No Bake Energy Bars

Confession: After 2 years of no peanut products in our home and being so completely vigilant of label reading- now that Violet has done the unimaginable and outgrown her peanut allergy- I feel a pang of guilt every time I use peanut butter. I wonder if any other parents lucky enough to be in my situation have ever felt the same.

And with that, I give you my recipe for No Bake Energy Bars. Sure there are zillions of variations on the web for these. What I am posting is a base recipe for you to build on!

Ingredients
1C peanut butter
1C honey (I used Sweet Dreams Merritt Island Wild Flower Honey)
3C rolled oats (uncooked)
Here's where you can get creative by choosing 1/2- 1 C or any add in you can think of!
A few ideas to get you going:
seeds (sesame, pumpkin, flax)
dried fruit
nuts
mini chocolate chips or carob
protein powder
coconut
brewers yeast


Directions
1. Combine peanut butter and honey in a medium size pot on low heat until mixed
2. Mix in the rolled oats and any other add ins
3. The intention is not to cook your mixture, just heat it enough so that combining the ingredients is easier
4. Press into a 9x9 or 9x11 inch pan (I greased mine with coconut oil)
5. Let cook and cut into bars
6. Wrap and store in the refrigerator

*Soon available for sale through Miss Mermaid*

For the lovelies who made it this far:
If you try this recipe leave me a comment and let me know what you use for add ins! I'm always looking for new ideas to keep healthy food interesting. And speaking of comments...I've been wondering lately, who is reading this blog? I'd love to hear from you and where you are located. If you have anything you'd like to suggest for a future blog post or questions you have for me leave that in the comments too! I love to hear from you and always respond <3

Fruit Cereal Bars (without a bunch of unnecessary crap!)

I love making these bars because you can make them into just about any combination of flavors you want; so much room for imagination and creativity here! They are awesome for packing into school/work lunches (kids as well as college students looking for a healthier alternative) or just an afternoon snack at home. After they bake, I cut and wrap them individually and store in the refrigerator. Grab one for an on the go breakfast as you're walking out the door!

ingredients
3/4 C coconut oil (butter can also be used)
1/2 C brown sugar, packed (I was out today so I used 1/2 C evaporated cane juice)

cream above together then add:

1 C white whole wheat flour
1 C buckwheat flour or oat bran or a mixture of whatever "flours" you like (you could just use another cup of the whole wheat flour). Today I used 3/4 C Buckwheat and 1/4 C ground flax seeds
3/4 C chopped nuts, dried fruit or seeds (Pumpkin Seeds are great in this recipe) (I omitted this today bc of 1. nut allergies and 2. my kids are pretty sick of raisins right now and that's the only dried fruit currently in the house).
3/4 C rolled oats
1 teaspoon vanilla (today I used 1/2 tea vanilla extract and 1/2 lemon extract)

Press 1/2 of the above mixture into a  greased 9x13 pan

spread about 8oz of your favorite fruit preserves/jam on top (today I used the last of the strawberry jam I canned last summer)

Sprinkle then press the other half of the crumb mixture on top, pressing gently but firmly.

Bake at 350 about 30 minutes, checking at 25 minutes.  If edges are getting brown, take it out.

Cool completely.  Cut into bars.  Eat.  Enjoy.

Peanut Challenge This Morning...

...and THIS is what a child NOT ALLERGIC TO PEANUTS looks like!!

Photo Credit: Christin Lewin

Tonight after the girls go to sleep I'm going to bake some bread and tomorrow, I'm buying the BEST peanut butter I can find to pair with the blueberry jam I canned last year!

Food Allergies ROCK!

This mornings blog post is to tell you about the song I'm listing to right now called Food Allergies Rock. Every food allergy family needs this song (whole cd is also available for $9.99)!!

Click here for a free mp3 download!

You have to create a free CD Baby account but you don't give your billing info for this free song.

Now go get it!!

Violet

Last Wednesday, this sweet little baby turned 2 years old:

Here is the outfit I made for her:

and here is one of her cupcakes:

Marble Cupcake with Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting/Sprinkles- recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

and here she is:

Cuddily, smart, delightful, determined and sensitive. Because of Violet I am learning so much.

Deal on Organic Alergen Free Halloween Candy

It's not too late to order this for Halloween (or just to have for special occasions). I love that these lollipops are colored with vegetables!

How to:
Click the photo/link to the left.
Sign up through Subscribe and Save.


Enter code: SEPYUMMY at checkout for an additional 20% off
Your final price should be $17.50 with free 2 day shipping.

To order through subscribe and save, choose your quantity and any delivery schedule, then click “Subscribe now!” When you sign up for Subscribe and Save you are under no obligation and can cancel at anytime. To cancel your Subscribe and Save items, just click on “my account” and then “subscriptions” and with the click of a button you can cancel (I often do this directly from the order confirmation page, which has a link to manage your subscriptions). The order you just put in will still go through, but no others will.

Violet's Friday Food Post

Since her allergy testing a month ago we've changed the way things are made in our kitchen. We are an egg, dairy/casein, oat, peanut and tree nut free home. Friday Food Posts will demonstrate that food can still be awesome with a few changes.


I set the bread machine last night so in the morning we woke up to this:

Rosemary Bread

Shamefully...the loaf made it about 12 hours in our home. It is even more decadently delicious with a bit of Earth Balance Spread.

Muffins I made earlier in the week:

vegan banana bran muffins with cranberries

I used a box of Hodgson Mill Bran Muffin Mix (using Ener-G egg replacer and soy milk) and added in a mashed banana and 1/2 cup of cranberries.

 Fresh Juice:

beetz

Today's organic juice was 4 beets, 1 Pink Lady Apple, one pear and a lime. The girls and I shared our drink and then brought the pulp out to the chickens who were very excited to see all the pink beet pulp. I use a Juiceman II that I bought back in 1997 when I was in college. I was up late one night, no cable and an infomercial came on...and for the first time in my life I was sold. I picked up the phone and called and 13 years later, I'm juicing with that same machine for my daughters.

Commitment Made

So the book arrived this afternoon and after a bit of reading I figured out how much yarn would be needed.

SIXTY BALLS OF YARN.

Yes, you did in fact read that right. I just placed an order for 60 balls of yarn, or 6600 yards for a single project. Yes, I am freaking out a little. This afghan (will be bedspread by the time it's all over) is a huge commitment!

What it boils down to is 30 12" squares.
The book has 24 squares so I'm going to have to find patterns for 6 more squares that are equally as awesome. If anyone has a suggestion of afghan squares you just LOVE please feel free to post them!


What I've been working on this week:
Pumpkins!!

These hats have been so relaxing to make while hanging out in the evenings , watching a movie with my husband. Both of my girls just love them although I guess they look a little silly wearing Pumpkin hats 2 months before Halloween. It's got me thinking about what other fruit and veggie hats I can knit!

On the family front, both of my girls were allergy tested yesterday. The eldest was diagnosed with a mild cat allergy- totally doable. While our youngest, well here is the list:

cats
house dust
cashews
eggs (yolk and white)
dairy
casein
peanuts

There are still more tests to be done in the future.
Yesterday we came home with an epipen and four pages of foods V can't eat. Feeling very overwhelmed I got on Amazon and found a few cookbooks that looked promising. I'll probably order this one first and go from there. I'd love to hear other experiences of having children with allergies. Please forward my blog on to anyone you think might have advice or experiences to share!