Homemade Granola Bars

I first saw the process of making homemade granola bars on Food Network one morning while making breakfast myself. Throughout my time eating more clean and maintaining a healthier lifestyle, I've learned that a lot of products we see on our shelves that claim that they are healthy and nutritious, are in fact not. What's hidden in the label is what goes unnoticed by the eye and also because those quick eat items seem like a good idea for when you're on the run.

I really have to owe the original idea and recipe to Food Network for this post, so here's the link to that recipe for Lolla Granola's original granola bar. These snack bars are seriously so easy to make and again, like everything else I've made and shared with you all thus far, they are easy to make your own! Use your favorite ingredients and you'll love this basic recipe so much more.

Add your old-fashioned rolled oats, raw almonds slivers, sunflower seeds, flaxseed meal, cinnamon and whatnot into a bowl and stir them together and pour them out on a dry sheet tray as pictured above. Toast these dry ingredients in the over for about 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees, keep a watchful eye as it may take a different amount of time for the cooking time. 

In the 10-15 minutes that those dry ingredients are toasting, we're going to add 2 tablespoons of coconut oil, a 1/2 cup of honey, and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla. We're going to boil this mixture at a medium heat for about 10 minutes and set aside so we can grab that toasty mixture. 

Unfortunately I don't have a Vine video or a picture of this next process, but we're going to pour that toasty mixture into a big bowl and then pour out our honey liquid slowly into the granola, folding the toasty mixture every morsel is covered. And then, after everything is folded together and covered in the honey, the mix is transferred in a loaf pan that is lined with parchment paper beforehand. Covering the top with a piece of parchment, you press down hard so that the mix is pressed firmly together and flattened (so that it won't fall apart when the mixture is set and ready to cut). After this mixture cools down a bit, stick the loaf pan in the fridge so that it can set. 

After the mix has been in the fridge and cooled down, here it is! Ready for cutting and then to fall in love with. Incredibly healthy for you and such a versatile recipe to just make in a kitchen that's stocked with all these healthy ingredients. These ingredients were things that I had in my kitchen. It's great to have all these counterparts handy like the organic rolled oats, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds. I can't wait to gather more ingredients to put into my granola bars. Next up- pistachios and dark chocolate?!

Ingredients:

Cooking Spray

2 cups of rolled oats

1/3 cup of sunflower seeds

1/4 cup of raw almonds

1/4 cup flaxseed meal

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup honey

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup dried cranberries

Quinoa Bowls

I'm a HUGE fan of entrees that have a lot of variety in textures, tastes, and colors. The quinoa bowl is one of those dishes that covers all of those bases for me. I got the idea to create this recipe on my own after spending a lunch date with one of my friends at a new healthy food joint in Boston that we both haven't been to before- Freshii.

If you're a local and you're curious as to where that is, it's right in the Financial District on High St. It's very cute, casual and modern. They have these menus which allow you to create your own bowls without thinking you don't want to be that guy listing out a buttload of ingredients you'd like to add to your order. Instead you just fill out the mini sheet and hand it over to the cashier. I ordered the quinoa bowl with added grilled salmon, sweet corn, beets, shredded carrot, broccoli, edamame and cucumber dill sauce with a bottle of raw coconut water just to try it out. I didn't really do a good job with choosing the right sauce for the ingredients (sort of tasted bland), but overall I liked the concept of Freshii and Boston needs more healthy quick eats like this.

And that is where my inspiration to recreate my own recipe had sprouted. I remember having a similar healthy dish from Life Alive (vegan restaurant in Cambridge) and the ingredients that they had used. One ingredient that particularly stuck out in my mind were the toasted marcona almonds. Unfortunately, I didn't have any of those so you can always improvise! In this case, I used slivered almonds I had at home and toasted them to the perfection. I think the toasty bite really made this dish.

First, you would have to prepare the quinoa. I cooked one cup of quinoa, and it's enough for 3-4 servings for myself. To the quinoa, I add salt and garlic powder for taste. In the meantime while that pot of quinoa is cooking, I would go ahead and toast the almonds and cook up the corn and the broccoli/cabbage medley. The corn I used were the frozen kernels, but if you have fresh corn on the cob on hand- the fresher the better! For the broccoli/shredded cabbage medley, I cooked it with a teaspoon and a half of sesame oil for taste. Carrots are the last to prepare and simply need to be shredded. Grilled chicken is one ingredient I always prepare an abundance of so I can include them in different recipes. It's a versatile lean protein that you can incorporate into any and every meal. I also like to add a huge spoonful of feta (I looooove cheeeese!) After all the preppings of the ingredients separately, spoon whatever amount of each ingredient on top of a bed of quinoa and the mix together so you can get a spoonful of everything with each bite.

Quinoa Bowl Recipe/Instructions: 

Step 1: Cook the quinoa (instructions are typically on the package) and set aside. 

Step 2: Toast the almonds. I would only toast for 4 minutes or keep an eye on it. 

Step 3: Take a head of broccoli and break it down to bite size pieces. Chop up and shred a half a small head of cabbage. Head up the pan to a medium heat and drizzle it with extra virgin olive oil. Toss in the veggies together. While they are cooking for about 2 minutes or so, spoon in a teaspoon and a half of sesame oil for taste. I would either wait another 8 minutes for it to cook thoroughly or keep an eye on it for the color change and then set aside. 

Step 4: Defrost and cook the sweet corn. Set aside. 

Step 5: Shred the carrots. 

Step 6: Put about 1 cup of quinoa into a bowl or however much you would like. And spoon in all the ingredients that you've prepped to your desire. I top it off by putting in feta cheese but you can certainly put whatever cheese you'd like on top. Mix it up, and chow down. And that's it!

This is again another recipe that you can really make your own, and that's the best part. You can definitely work your magic with your culinary skills and see what you can come up with! For my next quinoa bowl, I'm going to incorporate some dried cranberries and kale. If you guys come up with anything great from playing with this recipe, let me know! I'd love to hear.

First Post and ChocoNanaNutter Protein Muffins

Those that know me KNOW I love breakfast, and for that being my favorite meal while being the most important meal of the day comes hand in hand. Recently with becoming passionate about clean eating, I've learned about the several different substitutes and tricks that we could use while baking. One of my favorite tricks is making my own flour ..out of oats! Great whole grains turned into a baking staple. I make my oat flour from both organic steel cut oats and rolled oats.

And on that note, I said I would post a recipe for my Choco-Nana-Butter Protein Muffins the other day and the reason I took so long was because of this blog. I wanted it to be the intro to my new life project. Karmesan Cheese. I hope you all enjoy and I'd love any feedback! And last but not least, here is the recipe! 

DRY INGREDIENTS

1 cup of flour (made of steel cut oats, ground up using coffee grinder)

1 1/4 tsp of baking powder

1 tsp of Hershey's special dark cocoa powder

1/4 cup of flaxseed meal (I use Bob's Red Mill)
1 scoop of chocolate Whey powder (I use About Time, all natural!)

3 tablespoons of brown sugar

WET INGREDIENTS 

4 egg whites
4 tablespoons of plain Chobani

1 tablespoon of agave nectar

2 mashed bananas

1/3 cup of almond milk

Combine dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately. 

Then, mix wet ingredients in with the dry. When the ingredients are properly combined, spoon into muffin top pans or regular muffin pans. Bake at 350°F for 25-30min.

Top with peanut butter and enjoy!