Snowy Day Recipe for You AND Your Kids! (or just you)

On snowy days like today, you can fight off boredom, give your kids an interactive and fun activity AND enjoy a tasty treat that will last you days with the following recipe.

They are Homemade and Healthy Granola Bars that use only the ingredients pictured here. That's it!!! I didn't even have to run to the store! I had this all in the pantry so it cost me NOTHING! If you were to buy these ingredients, it'd probably cost you about $10, but it would give you ingredients to make several other things or several batches of granola bars!

These are way cheaper, healthier and tastier than store-bought bars. Here's how you do it. Oh and **PARENTS** please let your kids do this. They can and should get their hands dirty with this recipe! Also, this is just a base recipe-make it your own. Mix in things you love to enhance and change it to keep it interesting!

Ingredients

2 ripe bananas-use what you've got, but they need to be soft so they can be mushed

2 cups of old fashioned oats-they can be rolled or steel cut JUST NOT QUICK

shredded coconut

dates, pitted and chopped

vegan chocolate chips (or if you dig regular ones use regular)

walnuts, chopped

cinnamon

nutmeg

***Notice there is no sugar added to this recipe!! This means you and your family can enjoy the natural sugars found in the real fruits used for these bars. Refined sugars are bad because they cause blood sugar level spikes that can make you tired and hungry faster, when you actually aren't. They also offer little value nutrition-wise but cause you to pack on pounds. With fruit, you get the natural sugars packed with nutrients AND fiber which allows you to feel full, absorb the nutrients and flush out (pun intended!) the toxins in your body. Win-win here!***

The above picture is of pitted dates. You find fresh dates in the produce section of your grocery store. They are a fruit, so they come with pits. Make sure they are somewhat soft to the touch when you buy them because then they are more easily incorporated. These will be your most expensive ingredient. If you don't want to use them-simply substitute a little applesauce (with no added sugars or weird things in the ingredients) to keep the sweetness up. Dates are great for any recipe, smoothie, whatever, where you need to add sweet flavor without sugar! In my eyes, a pantry staple!

Method

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Put all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix them up, by hand, until all the oats are coated with the banana. It should be a mushy, wet-ish mixture. See below.

Then spread into a casserole dish that you would use for something like brownies. You'll spread them in the pan as you would brownies too-flat and even and covering the bottom.

Pop in the oven for about 30 minutes. The cool thing with this recipe is that there is not raw meat or dairy in it so LET YOUR KIDS LICK THEIR FINGERS! Let them eat some of the "batter" if they want. These bars only need to cook to keep them together so just when you start smelling them, check on them and they can probably come out. Mine were done today in about 20 minutes. It just depends on how thick you make them. Also note, in the picture to the right, how much cleanup work this recipe takes. WOW, washing that one bowl and spatula is going to be tough. LOL.

This is a no brainer! Once the bars come out-let them cool for about 5 minutes so they are more easily cut. But if you can't wait-go at it-they just won't be pretty. This recipe takes only 10 minutes of active work, which you can draw out with your kids if you want-but then the rest is oven time. Awesome huh?

And just for kicks-let's analyze a popular granola bar favorite that appears to be healthy shall we? Yes.


Ok so forget the Nutrition "Facts" for now because I haven't been able to chat with you about how to read that yet and let's focus on the ingredients.

The first ingredient is great-oats. Ok, then...well, sugar. Not good. Then, canola oil-a fatty, nutrient-less food. Then, corn flour-a binder perhaps? Unecessary and certainly void of nutrients because of how processed it is. Then, OH LOOK, more sugar-this time it's brown which means the white sugar was mixed with molasses.

Still no nutrients or flavor-just sugar.

At this point you can stop hoping for some type of real food ingredient because the top 3 to 5 ingredients are the ones that count-they are the ones that make up most of the food. And as we can see here, these "granola bars" are just sugar in bar form. Lovely.

Instead-how about feeding your body and your kids' bodies something nutritious that was made at home and is packed with real food like oats, bananas and dates. Worth it? Yes.

When You're Hungry for a Snack...

On a day where you don't feel like leaving the house (in my case because of my snow) and you are having people over, or you just plain need a healthy snack, you can still create this pretty, yummy and nutritious treat for cheap!

I also bring this to parties a lot because it looks a whole lot better than just bringing a plate of veggies with some hummus. The picture to the left is actually from one of my Healthy Eating Supper Clubs that I hosted at Whole Foods Market in Fort Collins, CO. I served this, to rave reviews, as an appetizer. The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients

1 english cucumber

1 package of oil-free roasted red pepper hummus (or if you can't find it, make it yourself with recipe below!)

1 cup of raw cashews (toasted if you are feeling ambitious!)

NO JOKE THAT'S IT! I'll tell you how to assemble below and will also give you my recipe for homemade hummus that's to die for, in case you want to keep the "homemade and healthy" thing going on. I highly encourage this because then you can make your hummus without oil.

Method

Wash the english cucumber and cut off the ends. Then peel the cucumber so the skin looks like stripes! Slice into 1/2 or 1/4 inch rounds and spread on a plate. Spoon a heap of roasted red pepper hummus on top of the cucumber slice and garnish with a cashew. Serve! This yummy dish is fresh, healthy and balanced with all the components that make a dish taste great! Try for yourself!

WHY skip the oil?

Because if you look at the label here for Spectrum Olive Oil (it will be pretty much the same label for any olive oil you get), you'll notice that the serving size is only 1 TABLESPOON, and that in that one tablespoon there are 120 calories-all from fat!!! So if you are adding, say 1/4 cup of olive oil to your hummus-that's about 4 tablespoons equalling 480 calories all from fat!!! And you don't even feel full from those calories!

People will argue back and forth about the potential health benefits of olive oil. I'm not here to talk about that. Whatever you believe-fine. HOWEVER-no one can disupte that olive oil is 100% fat and if you are trying to lose weight or be healthier, it is not ideal because again you will be getting calories that won't fill you up. Instead I recommend ditching the calories and getting your fats from whole plant sources (not the extracted ones in this case) to fill you up with nutrients, fiber and the like. You'll see a real difference once you stop cooking like Rachael Ray and Paula Deen. Really! It can be simple if you let it be.

Homemade and Healthy Hummus (no oil in this recipe!)

Ingredients

1 can no-salt-added garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed-some of the liquid reserved

lemon juice (from a real lemon, not that funny lemon-shaped squeezie bottle)

1 tbsp horseradish (the kind from the store that doesn't have preservatives)

2 tbsp tahini (which is just crushed sesame seeds-good, healthy fat)

fresh ground pepper

dash of low sodium tamari

dash of cayenne

dash of cumin

dash of paprika

dash of coriander

(add a few roasted red peppers from a jar if you are making the hummus for the dish above)

Directions

Blend all ingredients to taste. You can used the reserved bean liquid to thin out the mixture with flavor (to replace the oil). Remember, taste along the way. Add more spice if it needs it. Enjoy!

How About Some Vegan Stuffed Shells?

This recipes comes from my need for comfort food! Especially on a day like today in Upstate New York where it's snowy and gray-you really want to feel the warmth in your home, belly and heart. So why should you have to sacrifice your health and waistline?!

I came up with this Vegan Stuffed Shell recipe to satisfy that particular issue. Hope you enjoy and would love to hear what you think!

Ingredients

For the shells:
1 box of large whole wheat pasta shells or whole wheat lasagna noodles if you can't find the shells or brown rice lasagna noodles if you are gluten-free
2 cups macedemia nuts
2 cups cashews
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast (you can find this in the bulk section of your grocery store and it is just yeast but looks and tastes like cheese when added to things!)
1 can of artichoke hearts, drained and diced
dried basil
dried oregano
black pepper

For the sauce (OR buy a low-sodium sauce instead):
2 or 3 cans of no-salt-added diced tomatoes
red wine-something you like
onions, diced
garlic, minced
red pepper flakes
dried basil

Directions

**Do ahead**
Put macademia nuts in a bowl filled with water about an inch above the top of the nuts and let soak overnight (before you go to bed) or for 8 hours (while you are at work).

Put cashews in a separate bowl filled with water about an inch above the top of the nuts and let soak overnight or for 8 hours.

**At Supper Time**
After the nuts have been soaked, drain them and blend them in a high powered blender separately. The macademia nuts should resemble a ricotta cheese when blended. Add water or lemon juice to keep your blender from overheating and to get the right consistency. Then once complete, throw in a bowl. Do the same for the cashews and throw in the same bowl.

Now add the basil, oregano, pepper, yeast and artichokes until well mixed. I didn't put amounts for the spices because you should taste it to see what you like. Add small amounts at first, mix, then taste. If it doesn't taste flavorful yet, add more spice because it certain won't change while baking!!

Then cook the shells or noodles in a pot of water until al dente, about 4 to 6 minutes. Drain, separate and lay flat to cool. Stuff with the "cheese" mixture and set aside. (If you are using lasagna noodles just dollup a little "cheese" in the middle of the noodle and roll it up!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To make the sauce, heat your onions in a hot stainless steel skilled. You don't need oil if the pan is hot enough because the onions will release their own juices! Saute for about 2 minutes, then add the garlic, red pepper flakes, basil and other spices you might like! Saute for 1 minute and add a bit of red wine to deglaze the pan. Then add the tomatoes and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes until the sauce thickens and reduces.

Spread a little of the sauce to coat the bottom of a cassorole dish. Then add the stuffed shells (or the rolls) to the dish. Then coat with another layer of sauce, making sure each shell is covered. Throw in the oven for about 40 minutes and serve. YUM!