Mr. Right and I bought some Clif Bars the other day. We were away from home and needed an emergency snack. Well, those things aren't cheap! So, I decided to come up with a homemade version. Here it is:
1/2 cup dates
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup rolled oats
3 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup peanuts
3/4 cup peanut butter
4 tablespoons coconut oil
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons blackstrap molasses
1/4 cup flax seeds
Process in food processor then press firmly into baking dish. Refrigerate then cut into squares.
Yummy!
These are super good! As you can tell, we started eating them before I could even get them cut into squares!
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed, or 1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 green onions, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup parsley or cilantro
2 cups quick rolled oats
8 homemade wheat hamburger buns
Fresh veggie toppings and healthy condiments
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Process the first seven ingredients using a food processor.
Remove contents into a large bowl, and stir in oats.
Form into patties, place on sprayed baking sheet.
uncooked
Bake for 8 minutes. Turn oven up to broil and cook for 2 more minutes, until the tops are nicely browned.
cooked
Toast the buns and pile on favorite toppings.
Variation: Saute the burgers on medium heat in a sprayed cast iron or stainless steel skillet for 5 minutes on each side, until both sides are browned.
*Recipe from Vibrant Life magazine.
They are a nice variation from a regular beef burger. Give them a try!
Something new I've discovered is I like to keep a breakfast menu. I cook breakfast each morning for Mr. Right and myself so it makes the mornings go much smoother if I have a plan. This way, I can have the table set and breakfast on the table by the time he makes it to the kitchen. I even light a candle. :) Hey, he works hard all day and should get to start his mornings off right! Plus, he's so handsome...I just can't resist.
Let's name these eggs "Tuesday", "Thursday" and "Friday" :)
Here is my menu:
Sunday: fruit, yogurt, homemade sausage biscuits
Monday: baked oatmeal (tasty and economical)
Tuesday: Omelet and homemade hashbrowns (or oven baked potatoes)
Wednesday: baked oatmeal
Thursday: pumpkin muffins (his fav), eggs
Friday: sweet potatoes (mashed or oven baked), eggs
Saturday: pancake day! and yogurt
I feel like sticking to a menu also helps keep things natural. You won't need to grab something quick and unhealthy because you're out of ideas.
Eating natural is something I enjoy. Something I don't enjoy, however, is grocery shopping (plus, some of these things can't be purchased at the super market). So, in case you are interested, here is a list of things we order in bulk from Country Life Natural Foods.
Cornmeal (non GMO) yellow, OG (whole grain w/ germ) 25#
Navy Beans, OG 25#... will last you a long time
Peas, green split 25#
Sunflower seeds (raw) 5#
Peanuts, Spanish, RNS 25#
Raisins, black flame, large 30#
Rumford Baking Powder (Aluminum free) 5#
Coconut oil 50#... lasts us one year
Yeast, SAF- Instant Red (Baking) 1#
Oats, Regular Rolled 25#...lasts us a year and a half
Pineapple dices, low sugar, IMP 5#
I think that’s it. The things in bold are what I would consider “must haves” and would suggest getting them to start with.
We mix peanuts, raisins, (dried pineapple when we order it), and sunflower seeds and eat as a healthy snack. This is something we always have a jar of in the car for road trips.
This super easy dessert is sooo good and good for you! Here's how you do it:
Melt together 1/2c peanut butter, 1/3c honey and 1/4c coconut oil.
Like this:
Then stir in 1c oats. Like this:
After that is complete, spread it into an 8x8 pan to chill. (or a 9x11 or a pie plate or whatever you want. It's your dessert. Don't let anyone tell you how to spread it.)
I'm a rebel spreader.
Chill for 2 hours.
If you like variation, add some nuts, coconut, celery (not really)...
A sweet friend gave me this recipe and I adapted it for a healthier diet. I'll confess...my husband and I do not like oatmeal made the traditional way but we really like this recipe. It's completely different than the oatmeal you're used to. We enjoy it with milk like cereal.
Here's the recipe:
In case you're not familiar, sucanat is basically pure dried sugar cane juice. It still contains it's molasses. It has a very nice, rich, almost nutty, flavor. We buy it in bulk from a natural food company. You can also purchase it from grocery stores that sell whole foods.
So, gather your ingredients...
Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl, add the wet ingredients then stir together.
Spread in a 9x13 pan...
Then bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.
Eat it plain or pour some milk over it. By the way, I like to add a little cocoa to mine before I bake it to give it a slight chocolate flavor. You can also add nuts, dried fruit or anything else you think might taste good.
Mine will be out of the oven in 20 minutes and I can't wait!
