Homemade Granola Bars

Here is a simple recipe that we love. I really like the versatility with homemade granola bars. You can add in anything you want to make it just perfect. I made this batch this morning and it made a great mid afternoon snack.

5 cups quick oats
1 cup coconut
1 cup almonds, chopped (I like them chopped small)
1 cup dry milk
1 cup honey
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp. salt
1-2 tsp. vanilla extract

Then decide what you want in your granola bar. Some good things to add are:
mini m&m's, raisins, chocolate chips, craisins, small apple chips, sunflower seeds, etc. Add as much as you want to the recipe.

Mix all ingredients together well. I like to use my hands to get it all mixed up really well. Then press into a large cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes for chewy bars, 45 minutes for crunchy bars. Cut into bar shape while still warm and let cool in the cookie sheet for a few hours. When they are cool, cut and store them in an airtight container. Makes approximately 44 granola bars.

Pizza Rolls

We had these for dinner tonight and they were so delicious! They looked so good and tasted even better! This is another great recipe from sisterscafe.blogspot.com. I'm sure it will be a big hit with all your kids.

Pizza Dough
1 c warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 Tb (1/4 oz package) active dry yeast
3 Tbsp olive oil

2 ½ c flour
1 tsp salt

Put warm water in bowl. Stir in sugar and yeast and let proof for 1o minutes. Stir in rest of ingredients. Mix until a ball, knead 10 minutes by hand or 5 minutes in mixer. Let rise for 1.5 hours. Roll out and arrange pizza toppings on top. Bake in 400 degree oven (on preheated pizza stone for best results).

Pizza dough, raw (see above)
mozzarella cheese, shredded or cubed

pepperoni, cut into fourths

1/2 green bell pepper, diced small

1/2 small onion, diced small

1/4 cup chopped olives

Roll pizza dough out into a large rectangle. Using a pizza cutter, cut into 12 pieces. Layer the toppings in the center of each square of dough; about 2-3 Tb total of toppings on each. Now stretch and fold the dough around the toppings, pinching to seal edges. This is the tricky part - the more toppings you use, the harder it gets to tuck them all within the dough! (fyi: pepperoni and cheese or ham and pineapple are much easier, as you can imagine.) Now place seam side down in a lightly greased casserole dish or glass baking dish. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle generously with garlic salt and Italian seasoning. (oregano, basil and thyme, etc) Bake in a 400 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until rolls are light brown. Serve with your favorite marinara sauce for dipping. Dig in and have fun!
We just used some Ragu spaghetti sauce to dip these in and it was great (instead of marinara). I think it is a good idea to let them rise for a little bit after you get them rolled and in you baking dish.

Garlic Black Beans

Another yummy recipe from sisterscafe.blogspot.com. I've always loved black beans, but was never sure how to prepare them. Well, let me tell you, this is a great way! They are so tasty. The original recipe has them as part of a shredded sweet pork salad (like from Costa Vida), but they are also great alone or with Cilantro Lime Rice.

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/3 c tomato juice

2 cloves garlic, minced (1 tsp)

1 tsp cumin

2 Tb canola oil

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tb chopped cilantro

Heat oil then add garlic until cooked (it turns brown) and cumin. Add rest of ingredients and serve warm.

Be careful when adding the garlic to the hot oil. When I made in the first time I kept waiting for the garlic to "pop" like it said in the original recipe and before I knew it the garlic was black and charred!

Honey Lime Enchiladas

I found a delicious food blog from a family of LDS sisters called sisterscafe.blogspot.com. They have so many wonderful recipes and ideas. I made this for Neal and Marilyn when they came to visit last week and they both loved it (post heart surgery and all). Marilyn was astonished at how much he ate while out on the road!

1.5 lbs pork or chicken, cooked and shredded

Sauce:

1/3 c honey

1/4 c lime juice

1 Tb chili powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 (10 oz) cans green enchilada sauce

equal parts mixed together of:

mozzarella cheese, shredded

cheddar cheese, shredded

flour tortillas

Mix together sauce ingredients then add to shredded pork or chicken. Let the sauce soak into the meat for about 30 minutes.

Lightly spray 2 pans with non-stick baking spray. (I usually use one 9x13 and one 9x9 but it may vary with how thick you stuff your enchiladas) Pour green enchilada sauce into pans to coat the entire bottom. Fill tortillas with shredded meat and desired amount of cheese. Roll and place in dish.

Pour remainder of sauce over enchiladas and sprinkle more cheese on top - don't be stingy! (I sometimes use more like 1 1/2 cans- you can freeze left over enchilada sauce in a baggy.) Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Then turn on broiler and place enchiladas nearer the top of oven. Let it broil until cheese is slightly brown and crispy. It is now time to WOW your family!!

Instead of letting the cooked meat soak in the sauce, I threw the raw meat and sauce in the crockpot together and let them cook for a few hours on high.