Pear Cranberry bars

I saw a recipe similar to this in a Kids Cooking magazine a while back. I was burning a candle tonight that smelled like toasted apple butter and that made me want a sweet treat that comibined apples with other good things like oatmeal. I realized that I didn't have enough apples to make the original, but I had some pears that I peeled and sliced a while back in my freezer. Now this is what happens when I crave something and don't have the ingredients to make it!

PEAR CRANBERRY BARS

CRUST:

3/4 cup old fashioned oats

3/4 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup toasted almonds or pecans, chopped

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

pinch of baking powder

3 Tbsp mashed white beans (the recipe called for butter, but I wanted my healthy boost)

3 Tbsp applesauce (the recipe originally calls for oil, but why not healthify it??)

FILLING:

4 apples (or in my case, pears), diced

1/4 cup craisins or raisins

2 Tbsp honey (or maple syrup or brown sugar)

1 Tbsp whole wheat flour

Mix the dry ingredients for the crust together in 1 bowl. Add mashed beans and applesauce and mix until crumbly. Press half of the crust into the bottom of a greased 8x8 pan.

Add filling ingredients in a different bowl and mix well.

Dump onto crust and top with remaining crust from the bowl and pat down.

Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes for fresh apples or 30 minutes for frozen.

It tastes kinda like apple pie with a twist. When serving, I like to serve the pieces upside down. It just looks a little nicer to me!

This recipe has 215 calories for each piece, with 5 grams of fiber and 2.5 grams of protein.

Green Enchilada Chili

Tonight I went to my sister's house and hung out with her for a bit. I brought homemade rolls and she made a new Chili recipe!

Melt in your mouth rolls

3 cups hot water
1 1/2 tbsp instant yeast
4 cups flour (starting) adding up to 8 cups - of course I used whole wheat
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup gluten
1 tbsp salt
1/4 cup powdered milk
1 crushed up 1000mg vitamin C

in a mixer, combine hot water with yeast. Add about 4 cups of flour and mix to paste-like consistency. Add oil, honey, salt and gluten. Turn the mixer from low to medium and add powdered milk. Gradually add more flour (I do 1/2 cup at a time) until dough starts to clean the bowl. Let knead in mixer for 5 minutes. Add crushed vitamin and mix 1-2 minutes more.
Slather hands with shortening to keep dough from sticking to your hands and break dough into abt 36 pieces and shape into rolls. Place on baking sheet and let rise in a warm area until doubled in volume (abt 15 min for me today). Bake at 350 for 19-22 minutes or until toasty brown.

Green Enchilada Chili
2 cups cooked chicken, cubed
1 large can green enchilada sauce
2 cans chicken broth
2 cans black beans
2 cans white beans
16 oz sour cream ( I prefer fat-free for less calories, but do what you like)
8-16 b0z grated pepper jack cheese

combine chicken and sauce in a large pot at medium heat. Add broth and beans. Simmer 10+ minutes. Add sour cream and let the chili get nice and hot. Gradually grate cheese into chili (if you add it all at once, you will have gooey chili instead of creamy). Serve and enjoy!

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

So I was watching TV the other day when they this recipe came up. I haven't tried it yet, but I will today. Another tip that I have heard is to mash up cooked white beans and use it in place of shortening or butter. What I would do is reduce the white sugar in half and replace the other half with more brown sugar, just under 1/2 cup of the mashed beans and 1 Tbsp. low fat tub margarine.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 1/8 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 6 ounces chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter, brown sugar, and vanilla extract. Using the paddle attachment beat until creamy and fluffy. Beat in egg. Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix well. Still in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10 minutes. Remove from baking sheet and let cook on a wire rack. Makes about 20 cookies.

Whole Wheat Homemade Pan Pizza

This past week I had a lot going on with my extended family. One night I made some cousins dinner. I did not have a lot of time, but I wanted to make something tasty, homemade and easy. So I came up with this.

Homemade Pan Pizza
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 1/2 C warm water (about 110 degrees)
3 1/2 Cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp white pepper (I used regular pepper and it was fine)
1 scant Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 - 1 Cup tomato or spaghetti or pizza sauce
1 1/2 cups cheese - I used a little monterrey jack, cheddar, and mozzerella
Toppings that you like

In a large bowl, combine the yeast and water. Stir to dissolve the yeast and allow the mixture to rest for about 5 minutes. Sift about half of the flour into the mixture and blend until smooth with your hands. Add the salt, pepper and honey and mix to blend. Sift in remaining flour and mix to blend.
Lightly flour a flat surface. Turn pizza dough on to board and knead for 3-5 minutes. The flour should feel smooth and the ingredients completely mixed. Place the dough inside a slightly oiled large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in a warm place until doubled in volume.
Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Melt butter in the bottom of two 8-9 inch round pans.
Gently press on the dough and divide into 2 parts. flatten each part and place in the 2 pans. Press dough to edges of the pan. Poke middle area of crust with a fork. Brush dough with a little olive oil before adding 2 large spoonfuls of sauce to the top and spread to cover crust as desired. Spread the top of the pizza with 1/2 cup of cheeses or as much as you want before adding desired toppings.
Bake for 7-10 minutes and remove from oven. Lift out of pan and cut.

Nutty Whole Wheat Pancakes

So I need to apologize for not posting for the past month. I had a lot going on with my little boy's first birthday party and just a lot going on. This past weekend, one of my best friends, Aubre came over and I made my whole wheat pancakes for her and my dad. She was at an event all day and texted me in the afternoon saying that she hadn't had anything else to eat and she wasn't hungry. So today's recipe is soooo easy and healthy. It takes about 15 minutes from start to finish and really fills you up!

WHOLE WHEAT PANCAKES

1 1/4 Cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2-3 egg whites
3 Tbsp applesauce (or a large mashed banana)
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg or cloves
1 1/2 tbsp crushed pecans (or whatever nut you may like)

Mix ingredients and pour on to griddle in pancake sized puddles. Top with whatever makes you happy.
My favorite topping suggestions:

Fruit flavored yogurt
Applesauce and strawberry slices
your favorite jam
peanut butter and powdered sugar
syrup
fresh fruit

a day in the kitchen

OK so this morning I was feeling kinda ambitious and decided to make cinniamon rolls for the first time. It was a VERY easy recipe and they turned out awesome. I actually cut the recipe in half and it made about 18 rolls so make sure that you are going to be feeding a lot if you make the WHOLE recipe:

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls
3 Cups warm water
1 Tbsp salt
1/4 Cup oil (I use applesauce!)
1/2 C Honey
4-8 Cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 Tbsp rapid rise yeast

filling:
1 1/2 C brown sugar
3 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cube of butter or margarine (1/3 cup - I use tub margarine)
1 C finely chopped pecans (optional)
1 1/2 C seedless raisins (optional)

Icing:
1/2 C margarine, softened (or tub)
1 1/2 C powdered sugar
2 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt

Combine warm water and about 4 cups of flour and mix with dough hook until a pastelike consistecy (if you dont have a mixer, using your hands works well). Mix in the yeast, then salt, honey and oil. Turn mixer up slightly. Add additonal flour until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. Remove from mixer and hand knead, adding flour if needed to avoid sticky dough. Roll out onto a lightly oiled surface (about 16x36 inches and appx 1/4 inch thick) Melt margarine and spread over dough. In a separate bowl, mix brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle nuts and raisins over the top(optional). Roll up dough to form a roll starting with the long side. Seal the seam by pinching dough together With seam side down, cut into 1 inch slices. Place rolls on a nonstick baking sheet. Let rise until doubled in size. Bake at 350 for 13-18 minutes.
To make icing Combine all ingredients in a mixer and blend well. Spread over the tops of the rolls.

Yummy Yummy Breakfast!