It's So Good You Could Eat It For Breakfast, Cookie. (and it's gluten-free!)

Preheat oven to 325.

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas
1/4 c. peanut butter
1/4 c. oil
1 t. GF vanilla
1 T. raw honey
3 T. brown sugar
2 T. ground flax seed mixed in 6 T. water OR 2 eggs
_____________________________________________In a mixer, combine all is mixed well.

In a separate bowl combine

1 1/2 c. GF rolled oats
1 c. coconut flakes
1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. all-spice
1/4 c. almond flour or other GF flour
1/2 c. almonds, chopped
1 c. dried fruit, I used apricots, chopped
1/2 c. pumpkin seeds, chopped
1/4 t. baking soda

Stir to combine and then add to the wet mixture.  Mix until it is all incorporated.  Drop by the Tablespoon full onto a cookie sheet. I sprinkled pink and blue sprinkles on top just for fun :)  Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove and cool on a wire rack.  Store in refrigerator.

These cookies are healthy enough to eat for breakfast, but still sweet enough you feel like you are getting a treat! So bake some up and serve cookies for breakfast!  Your kids will thank you.

The Best Granola

There is nothing better than eating granola.  I love it as cereal, in yogurt or just grabbing by the handfuls.  The only depressing thing about it is the price, it is ridiculously EXPENSIVE!  So I have searched for the perfect homemade granola and I am happy to say, I have found it.  Actually, I didn't find it, my sister-in-law shared it with me.  And I am so happy to say this is my "it" recipe for granola.  It is cheap "ish", super easy to make and it makes a ton (16 cups to be exact).  Trust me, this is a recipe everyone should try.  You really cannot mess this one up.  Plus, there is plenty of room for creativity, which I love.  Enjoy!

10 cups old fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
2 cups raw sliced or roughly chopped almonds *TIP: I usually stock up when Publix does B1G1 free on Blue Diamond Almonds.  I get them natural, not roasted or salted.  Makes it only $3.36  for 12 oz!
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds 
1/4 cup flax seeds
1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut (I like to add a little extra!)
1/2 t. kosher salt
3 T. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
3/4 cup grapeseed oil (you can use canola or coconut or even extra virgin olive oil!)
1 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 T. vanilla extract
1 1/2 t. almond extract (I didn't have this so I just added extra vanilla)

• Preheat oven to 250.  Position racks to the top and bottom position.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Combine oats, all the seeds, the almonds, coconut and the spices in a large bowl.  Mix it up really good.  In a separate bowl whisk the oil, syrup, brown sugar and vanilla/almond extract together until well combined.  Pour this mixture over the oats and stir until everything is coated.
• Spread out the granola onto your 2 baking sheets and place in the oven.  Set the timer for 30 minutes. Switch pans from top to bottom/ bottom to top and stir the granola around.  Do this 30 times for a total of 90 minutes.  
• At the end of the 90 minutes your granola is technically "done".   However, you can leave it in the turned off oven for up to 6 hours for added crisp.  You will notice this granola is not clumpy like most store bought brands...but don't let that discourage you...it is still SO TASTY.  

TIPS:

*You can store it in an airtight container for 3 weeks or in the freezer for 6 months.  

*Add dried fruits to it once it has baked for added flavor and personalization

*Have fun with the seeds and nuts!  The sky is the limit to what you could add :)

Recipe adapted from: The Homemade Pantry

My changes are in italics

Spicy Veggie Frittata

Ingredients:

1 t. coconut oil

1/4 c. onion 

1/2 jalapeno (you can leave seeds in or take out depending on how spicy you want it)

1 clove garlic

2 baby bella mushrooms

2 heads of steamed broccoli

3 egg whites

1/4 c. spicy cheese (I used raw milk jalapeno jack cheese)

few chopped tomatoes 

parsley for garnish

Heat coconut oil in a small sauce pan.  Finely chop all ingredients.  Add onion, jalapeno and saute until tender.  Add garlic, mushrooms and broccoli and saute until heated.  Pat down all the ingredients, covering the bottom of the pan.  Slowly pour the egg whites over the veggies and cover with lid.  Let cook for 1 minute or until slightly browned on bottom.  Flip the frittata and sprinkle with cheese and cover again until cheese is melted.  Put on plate and garnish with tomatoes and parsley.  I also added hot sauce on the side.

Be careful to not overcook!!

Whole Wheat Waffles

Serving: 6

Difficulty: Intermediate

2 eggs

1 3/4 c. milk

1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil (or coconut oil)

1/4 c. plain applesauce

1 t. vanilla

_______________________mix together

1 3/4 c. whole wheat flour

1/4 c. oatmeal

2 T. brown sugar

4 t. baking powder

1/4 t. kosher salt

________________________mix together

Combine wet and dry ingredient and stir until all lumps are gone.  Heat waffle machine and cook according to manufacture specifications.  Makes 6 medium waffles.

Recipe By: Tracy Lytle

Whole Wheat Strawberry Poptarts

I found a really cool blog Cheekykitchen.com.  I cannot wait to try more of her recipes.  This recipe for poptarts was amazing!  This is her recipe with a few of my own changes in italics.

Crust:
1 C whole wheat
1/2 C white flour (I used 1 1/2 cups of soft white wheat berries, milled)
2 t sugar (I used brown sugar)
1/2 t salt
½ c. cold butter, sliced
4-5 Tbsp. cold milk 

In large bowl, stir together flours, sugar, and salt. Cut in slices of butter using a pastry cutter (or fork, if you have to) until the largest pieces resemble peas. It’s important that you don’t touch the crust with your bare hands, no matter how tempting that mixing option might be. You want the butter to stay as cold as possible and your hands will warm it up and make the crust less flaky. Pour the milk over the mixture, one tablespoon at a time, just until moistened enough to hold the dough together. Use a fork to stir the dough after you’ve added each Tablespoon of milk. Quickly form the crust into a ball. Refrigerate until ready to use. (I stuck it in the freezer for 20 minutes and it was perfect!)

1 prepared batch of  Whole Wheat Pie Crust (listed above)

Fresh Strawberry Filling:
1 T. butter, sliced
1 c. strawberries
1 tsp. lemon juice
½ c. sugar (I cut this in half)
1 T. cornstarch (I did not have cornstarch on hand so I substituted whole wheat flour)

Glaze:
2 c. powdered sugar
1 T. honey
1 tsp. vanilla
2-3 T. heavy cream (I used whole milk and it came out fine)
Pink Icing gel
Sprinkles

In a small saucepan, combine all Strawberry Filling ingredients. Heat over medium-high heat until mixture begins to thicken. Allow to cool. On a lightly-floured cutting board, roll pie crust ¼” thick. Use a pizza cutter to cut pie dough into same-sized rectangles, approximately 4” tall x 3” wide. Spoon a 2-3 Tablespoons of the strawberry mixture on top of one of the rectangles. Gently place a second rectangle of pie dough atop. Secure edges together by pressing them gently with the tines of a fork. Transfer to a cookie sheet and bake in an oven preheated to 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes, or until the edges of the tart begin to brown slightly. Remove and cool.

To make the glaze, stir together all ingredients until a thick, spreadable consistency is reached. Spoon a thin layer of the frosting on top of cooled strawberry tarts. Allow frosting to harden before serving.

ENJOY!

Healthy Energy Bars

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• Cook Time:

  20 min

• Level:

  Easy

• Yield:

  20 bars
  
  
  
  

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• Oil for greasing pan
• 1 cup quick cooking rolled oats
• 1/2 cup raw unsalted sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup ground flax seed
• 1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
• 3 T. toasted pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup dried cherries
• 1/2 cup raw peanuts
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup whey protein powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1.5 ounce maple syrup
• 1 ounce honey
•  2 large eggs

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9 by 13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.

Place all ingredients except the syrup, honey and eggs in a food processor and pulse until the mixture is finely chopped. Add the syrup and eggs and pulse until the mixture is well combined. It will resemble a coarse paste.

Transfer to the baking pan and spread evenly. Bake until just done, about 20 minutes. Cut into 20 squares.

Tips: 

This is a very adaptable recipe.  The original recipe come from Ellie Krieger from Food Network.  I omitted, added and changed the ingredients to fit my taste.  You can do the same, open your pantry and be creative!  I'd love to hear what you came up with!

Posted By: Tracy

This recipe was taken from the Kellogg's All-Bran website. I added 3 T. of ground flax seed with the cereal and banana mixture. I also needed to cooked it 1hr 15min - with the last 15min. on a speed bake (if your oven has that setting). Came out super moist and delicious.

Banana Date Bread

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Servings: 16

Ingredients

2	cups all-purpose flour
1	teaspoon baking powder
1/2	teaspoon baking soda
1/2	teaspoon salt
3/4	cup chopped, pitted dates
1/3	cup boiling water
1 1/2	cups All-Bran® Original
	or 1 1/2 cups All-Bran® Bran Buds®
1 1/2 cups	mashed, fully ripe bananas
1/2 cup	margarine or butter, softened
3/4 cup	sugar
2	eggs
1/2 cup	coarsely chopped nuts (optional)

Directions
1. Stir together flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Set aside.

2. In medium mixing bowl, stir together dates and water. Cover, let stand 10 minutes. Add KELLOGG'S ALL-BRAN cereal and bananas. Let stand about 2 minutes or until cereal softens.

3. Meanwhile, in large mixing bowl, beat margarine and sugar until well combined. Add eggs. Beat well. Mix in cereal mixture. Stir in flour mixture and nuts. Spread batter evenly in 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray.

4. Bake at 350° F about 1 hour or until wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool 10 minutes before removing from pan. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack. For easier slicing, wrap tightly and store overnight in refrigerator.

Yield: 1 loaf, 16 slices

posted by: Tracy

Better Than "Cracker Barrel's" Hashbrown Casserole

I made this for our care group's "Breakfast for Dinner" night and it was a bit hit. It really was better than Cracker Barrel!

2 pounds frozen hashbrowns, thawed
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 pint of sour cream (16 ozs.)
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 11x14 inch casserole or baking dish with Pam.

In large bowl, combine all ingredients and stir together. Spread evenly in prepared pan.

Bake for 45 minutes until top is golden brown.

Garden Frittata

Dorothy Green made this tonight at our care group's "Breakfast for Dinner" night. It was delicious!!! You can make this with whatever veggies you have. Dorothy didn't have zucchini so she put mushrooms in it.

1 small yellow summer squash, thinly sliced
1 small zucchini, thinly sliced
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 med. tomato, thinly sliced
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
4 eggs
1 cup fat-free milk
2 T. minced fresh basil
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the squash, zucchini and onion. Cover and microwave on high for 7-9 minutes or until the vegetables are tender; drain well. Transfer to a 9 in. pie plate coated with cooking spray. Tope with mozzarella, tomato and feta cheese.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, basil, garlic, salt and pepper; pour over the cheese and tomato layer. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Cut into 8 even slices.

Weight Watchers: 3 points a slice.

Nutrition Facts: 1 serving equals 126 calories, 7 g fat (4 g saturated fat), 121 mg cholesterol, 316 mg sodium, 6 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 11 g protein. Diabetic exchanges: 1 lean meat, 1 vegetable, 1 fat.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Energy Bars

Recipe courtesy Dana Angelo White

Prep Time:

10 min

Inactive Prep Time:

1 hr 0 min

Cook Time:

5 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

14 bars

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup natural creamy peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup or molasses
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 2 cups crisp brown rice cereal
• 1/4 cup toasted wheat germ (I didn't have this so I used ground flax seed, worked great!)
• 1/2 cup chopped roasted peanuts
• 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
• 1/2 cup chopped dried figs
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

Spray a 9 by 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine honey, peanut butter, maple syrup, canola oil, brown sugar, cinnamon. Stir and cook until mixture just begins to bubble, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.

In a large bowl, combine oats, rice cereal, wheat germ, peanuts, apricots, figs and salt.

Pour peanut butter mixture over oatmeal mixture and stir gently with a spatula until well combined. Transfer to baking dish, cover with parchment paper and press firmly into dish. Allow to cool completely (will cool faster in the refrigerator). Cut into squares or bars.

Nutrition analysis per serving:

Calories: 240

Total fat: 10g

Saturated fat: 1.5g

Carbohydrate: 30g

Protein: 6g

Sodium: 70mg

posted by: Tracy Lytle

Cinnamon Cinnabon Recipe

By Taraleigh

Well I received a bread maker from my mom this week who brought it from my Aunt in New Jersey, whose mother from Parsippany got for her.... :) All that to say I have had alot of fun trying new recipes this week. I made these Cinnamon Rolls from a recipe called "Clone of a Cinnabon" off of http://www.allrecipes.com/ They turned out amazing actually a little bit better than Publix's Cinnamon Rolls from their bakery. See my notes underneath for some great tips. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup margarine, melted
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioner's' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.

After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.

Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioner's' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

Notes: If you doing have a bread maker my dough setting kneads for a while and then lets the dough rise for about an hour. I wanted these rolls to be done at a specific time so I let them rise longer than the 30 minutes in the directions and they turned out fine. I used a 9x13 glass baking dish and the middle rolls were a bit doughy after the 15 minute baking time so we ate a few from the outside and put the rest back in for a bit. I think next time I make these I will make 2 8x8 pans with six rolls each. Also if your filling runs out the bottom of the rolls while baking flip them over on a cookie sheet and all the yumminess will go right back into the rolls. :)

Posted by Taraleigh

Apple-Walnut Pancakes

Difficulty: Easy
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

These are delicious! You can serve them with syrup or sprinkled with powdered sugar. My family gave it 5 stars!

Ingredients:
1-1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup (packed) brown sugar
1-1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Pinch of salt
1-1/2 cups milk
2 large eggs
4 Tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 sweet apples, peeled, cored, one cut into very fine dice and one coarsely grated
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the milk eggs, melted butter and vanilla to blend thoroughly. Pour liquid ingredients over dry ingredients and mix with whisk. Stopping when everything is just combined. Batter will be a bit lumpy. Gently fold in apples and walnuts.

Heat a skillet over medium heat and cook slowly for about 1-1/2 minutes, turn a cook until done.

Recipe from: 1st Traveler's Choice Internet Cookbook

Posted by Debi