Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease 9x9 pan.

In a large bowl mix, combine:

1 1/2 c. rolled oats
1/2 c. oat bran
1/4 c. dry nonfat milk powder
1/2 c. raisins (or we've used dried blueberries, currants, etc with success)

Mix well to insure that raisins are separated.

In a small saucepan, combine:

1/3 c. honey
1/4 c. peanut butter (or any nut butter)
1/4 c. extra light (in flavour) olive oil
1/2 t. vanilla extract

Stir the mixture well for a few moments over very low heat. Do not let the mixture get hot. Remove from heat and add:

1 egg

then mix well. Pour the honey mixture over the oat mixture. With a wooden spoon, blend well until all the dry ingredients are moistened.

Pour into pan and distribute the batter evenly. Bake 20 minutes.

Once removed from oven, score into bars with the edge of a spatula. Let the bars cool in the pan, and then invert them onto a plate and cut thru to separate. Store in air tight container.

from The brown bag lunch cookbook


ps: not sure why the recipe would call for specifically using a wooden spoon for stirring. if you know, please leave it in the comments!! ;O)

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough!

Wahooy!! Thankfully, my friend, Jeanette shared this recipe with me. It's a health-nut's pizza dough dream!

Ingred:

1 pkt yeast

1 c. warm H2O

2 TBS. olive oil

1 tsp sugar

1/2 - 3/4t. salt

mix and leave to bubble for 5 mins


then mix in:

1 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour

1 c. all purpose white flour


Use another 1/2 c. white flour for kneading dough into a big lump.

Cover with towel and let rise in warm spot (over the heating vent, in a 200 degree preheated oven--just make sure that you turn off the oven before you put the dough in to rise, or you'll cook it--or wherever you normally leave your breads to rise.)

Jeanette's hubbie is a master grill chef, so he grills the dough (pre-topping assembly) on both sides. Then after the dough is just crispy, J puts on the toppings and return them to the grill to melt the cheese.

If you're not as adventurous, then place them in a 425 degree oven and cook till your liking. Just make sure to check for bubbles in the crust and deflate them!

Enjoy!

Toppings: of course, one's preferred pizza toppings are a very personal thing! Might i suggest one of my favourites (just make sure everyone else in the house eats it too, or you might find yourself the odd man out because you reek of glorious garlic.) Lately, i've been hooked on Whatever-chu-got Cheese and Garlic pizza: i cook 2 bulbs of garlic (cloves separated and peeled) in about 1/4 c. of olive oil (Trader Joe's has a fabulous Australian OO that has a hint of citrus in it--it's so tasty one could drink it straight from the bottle!) I am Emeril's worst nightmare because i don't use my knob very well--i cook the garlic on med low (and sometimes with some sweet onions thrown in) they come out very yummy and caramelly and nutty--oooooh! But you have to babysit them or they'll get too brown, too fried, and kinda tough. I've found a recipe from the Stinkin' Rose that makes it a little more of a science--2 c. garlic cloves to 1 c. olive oil in saucepan. Cook for 40 min on low heat stove, stirring once at the 20 minute mark. Once they begin to soften, transfer just the cloves to a baking pan and bake in 250 degree oven for 25-30 minute until golden and slightly wrinked.

I've been experimenting with all different kinds of cheeses too and we like a combo of mozz, smoked gouda or smoked provolone, and dollops of ricotta. Sauce is optional, we just use some yummy Aussie olive oil for our sauce, usually. We also have been throwing a few roasted red peppers (roasting directions are in the Real Tamale Pie recipe in this blog) on the pie along with some onions and heaping spoonfuls of garlic. Man, it's a tasty treat!!!

Enjoy!!

Real Tamale Pie

i found this recipe in an awesome book called "Vegetarian Planet" by Didi Emmons. this recipe is the best tamale pie i've ever tried because it uses masa instead of cornmeal!! The book also has some great bread recipes...if i am quick i will get a couple of them tried and posted before the book goes back to the library. :o) Enjoy!!

4 c. sliced onions
2 large bell peppers

2 c. masa harina
1 stick butter
1 tsp salt
3/4 c. water

1 & 1/2 c. (15 oz can) cooked and drained pinto or black beans
4 oz soft, mild chevre (goat cheese)

1 T. chili pepper
1 tsp cumin seeds
28 oz can crushed plum tomatoes
2 minched garlic cloves
1 ancho pepper, soaked in hot water (optional)
1 pinch cayenne
1 pinch sugar
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

1/2 cup chopped scallions


Preheat the oven 450 degrees. Spread the sliced onions on one ungreased baking sheet and the whole peppers on another. Put both baking sheets into the oven. Roast the veggies for 25-30 minutes (stirring only the onions once or twice until brown and soft.) Take peppers out after skin blisters and swells. Lower oven to 375 degrees.

Make the masa dough: mix masa, salt, & butter with your hands, squeezing the dough thru your fingers. Add the water slowly, stirring and squeezing with your hand. Mix until the ingredients are blended.

To assemble the pie:

Remove the skin from the peppers, split them open, and discard the seeds. Cut into strips or leave in one piece. Mash the beans with potato masher, leaving enough texture. Press the dough into a 9x9 inch baking pan. Spread the beans evenly over the dough. Lay the peppers on the beans. Dot with goat cheese, then cover the cheese with the onions. Cover the pan with foil. Bake for 40 minutes at 375.

While pie is baking, heat chili powder and cumin seeds in sauce pan over medium heat, shaking the pan constantly, until the seeds have begun to release their aroma (about a minute). Add tomatoes and garilc. If you are using the ancho chili, remove from water, chop it fine and add it to the tomatoes. Simmer the tomato sauce for 25 minutes, stirring once or twice. Toward the end of the simmering, add the cayenne, sugar, and salt and pepper to taste.

When pie is finished, cut it into 4 pieces. Spoon a little of the tomato sauce on each of the plates and place each pieceon the sauce. Garnish with teh scallions and serve.

Notes: i found the dough to be too dry when prepared as above, so i think i might try to add a little more water--to the consistancy of pie dough almost. However, if you are making this dish to have leftovers, i would make the dough as recipe states, because if you store the dish with the sauce on it, the water from the sauce makes the tamale dough texture just right (not too dry you need to drink a half gallon of water/slice.) :o)

also, i assembled the dough and the beans in my pan, and made a "half and half". I placed the cherve, onions & peppers on one side and cooked sliced carrots and some colby jack (because i didn't think Riona would like the goat cheese.) The colby jack side was equally as good (but better with onions)--just an idea to make it kid friendly tho.

a fourth of this pie is a huge amount of food (masa is quite hardy!!), so we've found that one can get by with a sixth or an eighth quite nicely!