Monday, April 15, 2013

Roasted potato, green bean & sausage casserole

This is a total throw-together meal, meaning I didn't really measure... So you can adapt as you need (make it smaller or bigger.)  Everyone liked it, but I'll admit that the little kids pretty much just ate sausage and skipped the rest.  And that's why I had side dishes of cucumbers and salad so they would eat something other than sausage.

1/2 to 1lb frozen green beans
potatoes (6-8 is what i used)
1/2 to 1lb any kind of sausage (breakfast sausage, kielbasa, etc)
1 onion
Oil-based dressing (italian, balsamic, etc)
Garlic salt, pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a 9x13 pan, spread green beans on the bottom.  I spread about 1/2 to 3/4" thick.  Wash potatoes and cut in 1/2" chunks (or you can peel them if you prefer.)  Slice an onion in big pieces (so picky eaters can remove them - mine were about 1/4" x 1/2" or 1") OR you can blend the onion in the blender with a little water.  Put on top of potatoes, separating as you go.  Next pour dressing on top.  If you want to measure, I probably put in about 1/4 to 1/3 cup, you just don't want it too greasy.  Sprinkle garlic salt and pepper on top.  Now stir it all up.  Put it in the oven and bake 45 to 55 minutes until potatoes are tender.  You may want to stir occasionally to avoid burning the stuff on top.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Almost Perfect Chewy Peanut Butter Granola Bars

I searched high and low for a tasty, chewy gluten free, dairy free granola bar, but I couldn't find a good recipe.  I decided to create my own and this is the result of a lot of experimentation.

1/2 c. honey
1/4 c. sucanat
1/4 c. coconut oil (or butter)
3/4 c. Coconut milk
1 c natural peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
3 c oats
1 c crispy rice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c chocolate chips

Melt in a pot:  honey, sucanat, butter.  Add coconut milk and bring to a boil.  Let boil over med-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and add peanut butter and vanilla.  Stir with whisk until combined.  Let cool for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine oats, crispy rice and salt.  Add the liquid ingredients to the dry.  When the mixture is cool enough, add the chocolate chips.  Spread in greased 9x13 pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Let cool, then slice into bars.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Soaked overnight fridge muesli

This is a yummy, quick breakfast or snack.  Half my kids won't eat it (they don't like the texture of chia seeds) but a few of us like it a lot!  It's simple to make and to eat any time.

1 cup oats (use GF oats for gluten free)
1-1/2 cup milk (or rice milk or almond milk, or whatever milk)
2 TBS lemon juice
1 TBS chia seeds
1 cup frozen or fresh fruit, chopped
2 TBS sweetener (agave, honey -hard to mix in - or equivalent amount of stevia)

Put it all in a quart jar and shake it up.  Can add 1 TBS buckwheat flour or other flour if you want to make it even more digestable!

Flavors:
Maple blueberry (could add lemon zest)
Triple berry (costco mix)
Honey Strawberry
Mandarin Orange (sub 1/2 cup OJ for 1/2 c of milk)

Update:  This works just fine without the chia seeds for those who don't like them.  Just omit, and use the same ingredients as above.