Oatmeal Breakfast Bars Recipe

by | Dec 26, 2014

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These delicious oatmeal breakfast bars are gluten free with cherries and almonds, but you can add other fruit of your choice to make these extra special for your family. That’s what is so wonderful about this recipe, this is only the beginning, not necessarily the end result.

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup dried cherries or dried fruit of your choice
  • 1/4 cup sliced almonds
  • 1 & 1/2 cups oats
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 1/4 cup peanut butter or nut butter of your choice
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg white
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 scoops whey vanilla protein powder

Directions:

  1. Heat oven to 350
  2. Mix vanilla, peanut butter, honey and egg.
  3. Mix oats, almonds and cherries.
  4. Mix together the wet and dry ingredients.
  5. Press mixture into a foil lined pan.
  6. Bake 15 minute until golden.
  7. Cool before cutting into bars.

Now you have an easy nutritional breakfast or anytime treat for your family. This recipe makes approximately 16 servings.

 

Ruldolph Pancakes Recipe

by | Dec 5, 2014

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Image Compliments of http://iheartnaptime.net

I absolutely fell in love with these Ruldolph pancakes. They’re a real hit with kids and adults, too. The thing with pancakes is that they’re not only for breakfast. They’re great for brunch, lunch and dinner. A friend of mine was watching her grandchildren one afternoon. It was snowing outside. Her daughter and son-in-law were doing their Christmas shopping . . . she watched the clock approaching the dinner hour. The children were getting hungry. She decided to make these great Ruldolph pancakes for the kids. By the time they were ready, her daughter and son-in-law arrived. She thought she’d make regular pancakes for them . . . wrong, they wanted Ruldolph pancakes! Even Grandpa wanted what the kids were eating.

Now, for the recipe, there are many techniques people use to create designs for their pancakes. It’s all about control and getting the right thickness. The condiment squeeze bottles seem to work nicely for this. Also a measuring cup with a pouring spout.

  1.  Prepare the bacon of your choice either on the stove or in the microwave.
  2. Prepare your favorite pancake mix.
  3. In the pan make an elongated oval shape for the face.
  4. Make the oval ear shapes at the top.
  5. Cook to a nice golden color.
  6. Get it out of the pan, carefully and put it on a plate.
  7. You can either continue the process over and over again to have lots of these delicious pancakes or go to Step 8 to decorate Rudolph.
  8. You’re now ready to make Ruldolph come alive by adding a cherry for the nose, cut a large marshmallow in half for the eyes with a chocolate chip placed towards the bottom . . . You may be able to use banana slices for the “whites of the eyes” . . . then set the bacon antlers in place on top of the head between the ears.

It’s always fun to see the reaction of the “kids” when they’re brought to the table.

I know these are Rudolph, but you may have the other reindeer, too, with Whopper candies for the nose. And, instead of the cherry you could use a strawberry or red grape. 

Have fun with these and come up with your own variations.

Cinnamon Almonds Recipe

by | Nov 16, 2014

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You’re going to make these Sugar and Cinnamon Almonds in a slow cooker. They take about 3 to 4 hours to cook with stirring every 20 to 30 minutes or so. They are going to smell yummy and so will your whole house. Don’t be surprised to have neighbors wandering over to see what you’re doing.

Are you ready to get started?

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of Granulated Sugar
  • 1 cup of Brown Sugar
  • 3  tablespoons of Ground Cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon of Salt
  • 1 Egg White
  • 2 teaspoons of Vanilla
  • 3 cups Almonds
  • 1/8 cup of water

Directions:

  1. Get out a large bowl and mix the sugars, cinnamon and salt together.
  2. Get out another bowl and a whisk. You’re going to mix together the egg white and the vanilla until frothy.
  3. Add the almonds and coat them thoroughly with the frothy mixture.
  4. Get out the slow cooker and spray it with cooking spray. This mixture is going to sticky.
  5. Add the cinnamon, sugar and salt mixture to the almonds.
  6. Put it all in the slow cooker and turn it to low.
  7. Stir until the cinnamon sugar mixture is coating the almonds well.
  8. Depending upon your slower cooker, it should cook for about 3 to 4 hours. You’ll want to stir every 20 minutes or so.
  9. After the almonds have cooked for about 2 hours, add 1/8 cup of water into the slow cooker and stir well. This helps the mixture harden and become crunchy.
  10. When your almonds are done, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the coated almonds out to cool. The almonds are going to be sticky so carefully separate them. You don’t want almond clumps, but coated individual  almonds.

These are absolutely delicious and make wonderful gifts.

Easy No Bake Pilgrim Hat Dessert

by | Nov 15, 2014

I’m into easy, no-bake recipes.

Well, that a definite laugh to call this a recipe.

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What you see is what it is!

  1. Buy a bag or box of Oreo cookies
  2. Buy some mini peanut butter cups
  3. Buy square sprinkles or get some red hots
  4. You’ll also need chocolate frosting

Now, let’s assemble this simple no-bake Pilgrim Hat:

  1. Get out an Oreo cookie.
  2. You may want to either open up the Oreo cookie and scrape out the white frosting in the center and use just the one cookie portion for the hat brim OR you can scrape out the white frosting and replace with chocolate frosting OR cover the white frosting with a bit of chocolate frosting and roll in some chocolate sprinkles OR any other clever thing you can think of.
  3. Put a bit of chocolate frosting on the top of the peanut butter cup and place it in the center top of the oreo cookie.
  4. Find a little square candy sprinkle to use for the hat decoration or use a red hot. Secure in place with a dab of chocolate frosting.

There you have a clever Pilgrim Hat and you didn’t bake a thing. It will be a lovely dessert everyone will love and think you’re so clever!

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Apple Apple Pie Recipe

by | Oct 27, 2014

I absolutely love, love, love apple pie!

I got hooked on using a small scoop to empty out an apple, then seeing what I could put inside.

I liked the idea of having single serving items. Similar to stuffed peppers. It seemed as though those were made just for me. I know it seems silly, but there is something about it that seemed special. Now, with these Apple Apple Pies I am in heaven.

I do love baked apples, but baked apples with a top crust . . . heaven! And what is inside is the stuff of a great apple pie. This is a great treat you can serve any time, but wouldn’t it be something special for Thanksgiving! You can add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top to make this absolutely delicious.

I don’t know about you, but baking an apple pie and cutting into it, then saving the left-overs in the pie tin or on a plate all wrapped up looks kind of sad. These Apple Apple Pies are single serving or you can half them with a friend and the remaining ones are still intact and inviting.

Well, let’s see how to make this delicious apple pie. You’ll need:

  • 4 to 6 Granny Smith Apples that can stand upright on their own. You’re making individual pies here and want them to stand up straight and tall to impress your guests.
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • You can make your own pie crust or buy it already made

Now, let’s put these pie together:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
  2. Wash your apples. Pat dry with a cloth or paper towel.
  3. Cut the tops off the apples and discard.
  4. Carefully get out the seeds and husks or whatever the unappealing stuff that makes up the core of the apple. You want to be careful so you don’t damage the outside of the apple.
  5. You can use a spoon, melon baller or small scoop to dig out the inside of the apple. You’re going to want to chop this up and use it for your pie filling. Now, there is a fine art to this. You need to go slowly and carefully. Or if this is too much for you, dig it out however you choose and then cut up another apple or two to add to the filling. Or buy the canned apple pie filling in the store. There are always alternatives. That can be our secret.
  6. In a bowl, you’re going to put your apple pieces and mix up the sugars and cinnamon. You can make adjustments to the ingredients to taste.
  7. Fill up your hollowed out apples with the apple pie filling.
  8. Roll out your dough. Cut in 1/4 wide strips and make a lattice work pattern over the top of each apple.
  9. Put the apples in a 8″ x 8″ pan. You want to add water to over the bottom of the pan.
  10. Cover with foil and back for about 20 to 25 minutes.
  11. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until the apple filling is soft and the crust is a nice golden brown.
  12. Let cool before serving. I do like to add a scoop of vanilla ice cream, but some people may want a hunk of cheddar cheese to go with their apple apple pie. However you decide to serve it, it will be delicious.

There you go! Something different and very eye appealing.