Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bars

I have been working on getting my kids old clothes priced and ready to sell at our resale. It is taking longer than I thought! It always does, doesn't it? I was getting kind of bored doing it so I just had to go to the kitchen and make something.

I've been wanting to try a bar like the Larabar. My favorite one is the chocolate chip peanut butter. I actually had the ingredients in the pantry for a couple weeks but didn't get around to making them. I did a quick search and decided on this one.

I doubled this recipe and will try freezing some since it makes 24 bars. I won't be able to go back to buying bars when I can make them for so little.

The verdict? I love these! I liked them better than the larabar because this one has more peanuts and more of a peanut flavor, which I love. The only thing I might change is decreasing the amount of peanuts only because the next day, they tended to break easy and fall apart some. There wasn't enough of the dates to hold it together really well. But that really isn't much of a problem to me. I love the peanut taste of them. My husband liked them and the kids asked for more. They are a hit! Now I'm going to want to try other flavors!

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bars
from gluten-free-blog

2 cups peanuts (if unsalted, add a pinch or two of salt)
10 oz (about 2 cups) seedless dates (the moist kind)
4 oz dark chocolate

Add peanuts and chocolate to a food processor. Process until it looks not much bigger than breadcrumbs. Add the dates and process until dates are the same size as the rest. You may have to stir it every once in a while since it will clump up.

Line a 9x13" glass pan with parchment paper or wax paper. Press the mixture into the pan. Use the bottom of a glass to press down and smooth out. Refrigerate an hour then cut into 24 pieces (4 rows by 6 rows). Place in an air tight container. These can also be frozen.

  

Cheesy Broccoli Potato Soup with Tiny Meatballs

The other day I was thinking why don't I ever use the broccoli stems for anything. I'm paying for them and then I throw them away. It doesn't make sense. Lately, I have been eating the tops with dip for my lunches so I had extra stems. I also had some potatoes to use up so I went looking for a broccoli/ potato soup recipe. I couldn't find much and didn't really like the ones I saw. So I created this one that also has tiny turky meatballs in it. My family really likes this soup. The only complaint was that in my original recipe, there wasn't enough meatballs. So I added more in this recipe. My daughter just ate the meatballs and was done. My son wouldn't try it because he doesn't like potatoes unless they are french fries! Toddlers are so particular. My husband and I really liked it! Anyway, I hope you like this one.

Cheesy Broccoli Potato Soup with Tiny Meatballs

2 tsp. canola oil
½ cup onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 ½ lbs. potatoes, diced
¾ lbs. broccoli stems, diced
1 can Cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 – 20 oz. package of lean ground turkey
¾ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. cayenne
1 tsp. dried basil
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
½ cup heavy cream

Heat oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute while stirring. Pour in broth and water. Bring to a boil. Add potatoes, broccoli and beans. Return to a boil and cook for 10 minutes or until vegetables are fork tender.

Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, combine turkey, ¾ tsp salt, cayenne, and basil. Work the spices through the turkey. Form the turkey into  1 teaspoon size meatballs and set aside.

When the potatoes and broccoli are fork tender, remove from heat. Blend with an immersion blender until at least ¾ of the soup is pureed. This will easily splatter so blend carefully. This can also be done by putting ¾ of the soup into a blender to puree and then return to dutch oven.

Return the soup to medium heat and add meatballs one at a time so they don’t stick together. Cook until they are no longer pink inside, about 6-7 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in ¼ tsp. salt, pepper, cheese, and cream. Stir until cheese is melted. Serves 8.

Granola

You can't have homemade yogurt without some homemade granola. I have tried several recipes and I have landed on this one as a favorite. I found the recipe on 100daysofrealfood.com. I changed few things in it for myself. I don't usually put any dried fruit in it but you could certainly do that after you bake it. I have also had this as a cereal with milk. It's really good that, too.

Granola

4 cups rolled oats
1 cup raw sliced almonds 
1 cup raw chopped walnuts 
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (I found this in the organic section)
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup raw hulled sesame seeds
2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp grated or ground nutmeg
6 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/3 cup honey
3 Tbsp black strap molasses
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 250 F degrees. Line a jellyroll baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with oil and set aside. Place the oats, almonds, walnuts, coconut, seeds and spices in a large mixing bowl and toss to combine. Heat the butter, molasses, and honey together in a small saucepan over low heat until the butter melts. Stir in sea salt and vanilla. Remove from the heat. Pour the hot liquids over the dry ingredients and stir until well mixed. Place the granola onto the prepared pan and press firmly with a spatula to create an even layer. Bake until the granola is firm to the touch and a deep golden brown, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. (The granola will become crisper as it cools.) Cool completely in the pan, then lift an edge of parchment or use a fork to break into pieces. It will keep for a couple weeks in an air tight container at room temperature.

 

Homemade Yogurt

I have been making my own yogurt for a while now after my sister starting doing it. I got interested in it after I wasn't able to find a yogurt that my family liked and wasn't full of sugar or artificial stuff. And some of those yummy ones come in only small sizes and are expensive to buy for the whole family. I estimate that my yogurt is about 40-60 cents a jar, depending on the ingredients I use. I always use organic milk and yogurt starter. So it would be even less if you didn't use organic.

I have seen different methods of making yogurt with a slow cooker or heating pads. I haven't tried any of those. I decided that I would get a yogurt maker that has individual jars. I also bought an extra set of jars so I can make another batch before the first batch was gone. My yogurt maker wasn't very expensive and you don't have to watch the temperature carefully for hours. You just set it and when the time is up, take it out and put it in the frig. It's actually pretty easy! I'm just not convinced that it is easy to keep the temperature in the correct range with the other methods for 7-9 hours but then again, I haven't tried it.

This is the yogurt maker that I bought and I really like it. My sister has a similar one. The only difference is that her's turns off automatically and on mine, I have to turn it off manually. But I have to put the yogurt in the frig anyway, so i'm not bothered by turning it off myself. We both like having an extra set of the jars, too. If you are going to look into buying any of these, you might want to do a search to find the best price. I didn't do that here. I just wanted to show what I have used and liked.

So now that you have the equipment, we will go on to the recipe. I got The Yogurt Bible by Pat Crocker from the library to learn how to make it and then tried several recipes. Between me and my sister, we haven't had any luck with any of the flavored ones. We liked only the plain, vanilla and fruit on the bottom. I only make vanilla now and add fruit or granola when we eat it.

One very important thing is that every utensil/jar/pot that you use to make yogurt has to be very clean. If you get any bad bacteria in it, that will grow just like the good bacteria. We don't want to get anyone sick!

Milk - I usually use 2% but I have started using whole milk the last couple times. You can use whole milk and not have to add any extra powdered milk and still get a thicker yogurt. With any of the lower fat milks, you may want to add the powdered milk to make it thicker if that is what you are used to. It will also add extra protein. If you like thinner yogurt, simply don't add the powdered milk. (When we were in china, the yogurt that we had there was a drinkable yogurt and it was really good. They just stick a straw in the top and drink it!) The recipe below has the powdered milk in it but just note that you can leave it out.

Sweeteners - My favorite to use is maple syrup but I usually use agave. You can also use honey, corn syrup or other liquid sweetener. You can leave this out if you wish.

Vanilla -  I have come to the conclusion that the yogurt will be as good as the vanilla that is used. I love to use vanilla paste. It has the best flavor but is also expensive. You can't buy it just anywhere either. I usually use the fake flavoring (gasp! Don't tell my sister! She just made me some vanilla extract for christmas so maybe i'll try that). If you use a good extract, it will taste good. Leave this out if you want plain flavor.

 

Homemade Vanilla Yogurt

4 cups milk

1/3 cup powdered milk (leave out if using whole milk)

scant 1/4 cup sweetener of choice (plus or minus depending on your tastes)

1 T vanilla extract or vanilla paste

3 T organic live culture yogurt

In a saucepan, heat milk to scalding over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. It will start to form bubbles along the outside and steam a little. The temperature should reach 170 F.

Remove from heat and stir in powdered milk. Let cool to about 130 F. You can let it cool on the stove top, which will take a while, or you can fill your sink with some cool water and put your saucepan right in the sink. Watch the temperature carefully since it will cool fast. Stir occasionally while it is sitting in the sink and pull out the pan when it gets to about 130 F. Stir in the vanilla and sweetener. By this time, your cooled milk should be between 110 and 120. If it's too hot let it cool to below 120 before moving on. Place the 3 T of yogurt starter in a separate bowl and add a half cup of the warm milk. Stir gently until combined. Add starter into the saucepan of cooled milk and stir again. Pour mixture into yogurt jars and place in yogurt maker. Follow the manufactures guidlines to set the timer. It should be between 8 and 12 hours. I let mine go for 9 hours. Place lids on jars and store in refrigerator. They will be ready to eat in the morning and will keep for a week before the benefits of the bacteria start to reduce.

This shows that on my maker, you put the notch that is on the lid on the time you want to take the yogurt out. This helps to remind you of the time to turn it off but there is no beeper so you'll have to remember to look at it. This one says I should take the yogurt out at 8:00.

Tips:

~ This recipe is for animals milk. I use cow's milk but goat or any other animal milk can be used. Other milks, such as rice, soy, almond, coconut, etc, will not transform into yogurt. The live cultures will die using my recipe. If you use goat's milk (I haven't tried this) you might have to add powdered milk to make it thicker if like thick yogurt.

~ You can add cooked or canned fruit or jam/preserves in the bottom of each jar for a fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt. I've had success with jam or preserves. Let the jam come to room temperature before adding them to the bottom of the jars.

~ Don't use fresh fruit. The enzymes and acid may cause curdling. Feel free to add fresh fruit right before you eat them and it's just as good!

~ Make a berry sauce by cooking fresh or frozen strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and raspberries in a small saucepan on medium heat for 10 minutes or so. Smash them with a potato masher. Store in refrigerator until ready to use. This is delicious in the yogurt or on pancakes.

~ If your yogurt turns out too runny, it could be that you killed the good bacteria if you added it when the milk was too hot. Or it could be that the bacteria didn't grow properly if you let the milk get too cool. When you add the starter and while it's fermenting, the mixture has to be and stay within the 110-120 degree window. If the milk mixture gets below 110 before you add the yogurt starter, just heat the milk up a little and then continue in adding the starter and put into the jars.

I thought that I would just write up a quick thing on making your own yogurt but this is turning into a long post! I hope it's not too confusing because I really like making yogurt and it's really not as hard as it appears. When I first started making this, I was a bit overwhelmed by it and the need to keep the temperature just right. But after I made it a few times, I had it memorized and just did it. You'll get the hang of it. After making it a while and having it turn out great, I did have a couple times when it was just runny. I think I let it cool down too much and the culture didn't grow. My problem was getting distracted while I was making it. You'll need to devote your attention to it until it's in the yogurt maker. It's not hard, just keep your eye on it until it's done! And it's always a good idea to test your thermometer every once in a while to see if it's working properly. It can be different every day depending on the weather.

Enjoy making it and let me know how it goes for you!