our favorite granola bars

My sister-in-law gave me this recipe years ago and we've enjoyed it ever since! 

Homemade Granola Bars

2 1/2 c. oats

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. flaxseed or wheat germ

3/4 t. cinnamon

1/2 c. wheat flour

1/2 c. white flour

1 c. mini chocolate chips (optional, use whatever you like)

3/4 t. salt

1/2 c. honey

1 egg (beaten)

1/2 c. canola oil

2 t. vanilla

2/3 c. creamy peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Generously grease a 9x13 pan.  Mix oats, sugar, flaxseed, cinnamon, flours, chocolate chips, and salt.  Make well in center of dry ingredients and pour in the honey, egg, oil, and vanilla.  Mix well.  Pat mixture into prepared pan.  Bake for about 30 min. or until golden brown on the edges.  Let cool 5 min. and cut.  Store in airtight container, snack bags, and/or put half in freezer if they don't disappear immediately.

(I have made these gluten-free by substituting my GF flour blend.  I'd love to find a way to cut out a little sugar, although there's not too much to begin with.)

breakfast for supper

It's been a long time since we've had this recipe from Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking Magazine.  I found it again today, adjusted the ingredients a bit to make it my own, and fixed it for supper.  It's a huge hit, and can be gluten free with the right oatmeal!

Baked Blueberry and Peach Oatmeal

3 c. old-fashioned oatmeal

1/2 c. brown sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1 1/4 c. milk or milk substitute

1/4 c. canola oil

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 can sliced peaches in juice, drained and chopped

1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries

1/3 c. chopped walnuts

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

In a large bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Whisk the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla; add to dry ingredients and stir until blended.  Let stand for 5 min.  Stir in peaches and blueberries.

Transfer to an 11x7 or 8x8 baking dish coated with cooking spray.  Sprinkle with walnuts.  Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 35-40 min. or until top is lightly browned.  Serve with additional milk if desired.

good food and good company

Today was sunny and almost warm with a slight breeze.  We went to visit a friend and found to the 4-year-old's delight, she had a morning of kite-flying planned for us.  Josiah ran off his energy all around the yard, dragging a kite behind him that usually stayed up in the air and out of the trees.

Then we headed inside, where the warmth still felt good after being out in the spring breeze.  Our friend turned on her waffle iron and shared these cookies with me.  Since Josiah couldn't have them, I asked for the recipe, brought it home, and revamped the ingredients so all three kids could enjoy.  (Josiah gets his with carob chips.)  Not needing gluten free?  Use regular flour and oatmeal, leave out the xanthan gum, and you can make it just like our friend did!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Waffle Cookies

1/2 c. butter or margarine

1/2 c. + 2 T. brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 t. vanilla

3/4 c. GF all purpose flour

3/4 t. xanthan gum

1/2 t. baking soda

1 1/2 c. GF rolled oats

1 c. chocolate chips

1. Heat waffle iron.

2. Whisk butter and brown sugar.  Whisk in eggs and vanilla.  Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt.  Stir in oats and chocolate chips.

3. Coat griddle with nonstick spray.  Use a tablespoon or small scoop to portion out a cookie on to each waffle square.  Brown 1 1/2-3 min.

*Variations: add coconut, walnuts, use 1/2 white chocolate chips and chocolate chips, or try blueberries!

GF granola bars

Today I received my first ever shipment of gluten free rolled oats.  It's been months since Rachel has had a granola bar, and our favorite recipe has peanut butter which Micah most certainly will not eat.  So I searched the web and found this recipe, and adapted it to our GF needs.  While I would have preferred to add chocolate chips, we were out, so golden raisins took their place.  Delicious!!!

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups GF rolled oats

1 cup all purpose GF flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp GF vanilla

1 cup butter or margarine, softened*

1 cup honey

Add-ins: 1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1 cup chopped walnuts, 1-2 c. dried fruit such as raisins, cherries, etc.  

Lightly butter a 9×13-inch pan.  In a large mixing bowl combine butter and honey first.  Then add all ingredients except add-ins.  Beat hard until combined.  Stir in add-ins.  Press mixture into pan — really jam it in there so your bars don’t fall apart.  (You can use your hands!)  Bake at 325 degrees for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.  Let cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting into bars.  Let bars cool completely in pan before removing and serving.

my favorite gluten free flour mix

6 c. rice flour (I use 3 c. white rice and 3 c. brown rice)

2 c. potato starch flour

1 c. tapioca flour

Mix in tall container and store in freezer.  (Gluten free flours have a shorter shelf life than regular flour.)  Add 1 t. xanthan gum or guar gum for every cup of flour used.  I wait and add the xanthan gum when I'm mixing a recipe.  You can use this flour to replace regular flour in any recipe, and it tastes great!

Check websites like Amazon and Vitacost for some good prices on gluten-free flours.

you made chili with what?! carrot-based chili recipe

Since the carrot-based tomato sauce was a hit, why not try it for chili?  I cut this recipe in half, and my very picky 4-year-old ate it!  (The rest of us had the real thing made with tomatoes.)

Carrot-based Chili

2 cans carrots, drained

1 1/2 c. chicken broth

1/2 to 1 can red kidney beans, drained (0ptional)

1/8 tsp. paprika

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. oregano

add garlic, onion salt to your taste (we leave this out--I'm allergic and quit using onion/garlic in recipes a long time ago)

1/2 lb. ground beef

Puree all but last ingredient in blender.  Add browned ground beef and heat.  Serve with Fritos and cheese/cheese alternative if desired.

milk is easier than corn...

Not too long ago here, I expressed the thought that we would be trying to take corn out of Josiah's diet.  Starting sometime in November, some of his ADHD-type symptoms began to return and worsen.  It seemed like he was reacting to all kinds of things he was eating. 

Now I can see, hindsight is 20/20!  Just before Thanksgiving, Josiah developed the stomach flu.  Then he started showing signs of lactose intolerance.  Finally, I took milk out of his diet completely to see if it would make any difference for him.  For a few days, nothing.

Then, like a switch had flipped, his ADHD-type behaviors again seemed to disappear.  He stopped spinning around constantly, fidgeting, and having trouble with attention and focus.  He began to obey again rather than resist every direction.  When I grabbed some pizza made with a milk-based white sauce to heat up for him again at lunch one day, the behaviors quickly returned.  Now every day off of milk is an improvement.  We even tried some vitamins today that had caused a reaction while he was still on milk.  They are working for him fine now.

Here's a casein-free recipe to celebrate!

Gluten Free, Casein Free Mac and Cheese

2 T. of butter substitute

2 T. potato starch

1 c. warm milk substitute (I used unsweetened coconut milk--coconut milk is my family's favorite milk sub.)

1 c. or more of cheese substitute (we like Daiya cheese)

8 oz. elbow macaroni (Tinkyada is our favorite)

Melt butter, add potato starch.  Stir until smooth paste.  Slowly add warm milk; stirring constantly until thickened.  Add cheese and stir until melted.  Pour over pasta.

To be honest, this was not a smashing hit for my kids, but I've heard it is sometimes best to leave favorites like mac and cheese out of the diet for awhile if they are used to the real thing.  Eric and I thought it was pretty good.  We'll try again in a few months and see if it goes over better.

This sauce is great if you have children with milk intolerance or allergies, and worth a try if they aren't used to milk!  The Daiya cheese is the best substitute we've found.  It's a bit pricey, but we don't use it too often, or just use it to sprinkle on top of tacos.  That way, a little goes a long way.

they ate this, too: carrot-based un-tomato sauce!!!

My kids polished their plates when I experimented with a spaghetti sauce made with beets and pumpkin instead of tomatoes.  When I saw this recipe made with carrots instead, I couldn't wait to try it.  We all agreed it was even better!  I'd like to play around with the spices, but I can't add garlic as it calls for so that may be why.

Most people don't avoid tomatoes...but if you want to sneak some carrots into your next batch of tomato sauce, my guess is no one will notice!!  Micah has gagged on carrots since he was a baby, and he thought this was pretty good.

NO BEETS UN-TOMATO SAUCE

2 15-oz. cans carrots, drained
3/4 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup pomegranate juice (I think next time I will try all chicken broth or use another kind of juice...pomegranate juice is expensive!)
2 Tbsp. lemon juice (I didn't have any on hand, so left this out.)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. basil  (I added about 2 T.)
1/2 tsp sugar

Put all ingredients in blender, and blend until smooth. Heat, add ground beef if desired, and serve. (Or proceed to use in another recipe, such as for BBQ sauce).

Pumpkin Pancakes

This gluten-free recipe is delicious.  I think you could easily use regular flour and milk if you are not gluten-free and casein-free.

1 1/4 c. GF flour mix*
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice OR the next 4 ingredients:

1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/8 tsp. allspice
1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt
2 T. brown sugar
6 heaping T. pumpkin puree
2 T. margarine or oil
1 c. milk substitute
1 egg

Topping: Whipped topping or maple syrup.  We sprinkled a little cinnamon on top of syrup.

In medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl, stir together wet ingredients.  Mix wet ingred. into dry.  Cook pancakes in a skillet or on a griddle with butter or oil.  Use about 1/4 c. for each pancake.

*I used the following gluten-free flour mixture: 1 c. white rice flour, 1 c. brown rice flour, 2/3 c. potato starch flour, 1/3 c. tapioca flour.

Another tip: freeze leftover pumpkin in ice cube tray.  Use 6 cubes of pumpkin in recipe.

they ate it!!!

Tonight I tried a new recipe I had seen posted on the Feingold bulletin board a few months ago.  It was for a tomato-free marinara sauce, and several other people made it and said it was really good.  I had to trust them, because I wasn't too sure when I looked at the ingredients....

Tomato-Free Marinara Sauce

Serves 8

Ingredients:

1 onion finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 lb ground beef

1/2 cup olive oil

3 oz of lemon juice (about 6 tbsp)

2 tbsp rice vinegar

16 oz can of beets, drained (reserve liquid)

30 oz of canned (or fresh) pumpkin puree (not pie filling)

1 3/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth

2 tsp course salt

24 grinds of black pepper

1 cup chopped fresh basil (or 1/2 cup dried basil) (can use italian spice mix)

3 tsp cornstarch or Arrowroot, moistened with 4 tbsp beet juice

Directions:

1. Saute on onions, garlic, meat and olive oil until onion is soft and meat is cooked


2. Add lemon juice and vinegar, Simmer for 5 minutes


3. Puree beets until very smooth and no lumps


4. Add pureed beets, pumpkin puree, salt, pepper and basil to pan.  Stir until combined


5. Whisk in the broth.  Simmer over low heat for 5 minutes, do not over cook as beets will discolor.  If sauce is too thick, add a little more broth to thin out


6. Whisk in the moistened cornstarch.  Cook for 1 more minute and add spice to taste.

TIP: if  is it too acidic, add some sugar to it.

*I didn't bother with the cornstarch, and had to leave out the garlic and onion due to allergies.

I made the sauce while our older kids were at piano lessons so they couldn't see what I put in it, and then served it without any explanations.  A quick taste told me it might go over OK.  I watched as Micah took bite after bite, and then he finally told me, "I really like this, Mom!"  Rachel, too, seemed to devour her plateful.  When I told them what was in it, they didn't flinch.  Amazing!!