Homemade Energy Bars

Energy Bars

I have been on a health kick lately, so I’ve been making my own version of a health bar. There are whole sections of health food stores with these. Some are OK, but most taste like cardboard. And many load them up with questionable Soy Protein Isolate, a refined protein filler.

Packing a energy bar with Soy Protein Isolate helps with texture, moisture and creates a nice high protein ratio on the label, but it is questionable if its healthy.

My snack bars are full of natural goodness. They are 1 part toasted sesame seed, 1 part toast oats and two part organic rice crispy, with enough rice syrup and nut butter to hold them together.

Are they low fat, low sugar and high protein? Probably not.

But I’d rather have these then anything in a vending machine or on the health food store “health bar” shelf.

Feel free to adapt the recipe. I include options below.

Either way, most health bars are still high calorie with 200-250 calories just like a candy bar. I am not sure where these rank on calories, probably about the same. But my trick is to cut them into small squares and grab one when I need it.

Its sure better then hitting up my co-workers never ending Halloween bowl with candy.

Rice Crispy Bars

Homemade Energy Bars: Base Recipe

1 cup of unhulled toasted sesame seeds (or untoasted hulled)
1 cup of Toasted whole oats
2 cups of organic rice crispy
1/2-3/4 cup rice syrup
1/2 cup of peanut butter (natural just ground peanuts and salt, I use health food store freshly ground)
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
pinch of salt

Options:
coco powder
Almond butter
Other nuts and seeds (pecans, almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, cashews)
Dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, apricots, dates, etc..)
Toasted Coconut
Chocolate chips
Coco nibs
Sweet miso (cooked with the syrup mixture if using)
Crumpled Seaweed Nori

Procedure:

Wash and drain the sesame seed. Place in a cast iron plan and slowly toast until the seeds are toasted. A test is when the seed do not stick to a metal spoon and you can press them into powder. (If you are using hulled sesame seeds you do not need to toast them)

Next toast the oats for a few minutes on medium heat until it is slightly brown.

Place the seeds, oats and the rice crispy into a large bowl.

In a sauce pan, combine the peanut butter, rice syrup, maple, salt, vanilla and cinnamon. Heat just until the mixture melts together.

Add the warm mixture to the seed, oats rice and mixture to combine.

Press the mixture into a pan in an even level about an inch thick. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate to set.

Cut square from the pan. Eat at room temperature.

Homemade Energy Bars

I like to cut them into squares and put them in snack size ziplocks. Each bag is about the size of a health snack bar. They make great work snacks and travel food.

They usually don’t last long, but you can refrigerate or freeze them.

Greek Salad

Greek Salad Ann Arbor Food

This is the Real Greek Salad version I had when i was in Greece. No baby spinach, no olives, no fancy dressing, no peppercini.

1-2 peeled and sliced cucumber
1-2 ripe tomatoes large wedge or diced
salt and pepper to taste
a little olive oil to drizzle
and a huge slice of feta

Enjoy

 

Whole Wheat Strawberry Short Cake

I have been getting into whole wheat baking these days. Here is a recipe that works great. I use whole wheat pastry flour and butter milk in this traditional recipe. I provided a Straight Rhubarb option here, having found some great organic bright red local Rhubarb.

As for the Strawberry version, I can’t seemed to get myself to cook fresh strawberries. So I simple slice them and put them on top.

Whole Wheat Short Cake (makes 6 large short cakes)

2 Cups of whole wheat pastry flour
5 TBSP Sugar
1 stick of cold butter
1 TBSP baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 large egg for egg wash
sugar for dusting top

Rhubarb Filling

2 pounds rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 3/4-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup of water
1 tsp minced ginger
zest of one lime

Place all of the ingredients in a thick bottom pan. Bring to a boil then simmer until thick. let cool. If it is still not thick enough, add a few table spoons of corn starch to thicken by stirring it in and bringing it to a boil them letting cool.

Top filling with a shortcake and ice cream and enjoy.

Procedure

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda in a bowl and mix. Chop up the cold butter into the flour mixture into small pea size pieces. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add the butter milk and the egg. Mix to combine. Don’t over work.

It will be a wet dough. Scoop the dough into six equal sized blobs on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Brush with egg and sprinkle sugar on top.

Bake for 12-14 minutes on a center rack.

Cool and serve with whip cream and your favorite fresh berries.

Fall Beet Slaw Recipe

Fall Beet Slaw

Fall Beet Slaw: Serves 4

3-4 medium size golden beets peeled
1/2 Diakon radish peeled
3 medium sized carrots peeled
1 inch piece of ginger fine minced (makes about 1 tablespoon)
1 Tablespoon of Tamari (gluten free) or soy sauce (contains wheat)
1 Tablespoon Rice vinegar
salt and pepper to taste.

Grate in a food processor and mix ingredients and let sit for 30 minutes or longer. Stir to combine. This recipe can be doubled and it taste even better the next day. It is light and gingery and works great with heavier items especially fried food like tempura.

Serve with rice, and grilled tofu, fish, tempura, nori rolls

Coconut Ice Cream Recipe: Food comics

I am talking a comic drawing class this summer, so I am practicing with some comic recipes and food related humor. Here is my first food comic.

This recipe can be just vanilla by omitting the chocolate and you can use mint or other extracts for other flavors like chocolate chip mint ice cream.

Enjoy

Christmas Pizza

Some will recall my rebellious nature this year when it came to Thanksgiving dinner with my Alternative Thanksgiving idea post.

I guess I was still feeling that way when Christmas rolled around. Emily bought me a new pizza stone for Christmas and I have been looking to test ride it.

So I pitched the idea of doing pizza for Christmas. I figure it would be vetoed in the name of traditional or whatever, but to my surprise, it passed the vote in the house.

I think the offer to cook might have won everyone over. (smiles)

The beautiful dough ball above will be a personal pizza with special toppings.

Check out my Pizza at home Post for recipes/instruction

Happy Holidays

Hanukkah Doughnut Recipe

Jelly Doughnuts

Why was it that we never had doughnuts for Hanukkah growing up was a mystery. It was only when I started being a blogger that I did research into a traditional Hanukkah meal.

I basically make a batch of Latke for Hanukkah and have a little smoked salmon and call it good.

But little did I know that Jelly doughnuts were also apart of the tradition.

My family was in the Latke Camp. Apparently, when it comes to Hanukkah and fried delights there are the Jelly Doughnut (Sufganiot) and Latke (potato pancake) people.

The reason for the divide is that Sephardi Jews had more wheat (warmer climate) and the Eastern European Jews that I come from where potato (root crop) people.

The Israeli Jews (according to wikipedia) seemed to also be in the Doughnut camp. (warmer climate again maybe?)

So to honor my sunny climate brothers and sister and the greatness which is the Jelly doughnut, I have put them on the menu.

The doughnut recipe that I made were actually a Paczki Recipe, which Michigan folk knew is the large jelly-filled doughnut eaten on Fat Tuesday.

 Recipe Note:  (Follow the link to the recipe)

I used 6 eggs and not the egg york and I refrigerated the dough overnight.

Also make sure your doughnuts dough is thin. I tried to make them about an inch thick, but when I fried then they were raw in the center.

So I pressed them flat and fried them and they worked fine.

The recipes calls for the dough to rise for twenty minutes. This is a really sticky dough, so flour the surface well.

The recipe also calls to add the jelly BeFore frying, which I did not do.

I fried them.

And the make sure you use jelly, not preserve if piping.

I used preserves and it clogged up my piping bag, so I had to split the doughnuts and add jam, which actually worked out fine.

I figure that you can get a bunch of jams, preserves and curds and people can jam their own.

Enjoy

Strawberry and Lemon Curd

Navajo Fry Bread Recipe: Native American Recipes

A hunking piece of hot Navajo Fry Bread Love

I am taking a Native American Literature class this semester and the professor handed us a recipe for Navajo Fry Bread. So of course, I made a batch and brought it in to class.

Fry bread is a staple food of modern Native Americans. It is often made and sold at powwows. It can be eaten as a sweet dish topped with honey and powdered sugar or as a tasty bread with a savory meal of say venison chile.

Its fried crunchy outside and soft dough inside makes Fry Bread a great item to serve with hearty stews

Navajo Fry Bread Recipe: Make 6-8 big size pieces

4 Cups of all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
2 Tablespoons of nonfat dry milk powder
1 1/4 – 1 1/2 cups of water
2-3 cups of high temp fry oil (Safflower, Peanut, lard or shortening)
2 Tablespoons of sugar (optional) if serving a sweet fry bread

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and dried milk and sugar if using in a large mixing bowl or into your food processor. Mix in the water to form the dough into a ball.

Knead the dough for a few minutes then let it rest for 15 minutes covered with a moist towel.

Divide into 6-8 equal portions and roll into balls and flatten them out. Cover with a moist towel until ready to fry.

flatten Fry Bread 8-10 inches wide

Meanwhile pour 2-3 cups of oil into a large heavy bottom pot or cast iron pan. Heat the oil till hot, 450-500 degrees.

Flatten out the dough ball to a thickness of 1/2 inch. I do this by squeezing the dough with my fingers while spin them in a cycle like making a pizza, but you can use a rolling pin if you prefer.

Poke a small hole in the dough. This prevents the dough from puffing up unevenly. Then carefully place in the fry oil.

Fry Bread Frying

Cook for a few minutes until the bottom is golden brown, then carefully flip with thongs.

Golden Brown Fry Bread Frying

Place finished Fry Bread of paper towels.

Serve immediately.

My class found the fry bread to  taste great even at room temp. It can be made in advance and heated in the oven for good results.

The Power of Polenta: Polenta with shrimp and tomato recipe

Shrimp Polenta with Heirloom tomatoes

Polenta is one of those great go to foods when you need to make something quick. It is a tasty porridge made from course cornmeal. At most basic, polenta is a simple creamy corn mash cooked with water and salt.

But this humble cornmeal does not have to be plan. It can be jazzed up using flavor variations like stocks, butter, cheese and herbs.

It is commonly served Italian style with a tomato sauce and sausage, but it can also be served with fish, shellfish, poultry, beef, pork or in a vegetarian meal.

Once a simple peasant staple, polenta has gained popularity as a gourmet food that can be seen on menus at upscale restaurants to college dorms alike.

There are a few ways to serve polenta beside for a hot mash.

The high starch content of cornmeal makes cooked polenta form into a solid mass when cooled.

Hot polenta porridge is spread onto a sheet pan and allowed to cooled. Once cooled, the firm polenta can then be cut into shapes and saute’, deep fried or grilled to provide a crisp outer texture.

Another way to serve polenta is in a casserole. Hot polenta is spread into a casserole dish then topped with sauce, vegetables, meat and cheese then baked.

Polenta is found in the bulk section in grocery stores, in instant mixes or in the refrigerated section of in precooked tubes. The cost is around $1.50 per pound, which measure about 2 3/4 cups or around $.20 per serving.

Basic Polenta Recipes: Serve Four

1 1/2 cup of Polenta cornmeal
4 1/2 cups of water
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of butter (optional)
*use Olive Oil for vegan option

Bring the water to a boil in a sauce pan. Add the polenta, salt and butter and stir in. Bring the heat down to a medium. Cover the top of the pan loosely with tin foil. Stir frequently to make sure the polenta does not stick to the bottom of the pan. Cook for 20 minutes.

Variations:

Cheese Polenta:
Substitute one cup of milk for water in the basic recipe and include the butter. Include 1-2 cups of a mixture of grated cheese like Cheddar, Jack, Parmesan and Fontina. Follow the instruction for the basic recipe then stir in the cheese during the last three minutes of cooking. Garnish with grated Parmesan.

Polenta with tomato sauce and sausage:
Use the basic or cheese polenta recipe. Cook a pound of your favorite sausage like sweet or hot Italian sausage and serve with about a third of a cup of your favorite heated tomato sauce per serving and top with grated Parmesan.

Mushroom Polenta: (Vegan)
Use the basic recipe and substitute olive oil for butter. Saute one finely chopped onion, two cloves of garlic and one and half pounds of your favorite mushrooms for seven minutes. Add a quarter teaspoon of dried thyme, and a quarter cup of white wine and cook down. Add salt and pepper to taste. Top with fresh chopped parsley and divide a half cup of toasted pine nuts or almonds between four servings.

Polenta and Shrimp:
Use the basic or cheese polenta recipe and add the juice of one lemon, fresh cracked pepper and one teaspoon of smoked paprika when cooking the polenta . Peel and clean three quarters of a pound of shrimp and saute in butter or olive oil with two cloves of garlic till the shrimp is pink on booth sides.

Serve the polenta in a bowl. Divide the shrimp between four bowls and top with fresh chopped scallion.

Waffle Cakes

Ever since my last waffle maker broke, I have missed my favorite lazy morning brunch treat. The frozen ones really do not cut it, but I refuse to buy a new waffle maker because I had two that both stopped working.

Three is a charm I know, but I just can’t get myself to fork out the money again for a kitchen gadget that only has one purpose, all be it a pretty cool purpose at that.

So what am I to do?

The answer is the Waffle Cake.

Emily prefers a more waffly batter for her “pancakes.” The batter for waffles and pancakes are very similar with the addition of another egg for waffles. For her the second egg does the trick because it prevents the mega carb pancake energy crash.

I do not have a huge problem with carbs, but a dose (over dose) of pancakes can do me in. That is why I am a fan of waffles (but not waffle makers)

The picture above shows the finished cake. They are large, fluffy and on the thicker side than the traditional pancake.

The batter is also thicker and it scared me the first time I made. I wanted to thin it down with some water or milk to create a pancake consistency.

The batter is thick, but trust me it works.

Waffle Cakes can be used for both sweet and savory dishes. For savor dish like cream fresh and smoke salmon and red onion omit most/all of the sugar in the recipe.

Waffle Cakes: Makes 8-10 (depending on size)

2 cups of all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons of fine ground cornmeal
1/4 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
2 eggs
4 tablespoons of melted butter
1 3/4 cups of buttermilk
1 tablespoon of maple syrup
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

In a bowl, mix together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, and baking soda. In a separate bowl, mix the eggs. Melt the butter set aside to cool enough, so it will not scramble your eggs in the batter.

Make a well with the dry ingredients and the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and maple syrup. Mix up a few times then add the egg. Mix to incorporate the batter,. which will be on the thick side for a pancake.

Heat a sillet for a few minutes on medium. Scoop out batter on to the hot skillet to the desired size waffle cake. Place a lid on the skillet pan and cook for a a minute or so. The lid capture some heat to let these thick puffy cakes cook through. Flip and cook for about a minute. Repeat with the rest of the cakes.

Serve hot off of the skillet with butter, real maple syrup and berries.

Variation: For a savory version, omit the maple syrup, sugar and vanilla (if desired). Make them small for appetizer size of larger for meals.