Homemade Granola Bars

Last year I made granola bars as Christmas gifts for most of my family and friends. Everyone loved them so I'm doing it again this year. Like most foods, making granola bars from scratch creates a healthier version than popular pre-made brands. This year I've slightly altered my recipe and created nutrient fact panels.

Here's the basic recipe I've been using:
Recipe:
8x8 pan
1½ cup Oats
½ cup Brown Rice Syrup
1 cup Crunchy (nuts, graham crackers etc.)
½ cup Sweet (chocolate, marshmallows, dried fruit etc.)
½ cup Other (pumpkin seeds, sesame sticks, cereal flakes, etc.)
Optional tablespoon of peanut butter, coconut oil, etc
Optional teaspoon vanilla extract, cinnamon, cocoa powder etc

Makes 8-10 bars

Bars stay fresh for two weeks.

1. Preheat oven to 325F
2. Mix ingredients in a bowl
3. Lightly grease pan before pouring in the granola mix. Distribute evenly
4. Bake for 20-30 minutes
5. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting

For Christmas 2014, I made flavors like Cranberry-Walnut-Pumpkin Seed, Dark Chocolate-Walnut-Cranberry, Peanut butter-Chocolate chip, Smores (chocolate chips, marshmallows and graham crackers), and Dark Chocolate-Coconut-Cashew. In my original post, I explained the health benefits of some of the ingredients I chose. 

For Christmas 2015, I mixed up the ingredients creating flavors like teddy-graham smores, cranberry-almond-pumpkin seed, double nut-chocolate chip, and dark chocolate-walnut-cranberry. This year I used the USDA super-tracker site to get nutrient information and a free label generator from onlinelabels.com to create nutrient fact panels for my bars.

Almond-Cranberry-Pumpkin Seed Bars:


















Double Nut-Chocolate Chip Bars:

Teddy Graham Smores Bars:

When comparing my bars to popular brands like Quakers, Nature Valley and Special K bars, I noticed that these brands seem to determine the bar size based on the amount that will equal 100 calories. My bars are much larger (about 1 inch by 4 inches) than Quaker or special k bars. They are closest to the size of a nature valley bar but a bit thicker.

While my bars contain more calories than these brands, they also contain more protein, dietary fiber, and minerals like calcium and iron. Except for my smores bars, I used all organic ingredients containing no soy or corn syrup. (I used teddy grahams and marshmallows in the smores that did contain these ingredients and were not organic.) 

My fruit, nut and seed bars are a healthy alternative to more processed products available today. Pumpkin seeds, cranberries, walnuts, almonds, cashews and peanut butter are healthy snack options that provide a variety of nutritional benefits. 

Olive Hummus

Simple Olive Hummus (with no Tahini!)

This is another one of my grandmothers recipes. 

It's a delicious and healthy snack 

that's super easy to make and only uses 5 ingredients.

Ingredients:

1 can Chickpeas

1 can pitted Black Olives

1 jar Green Olives (with pimentos)

4-7 cloves Garlic

Olive Oil

Optional pinch of Salt

Instructions:

Drain the olives and chickpeas.

Cook the garlic in olive oil

Add ingredients in a blender and puree.      

Add oil as needed/desired.     

8-10 servings 

                                            

                 

Nutrient Facts:        

Olive Hummus Portions: 9
Food Groups	Amount Per Portion
Vegetables	¾ cup(s)
Beans & Peas	¼ cup(s)
Other	½ cup(s)
Oils	1 teaspoon
Limits	Amount Per Portion
Total Calories	188 Calories
Nutrients	Amount Per Portion
Protein	4 g
Carbohydrate	13 g
Dietary Fiber	5 g
Total Sugars	2 g
Total Fat	14 g
Saturated Fat	2 g
Monounsaturated Fat	10 g
Polyunsaturated Fat	2 g
Minerals	Amount Per Portion
Calcium	62 mg
Potassium	123 mg
Sodium	804 mg
Vitamins	Amount Per Portion
Vitamin A	18 µg RAE
Vitamin C	5 mg

Remember that you can get nutrient facts for your own recipes at supertracker.usda.gov

Homemade Apple Sauce

It's easier than you think to make delicious home-made apple sauce!

Ingredients:
4 Apples*
3/4 cup Water
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

Directions: Peel & chop apples. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Cover with a lid and cook at low/medium heat for 20-30 minutes until apples become soft. Allow the sauce to cool before mashing the apples. Serve warm or cool in the fridge.

Ingredients in the pot:                         After cooking for 10 minutes:

 

 
^After cooking for 20 minutes          ^ After cooking for 25 minutes &
                                                            cooling. I started mashing
                                                                          with a fork                                                        

**Note on Apples: the type of apple you use makes a huge difference! I recommend McIntosh apples for applesauce because they really break up on their own, you wont really have to mash them. This time I tried Gala apples so that's what you're seeing in these pictures. It turned out great but I had to put more effort into mashing than with McIntosh apples.
Best Apples for Sauce:
-McIntosh (my favorite for apple sauce so far)
-Golden Delicious
-Fuji
-Cortland
-Honey Crisp is okay
-Gala is okay
-Red Delicious
-Pink Lady is okay

Nutrient Facts:
Homemade Apple Sauce Portions: 4
Food Groups	Amount Per Portion
Whole Fruit	1¼ cup(s)
Limits	Amount Per Portion
Total Calories	125 Calories
Empty Calories*	50 Calories
Added Sugars	50 Calories
Nutrients	Amount Per Portion
Protein	0 g
Carbohydrate	33 g
Dietary Fiber	3 g
Total Sugars	28 g
Added Sugars	13 g
Total Fat	0 g
Minerals	Amount Per Portion
Calcium	25 mg
Potassium	167 mg
Sodium	8 mg
Vitamin A	4 µg RAE
Vitamin C	6 mg
Vitamin K	3 µg

Remember you can go to supertracker.usda.gov to get nutrient information for your own recipes.

Vegan Brownies

Recipe for Delicious Vegan Brownies:
1 1/2 cups Flour
1 cup Sugar
1/3 cup Cocoa Powder
3/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Almond Extract
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar
1/3 cup Oil
1 cup Almond Milk

Bake at 350F for 30-45 minutes

Some of the Ingredients:

Finished Brownies:

Nutrient Analysis:

Vegan Brownies Portions: 8 Large Brownies
Food Groups	Amount Per Portion
Grains	1½ ounce(s)
Refined Grains	1½ ounce(s)
Oils	3 teaspoon
Limits	Amount Per Portion
Total Calories	318 Calories
Empty Calories*	98 Calories
Solid Fats	3 Calories
Added Sugars	95 Calories
Nutrients	Amount Per Portion
Protein	3 g
Carbohydrate	46 g
Dietary Fiber	2 g
Total Sugars	27 g
Added Sugars	24 g
Total Fat	14 g
Saturated Fat	2 g
Monounsaturated Fat	10 g
Polyunsaturated Fat	2 g
Calcium	85 mg
Potassium	90 mg
Sodium	241 mg
Copper	150 µg
Iron	2 mg
Magnesium	21 mg
Phosphorus	62 mg

Remember, you can do your own nutrient analysis of your recipes or daily diet at SuperTracker.USDA.gov

Chunky Vegetarian Chili

I love this recipe. It's fairly easy and delicious. I usually cook chili in my small crock pot, but I have tried it on the stove top as well with great results. If you wanted to mix it up you could add other veggies or meat. This recipe is high in protein and fiber.

Recipe:
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
11/2 Tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 16oz can of stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 15oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

Preperation:
1. Start by heating the oil and sautee the onion, peppers and garlic for about 5 minutes
2. Add tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes
3. add sugar, cumin, oregano, salt, black pepper and beans. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for about 30 minutes.


*When I use my crockpot, I add everything to the pot and cook it for 2-3 hours for a more baked in flavor. I've noticed a slight difference in flavor cooking it this way. The chili is also more liquidy than the stove top version. I also like to add red pepper flakes for more spice.

Nutrition Facts: Chili Portions: 4
Nutrition Facts:	Amount Per Portion
Total Calories	199 Calories
Added Sugars	14 Calories
Nutrients	Amount Per Portion
Protein	8 g
Carbohydrate	35 g
Dietary Fiber	9 g
Total Sugars	9 g
Added Sugars	3 g
Total Fat	5 g
Saturated Fat	1 g
Monounsaturated Fat	3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat	1 g
Minerals	Amount Per Portion
Calcium	130 mg
Potassium	775 mg
Sodium	512 mg
Copper	405 µg
Iron	5 mg
Magnesium	68 mg
Phosphorus	162 mg
Selenium	6 µg
Zinc	1 mg
Vitamins	Amount Per Portion
Vitamin A	63 µg RAE
Vitamin B6	0.4 mg
Vitamin C	91 mg
Vitamin E	3 mg AT
Vitamin K	14 µg

Chicken Salad

I love flexible recipes, dishes whose components can be altered to any taste or preference. Chicken salad is such a simple and quick meal that everyone can enjoy. 

When I buy chicken I look for organic, I look for animals that have not been treated with hormones and antibiotics. I want animals on their natural diet that lived outside. Where I live in Queens there are alot of Kosher meat options which I trust to be a better quality meat from a more humanely treated, healthy animal. On a receant trip to Target we picked up this:

I personally enjoy my chicken fried in a little soy sauce, but you could cook it how ever you like, maybe some lemon and garlic. I like dark salad greens, no ice burg lettuce but again this could be mixed up. All you have to do is cook the chicken. You could add whatever you want to the salad, maybe cheese or carrot slices. Delicious. Fast. Easy. Crowd Pleaser.