Veggie Burger

   I found this recipe in a magazine.  I tore it out and of course, could not, for the life of me, remember what magazine I tore it out of.  Luckily for me, this recipe is all over the internet, so I felt okay about not remembering the specific magazine where I found this in the first place.  I had never heard of The Counter, but from what I've gathered it is a burger place.  There were lots of rave reviews about this Veggie Burger and now I know the reason why.  

I really like how easy this recipe is and the fact that it contains wholesome ingredients. Sometimes Veggie Burgers are full of fillers and wierd things, but not these ones!  The flavor and texture are wonderful.  I made these the day before I cooked them and they were delicious.  My friend who came over for lunch to enjoy these with me, liked them so much that she made them for her family as well.  

Veggie Burger from The Counter

 recipe by executive chef Marc Boussarie

2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, small dice

3 each garlic cloves, minced

2 carrots, grated

1 yellow squash, grated

1 green zucchini, grated

1 ½ cups rolled oats, (instant is fine)

¼ cup cooked black beans

2 tablespoon Italian parsley, chopped

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon paprika

¼ teaspoon black pepper

2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

1, In a large skillet, heat the olive oil until almost smoking, Add the onions and lower the heat to medium. Mix and then add the garlic. Cook until tender and soft.

2, Add the carrots, squash and zucchini and season. Cook for about 3 to 4 minutes until soft and hot. Add the black beans, egg, paprika, parsley and oats.

3, Take off heat and mix. Place in a bowl and let rest for 1 to 2 hours.  (or overnight)

4, Form veggie patties to desired size and place in flour to lightly coat.

5, Place a large skillet on the stove on medium high heat,  add olive oil, and when hot place patties. Flip the burger when golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes and cook the other side the same.

    

Crustless Sweet Potato Pie with Hazelnut Streusel

When my sister was visiting, we also made this Sweet Potato Pie with Hazelnut Streusel. I haven't ever made sweet potato pie before, but I figured this was a good recipe to start out with. My sister isn't a fan of pie crust and we were looking to save time, so we made it without the crust.
It was easy and delicious. The streusel gave a nice crunch to the whole thing and we didn't miss the crust at all.

Here is the recipe for Sweet Potato Pie with Hazelnut Streusel
* I added some oats to the streusel

Cooking School- Blueberry Oatmeal Bars

When my sister and brother were here visiting in June we had a bunch of blueberries and decided to make these Blueberry Oatmeal Bars. They were so good. Delicious right out of the oven and later, once they had cooled. I sent the leftovers with my husband to work and he kept commenting about how good they were. I didn't take a picture of them because I didn't get a chance.

Then, a few weeks later, we had lots of blueberries from picking at Grandma's, so we made them again. My girls helped measure, mix and stir. They had a blast scraping the batter into the pan and smoothing out the top. Then, they anxiously waited for the timer to go off.

This time, I took a picture and shared them at a dinner. They received rave reviews from everyone who tried one, even a few people who don't like "real" blueberries cooked into desserts.

This recipe is definitely a keeper and it is a fun one to have little ones help you make.

Bert’s Best Blueberry Oatmeal Bars
Adapted from C Is for Cooking
Makes 24 bars

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups old-fashioned oats

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13 x 9 baking pan witth aluminum foil. Lightly spray the foil with cooking spray.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt, and set aside.
3. In a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and butter until fluffy. Beat in the oil, eggs, and vanilla. With a wooden spoon, mix in the flour mixture until blended. Stir in the oats and blueberries.
4. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.
5. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 to 35 minutes (or longer). Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Lift by the parchment or foil from the pan and cut into 24 bar cookies.

Oatmeal Summer Squash Muffins

I was wondering the other day why you never really hear about or see recipes for summer squash muffins or summer squash cake. There are a million recipes for zucchini cake, with chocolate and all sorts of spices, but not so many with summer squash. Summer squash and zucchini are sort of the same thing, so I am thinking that either one would work in most any recipe. But, I don't know, maybe there is something special about zucchini.

I finally found a summer squash muffin recipe and tried it out. It is a really interesting one because these muffins aren't really that sweet. I really liked that about them, but they still have a interesting hint of spices/vanilla. I enjoy breakfast muffins that don't taste like they should be dessert and these definitely fall into that category. They were almost savory, but not quite. Really intriguing. I froze some of them because my sister and brother and coming to town for a visit and my brother is a muffin lover. So- we will soon see how they do from the freezer!

Oatmeal Summer Squash Muffins as seen on Modern Beet
adapted from Simply in Season
makes 12 muffins

1 1/2 cups white wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 Tbls baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp allspice

1 egg
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup honey
2 cups grated summer squash

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine flour, oats, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and allspice in a medium-large bowl.

In a medium bowl, combine egg,buttermilk, oil, and honey. Mix well. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until just moistened. Gently fold in squash.

Fill lined or well-greased muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Banana-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I know I have described the love-hate relationship we have in this family with bananas. Sometimes they are gobbled up and other times, they sit and get brown. I am very particular about my bananas- if I am going to consume them fresh. They have to be just right. Not very ripe. Not mushy. Slightly green. And even if the conditions are perfect, I'm still not crazy about them.

Anyways, it's the same old story. Bananas sit there and get overripe. What to do? Smoothies? check. Banana bread? check. Muffins? check. Banana pancakes? check. Tons of things I don't even have the chance to take pictures of and post about? check. Like these and these, for instance.

So, I present to you yet another option for those times when you have ripe bananas and need to get rid of them immediately. These were the perfect after school snack.
And if ripe bananas disappeared as fast as these cookies did, there would never be such a dilemma.

Here is the recipe for Banana-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies from myrecipes

Brown Soda Bread

Last night I all of the sudden got excited about making some St. Patrick's day food. One of the things that I really love is Soda Bread. I have made it before, but never with a recipe that calls for currants and mostly white flour. I love Brown Soda bread that is full of yummy grains and oats and is not sweet. It is hearty and delicious. Plus, it is so easy to make-kind of like biscuits, but you don't have to cut out shapes. All you do is mix the dry ingredients together, cut in a small amount of butter and then stir in the buttermilk until the dough forms. I decided to make a round loaf out of my dough, because it looks more exciting than a plain loaf of bread.

My daughter and I sliced a piece of this bread as soon as it came out of the oven and it is absolutely perfect. I love the color, flavor and delicious health-y taste of this yummy bread.


Here is the recipe for Brown Soda Bread from epicurious
* I used reduced fat buttermilk
* I didn't have wheat bran, so I used a mixture of flaxseed meal, wheat germ and old fashioned oats to make up that part of the dough
* I wanted a rustic looking loaf, so I formed the dough into a round, topped it with some oats, and baked it on a baking sheet

TWD- Great Grains Muffins

Today's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe- Great Grains Muffins, was chosen by Christine, who blogs over at Happy Tummy. You can find the original recipe on her blog.

I made these a few days ago and since I was still working my way through "the month without using or buying butter", I had to switch things up a bit in these muffins. I just used a little bit more low-fat buttermilk and some canola oil to make up for the butter that I cut out. I like muffins better when they aren't made with butter anyway, because then they seem healthier and more like breakfast food and less like cupcakes or dessert.

I also used more whole wheat flour than the recipe originally called for and used raw honey instead of maple syrup because I didn't have any maple syrup on hand. I used raisins and sunflower seeds for my mix-ins.

These muffins were delicious. They tasted healthy, but once again, that is what I like muffins to taste like. The oatmeal and cornmeal gave them great texture and flavor.

Go see what the other TWD-er's thought about these Great Grains Muffins by checking the LYL page over at TWD!

Great Grains Muffins

adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

2/3 cup all purpose flour

2/3 cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup cornmeal

1/3 cup old-fashioned oats

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons low-fat buttermilk

1/3 cup raw honey

2 large eggs

1/4 cup canola oil

1/3 cup raisins

1/3 cup roasted sunflower seeds

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter or spray a muffin tin

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, cornmeal, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together the buttermilk, maple syrup, eggs, and melted butter. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry and gently, but quickly stir together. Don’t worry about being thorough — if the batter is lumpy, that’s fine. Stir in the fruit or nuts, if you are using them. Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Bake for 16-18 minutes or until the tops are gold and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes, then carefully lift each muffin out of its mold and onto the rack to cool

Ginger Sugar Cookies, Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies, Chocolate Peppermint Bars, and Chewy, Chunky Blondies w/ holiday add-ins

These are the cookies that I made and sent in the mail to some family members. When I am making a bunch of treats at the same time, I always try to choose a variety of flavors and textures. Since it is Christmas time, I made sure to choose some cookies that had appropriate flavors for this time of year. Ginger, pumpkin, peppermint, cranberries, etc.

I recently received a copy of The Gourmet Cookie Book, a cookbook in which the best cookie from the pages of Gourmet magazine was chosen for each year, from 1941-2009.
I thumbed through this book and chose a couple of recipes to try. The ginger sugar cookies stuck out to me because my family loves ginger and they looked like a chewy, delicious cookie.
They smelled yummy and my kids each sampled one. My 4 year old thought they were too spicy, but my other kids loved them.
These pumpkin oatmeal cookies look ordinary enough, but boy are they tasty. I was curious about their flavor, so I ate one. These were sooo good. Usually it seems like oatmeal cookies have all sorts of add-ins, like raisins, or nuts or chocolate chips, but these were so yummy because the stars of the show were just the pumpkin/spices and oatmeal. I will definitely make these again and again.
These chocolate peppermint bars were described by my son as "brownies with candy cane flavor". I didn't try one, but my son really didn't want me to send these in the mail. The batter was hard to spread, but it evened out in the oven. Not very pretty, but good to eat.

The last cookie I made is a classic bar cookie that always gets great reviews- Dorie's Chewy, Chunky Blondies. I have made these multiple times before and they are always a crowd pleaser. Usually they are chock full of nuts, chocolate, toffee bits, coconut-basically whatever you want to add.
This time I decided to add in some holiday flavors, so I went with dried cranberries, white chocolate chips, chopped macadamia nuts and toasted coconut.
These bars are perfect for sharing.

Ginger Sugar Cookies from The Gourmet Cookie Book
March 1965
Cream 3/4 cup softened butter and gradually beat in 1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed.
Stir in 1 egg and 1/4 cup molasses and blend thoroughly.
Sift 2 1/4 cups flour with 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp each of cinnamon and ginger, 1/2 tsp cloves, and 1/4 tsp salt.
Gradually blend the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture and chill the dough for 1 hour.
Drop by heaping teaspoons into 1-inch balls and dip the tops in sugar.
Arrange the balls at least 3 inches apart on a greased baking sheet and sprinkle each cookie with 2 or 3 drops or water.
Bake the cookies at 375 degrees for about 7 or 8 minutes, or until they are firm.

Chewy, Chunky Blondies adapted from Dorie Greenspan's “Baking: From My Home to Yours” p.109

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups (packed) light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
1 cup toasted coconut

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9×13-inch baking pan and put it on a baking sheet.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add both sugars and beat for another 3 minutes, or until well incorporated. Add the eggs one by one, beating for 1 minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing just until they disappear into the batter. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the chips, cranberries, nuts, and coconut. Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and use the spatula to even the top as best you can.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the blondies comes out clean.(I usually have to keep adding 5 minutes at a time, until they are done- don't be afraid to let them cook a little longer). The blondies should pull away from the sides of the pan a little and the top should be a nice honey brown. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for about 15 minutes before turning the blondies out onto another rack. Invert onto a rack and cool the blondies to room temperature right side up.

Cut into 32 bars, each roughly 2-1/4 x 1-1/2 inches.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies as seen on The Way the Cookie Crumbles

2½ cups (12 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (7 ounces) white sugar
1 cup (7 ounces) packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin puree

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line two baking pans with parchment paper or a silicone mat. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large bowl with a hand mixer), beat the butter and both sugars until fluffy, about one minute. Add the egg, beating until incorporated, then mix in the vanilla and pumpkin. With the mixer on the lowest speed, add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated.

3. Drop heaping teaspoons of dough onto the prepared baking pans. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned around edges. Let the cookies cool slightly on the pans before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Recipe for Chocolate Peppermint Bar Cookies from The Gourmet Cookie Book-
December 2006

Apple Oat Muffins

I guess I am just a muffin kind of girl. They are fast. They are easy. They can be healthy.
They kind of feel like a treat, but healthy at the same time- kind of.

I think muffins make a good snack. These particular muffins aren't very sweet, but they still have great flavor. The streusel that I added gives them just the perfect touch of sugar-y crunch on top.
Because the apple is shredded, it is not as noticeable, which was a good thing for some people in my family. When I said I made apple muffins, my son was a little hesitant because he doesn't love muffins with chunks of fruit. Once he saw that the apple was shredded, he was in.
These were yummy.

Apple Oat Muffins slightly adapted from Good Housekeeping Magazine
2 cups oats (I used quick oats)
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
2 Tbls canola oil
1 egg, beaten
1 cup shredded granny smith apple

Streusel:
2 Tbls brown sugar
2 Tbls flour
2 Tbls oats
2 Tbls cold butter, cut in pieces
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degree F.

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Blend wet ingredients with a fork in another bowl.

Stir in shredded apple to wet ingredients.

Add wet ingredients to dry and stir just until moist.

Combine streusel ingredients in a small bowl, combining with fingers until it comes together.

Put batter in a muffin tin coated with cooking spray. Divide struesel evenly among muffin tops and gently press into batter (Make sure it sticks, so it won't just fall off!)

Bake for 23-25 minutes until muffins begin to brown and a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean.

Oatmeal Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

I like muffins. I don't like to eat muffins that taste like cupcakes. I prefer healthy muffins and it is fine with me if they aren't super sweet or full of fat, as long as they still taste good and aren't dry.
I wanted to make pumpkin muffins and found a recipe that I tweaked quite a bit. Luckily pumpkin puree keeps baked goods nice and moist, so this recipe didn't need a lot of oil or butter. Low-fat buttermilk also added to the nice texture of these muffins. I like the texture that the oats add to this muffins as well.
I made these before school one morning and added mini chocolate chips because my son thinks that mini chocolate chips make anything better.
I was really happy with the results of these muffins. Moist, flavorful and pretty healthy!

I also just wanted to share this idea I saw in a recent issue of EveryDay Food for a healthy breakfast- Savory Oatmeal with a Egg. I didn't follow the recipe, but I did use their idea (partially). They used quick-cooking oats, a soft cooked egg, and no spinach.
I made my steel cut oats on the stovetop, then fried an egg in a small amount of olive oil. Then I sauteed a couple handfuls of spinach, in the same pan. I sprinkled a little bit of shredded cheese over my oatmeal, then topped it with the egg, spinach and chopped green onions. It was really good. My 3 year old liked it too.


Oatmeal Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins adapted from FitSugar
Inspired by Carrots-n-Cake and About: Lowfat Cooking

Ingredients

3/4 cups white whole wheat flour
3/4 cups old fashioned oats
6 Tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 tsp salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg or 1 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 1/2 Tablespoons canola oil
1 large egg
1/3 cup low-fat buttermilk + a couple more Tbls if the batter looks too thick

1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line muffin tin with muffin cups.
2. Whisk dry ingredients and spices together in a large bowl.
3. Add pumpkin, oil, egg, buttermilk, and vanilla to a medium size bowl and mix thoroughly. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredient and gently fold together, just, until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
   
4. Fill muffin cups evenly and bake for 18 to 25 minutes. Mine were done in 22 minutes.
   

Makes 9 muffins.

S'mores Cookies

When my sister was here visiting in August, we cooked dinner a couple of times together at my mother-in-law's house, (which also happens to be her mother-in-law since we married brothers)
and one day we decided we needed to make some cookies.
I had seen this recipe online and wanted to try it, so I figured this was the perfect opportunity since there would be lots of kids around.

I mixed up the dough and took it over to my mil's house. I baked the cookies while we were getting dinner ready and then we all enjoyed them before we watched a movie together.
These were pretty popular all around.
The combination of the oats and whole wheat flour give the cookie a nice texture that is slightly reminiscent of graham crackers. There is also a little bit of cinnamon which goes nicely with the other flavors. And who can resist toasted marshmallows? I don't know, but not very many people in my family can.

Recipe for S'mores Cookies
* I used dark chocolate squares for some of the cookies, but also used some plain old Hershey's chocolate for those who prefer milk chocolate

-Homemade Granola Bars

At the end of last school year, my son was always begging me to buy granola bars. All the other kids got granola bars packed in their lunches, some even got chocolate covered granola bars filled with caramel, pb, and chocolate chips.

Well, I am that mother who doesn't buy prepackaged things. I decided that if he wanted granola bars, I would make them.

I was able to taste The Barefoot Contessa's granola bars earlier this year, when Leslie
sent them to me as part of Secret Baker. I knew they were really good, so I decided to use that recipe with the dried fruit and nuts that I happened to have on hand.

These were perfect- chewy, sweet, crunchy and delicious. My son was happy and that made me happy.

Recipe for Homemade Granola Bars from the Barefoot Contessa

*I used dried blueberries, golden raisins, and peanuts instead of dates, apricots and cranberries

*I also added milk chocolate chips, but they melted into the hot granola mixture- (duh!), so these kinda turned out to be chocolate coated granola bars!

Oatmeal Pancakes

I have been wanting to try these pancakes ever since I saw them on smitten kitchen
back in May.
I finally got around to it a couple of weeks ago and they were fantastic!
I love making pancakes, muffins & waffles with whole grains and the fact that these have a double dose of oatmeal in them made me very happy.
You grind up some oats in the food processor to make oat flour and also use cooked oatmeal in the batter.
I used skim milk because that is what I usually have on hand unless I am making pastry cream or ice cream.

My kids loved these. I like having leftover pancakes and waffles, so that I can freeze them for another day. This time they were all eaten. Some at breakfast and some for snacks later in the day.
They really had great texture and flavor. Winners!

Recipe for Oatmeal Pancakes
* I used skim milk

Breakfast Recipes & Ideas

My kids started school today, so I thought it was a great time to post some breakfast recipes and ideas. Over the summer I have gotten my children to stop eating cold cereal- mostly because I don't think it is healthy enough or hearty enough for a good start to their day. Here are some of the things we have been eating instead.

Muesli- (pictured above with rainier cherries & walnuts)- This is something my mom always made for us with whatever fresh fruit we had.
You just put raw oats in a bowl, add milk, fresh fruit, and nuts. Then eat it. You can let it soak for a couple of minutes to soften the oats, but we like to eat it right away.
Some of my favorite combinations- fresh peaches, pecans and a little bit of brown sugar
shredded apple with cinnamon & almonds
Recipe for Strawberry Pancakes
* I used low-fat buttermilk instead of milk and 1 Tbls olive oil instead of melted butter

Banana-Peanut Butter Breakfast Pizza- mash a ripe banana with a couple Tbls of peanut butter. Spread it on a tortilla. Sprinkle with fresh fruit. Cut into slices
Hot cereal with different grains- Oatmeal, brown rice, quinoa, amaranth (amaranth pictured above with fresh sweet cherries & cashews)
Whole Wheat Toast, Egg & Veggie Scramble- Saute some veggies (I used bell peppers & spinach). Scramble eggs (I added fresh thyme). Make whole wheat toast. Cut the toast and add the veggies/eggs. Eat


Smoothies- I keep frozen banana slices in the freezer and then add blueberries, strawberries, peaches or whatever fruit we have & a little milk. You can also add flaxseed meal, nut butter, or a handful of spinach to up the nutrition level.

Whole grain/wheat toast/english muffin/tortilla with nut butter and fresh fruit or whole fruit spread- I really like Crofter's Superfruit Spread and Simply Fruit

hard boiled egg

breakfast sandwich or wrap- with english muffin, toast, or tortilla, eggs and sometimes turkey sausage & veggies

apple with almond/ peanut butter

Breakfast Banana Split

egg in the microwave- it only takes about 38 seconds to cook an egg just right

fresh fruit, granola & yogurt

muffins (make a double batch and freeze some- they microwave great)

top your waffles and/or pancakes with natural applesauce & nut butter/fruit

For other breakfast ideas check out the Breakfast recipes I have posted in the past.

This morning I made Quick Cinnamon Biscuits for the first day of school as a special treat, using about 1 cup of half & half instead of the heavy cream.

I'm thinking of making a schedule for school days, so I know exactly what I am making for breakfast each day. For example- Monday- hot cereal w/ fruit & nuts, Tuesday-egg based breakfast, Wednesday-smoothie or yogurt/fruit, egg or toast on the side, Thursday- muffins, pancakes or waffles, Friday- hot cereal.

What is your favorite go-to breakfast? What other breakfast ideas do you have?


Today is the last day to enter my giveaway, so head over& comment to get some free stuff!

Oaty Rhubarb Streusel Bars & Blackberry Crumb Bars

When I am asked to provide dessert for something in the summer, I always think of desserts that include fruit. I decided on these 2 quick and easy fruit bars which showcase blackberries and rhubarb.

A couple of weeks ago I bought a large amount of rhubarb, because I knew it wouldn't be available much longer. I brought it home and chopped it, so that I could put in it in the freezer and use it later.

I used some of the rhubarb in these Oaty Rhubarb Streusel Bars. The base is a basic oatmeal crust/crumble, of which some is reserved to be the crumbs on top. The base is baked for a little while and then the rhubarb is added. The rest of the crust is sprinkled on top and then a ginger icing and crystallized ginger are sprinkled on top. These bars turned out looking so delicious.
I didn't get to taste one, but there weren't any leftovers, so I can only assume they were great.

The Blackberry Crumb Bars had a cake-like base, then the blackberries were placed on top and a separate streusel was sprinkled on top.
These were a little bit more difficult to cut, so my kids and a friend were able to sample one of the pieces that fell apart. They said it was delicious. My kids were begging for more, but the rest had to be whisked away!
If you are looking for an easy fruit cake/cookie streusel bar, try one of these!


Recipe for Oaty Rhubarb Streusel Bars



Recipe for Blackberry Crumb Bars

Strawberry Mango Oatmeal Almond Muffins

It has been almost 2 months since my family came to visit from Utah, but I still have some of the recipes that I made when they were here to post.

My brother was begging me to make him muffins one morning and kept on coming up with all these crazy ingredient combinations.
I can't remember all of them but he wanted something like this: berry-oat-mango-applesauce-whole wheat-banana-nut muffins.

I remembered that we had leftover mango sauce from his birthday, so I decided to incorporate that into the muffins. Somehow I found a muffin recipe that included strawberries and a few other things and started messing around with it. I added the mango sauce, some whole wheat flour, oats, almonds- you name it and it was probably added to the batter.

The good news is that these muffins turned out tasting great. My brother was very pleased. Healthy tasting, not too sweet, but still with a great flavor and texture.

I wish he was here today so I could bake him more muffins. Nothing beats a teenage boy when you have baked goods to get rid of.

Strawberry Mango Oatmeal Almond Muffins heavily adapted from Cooks.com

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup quick oats

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 large egg

1 egg white

2 Tablespoons canola oil

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup chopped fresh strawberries

1 cup mango puree (I used the leftover mango sauce from this recipe)

1 Tbls granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

sliced almonds

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Grease and flour a 12-cup muffin tin or line with paper liners.
2. In bowl, combine flours, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt; make a well in center and set aside.
3. In separate bowl, beat together buttermilk, egg, and egg white. Add canola oil, vanilla, and almond extract and beat well. Stir buttermilk mixture, strawberries and mango puree into well in flour mixture, just until moistened.
4. Fill prepared muffin tin 3/4 full. Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over muffins. Sprinkle sliced almonds over top and lightly press them into the batter.
5. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until muffins test done. Cool in pan on wire rack.

Chewy Oatmeal Cookie/Granola Bars

This month for Secret Baker, we had a healthy theme. We were encouraged to bake something a little bit healthier than usual to send in the mail.
I went to my King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Cookbook to find a recipe.

I decided to turn the Chewy Oatmeal Cookie recipe into bar cookies and made some changes with the add-ins so the finished product would be kind of like a granola bar.
This recipe contains whole wheat flour and old-fashioned oats for the whole grains.
I decided to use dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, chopped pecans, and chocolate chips as my add-ins.
I also subbed in honey, instead of using dark corn syrup, simply because I didn't have any dark corn syrup.

I put the batter in a 9x13-inch baking pan and estimated the baking time. I went with 25 minutes and when I pulled them out of the oven, they looked done.

I let them cool, and then cut them into bars. I sent 1/2 to my Secret Baker recipient and half to my teenage brother, who adores oats more than almost anything.

I didn't try a single bite of these! ( Part of my goal for 10in10 is to eat less sugar and I am doing really well at not sampling baked goods! Yay!)
I just hoped for the best.

My brother LOVED these. And the SB person I sent them to, said they were really good.

I also recieved some goodies from Leslie, who blogs over at Lethally Delicious.
She sent me The Barefoot Contessa's (Ina Garten) Granola Bars and Fruit and Nut Squares from Alice Medrich's Cookies and Brownies. Here is a similar recipe.
Both of these treats were really delicious!
Thanks Leslie!


Chewy Oatmeal Cookie/Granola Bars adapted from King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Baking

3/4th cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups packed light or dark brown sugar
3 Tbls dark corn syrup (I used honey)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsps ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 Tbls cider vinegar
1 Tbls vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 1/3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/4 cups traditional whole wheat flour
2 cups dried fruit: diced dried apples, chopped dates, dried cranberries, raisins, chopped dried apricots, or dried fruit of your choice (I used 1 cup dried cranberries, 1/2 cup sunflower seeds and 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips)
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (I used 3/4 cup chopped pecans and 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets or line with parchment paper.

Cream the butter, sugar, corn syrup, baking soda, baking powder, salt, spices, vinegar, and vanilla. Beat in the egg. Add the oats, flour, dried fruit and nuts, and stir to combine.
Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets.

Bake the cookies, reversing the pans midway through, (top to bottom, bottom to top), until they're beginning to brown around the edges but are still soft in the center, 14 minutes. Remove them from the oven and transfer to a rack to cool.

* I spread the batter in a 9*13 inch baking pan and baked them for 25 minutes.