked oatmeal,
oatmeal cookies, cake and bread,
Apple Crisp, Granola Bars, Dutch Apple Pie...
you name it...It's all good

I have two more great recipes that have Rolled Oats as one of the ingredients.
Granola Bars and
Dutch Apple Pie.
These two recipes have become keepers for me and something that will be made often at my house!

GRANOLA BARS

I made this recipe when I was dating Tracy (which he just loved), however, haven't made it since...that is until I needed to make Granola bars for our yearly backpacking trip. I found a different recipe and made it up and it was really sticky, very sweet and didn't fare well when Tracy and I took them on our hike into Darby Caves.
SO,
I came back to my original recipe
and did a little tweaking and they were absolutely delicious...
not too sweet, a great texture,
basic recipe that can be customized to your liking and a BIGGIE...they used
ingredients that I have in my food storage.

Chewy Granola Bars
1 cube butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
Mix the above ingredients together in a large sauce pan on LOW heat until blended.

Then add in:
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup chopped nuts (peanuts or almonds are the best)
2/3 cup raisins (or other dried fruit)
3 cups rolled oats

Mix all together and bake in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes (stirring twice).

Take out and add in:
1/2 cup chopped Peanut M&M's, OR, 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Stir well and put into 9x13 pan and let cool for at least 4 hours.

Cut and individually wrap bars in plastic wrap and store in air tight container in the fridge.
Great for lunches, afternoon kid snacks, OR, energy bars for hiking,

Enjoy!

DUTCH APPLE PIE

Tracy and I enjoy a good homemade pie
and hardly splurge on getting pie to eat when we occasionally eat out because homemade tastes SO much better than anything you can get at a restaurant.
However, I have never been able to replicate the
"Caramel Apple Pie" you can get a Perkins Restaurant, which is one of Tracy's favorite pies!

First off,
I LOVE apple pie made with FRESH apples straight off the tree.
There is nothing yummier to me!!

I have always struggled with bottled apple pie filling because the apples seems really soft and they're sometimes too strong with too many spices and until last year I have never bottled up any apple pie filling.

I came across this recipe last year from one of my Blog friends Mel.
It sounded delicious and so I decided to use her recipe because she gave a great recipe for using the filling to make Dutch Apple Pie and I wanted to try and make a yummy pie for Tracy that made us feel like we had gone and had dessert at Perkins.

This recipe definitely DELIVERS,
tastes better than anything you can get at a restaurant
and best of all, it was a perfect hit with both my hubby and kids.

Dutch Apple Pie

2 cups unbleached flour
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 cube melted butter
1 jar bottled Apple Pie Filling

In large bowl mix flour, brown sugar, rolled oats and melted butter. Mix until well combined. Save aside one cup for topping.

Press remaining mixture into a large pie plate (going up the sides).
Pour bottled Apple Pie Filling onto crust and then top with reserved crumb topping.

Bake 350 degrees for 45 minutes until golden brown.
Let sit 15 minutes before cutting.

Delicious topped with ice cream
and drizzled with Caramel Ice Cream topping.

Enjoy!