Granola Bars

These are so yummy. I love making granola and granola bars at home because I can control the quality of the ingredients and the balance of sweetness.

This is totally a customizable recipe. My personal favorite mix-ins are dried cranberries, finely chopped almonds and white chocolate-semi sweet swirled chips. But you can use whatever you like- raisins, dark chocolate, pecans, macadamia nuts, white chocolate....

Preheat oven to 275

2 eggs
3/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 pinch nutmeg
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cup mix ins

Combine eggs, oil, honey, sugars, salt, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix in flour. Stir in oats and mix ins.

Spread dough into a parchment paper (or aluminum foil) lined 13x9 pan. The easiest way to press the dough in is to wet your fingers with a little tap water and spread it around. Bake for 45 minutes on the top rack.

Allow to cool completely before cutting.

All Purpose Red Sauce

This is my favorite "gravy" as the Italians call it. My grandma cans tomatoes from her garden and I use them to make this sauce. I wish everyone had a grandma like mine, but I know that's not the case :) I highly recommend to use fresh tomatoes, but ONLY when they're in season. Otherwise, whole canned tomatoes are the best option. Buy the regular sodium kind, I've never had good luck with low sodium canned tomatoes.

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 large sweet yellow onion, diced
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons Italian seasoning blend
2 teaspoons Oregano
1- 18 ounce can tomato paste
3- 29 ounce cans whole tomatoes (OR 12 cups chopped fresh tomatoes)
1 cup water
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar

In a large stock pot, saute the onions, garlic, salt and pepper in the olive oil until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the seasoning and oregano, cook until fragrant. Add tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Add tomatoes, water, vinegar and sugar.

Simmer on low for 2-4 hours (the longer the better. I usually simmer for 2 hours with the pot covered and 2 with the lid off.

Puree sauce in batches in a blender. Season with additional salt and sugar to your taste

You can freeze this sauce in a plastic bag and it keeps really well.

To finish sauce for other dishes:
A little more sugar makes it perfect for pizza.
Red pepper flakes are good in sauce for spaghetti and chicken for a spicy sauce.
Fresh chopped basil for pasta.
Blend in some roasted red peppers for a great sauce for stuffed shells.

Vegetable and Chicken Lasagna

Just make it- then you'll understand

5 cups All Purpose Red Sauce (written in recipe above this post), or your favorite tomato sauce
1 large eggplant, peeled and sliced in 1/4 inch disks
4 small organic Zucchini (best quality you can get-worth the $), sliced into 1/4 inch disks
1 13.5 ounce package whole wheat lasagna noodles, cooked for 10 minutes and drained
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 1/4 cup shredded whole milk mozzarella cheese
1 batch of "Lasagna Bechamel Filling" (below)

Lasagna Bechamel Filling:
12 ounces crimini mushrooms, diced
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup flour
2 cups half and half (you can use whole milk or fat free half and half if you want to cut a couple calories)
8 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cup shredded whole milk mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1 pinch of nutmeg
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked and shredded
1 small box frozen spinach, defrosted and water squeeezed out

Cook mushrooms in butter and olive oil for 2 minutes. Add flour and cook for one minute. Add half and half slowly. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Add cream cheese, mozzarella and parmesan, melt. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg, chicken and spinach.

Building the lasagna:

I'm just going to write this in how I build the layers, from the bottom to the top.

13x9 pan
1 cup red sauce
4 lasagna noodles
2 cups bechamel filling
1/2 of the sliced zucchini
1 cup red sauce
4 lasagna noodles
2 cups bechamel filling
Eggplant slices
1 cup red sauce
4 lasagna noodles
2 cups bechamel filling
1/2 of the zucchini
1 cup red sauce
4 lasagna noodles
1 cup red sauce
1 1/4 cup mozzarella
1/4 cup parmesan

Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes if baking just after assembling. 40-50 if from the fridge. The lasagna will be almost bursting out of the pan, so it's safer to bake it on a baking sheet or place a baking sheet on the rack below to prevent oven messes. Mine usually bubbles over a teeny tiny bit in one corner.

For best slicing and removing results, allow lasagna to rest for 10 minutes before cutting.

I always make a big lasagna because it can be frozen. Individual portions can be placed in ziplocks and frozen for a quick lunch or dinner down the road when you don't feel like cooking :)

Chicken, Veggies, and Cornbread Dumplings

The way I make Chicken and Dumplings is a little different than what you might be used to, but I love to cover the chicken with a flat layer of dumpling dough and cook the whole thing together so the dumplings steam on top of the chicken.

1/2 yellow onion, small diced
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small cubes
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/2 teaspoon dry oregano
1/2 teaspoon dry thyme
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup all purpose flour
4 cups chicken stock
1 pound frozen mixed vegetables (corn, carrots, green beans and peas)

Sautee the chicken and onion in the olive oil until chicken turns white. Season with salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, oregano, thyme and garlic. Cook until fragrant. Stir in flour and cook for one minute. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add vegetables, then cover with dumpling dough.

For the Dumplings:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup whole milk

Whisk flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder. Whisk in oil, egg, honey and milk until combined. Pour on top of the chicken and cover. Cook on low for 12 minutes.

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream

This is my favorite chocolate cake. I try to put a little coffee in whatever I do with chocolate because it does such amazing things for chocolate. You can't taste the coffee taste but it brings out the chocolate flavor. If you don't like or don't have coffee, just replace it with hot water.

The buttercream recipe reads to incorporate individual taste in stiffness of the frosting. For a softer frosting, you'll want to be on the low end of the sugar and the high end of the half and half. For a stiffer frosting, more sugar and less half and half.

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup canola oil
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup hot coffee
1/2 cup hot water

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

Whisk in the oil, eggs, vanilla and milk. Whisk in the coffee and water, carefully. Batter will be runny.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes in 8'' round pans.

Cool for 10 minutes, then remove the cakes from the pans and allow them to cool on a wire rack until cooled completely.

Slice cakes in half and fill with buttercream.

For the butter cream

1 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 cup semisweet chocolate, (6 ounces) melted
4-6 tablespoons half and half
3 1/2 - 4 cups powdered sugar

Beat butter and shortening until soft. Add vanilla, cocoa powder and chocolate. Add half of the powdered sugar and mix, then half of the half and half. Then add the remaining sugar and half and half.

Soft Biscuits

Preheat oven to 425

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
3/4 cup buttermilk, half and half, or heavy cream

Combine all dry ingredients. Using a pastry cutter, cut butter into dry mix until butter is the size of peas. Mix in milk until combined.

On a well floured surface, pat dough flat. Fold the dough over and beat it with a rolling pin until it's 1/2 inch thick. Do this a dozen times. Roll dough 1/2 thick and cut into desired size.

Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet at 425 for 15-20 minutes.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

My favorite hummus. Pairs well with all sorts of stuff and is great on sandwiches.
Tahini paste can be pricey, but if you buy a big jar it keeps forever and you only use a small amount at a time. Also, I usually buy roasted red peppers in a jar. They're cheaper than doing it yourself and all the hard work is done. It also helps the dip come together in a snap. A 16 ounce jar usually has 2 whole peppers in it.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons garlic, minced (2-3 cloves)
1 16 ounce can chickpeas, drained and liquid reserved
2 tablespoons tahini paste
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
The juice from 1/2 a lemon
1 roasted red pepper

Heat olive oil and garlic in a saucepan until fragrant.
Add garlic and oil to a food processor with remaining ingredients.
Add reserved liquid from chickpeas until desired consistency is reached. I usually use 2-3 tablespoons.
Chill and serve.

For some yummy homemade bagel chips, slice a bagel into disks and toss in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of melted butter, 1 minced garlic clove, 1/4 teaspoon of thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Toast at 425 for 5-7 minutes. Sprinkle hot bagel chips with 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese for an extra yummy touch.