Chewy Almond Granola Bars

  Is January 20th too late to make a New Year’s resolution? Does it not count because technically we are almost a month into the new year? Am I in violation of some sort of unwritten resolution set of rules? Well I don’t care- I am doing it anyway. Right here and right now I’m declaring that my new year’s resolution is to eat less sugar. There I said it…and now I have to follow through with it. That’s the problem with resolutions, and the reason why I don’t usually make them. It’s easy enough to make a resolution, and to tell people about it, but actually committing to it, for a whole year- yikes!
The funny thing about this resolution is that I don’t have a what I would call a “problem” with sugar. By this I mean that I am not the type of person who scarfs down a whole box of cookies or polishes off an entire pint of Ben and Jerry’s (I am more a whole bag of chips kind of girl- maybe I’ll tackle that one next year). Recently though I’ve become aware of all the hidden sugar that’s in the things I eat everyday. I’m talking about things that I wouldn’t normally think of as high sugar foods. Things like bread, yogurt, granola bars, crackers and pasta sauce. All these things have added sugar and some have quite a bit…twenty- two grams of sugar in one cup of French vanilla yogurt! I decided that if I really want to cut down on the hidden sugar in my diet I needed to make some changes.
Some are easy- buy plain yogurt and add my own fruit with a tiny drop of honey, look for a bread and pasta sauce with lower amounts of sugar. The granola bars though, that was a bit harder. I’ve found that in general the kinds with less sugar tend to be dry and tasteless. I want a low-sugar chewy granola bar that doesn’t taste like sandpaper in my mouth and doesn’t fall apart and leave half behind in its little wrapper. Sounds simple right? Apparently not because I just can’t find them. So I made my own. Granola bars are actually quite easy to make. The best part is that you can customize them to your individual taste preferences. I’m giving you a recipe to follow, but please feel free to just use it as a guide. You can mix it up with different nuts or dried fruit, or even substitute the almond butter with peanut butter. Just remember to look for unsweetened dried fruit and unsalted, unroasted nuts. Oh, and please don’t use the almond or peanut butter that has added sugar and oil! I will never understand this- why does a ground up nut paste need oil added to it?

Here are the main ingredients that I used in my bars.

Granola bars consist of three separate parts. First you have the dry mix of oats, nuts and seeds. These are mixed together on a baking sheet and toasted in the oven.

Next you have dried fruit. I used a mix of cranberries and apricots because that’s what I like, but the possibilities are endless. Pineapple, mango, papaya, apple rings, raisins…you get the idea. Finally you have the glue that holds it all together. This is where the sugar part comes in. The original recipe that I used called for 1/4 cup of honey and 1/4 cup of turbinado sugar. At first glance this doesn’t sound too bad. I mean there’s no refined white sugar so it’s okay right? Well I am no dietician but sugar is sugar and this amount means that each granola bar contains 15 grams of the sweet stuff. That seems like a lot considering that the Nature Valley fruit and nut bars that I buy only have 13 grams per bar. I knew I could do better. I didn’t want to just cut the amount of honey in half though because I was afraid of messing with the dry versus wet ingredient ratio and ending up with crumbly bars instead of chewy ones. So I decided that the best solution was to substitute the honey for agave nectar. Yes, I know that there has been some controversy lately over this product and whether it really is a healthy alternative to sugar or instead an evil twin of high fructose corn syrup in disguise. I’m not going to get into the whole debate here because it could take all day, and besides I only know what Google tells me so you might as well look it up on your own. In the end, my take on it is that agave syrup has a much sweeter flavor than most sugars so you can use less of it which is always a good thing in my book. I ended up using 1/4 cup of agave syrup and cutting out the turbinado sugar altogether. After doing a bit of math (gulp) I figured out that my new and improved granola bar only contains 8 grams of sugar per bar. Not bad. The three parts are mixed together and pressed into a square baking dish (a straight sided one is best, but if you’re like me and only have a glass square dish with rounded corners it’s okay. You will just end up with some bars with rounded edges- no big deal). Chill the whole thing in the fridge for about half an hour and then take them out and slice into bars.
There you have it.  A reduced sugar granola bar and my first step toward fulfilling my resolution. That wasn’t so bad- now I just have to keep it up for the next 11 months and 11 days.

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Two Pepper, Mushroom & Black Bean Quesadillas

Oh man has it been cold lately. I’m not talking below freezing put on a scarf before you go out cold. This is the real deal. Like –17 degrees kind of cold. Like stay in bed and huddle under the covers kind of cold. Or sit in front of the fire and read a book kind of cold. The good news is that we finally have a nice layer of snow on the ground and the sun is out this morning so at least it looks pretty outside.

Let me show you. This is the view through my kitchen window. What? You thought I was going to go outside and take a picture for you? Did I mention it’s below zero right now. Besides, I kind of like the contrast of my window sill succulents against the snowy cold backdrop. It’s like two worlds colliding.

So besides staying in bed or huddling by the fire how do I stay warm when the temperature dips below frigid? I cook of course!  Nothing warms the kitchen faster than a hot oven, and nothing warms the body better than a big glass of wine…umm,I mean plate of spicy food.
Quesadillas are the kind of food that everyone likes and anyone can make. Okay, maybe I’m generalizing a bit, but really what’s not to like? And can you say quick and easy- that’s what this dish is all about. Chop your ingredients, layer them in a tortilla with some cheese, pop in the oven and that’s it! Simple, simple, simple. The other thing I like about quesadillas is how many different ways you can make them. Pork, chicken, rice, pineapple, peaches, goat cheese, white beans, black beans…I could go on and on. If you can chop it and fit it between two tortillas you can make it into a quesadilla. I went pretty basic with this recipe. Partly because I really like this simple combo of peppers, mushroom and black bean, but mostly because it was what I had and it was far to cold to go to the store.

Here are my ingredients. Yes, that is frozen corn. Not many fresh ears floating around in the middle of January so the frozen stuff will have to do. The good thing- frozen corn from a bag is much less messy than cutting the kernels off the ears. I always find those little buggers all dried out under my toaster oven like a month later.
Here is everything all chopped up. You can adjust the amount of heat by either removing the ribs and seeds from the pepper for less heat, or leaving them for more. Since grocery store jalapeños tend to be pretty mild I left all the seeds and ribs for this recipe. In the summer though, when they come fresh from the garden, that’s a whole different story.
All the veggies go in a pan for a quick sauté.
Sprinkle the tortillas with cheese and top with the veggie mixture.
I added a bit of chopped roasted chicken that was leftover from a few nights ago, sprinkled on more cheese and topped with another tortilla.
After baking for 10 minutes top with fresh mashed avocado mixed with a squeeze of lime and serve with salsa. Guaranteed to warm you from the inside out!
Before I give you the recipe I feel obligated to include this note about tortillas:Not to be preachy but did you know that this innocent flat piece of dough can actually be incredibly unhealthy? A normal size 10-12” tortilla has an average of 130 calories, about 5 grams of sugar and only 3 grams of protein. That’s the whole wheat kind, don’t even get me started on the white ones. It doesn’t have to be this way. There are healthy tortillas out there. My favorite are the Cedar’s brand 8” whole wheat. Unlike many other “whole wheat” tortillas these actually contain whole wheat flour. They also only have one gram of sugar, 80 calories and 8 grams of protein. You might not be able to find this brand where you live, but PLEASE read the ingredients before you buy. And whatever you do, don’t buy the ones next to the taco shells in the middle of the store (yeah I am talking about the huge white Mission brand ones- you might as well be eating a donut). Generally the tortillas in the refrigerated section of the store are a far healthier option. Okay, enough lecturing…on to the recipe.

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Buckwheat Waffles with Maple Orange Sauce

Did you know that January is National Citrus Month? Hmm…maybe this explains why I’ve been a kind of citrus maniac lately. Clementines, grapefruits, navel oranges, blood oranges, key limes, lemons – I can’t seem to get enough citrusy goodness. Even though I just found out about national citrus month a few days ago, somehow I think my body must have already known. So in honor of this very fruity month, and since I’ve already posted several citrus recipes this month, including a delicious salad with both sections of grapefruit and a grapefruit vinaigrette, as well as these amazing key lime cupcakes, I thought I would continue the trend with what else…more citrus!
I am one of those people who always buys the fruit that’s on sale at the grocery store. You know, from the display that you practically run into when you first enter the store. I figure if it’s on sale that must mean it’s in season somewhere, and besides – it’s cheap. This week navel oranges from California were on sale. A huge bag for just $2.99! I jumped all over that deal. There are sooo many recipes you can make with a bag of oranges. I thought about making chicken or pork with an orange sauce, or maybe a fresh salsa with orange, mango and jalapeño. In the end I decided on waffles with an orange maple sauce because, well… because I really like waffles. Do I need a better reason?
Okay, maybe I did have one other reason. Lately I’ve been been coming across quite a few recipes that use buckwheat flour. Of course I’ve heard of this flour before, but I am ashamed to admit that I have never used it- until now. As with any new ingredient I turned to the trusty Internet for a bit of research and what I found out surprised me. Despite the name, Buckwheat is not actually wheat. In fact it’s not even a grain. It is the seed of a flowering fruit closely related to rhubarb that’s ground into a flour and commonly used in things like noodles, pancakes, and porridge.
Besides being a great alternative for those on gluten-free diets, buckwheat also has some amazing health benefits. It is high in fiber and B vitamins, includes 8 amino acids (almost making it a complete protein) and doesn’t have the tendency to raise glucose levels like so many other carbohydrates. Finally there is the taste. Many of the websites I came across described the flavor as nutty or bold, one even called it an acquired taste. While I would agree that it has a bit of a nut-like flavor, I wouldn’t go so far as to call it bold or unpleasant in anyway. In fact, I thought the buckwheat flour added a very pleasant and mild earthy flavor that complimented the slightly sweet orange sauce quite nicely. The buckwheat waffles ended up being a great way to celebrate national citrus month and I can’t wait to try more recipes using this awesome wheat free, super healthy flour.

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