Recipes GALORE!

There is another reason I want to blog. I want to "write" a cookbook. I did one before, "Megan's Tasty, Easy, Kid-Friendly Recipes" (or something to that effect) and have been gathering recipes for my 2nd edition. With the taking over of the yoga studio, that summer project is on the back burner. So, I thought I could start posting some of my recipes. My first is Megan's Granola Bars.

I have kind of developed this recipe as I go, so I am taking liberty to call them my own. I don't do much measuring with the add-ins, and really, you can add anything you have on hand. I think they are sooo tasty and my kids like them too. Another easy substitution is to skip adding the nuts during the first phase, and throw in a few handfuls of the nut/dried fruit mix you get at Costco. I used agave nectar. It is sweeter, so you use less.

Megan's Granola Bars

5 cups old-fashioned oats

3 Tb flax

Approx 3/4-1 cup (total) cup nuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, etc.

2 Tb canola oil

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 c. brown sugar

1/3 c. agave nectar or 1/2 c. honey

1 Tb vanilla

1 cup dried fruit (cherries, raisins, blueberries, etc)

3 Tb flax

1/2 to 3/4 c. chocolate chips, or 1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate

Heat oven to 350. Stir together oats, nuts, flax, oil and salt. Spread evenly in 15 X 10 rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 18 min., stirring occasionally. Remove mixture to a large bowl, Line same baking sheet with non-stick foil (and it helps to spray with Pam). Lower oven temp to 300. Combine brown sugar and honey/agave in sm. saucepan and cook, over med., stirring often until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, add vanilla. Add dried fruit and chocolate to oat mixture. Pour sugar mixture over top and stir well. Spread mixture into pan. Bake for approx. 20-25 minutes. I have underbaked and they were chewy, overbaked and they were crunchy - liked them both.

My latest food craze seems to be trying to avoid preservatives. The last two summers I was all about channeling my inner Barbara Kingsolver as I attempted to incorporate more and more local foods into our diet. It is pretty easy in Yakima. This summer I joined a CSA, since I don't always make it the 2 miles to the Farmer's Market (although I will this year since I added a Sunday a.m. yoga class) and they deliver. So, this summer I am trying to make more of my own foods in an attempt to avoid preservatives - I have no idea why. I made ricotta cheese last week and it was about the easiest thing one can ever make. I would include the recipe, but it is so damn easy, just go online. It does involves a lot of stirring, but you only need milk, and buttermilk or lemon. It was so tasty. The other thing we have enjoyed making is bagels. The girls can actually "make the snakes" and there are enough breaks in between the phases, you can do other things as well. The recipe I use is bagels (so cool, I just learned how to do that!!).

Last week I ate my homemade rice and beans four times. Antojitos, a Mexican restaurant right down the street, sells a dozen tortillas for $3. They are so unbelievably good! Here is the link to the Spanish rice. For the beans, I literally follow the directions on the back of a bag of dried pintos. To mash, I add garlic, few TB oil, and LOTs of salt. Delish! The girls had the trots all week so they lived on toast, cheese tortillas, and applesauce (yes, I do make my own applesauce and luckily I had a few containers in the freezer. How can you NOT make your own applesauce when you have an apple orchard? (5/16: trot update is still not good. Gave them Immodium for the first time today. )

Today's project was fudgesicles. Easy and I am writing as they are freezing. Ellie is getting to be a good stir-er. While the girls are sleeping, she is writing a story. Here it is, unedited and all: "On a cold saturday morninge me and my dog went on a walk we saw a brd siting on a branch an then I saw a bakree and i got 5 donats an I went home." ellie

Lastly, most Sunday's I make hummus. I originally followed a recipe from Barefoot Contessa, but I have made it my own.

Megan's Hummus

1 lemon, squeezed

1 can garbanzo beans, liquid saved

3-4 cloves garlic

3-4 TB tahini

1-2 Tb olive oil

2 Tb olive oil

1 tsp salt

dash of tabasco

2-3 Tb bean liquid

Process all ingredients in the food processor until smooth.

The reason my blog has been so successful is because I have to copy and edit 350 emails into Constant Contact, an email marketing program I am using for the studio. It is very tedious and every time I sit down to do it, I think of other things I enjoy more, like apparently, blogging.