A Quick Hello and Recipe {Cranberry Oat Bars}

Wow

I can hardly believe how fast these past few months have gone.

Eloise has gone from a fresh faced newborn to a full on toddler. Ok, not a toddler, but she is definitely bigger than the twins were at 1  2 years old. Not joking.

So with the holidays fast approaching, I would love to get back in the swing of blogging. I have some favorite things to share, a fun craft I've done with the kids but I wanted to start with this recipe because I am dying over some cranberries now that it's November. I move straight from pumpkin to cranberries after a sugar coma Halloween. (I'll get the kids Halloween costumes up here too soon! promise!)

With my love of fresh cranberries...it's something about them popping over heat and the smell that just makes me smile...I thought I would share this quick recipe with you. It's great for breakfast or snacks around the holidays and great to throw in lunch boxes too (because my life now revolves around packing school lunches).

Healthy (Sort of) Cranberry Oat Bars

• 1  cup white wheat flour (I like King Arthur brand)
• 1 cup quick cooking oats
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 8 tbsp butter cold
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 3 tbsp orange juice

Filling

• 1 package of fresh cranberries (usually 12oz)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• zest of 1 orange
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp ground flax seed
• 3/4 cup greek yogurt

Preheat over to 350 degree and prepare an 8x8 baker (butter, cooking spray, coconut oil, foil, whatever you fancy). In a small saucepan mix the sugar, orange zest and cranberries and cook over medium high heat. Cranberries will pop and it will become a nice jelly mixture. When it's cooked down to half it's size and all the cranberries have popped, take off heat, stir in flax and vanilla and set aside to cool.

Mix all the dry ingredients for the bars, cut in small chunks of butter and mix with a stand mixer or by hand until dough is crumbly. Stir in orange juice. 

Put all but 1 cup of the oat mixture on the bottom of the baker. Stir greek yogurt into cranberry mixture then smooth over oats. Sprinkle the last 1/2 cup of oats over top. Pop that bad boy in the oven for 35-40 minutes.

This is a very doughy kind of taste to the oat bar. If you want a little bit of a different flavor, try melting the butter first. It will turn out the same, I promise, just a bit of a different texture to the cakey part. Either way, cut into bars and enjoy!

100 Days Cookbook!

If you've followed this blog for awhile, you know that I LOVE 100 Days of Real Food.

I've used or recreated quite a few of Lisa's recipes over the past year or so. We have experimented a lot in the past year+ on a diet that works best for me (for losing weight) and the kids (to get them to eat, gain weight, and not have any reactions). It's been an interesting journey that has led us down the vegan road for a bit, gluten free for awhile, but what I've found that what has worked best for us is just focusing on REAL food. No processed junk, no artificial flavor and colors, just good, homemade foods. We make everything from scratch these days, from bread, to chicken broth, and sweet treats (the kids favorite). A lot of recipes we have found online, even in the healthy eating categories, use a ton of artificial ingredients (canned soups, processed breadcrumbs, etc). So we've ditched it all and I'm not sure we could have done it without all the great advise and recipes from 100 Days of Real Food!

When I heard about her new cookbook, I was beyond excited! New recipes, lots of tips, meal planning, I couldn't wait! Then I heard she was looking for Cookbook Ambassadors...umm...yes, please! And I was beyond excited that I was one of the people she chose to send a copy of her book for a sneak peak! Eeeeek!

It was like Christmas day when the book arrived and I admit, I've gone a little crazy since receiving it, reading it, re-reading it, and of course, cooking. I'm so happy that I am able to share with all of you lovely readers a sneak peak of one of her cookbook recipes!

I couldn't share it without trying it out first, so of course, I had to make some for ourselves. And, let me tell you, you will not be disappointed! To quote Amelia: "Mommy, this bread...it has raisins in it! It's SOOO GOOD!"

And even better news, this is just 1 of 100 amazing recipes! Some of them are old classics, like her crock pot chicken, but a lot of new fun things I'm excited to try! I have a lot of the ingredients on hand for her summer dinner meal plan and I'm excited to spend the next week trying new recipes from her book every day!

My favorite part of her blog and her new book, all of the recipes are simple! You don't need a ton of specialty ingredients from the health food store that you've never heard of, you don't need to be an expert chef, ANYONE can make great food, from whole foods and simple ingredients! The recipe are also VERY kid friendly! It's food the whole family can enjoy and even has helped encourage my kids to try new vegetables.

So if you haven't ordered a copy of Lisa's new cookbook yet, you need to! Get to it! I promise you will not be disappointed! Happy Cooking!






Disclaimer: I was sent a copy 100 Days Of Real Food Cookbook free of charge to review and share. All opinions are entirely my own though! I was no paid to rave about this book, it just comes so natural.

Enginer 2 28-day-challenge: Week 1

So I have officially been "vegan" and doing the Engine 2 diet for 1 week and I thought I'd check in with you all and tell you how it's been going!

Overall, I'd say that things haven't been too bad. We ate a whole food diet before starting this so making all of our meals and making things from scratch didn't cause a problem at all. Instead of cooking meat, we just made beans and rice and a lot more veggies.

My biggest challenge hasn't been going vegetarian, but going vegan and 100% oil free has been trickier than I thought it would be. A lot more things have dairy and oil in the then I realized. I made some pasta with veggies and was going to add a pesto I had in the pantry but it had oil in it. I could have easily made my own oil free, but I was also trying to use things we already had in the house to use them up before they went bad and to keep the grocery bill under control so I let a few things slide. The pesto also had parmesan cheese in it so it was an all around fail, but it was expiring in March so we ate it. I also had tahini I needed to use up in the frig, which I know has oil in it, but it's vegan so it's not THAT bad right? I really like tahini as a dressing and in our homemade hummus so I'm a little sad to say goodbye. I'm hoping over the next week or 2 to get better at finding completely vegan, oil free ingredients. I also had to alter the meals a bit because I didn't want to use a lot of soy. Instead of liquid aminos (which are soy based), I used coconut, and instead of tofu we used potatoes or just whipped up a different meal all together with the grains/veggies/beans we had in the pantry.

Sugar was also a big challenge since I enjoy a sweet treat far more often then I probably should. I tried to stick with just a few chocolate chips (also not vegan) to get through my craving, but there was a yogurtland trip that I'm going to blame entirely on a friend....you know who you are. And confession: while they do have a dairy free froyo and lots of fresh fruit, I didn't choose either. Whoops.

My weight/health/overall feeling has been about the same. I started doing T25 also this week so I noticed a little weight gain but I think it's from doing more muscle building activities instead of my usual elliptical during nap time routine. I've really enjoyed how sore the T25 workouts have made me and I'm hoping that the vegan/workout regime will hopefully produce some good results and get rid of these last 25ishlbs I'm needing to lose. Obviously, only a few days in I'm not looking like the people in the workout ads just yet ;) I've have had good energy, haven't been overly hungry and been eating a lot of veggies so I'm really motivated to keep going with the challenge and improve on some of my slip ups next week!

Favorite meal: Mac not cheese and I added peas for the kids.

Least favorite meal: beans, brown rice, veggies. Boring. I tried to spice it up with the coconut aminos but it was just a bland dish. We'll have to work on that.
Are the kids vegan? No, they haven't even been 100% vegetarian. They have eaten chicken (I made a whole chicken one night...also from the froyo friend, she's been a bad influence on my veganism haha), cheese and yogurt. Things I've cut out of their diets have been pork, red meat, eggs and extra cheese/sugar/treats. I am planning on making them mostly vegetarian, but they haven't adjusted well to the rice/beans/veggies for dinner and haven't been eating really well. If they weren't so stinking skinny I probably wouldn't care, but we have enough time keeping weight on them (Amelia especially) so my first concern is just getting her to eat something that's not a cookie. I'm hoping as the rice and beans becomes more common, they'll get more used to it and eat better.

and for your vegan enjoyment, I thought I'd share one of our whip it up recipes from the week!

Baked Ginger Almost-Engine 2-worthy Spring Rolls

1 tsp fresh ginger, minced (I used a garlic press actually and it worked great)
1 tsp garlic, minced
2 cups cabbage, finely chopped
1/2 cup carrots, shredded
1/2 cup red cabbed, finely chopped (you can also buy a cole slaw salad mix and just skip the shredding and chopping of cabbage)
1 tbsp coconut aminos
2-3tbsp low sodium vegetable broth
1 package spring roll wraps
1 tsp olive oil (you can skip if you're hard core Engine 2)
optional add ins: tofu, ground veggie mix (usually in the tofu section), tempeh

In a sauce pan combine the ginger, garlic, cabbages, carrots, ginger, and tofu/tempeh/ground veggie mix, vegetable broth and sauté until soft. Mix in the coconut aminos. Place small amount of cooked veggie mixture diagonally across spring roll wrap and wrap up. Fill as many roll wraps as you can and place them all on a baking sheet. Lightly brush with olive oil and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, until outside is crispy.

Holiday Pancakes: Recipe

Can we just discuss my son's love of pancakes for a second?

The first things he says in the morning isn't "Good morning mommy! I love you so much!" Oh no. It's always "Pancakes?"

I wish I was kidding. I'll take a video tomorrow morning.

I think it's safe to say that I can whip up pancakes like the best of them. Whole wheat pancakes that is. I've had a really hard time with gluten free pancakes! I've tried quite a few mixes of flours to get the right fluffy/crispy mix that doesn't taste too much like coconut or almonds...it's harder than you think. I think if you're a professional gluten free person, you probably don't mind the different texture and flavors of the flours, but if you're new to the gluten free world like I am, it's a little tricky. So without spending a fortune on pre-made mix and using the flours I had around the house I decided to try whipping up some holiday pancakes!

 Eggnog Pancakes (Gluten and Dairy Free)

Wet/Eggnog Ingredients

• 1/2 cup raw cashews-soaked overnight
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 cup water
• 3 egg yolks + 1 whole egg
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 tbsp coconut oil -melted
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp all spice

Dry Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup millet flour
• 1/4 cup oat flour
• 1/4  cup brown rice flour
• 1/4 cup almond flour 
• 1/4 cup potato starch or tapioca starch (or a combo)
• 2 tbsp ground flax
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 3/4 tsp sea salt
• 3/4 tsp xanthan gum
• 2 tsp baking powder

Instructions

• Preheat griddle to medium-high heat. Grease with coconut oil if needed.
• Take the cashews out of the water they've been soaking in. In a food processor or Vitamix combine all the eggnog ingredients. Blend for a minute or 2 until all ingredients are blended well. 
• In large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. 
• Mix wet and dry ingredients together

•  Carefully pour batter onto griddle. Cook until edges start to look crispy and small bubbles form in the middle then flip. Cook for 1-2 minutes on the other side then remove from griddle.
• Serve and eat immediately with warm maple syrup. Note: gluten free pancakes DO NOT taste good re-heated so they're best to eat right away and not make too much extra. 
• Makes approx 8 medium sized pancakes.

Pancakes with just enough holiday flair to make your holiday breakfast festive and delicious. Yum!

The pancake obsessed toddler approves of this recipe. So much so, it took a lot of work to steal these pancakes for a picture without him eating them. True story. Toddlers+recipe developing+photo session=chaos.

Apple Of My Eye

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I've been baking with apples lately. A lot.

Ask my kids and husband. Or my friends. They've all tried my apple experiments.

And I feel that as a stay-at-home mom, it's my job to have lovely loaves of freshly baked bread on my counters at all time.

No, not really, but I do love cooking and baking and having delicious homemade treats for my family. Try as I may, I can't get away from my cooking blog roots I guess. And we're all about real food in this house these days. So it makes my heart happy to see my kids enjoying homemade food.

I was determined to make a bread that is similar to cinnamon raisin bread but with an apple flavor. Apples have a lot of water in them so it was quite the challenge, but I managed to come up with a few things.

1. Find an apple flavored yeast based bread. 

This took more work than you think. I scoured the internet for ideas and recipes. Finally, I came up with one that worked!

4 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
1 tbsp. sugar 

1 1/2 c warm water

1/2 c apple cider
1/2 c unsweetened apple sauce

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 c. butter, melted
2 tbsp. honey
1 1/2 tbsp. salt
3 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
2-2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour- I prefer unbleached.
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. water

It's an easy switch to make this dairy free by using coconut butter instead of butter. You can also skip the egg at the end.

Combine yeast, sugar and 1/2 c warm water in large mixing bowl. Let sit until it gets frothy.

Combine the rest of the water, apple cider, applesauce, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter, honey, salt in mixing bowl. Slowly add sugar, 1 cup at a time, until bread is barely sticky. Only add as much all-purpose flour as needed to get a good dough. On a floured surface, knead until smooth.

 Place in a greased bowl with a moist towel over to for 1-2 hours until bread doubles in size.

Punch hole in bread, split into 2 and spread out into a large rectangle to spread filling over top.

 

2. Make a filling that won't make the bread a soggy mess. Not so hard, I added a good amount of corn starch and tried cooking the apple first.

Filling
1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped into small pieces.
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp white sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp flour (wheat or white)
1 tbsp cornstarch
4 tbsp butter (again, coconut butter would totally work)

Put apple in microwave safe bowl, sprinkle cinnamon over top and microwave for about 2 minute until apple becomes soft.

Melt butter, add sugars, apple pieces (leaving out the liquid at the bottom), flour, cornstarch, and stir well until combined.


3. Mix the 2 together to make the ultimate bread.
Spread half of mixture over each piece of bread. Roll it up and make sure to pinch all the edges closed. Place into 2 greased loaf pans, cover with moist towel in warm area and let sit and rise for 1 hour until dough starts to go over the edges of the pan.

 

Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

The result:

French toast lovers of the world, feel free to swoon, because this bread makes a mean french toast. Topped with more cooked apples? Great idea!

p.s. you can totally make this without the filling! We made it fillingless and it makes for a delicious sandwich with almond butter and apple butter. Or I put eggs on top of a slice and it was delic. There's nothing like fresh, yeasty bread to make any meal taste a little better.

My next task will be making it gluten free. Ughhh. Why does gluten have to upset tummies? It makes such a lovely bread.

Now I'm off to bake apples. I have a problem. I'll go to counseling in my free time. Ha.

Recipe: Banana Chocolate Muffins

It's not very often I adapt a recipe that it turns out very good.

Ok, pretty much never.

So when this one turned out well, I was pretty excited. Ecstatic might be a better word. Don't make fun of me.

As most of you who follow me on Facebook, twitter (@emilytara) or instagram know, we've been eating much healthier at the P house. We've been cutting back on dairy, sugar and processed foods. So far, so good. We're juicing, making most foods from scratch and my next project is going to be canning...I'm excited :)  I've also been lucky enough to be with my parents so they can entertain thing 1 and thing 2 while I cook, which has given me more patience to make more things from scratch.

Anywho, I've been reading lots of great blogs about whole foods and clean eating and trying lots of new recipes and really enjoyed it lately! I'm also (as of today) below my pre-pregnancy weight with Ben! I have a few more pounds (and many inches) til the twins pre-pregnancy weight and quite a few more after that before I'm at a healthy weight, but hey...we're getting there ;)

So the point...I found THIS recipe from a friend who said these muffins were good. Well, making due with what we had around the house, what I thought the kids would like, and the basic recipe I went to work...

Banana Chocolate Muffins

adapted from 100 days of Real Food

INGREDIENTS

• 1½ cups whole-wheat flour 
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 tbsp espresso powder
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp psyllium husk powder (optional)
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
• ¾ cup fresh juiced apple juice
• 2 bananas, mashed

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl with a fork or whisk mix the dry ingredients.
3. In a medium bowl, mix the wet ingredients and mash bananas.
4. Mix the wet ingredients with the dry, making sure not to over mix.
5. Line the muffin tray or spray it with nonstick spray then fill each one 2/3 full with batter.
6. Bake for 10 – 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature and freeze some for a later date.
   Enjoy!

Makes 12 muffins. Each muffin is 3 Weight Watchers points plus, just in case you were wondering ;)

The twins loved them, which is always a plus ;)

Well a close second to the deliciousness of a toy flashlight? What a goof!

Let me know what you think and if you'd like to see more of my (mostly) successful recipes on here! :)