snacky wacky

At any given time during the day, someone could ask what I have in my bag or purse and I will always have some kind of snack!  Whenever I go out for errands or anything outside the house I always have to bring something along just in case I get stranded for hours with nothing to eat . . .heaven for bid!  It is really important to eat something every 3-4 hours and not go too long without.  This really keeps the metabolism going, our sanity in check and our brains from getting drained and fatigued.  I always get ‘cranky’ if I don’t eat consistently!  It doesn’t have to be something big (and really shouldn’t be), but just something to feel energized and not too ravenous by meal time. 

I first found out about these bars from The Chic Life, who adapted them from Ellie Krieger, and thought I would try my hand at them.  I always like to get some kind of bar at the grocery store, but they are just so darn expensive!  With these bars, the initial cost is higher to buy all the ingredients, but over time I can make batches and batches of these for the fraction of the price of bars bought in the store.  And they really taste great and wholesome without funky ingredients added.  I do have a few notes added that I want to try next time to reduce the calories/fat a little bit more.

Instead of using store-bought apple sauce, I tried to make my own apple butter! (or apple goo as Chris likes to call it)  It turned out really good and I used it in this recipe.  I also like to mix a scoop in my morning oatmeal or have it as a spread on a turkey and cheese panini.  It lends a wonderfully rich apple flavor.  Place about 2 lbs of peeled and cored apples (I used a bag of empire from TJ’s), a hefty sprinkling of cinnamon and raisins all in a crock-pot.  Pour about 2-3 cups of apple cider on top and cook on low for 6-8 hours.  Let cool and refrigerate!  

 

Homemade Granola Bars   

Ingredients

• 1 cup 1-minute quick-cooking oats
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour (pastry if you have it, but I didn’t)
• 1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
• 1/4 cup non-fat dried milk powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon (of course I like to add more!)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (or crock-pot apple butter – see above note)
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 egg, beaten to mix
• 1 egg white
• 3/4 cup chopped dried cranberries
• 1 cup finely chopped walnuts and pistachios or your favorite mix
• 3 tbsp ground flax seed
• Cooking spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, wheat germ, milk powder, cinnamon and salt.

In a medium-large bowl, whisk together the honey, applesauce, oil, egg and egg white until well combined. Stir in the oatmeal mixture until well combined. Add the dried cranberries, flax seed, and nuts.

Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray (mine was a little bigger). Spread the mixture (as flat as possible) into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 minutes. Cool completely and cut into 12 bars.  The flavors intensify even more after a day or so.  These are wonderful mixed in some non-fat greek yogurt or use them for dipping!

Nutrition Facts compliments of nutritiondata.com.  This is a great website to look at the nutritional profile of thousands of foods and analyze recipes. 

A Few Notes for Next Time:

-If I use 2 egg whites instead of the whole egg and reduce the canola oil down to 2 tbsp, the total kcals would be reduced to 220 with 10g of fat.  These are pretty moist already, so I’m going to give it a try!

 

I went to visit a good family friend the other day and look what they gave me!!!  Every July their family goes to Alaska and catches tons of wild fish from salmon, halibut, cod and red snapper.  I am sooo excited to get cooking with it!  I don’t eat as much fish as I would like because it can be so darn expensive, so I am really looking forward to making lots of fish in the near future . . . stay tuned!

Any ideas on your favorite fish recipe?