Granola Bars Revised

I've recently challenged myself to get rid of white flour, use less butter and only use whole foods that are natural and unprocessed in my cooking/eating.

With that said, I've made some changes to a few of our favorite recipes, including our go-to granola bars and I'm happy to say that I love them even more! 

We've decided to use coconut and almond flour as our primary "grain" around here so I was able to sub coconut flour for the all-purpose flour (if you haven't baked with coconut flour it's definitely something you'll want to look up, it's unlike other flours). 

I've also started replacing recipes that call for butter with coconut oil and have found them to be fantastic!

So the below is the new version of the granola bars that have now been adapted MANY times since I originally found the recipe, but this may be my favorite revision since it makes me feel like a real health champ! ;)

Dark Chocolate Coconut Almond Bars    

• 4 cups organic old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 heaping Tablespoon coconut flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup coconut oil, liquified
• 1/2 cup raw organic honey
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (we do 72%)
• 1/2 sliced almonds (walnuts and pecans work well here too)
• 1/2 cup organic dried coconut pieces (you can use any dried fruit, we use cranberries or apricots sometimes)

1. Preheat oven to 325. Lightly grease one 8x8 inch pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine the oats, flour, baking soda, vanilla, butter, honey. Use a mixer to thoroughly combine. Stir in the 1 1/2 cups assorted chocolate chips, nuts etc.
3. Lightly press mixture into the prepared pan. Bake at 325 for 9 minutes and then take out and press mixture into pan again. And then cook for another 9 minutes, press down in pan again when taking out of oven. Let cool for 10 minutes then cut into bars. 

 

Oldie But Goodie

Just a little Friday recipe... for cleaning. :)

This has been my 'go to' spray for years now and even though I've posted the recipe before I made a batch last night and it reminded me of why I love it. 

It smells delicious!

It gets the job done!

It's WAY too easy to make!

And I don't have to worry about what it's doing to our home/us.


All Purpose Cleaning Spray

2 cups warm water
2 tablespoon of Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Magic Soap
2 tablespoons of white vinegar
4 drops of patchouli oil
4 drops of orange oil

Mix all ingredients in clean spray bottle and shake! Easy enough. 

I have about 10 different essential oils that I alternate between and patchouli isn't one of them. I just use 8 drops of orange oil instead. Orange oil is a great cleaning oil since it is a natural degreaser and it's naturally antibacterial. Score!

Feel free to give it a try!

Recent Eats

We may be spending most of our time remodeling the kitchen right now, but we are still keeping the skillets hot when it comes to cooking up dinner.

I wanted to share a few or our new favorite recipes and even a few so-so ones. Just because we didn't LOVE them doesn't mean you won't.

Zucchini Lasagna  This was a definite hit! We loved this recipe! Since we've decided to eat less pasta and more veggies this was a great way to do it without losing the yummy Italian taste. The only recommendations I would have would to make sure you buy large zucchini or more than the recipe calls for. It also made for great leftover lunches today, plus some!

Black Bean Quesadillas These are an old favorite at our home because they are easy to whip up, vegetarian and delicious. They are just what a fast dinner should look like. We top ours with homemade guacamole, salsa and cilantro.

Mexican Haystacks I am in love with this recipe!!!! We changed the name to Taco Towers because Daniel thought that Mexican Haystacks just didn't seem as appetizing, whatever lets me make these more often is fine with me. ;) The only change we make it that we don't add cilantro to the rice since Daniel isn't a huge fan of cilantro overload. Me on the other hand, I pile it on top.

Cajun Chicken Pasta This recipe was just OK the night we made it, but was actually really flavorful for lunch the next day. I guess the spices needed a little more time.

Salmon with Avocado Salsa We tried this recipe a few weeks back and we both really enjoyed it. We serves it with a side of cous cous and a spinach salad. Great pairing.

Tortellini Primavera  This was a pretty good recipe. It wasn't the absolute best tortellini/ravioli recipe I've made, but it was so incredibly quick, I didn't care. Sometimes fast on Tuesday night beats out any other recipe. :)

Blueberry Coconut Macadamia Muffins It's been a while since I've mentioned these muffins and a while since I have made them until last week. Sometimes an oldie is a goodie. :) We don't use full wheat flour I normally do half white/half wheat so my husband will eat them.

Feel free to give a few a try!!!