Homemade Oatmeal Energy Bars

Making my own snacks to pack in my lunch to take to campus is one of my favorite ways to take lunch. Baking granola bars is soo much cheaper and healthier than buying the pre-packaged ones at the store that are full of preservatives and added sugar.

By my calculations, this batch of granola bars (makes 9-12) cost about $2.50 total. So get excited, because that is the best $2.50 you are every going to spend.

Ingredients

• 2 c. quick cooking oats
• 1/2 c. white whole wheat flour 
• 1 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/4 c. raisins
• 1/4 c. chocolate chips
• 1/2 c. peanut butter (or any nut butter)
• 1/4 c. maple syrup 
• 2 T. ground flax seed + 6 T. water

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flax and water. Set aside. Combine all dry ingredients in mixing bowl.
• Stir in raisins and chocolate chips. In a separate bowl, combine syrup, and nut butter and mix until smooth. Combine nut butter mixture with flax/water mixture.
• Add wet to dry ingredients and mix well.  
• Press the mixture into an 8 x 8 pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Bake for 15 minutes.
• Allow pan to cool slightly, then cut into bars and transfer to a cooling rack.

Kudos to Mama Pea

Eat with Anything Chicken Salad

I love chicken salad. But I must be honest, the stuff you buy at the store freaks me out. Have you ever read all of those ingredients. I can't even pronounce most of that list. Not to mention the mayo. Ew. I definitely believe making my own is the way to go.

And, hence the name, you can eat it with pretty much anything and it is delicious! With some celery and carrots, on a bed of greens, smack between two slice of bread, or my personal favorite--on pretzel thins. The sweetness of the fruit in the salad with the saltiness and crunchiness of the pretzel is oh, so good. I know you want some. Now.

4-5 chicken boneless, skinless chicken tenders
2 cups chicken broth
1 apple, peeled, cored, and diced
1 cup red grapes, cut in half---or you could use raisins
1/2 cup celery, chopped into small bits
1/2 cup plain, fat-free yogurt
3 tbsp pecans
salt and pepper

To poach chicken tenders in the chicken broth (you may have to add some water to completely cover the chicken), put liquid and chicken in a pot and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Cover and simmer for 5-10 more minutes, or until chicken is cooked.

Cut chicken into cubes, and throw everything in a bowl. Mix. Voila.

Snickerdoodle Muffins

Oh, heavens. If I ever need to make someone fall in love with me, I know exactly what to do. Bake them these muffins. Seriously. Melt in your mouth-fluffly-soft-buttery-hint of nutmeg-best thing I have ever tasted- muffins. I mean I don't mean to brag, but can I for just this one post? I have to confess that they are not the healthiest things I have ever made, and they don't quite follow the standards of this blog. But hey, we can't be perfect all the time.

1 1/2 c flour (yes I used white flour, don't tell my mom)
1/2 c sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 egg
1/2 c milk
1/3 c butter, melted

for topping:
1/3 c melted butter
cinnamon-sugar mixture

Preheat oven to 350. Mix dry ingredients. Mix in wet ingredients, but don't overmix, its okay if things are still a little lumpy. Spoon into greased muffin tin--it will only make about 8 muffins. So you may want to double the recipe, trust me. Bake for 20 minutes.
Once the muffins have cooled, dip the muffins in the butter and then into the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

You're welcome.

White Whole Wheat Gingerbread People

Now that finals are over and I have another semester under my belt, the baking monster inside of me is coming out of hibernation. So watch out, and get ready for some whole wheat goodies for the next four weeks!

Last night was my homegroup's annual christmas party, complete with chocolate fondue, a $0 budget white elephant gift exchange (so impressed with the creativity of some of those gifts!), and some FANtastic christmas sweaters. In preparation for the party, and in celebration of completeing my third semester here at A&M I decided it was the perfect night to unleash that baking monster I was speaking of before. So, with the help of my beautiful roommate, Devin, and my dear friend, Jordan, we made some great looking gingerbread people if I do say so myself (and I do). The dough took me about 15 minutes to make, but keep in mind it needs to be chilled for four hours (or two, if you are running behind...ahem) in order to be easy to handle.

1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
1 cup molasses
3 cups flour (you may add more or less, depending on how moist your dough is)
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ginger..or more if your like me and really like spicy holiday cookies
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cloves

Preheat oven to 350. Beat butter, sugar, and applesauce in bowl until smooth. Add egg and molasses, mix. In another bowl mix all the other ingredients. Add flour mixture slowly to the moist ingredients until all combined. You may need to knead the dough a little to get all the flour incorporated. Cover, and chill for atleast 2 hours!

Roll dough to pretty much any thickness you want. Most recipes say "1/4" or "1/8" of an inch. But it honestly depends on your preference. If you want chewier cookies, roll them thicker. If you want them more like gingersnaps, roll them thinner. Just keep an eye on them in the oven if you roll them thinner so they do not burn. Cut them with cutter or flatten them into rounds and bake for about 10 minutes.

Sam's (and Sarah's) Slow Cooker Minestrone

Ah! The sweet, sweet taste of the end of the semester is upon us. Which means I have time to start posting again! This semester has been filled with a lot of setbacks and new situations, so I can't say I am sad to see it come to an end. God has taught me so much these past few months, but it has definitely been an exhausting road. Two days and two finals left to go, and I will be a free woman!
I am hoping next semester's class load will be easier so I will be able to post still once classes begin, but I don't want to be too hopeful!
My sister came for a visit this past week-end, which was wonderful. After seven hours of studying in the library on Saturday, her visit was much needed. She was judging a gymnastics meet in Waco on Saturday afternoon, so since she was already this far east, she thought she would pay me a visit and I am glad she did! Saturday evening we went to Downtown Bryan and ate at the Village Cafe. We were pretty much the only ones there, the food was delicious, and the conversation was great, so I would say dinner was definitely a success! The Village supports local agriculture and even cooks with produce from our very own Howdy Farm. You know how we are with local produce, so it was a great experience. After dinner, we went for a late night run around campus and then went to the grocery store to buy the ingredients to make Minestrone on Sunday...

4 cups vegetable broth
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 stalks chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrots
2 chopped zucchinni, diced
2 crook-neck yellow squash, diced
1 can kidney beans (we forgot to buy some, but we thought they would have made a great addition!)
1.5 cups small pasta shells
1 tablespoon fresh basil
2 bay leaves
3 cloves garlic, chopped
Italian Seasoning
pepper to taste

The beautiful thing about crockpots is you just throw everything in and six hours later, voila!

Seriously, throw everything but the shells in the pot and cook on low for about 6 hours--we were a little impatient, so I don't think we left it on that long. When there is about 20 minutes left, throw the shells in and cook until they are soft.

Perfect dish for finals week, because an entire crockpot of soup will last me until I got home for Christmas next week!

Banana Pretzel Chocolate Chip Smoothie

I moved into my new apartment last Saturday so due to getting settled, I have been unable to make a post all week. Well, that and I have pretty much been eating raw vegetables and cereal for every meal all week. Not interesting enough to blog about.

I have been wanting to celebrate being on my own (again), so what does every college student look forward to about moving out of the house? Eating whatever we want! Ice cream for breakfast, microwave popcorn for dinner, candy for a late night snack. Oh, the freedom! Its beautiful. Well, I can't quite make myself embrace this freedom. I like eating healthy. Yeah, I said it. So for lunch today, to go with my plate of raw vegetables, I made a delicious blend of sweet and salty, protein and fiber, health disguised in a milkshake. So good.

• 1 banana, cut into chunks and frozen
• 1 c. fat-free organic or non-dairy milk
• 4 ice cubes
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder (optional)
• 1/4 c. old fashioned oats
• 2 T. chocolate chips, chopped
• 1/4 c. pretzels, broken into pieces

and blend.

Pan de Sal

So, I have a few posts to catch up on. I tend to take pictures of stuff I make and then I don't feel like typing out the recipe.

For starters, I wouldn't neccessarily call this recipe "healthy". So, sorry to dissapoint.

I was in Odessa last week and my sister and I went on a baking craze one afternoon. And this was the result: scones, home-made pizza (with dough), and these delicious, yeasty, filipino, WHITE rolls. Yes, mom. We ate white flour.

I took a picture and told my sister I would post it. So I will just copy-paste the recipe she sent me.

1 cup skim milk, microwaved for 30 sec
5 T unsalted butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 t salt
1/2 c sugar
4 c bread flour
3t bread machine yeast
1/2 c breadcrumbs

Select "dough" cycle
add all ingredients except breadcrumbs
using a spatula, divide into 24 ovals and roll in breadcrumbs
line up in a 9x13' ungreased cake pan w/ rolls touching. Let rise 30 minutes.
Bake 15 minutes @ 375

And here you go: