Yummy healthy Nut Bars!

Chop 4 cups of any combination of nuts and seeds

suggestions:

pumpkin seeds

sunflower seeds

sesame seeds

hemp seeds

 pecans

walnuts

peanuts

macadamia nuts

almonds

hazelnuts

 Pistachios

optional cacao nibs or chocolate chips (count them in the 4 cups of nuts!)

melt all the ingredients below in a double boiler:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup honey

1/2 teaspoon stevia plus powder

1 cup carob or cacao or cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Add 1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup coconut

Mix all ingredients together and press into a 9x13" pan.  Refrigerate to set.

Enjoy!

Cool Refreshing Peach Tea Summer Drink!

I make a gallon of this at a time because it is so good and disappears fast! To start boil 6-8 cups water pour over 6 to 8 Celestial Seasoning's Country Peach Passion tea bags in a gallon jar. Let steep 10 minutes. Remove the tea bags and add 1/3 cup of honey. Stir. Fill the rest of the jar with ice cubes. Enjoy!

Yummy Granola Bars!

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
1 egg
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups oats
1 cup chocolate chips (optional) **

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9x13 pan. Cream butter, sugar, and honey until light and fluffy. Blend in egg, peanut butter, and vanilla. Mix in oats and chocolate chips. Press into pan. Bake 20-22 minutes or until light golden brown (do not over bake!) Cool completely before removing from pan. Enjoy!

**Another Idea:
Instead of adding chocolate chips, which are expensive, you can make chocolate frosting, and frost the whole pan after completely cool. Let sit until fronting has hardened. Cut and remove from pan.

Wonderful Gingerbread Muffins

Baked goods made with ginger have been sounding really good to me lately! I remembered I had one of my sweet mother's Sue Gregg cookbooks and in this particular one was an all time favorite moist ginger molasses muffin that my sister often made into little muffins and served for lunch! Best served warm and slathered with butter! I guarantee you want be able to eat just one!

Makes 12-15 muffins

Bake at 325° for 20-25 minutes

Blend together thoroughly:

1/4 cup softened butter

1 egg

1/2 cup blackstrap molasses

1/2 cup honey
1 cup water

Fold in dry ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 baking soda
1 1/2 baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Fill greased muffin pan cups almost full and bake at 325° for 20-25 minutes.
Cool 2-3 minutes before removing from pan.

Enjoy!

Fresh Cucumber Salad

Cucumbers can vary in their level of bitterness. Usually the older the more bitter, and the seeds are often more bitter than the flesh. Once you cut into a cucumber, taste it. If bitter, scrape or cut away the seeds. You might also want to soak the chopped cucumber in salt water to help offset the bitterness. The cucumbers we get are usually fine as is, but I have had some bitter ones. With regards to peeling, we almost always peel our cucumbers, but there are some varieties with thin, mild peels that you don't need to peel. Taste first if there is a question.


Ingredients:

* 1-2 large cucumbers (or 4-5 lemon cucumbers), peeled, quartered lengthwise, then sliced crosswise
* 1-2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill, basil, or Thai basil*
* 2-3 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
* Salt and pepper to taste
*I would add chives or sweet or purple onions

*To chop the basil, chiffonade it by stacking the leaves on top of each other, rolling them up like a cigar, and taking thin slices from one end to the other.
Method

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, toss to coat. Serve immediately, or make ahead (up to a couple of hours) and chill.

Serves 2-4

Calico Beans

3-15 oz baked beans (I make my own and cook up my own beans)
15 oz kidney beans
15 oz white beans
15 oz black beans
½ lb bacon- fry and crumble
1 1b ground beef & 1 large onion fry and drain.

In a big bowl place beans, fried meat and onion. Mix together and pour into a 9x13” pan.

In a small bowl combine:

4 Tbl apple cider vinegar
2 tsp. dry mustard (or 2 Tbl wet)
1 cup brown sugar
2 Tbl Worcestershire cause
1 cup ketchup

Mix sauce and pour over beans in pan. Bake at 350º for 1 ½ hours or at 375º for an 1 hour.
Best served over rice.

Thin Wheat Crackers

Makes 18-24 crackers

You can make these crackers as soon as you make the dough, but the crackers will taste even better if you hold the dough overnight, like a soaker, allowing some enzyme activity
to occur before you bake the crackers the following day.

Dough

1 cup whole wheat flour (when I made the crackers for you, I used a mix of soft white wheat and hard red wheat. I kneaded in a couple of cups of all-purpose white flour when I was rolling them out)

½ teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons milk, buttermilk, yogurt, or rice milk
1 ½ tablespoons honey or agave nectar
or 2 Tablespoons sugar or brown sugar
4 tablespoons light olive oil or butter (I didn’t like how they turned out with oil)

Combine the 1 cup flour and the salt, milk, honey, and oil in a bowl and mix until the ingredients come together to form a ball of dough. Add extra flour or milk as needed to make a firm but tacky dough.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead, adjusting the flour or liquid as needed; the dough should feel like modeling clay and have a satiny surface. It should not be soft and sticky or crumbly.

If baking the crackers immediately, preheat the oven to 350º. Cover the dough with a cloth towel or plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes, then move on to next step if holding the dough overnight, form into a bowl, place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover loosely with a damp cloth, and leave at room temperature overnight.

When you are ready to bake the crackers, prepare the sheet pan by greasing it with butter. Cover your work surface lightly with a touch of oil, this will make it easier to lift the dough later. Transfer the dough to the work surface and, working from the center of the dough out to the four corners, roll it out into a rectangle, dusting the top of the dough with flour only if needed to prevent sticking. Roll the dough out as thinly as it will allow, about ¼ inch. If the dough begins to spring back, let it rest for a few minutes, then continue rolling until the rectangle it about 1/8 inch think.

Use a pizza roller or a pastry scraper to cut the dough into dough into whatever sizes and shapes you desire (small rectangles are suggested). Use the pastry scraper or a metal spatula to transfer the individual crackers to the prepared sheet pan. They should not touch, but they can be close together. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the crackers begin to turn a rich brown on both the top and the underside.

Let the crackers cool on the pan before serving. They will crisp up as they cool.