Larabars

My aunt told me this recipe is very good. She was correct. These things are excellent! I’ve never tasted a commercial larabar so I can’t say they really compare but I don’t think I ever will buy one, seeing as how we love these homemade bars.

I had some difficulty mixing up these babies. I dumped everything into the food processor and turned it on only to find that the dates liked to get caught under the blade and lift it up, rendering it useless. So I dumped everything out on to the counter and hand chopped the dates and prunes into quarters. Then I threw half of them back in, whizzed them up, and put in the remaining half. This seemed to do the trick. Maybe you should do it this way, too, so you don’t kill your food processor.

Larabars

Adapted from here

2 cups (10 oz) pitted dates

1 cup (6 oz) prunes

1 1/4 cups (5 oz) assorted dried fruit (I used craisins, raisins, and pears)

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

2 cups (6 oz) sliced almonds

1 t almond extract

1/2 t cinnamon

Hand chop the prunes and dates in quarters. Place half of the ingredients in a large food processor. Pulse until pulverized. Add the remaining ingredients and pulse again until pulverized and somewhat paste-like. Press into an 8-inch square pan. Cut into bars, whatever size you wish. Store between layers of wax paper in an airtight container or wrap individually if you plan on eating them on the go.

Yield: 12 to 16 bars

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Peanut Butter

I finally made peanut butter! I was chatting with my neighbor (or more like e-mailing) and she said she was mixing up a batch that night. That was the shove I needed, I guess, because peanuts went on my grocery list and I made some peanut butter as soon as I got my hands on them.

Delicious! I like it better than bought natural peanut butter, but still not as much as Jif and Skippy. Old habits die hard, I suppose!

Any suggestions for making it even tastier without adding any sweetener? I know I could throw in some honey or some other natural sugar but I’d really prefer not to. Can I double roast the peanuts? Add some other sort of ingredient to up the flavor a bit? How many of you have made your own peanut butter?

Coming later…a delicious snack recipe using some of this tasty peanut butter!

Peanut Butter

1 pounds roasted unsalted peanuts

salt, to taste (1/4 t maybe?)

Throw the peanuts and salt into the food processor. Turn on and let go until smooth and creamy. The peanuts will go through a few stages…chopped, very finely chopped, then dry and paste-like (at which time you may wish to stop the processor and scrape the bowl down), and then finally creamy, smooth, and oily. Transfer to a jar and store in the fridge to slow down oil separation. I like to get the jar out of the fridge about 30 minutes before using it to let it soften up a bit. It spreads easier on bread and works into baked goods easier. I do the same thing with commercial natural peanut butters.

Yield: about 1 3/4 cups

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Quinoa Salad with Dried Cranberries and Pecans

My aunt Krista brought this salad to a family get together over the weekend. I tasted it and promptly fell in love. She sent the recipe to me. I made it…and could hardly stop eating it.

I don’t usually buy parsley out of season but I happened to be testing some recipes for a locally produced cookbook and needed fresh parsley. Sometimes I love an excuse to buy EXACTLY the ingredients needed for a recipe instead of substituting things I have on hand! So I have a large bunch of parsley that needs used up right now and this recipe used a few tablespoons. Perfect.

Also perfect was the jar of dried cranberries I have in the pantry right now. I haven’t bought dried cranberries in a looong time so I’m guessing these things are almost 2 years old. They aren’t spoiled but they aren’t the tastiest to eat out of hand so I’m using them in granola and baked goods. This salad was a good use for a few tablespoons.

I love when delicious food happens like that. Jada thought it was delicious, too. I had given her a taste after I mixed it up and then when she saw it on the table for supper, she hollared, “I’m gonna have a big, big pile of that stuff! I really, really like it!”

So there you have it…a family approved healthy salad and without further ado, here you go…my version of Quinoa Salad with Dried Cranberries and Pecans!

Quinoa Salad with Dried Cranberries and Pecans

Adapted from here

1 cup dry quinoa, rinsed well

1 1/2 cups water or veggie stock

1/2 t salt (if using water)

1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley

1 T finely minced onion or fresh chives

2/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted and cooled

1/3 cup dried cranberries

2 T fresh lemon juice

2 T olive oil

a few grinds of fresh black pepper

a pinch of granulated garlic

In a sauce pan, cook the quinoa, water or stock, and salt (if using). Bring the mixture to a boil and then leave it to simmer for 15 minutes (lid on). Cool quinoa to room temperature.

Meanwhile, mix the remaining ingredients. When quinoa is cool, mix that in, too. You can either serve it immediately or chill and serve later.

Yield: about 5 cups

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Basic Fruit Gelatin

When I have a build-up of canned fruit juice in the fridge, I make this gelatin. It is quite tasty and though it does have sugar, you can be assured that there are no artificial colors like you get in Jell-o!

You can use a variety of fruit juices and fruits. I usually use peaches and/or pears because that is what I have an abundance of but the batch pictured was actually mostly nectarines. I’ve heard tell that there are certain fruits that don’t allow gelatin to gel so maybe you should be careful. I think pineapple is one of them but that might only be fresh pineapple.

I often like to put this into little glasses as I have pictured here. They make such nice little servings and it’s super fun to clink your spoon around trying to scrape out as much gelatin as you can. Am I weird?!

Basic Fruit Gelatin

Adapted from More with Less, page 276

2 cups fruit juice, divided (from canned fruit)

1 T plain gelatin (I think this is one packet?)

1 T lemon juice

3 T orange juice concentrate

2-3 cups chopped canned fruit

Put one cup of the juice into a small sauce pan. Whisk in the gelatin. Over medium heat, cook mixture until gelatin is completely dissolved, stirring often.

Once dissolved, stir in the lemon juice, OJ concentrate, and the remaining fruit juice.

Put the chopped fruit into little cups or a bowl. Pour the gelatin over top. Chill until set, usually about 6 hours.

Serves: 4 – 6

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A How-To: Making Greek Yogurt

Brad’s not a big fan of my homemade yogurt. It’s completely unflavored and if I’m being honest, a bit boring to eat alone. Recently he discovered Chobani Greek yogurt and I decided it was about time that I try my hand at it. He loves the consistency of the Greek stuff. It’s thicker and richer. Only problems? It’s expensive and then we have lots of yogurt containers that need dealt with.

Here’s what I do:

I make my usual plain yogurt using whole milk. Then I take 5 or 6 cups of it and hang it in several thicknesses of cheese cloth. I let about 2 cups of whey drip out. This takes about an hour, 2 tops.

You can check the consistency of it periodically. Don’t worry about draining it too long. You can always stir some whey back in to thin it out.

Then throw it in a bowl with the fruit sauce of your choice. I use homemade pie filling which I make using about half the sugar called for. Depending on the sweetness and fruitiness that you want, you’ll probably want to use 1 to 2 cups of fruit to the 3 to 4 cups of thick yogurt.

Stir it all up! Since the yogurt has been at room temp for a while, I always chill it before we eat it.

Fruit sauces we like: cherry, strawberry, and blueberry.

The verdict? He loves it! So do the kids and I. We are eating a lot more yogurt now that I’ve turned it Greek. The only problem is using up all that whey. Any good suggestions besides making bread and pancakes?

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