A Simple Snack

I'm always on the lookout for something to make that is quick simple and super yummy for my family.  With this recipe I am proud to say "we have a winner"!  I can't keep the jar full.  I love a sweet crunchy snack but most things you buy in the store are loaded with sugar, corn syrup and preservatives.  These puppies have none of that!  They are also dairy-free and gluten free (if you're into that) and there's no refined sugar!  Can't go wrong, the best part is that you can pretty much pick and choose your ingredients and always come up with a yummy treat.

So here goes:
1 C shredded unsweetened coconut (toasted)
1 C sunflower seeds
1/2 C pumpkin seeds
1/4 C sesame seeds
1 1/2 C almonds, walnuts, pecans or any combo of nuts you choose really
1/3 C raisins or other dried fruit of your liking
1/4 C brown rice syrup
cinnamon to taste

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
Toast coconut, in another pan toast nuts and seeds if they are raw.
mix the coconut, seeds, nuts and dried fruit together in a large bowl, sprinkle with how ever much cinnamon you like (I'm sure you could use other spices here as well to go for a different flavor though I have yet to try it) and finally mix in the brown rice syrup.
spread mixture onto a parchment lined cookie sheet with wet hands or silicone spatula.  press firmly to make it fairly thin (more crunch) and even.
Bake in the oven for about 10-12 minutes.
Cool on a rack and either break into pieces or cut with a sharp knife.  Enjoy!

I don't have a shelf life to give you as the jar is usually empty within a couple days.  Much better than any energy bar from the store for sure!  Oh and the hubby claims they are most excellent broken up in coffee yogurt in the morning.
 
Let me know if you try these and what you come up with!

On Baking Bread

Last winter I found a fabulous winter bread baking routine, I would get up in the morning and make dough, letting it rise next to the wood stove until it was ready for the oven.  This year I found I was really struggling with finding that same routine.  Personally I blame this strange weather we've been having that doesn't always feel like winter.  Needless to say it has all changed with the discovery of my new book .  I must say we have been eating a lot of bread!

This dough that stays in the fridge (similar to a sour dough starter really) is fantastic!  I make a batch for the fridge and then pull off a hunk every morning, let it "rest" for an hour or two and throw it in the oven for 30 minutes!  It's cooked w/ steam which helps to make an absolutely divine crust.  And the smell, oh the smell...really I can't think of a better smell then fresh baking bread wafting through a drafty old house in winter.

I haven't really gotten past the master recipe (which is amazing with soup, pasta, almond butter and of course butter) or the soft whole wheat sandwich loaf but the book is full of some amazing recipes that I am sure we will get to.  It's amazing how just one little book has created such a trend in our house.

A bit of bread baking has spawned into cracker making!  Something I've always meant to do, I've heard how easy it is, but jeese...I'm so busy and a box of crackers from the store is easy.  Well, boy oh boy let me tell you!  The only problem I've had so far is keeping the jar full!

It almost seems that I need to be baking them constantly, but they are super yummy with hummus I assure you.  I got a "wheat thin" recipe from a friend that is very popular.  One day I was out of whole wheat flour and I made a batch with a mix of all purpose and barley flour with some garlic salt...another yummy success.  I may never buy a box of crackers again!

 Then, just to make all this bread love complete those crafty kids of mine got down to making us some cloth bread bags (another thing I've been meaning to do for ages).  Corey whipped them up with his usual draw-string bag pattern from some cotton tea towels I had and a bit of unbleached cotton fabric left over from another project.

 On Miss Molly's end she was busy with iron-on details.  We have this Sukie Iron-on Craft Pad full of cuteness that she has really been having fun with!  There have been t-shirts, doll diapers, bread bags and the such going on a bunch lately.

 Aren't they just darling?  We've already gifted one to one of our favorite friends and I have a feeling there will be more.

Well, I must go check on this applesauce banana bread I've been working on.  If it tastes as good as it smells right now I'll be sure and post the recipe.  In the meantime go whip yourself up some cotton bread bags to go with all the bread, they are practically perfect in every way!

A day of creativity

This morning I decided that we needed some sandwich bread and immediately set out to making some.  I LOVE the dough hook on my kitchen aid so much!  I know that lots of people love the feeling of kneading the dough themselves and while I appreciate that and often do if the kids are baking, when it comes to just getting some sandwich bread in the oven my kitchen aid rocks!

I fall back on my favorite cookbook King Arthur Bakers Companion this book has never led me astray (with the exception of biscuits, but we won't go into that OR blame the book).  I feel that this book has truly helped me to become an excellent baker.  I wiggle the recipes around a little to get just what I want but it works.
As the children got up first the boy and much later the girl (who stayed up too late reading) it was sweet to see them both just start creating.  Not a word from mom about what to do, they both just started in.  Corey first got very busy with a needle felting project he's been talking about for a while.  In the end he was truly thrilled and surprised by his results.  He kept adding and adding with pride to his play mat without any assistance.

the dinosaur pjs...again

almost finished

a bridge for the gnome to walk

an itty bitty gnome

Molly joined in for a bit, but then while the bread dough was on it's second rise it seemed time to move on to a wood project started earlier in the week.  We had these wooden eggs from the local unfinished wood store with nothing special in mind.  After seeing some painted eggs on etsy and out there in blog land I had an idea.  We got out the wood burning tool (something new to our house that we are loving) and the water color paints, voila:

practicing with the tool

final touches

There seems to be a combo of Harry Potter and Hobbit influence here...loads of fun.

anyone else been up to any creating???

Feeling Blue

Berries that is...So this morning I got up and made a delicious banana blueberry bread.  I tend to play around with recipes, changing them, changing them back and doing a lot of "winging it" as my husband likes to say (it drives him crazy).  Most of the time it works, occasionally not (just ask anyone in my family about biscuits). 

yummy!

 This time it worked quite well if I do say so myself.  One of the things I like to do with baking is find ways to use less refined sugar and more whole wheat and still have my children think I've made them a yummy tasty treat.  Here is the recipe I came up with a little from a cooks.com recipe, a little from my good old King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion and a lot of you guessed it "winging it".

pre-heat the oven to 325, grease and flour 2 regular sized loaf pans.

ingredients:
1 stick butter, melted (I never said low in fat, just sugar)
2/3 C brown rice syrup
2 eggs
1/2 C buttermilk (regular milk would work too)
3-4 over-ripe bananas
2 C all-purpose flour
1 1/4 C whole wheat flour
1 3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 C frozen Maine blueberries (unless it's July)

Mix the first four liquid ingredients well. Mash bananas and add to liquid mix.  In a separate bowl whisk together flours, baking soda and salt, add to banana mixture.  Fold in blueberries just until combined.

Pour the sticky batter into the pans and bake for 75ish minutes.  Cool in pans for 10 minutes before putting on wire racks to further cool.  (you could sprinkle a little raw sugar on the top before baking to really sweeten up if you feel the need).

For those of you not familiar with brown rice syrup it is a liquid sweetener made by fermenting brown rice with certain enzymes.  It's not as sweet as sugar and has a much lower glycemic index. Rice syrup is much healthier and contains several nutrients that our bodies require without that rise and fall we get from sugar.  I often substitute rice syrup for sugar in baking recipes where there are already sweet ingredients such as bananas.

The bread was a huge hit and nearly a loaf is gone.  Energy was needed for sewing and digging a bigger snow fort.  Molly has been very busy with some appliques that she has come up with involving hearts and owls.  Corey couldn't finish is school work fast enough to get outside and work on the mega-fort that is being created in our own and our neighbors yards.

Mol working on some valentine ideas...

happy boys

a swim in the snow

continued fort digging

Enjoy the snow...it just keeps coming!