Workout Queen's Yummy Granola Bars

Ever needed to grab a snack and go? Or on your way to the gym and need a healthy snack to rev you up? Grab one of these granola bars! With the help of a friend, we snagged this recipe and made it work for us. They are chewy and yummy. Try them out.

Ingredients:

• baking tin
  
• 2 cups oat
• 3/4 cup wheat flour
• 4 tsp butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2/3 cup flaxseed
• 1 cup crushed nuts
• 1 cup raisins (optional)
  

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In the baking tin, mix the flour, oats, nuts, and seeds. Then put them into the oven to toast.
3. Meanwhile, grab a sauce pot, and mix the butter, honey, vanilla and cinnamon. Heat it on the stove till it has all dissolved.
4. Once the oats are toasty, take them out of the oven and add the yummy heated mixture of sugar. Mix well. (Add raisins now, if you'd like.)
   
5. It will turn into a goop that you can lay into a tray or pan. Flatten it out and let it cool.
   
6. Cut them into bars, squares or just pick at them.
7. ENJOY!

This can be eaten just as is, or accompanied by yogurt or soymilk as a cereal. It really is delicious and can be kept in aluminum foil for quite a while.

Cheese Straws

We hadn't heard of cheese straws until someone brought them in to work, but we quickly became fans. A long cheddar cracker with a spicy kick -- what's not to like? These are traditionally a Southern snack, but they're so easy and delicious we think they should be an NYC party staple.

That's why we were so excited to see this recipe for them on one of our favorite food blogs, smitten kitchen. We hadn't actually made anything from this blog yet (we mostly just ogled the pictures during our lunch break), but clearly this was a sign to take our relationship with smitten kitchen to the next level (we've since had good luck with her green bean salad).

Note: If you can't find your rolling pin, a commemorative glass from college works almost as well.

Cheese Straws
Adapted from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook
1 1/2 cups (about 6 ounces) grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick or 2 ounces) unsalted butter, softened and cut into 4 pieces
3/4 cup flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon half-and-half (cream or milk would work just as well)
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a food processor (a blender works fine), combine the cheese, butter, flour, salt and red pepper in five 5-second pulses until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the half-and-half and process until the dough forms a ball, about 10 seconds.
3. On a lightly floured surface, using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough into an 8- by 10-inch rectangle that is 1/8-inch thick. With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into thin 8-inch strips, each 1/4- to 1/3-inch wide (dipping the knife in flour after every few inches ensures a clean cut). Gently transfer the strips to an ungreased cookie sheet (though it can't hurt to line with parchment), leaving at least 1/4-inch between them. Many of ours broke while trying to transfer, but it's not a problem — the straws can be any length, from 2 to 10 inches.
4. Bake the straws on the middle rack for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the ends are barely browned. Remove from the oven and set the cookie sheet on a rack to cool. Serve at room temperature.

Make Your Own: Pita Chips

Minimum Effort---Maximum Result---Satisfaction Guaranteed



These turned out great.
To quote [dave] “these are good…you could bag and sell these good”

These chips are spicy, crunchy and have the added bonus of fiber. You can season them however you like so after you try it once, don’t be afraid to get creative. If you substitute the cayenne for cumin you’ll get sexy smoky chips. The only caveat, they don’t keep well so only make enough for immediate use (considering how easy they are that should not be too much of an issue)

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 6-7 minutes
Serves: 6

Ingredients:
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 4 teaspoons chili powder
• 3 teaspoons cayenne pepper powder
• 3 teaspoons garlic powder
• 6 whole wheat pita pockets (medium size)
• Salt to taste

Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine oil and powders in a small bowl
3. Cut pita into quarter (cut them in half once then cut the halves in half) and separate the tops from the bottoms
4. Place pita pieces in a large bowl. Pour oil over pita pieces while moving pieces around until evenly coated.
5. Transfer to a cooking sheet and bake for 6-7 minutes until brown (watch’em though cuz they will quickly go from brown to burnt


Serve with your favorite hummus or dip and enjoy

kitchen katastrophe: easy maple bacon weenies

this recipe has been handed down a long way in my family - my brother's girlfriend to him to me. well, not actually me, i watched my brother make these for our family christmas a few weeks ago. WARNING: not for the faint vegetarian.

these are actually probably the easiest thing to make in the world - the only catch is how long to cook them. my brother calls these OIYM (orgasm in your mouth). for vegetarians or non-pork eating jews, these could be called Easy Maple Bacon Weenies.

Basically just put these three ingredients together:

• sausage weenies
• bacon
• brown sugar

bake in the oven at 350 degrees until done (about 35 minutes).

first, if you buy bacon in long strips, cut them into thirds as below.
oh, be sure your hands are clean. then, wrap the bacon around the weenies and place on a cookie sheet.
this can be a bit time consuming. when finished, dust the tops with brown sugar.
then bake. the final product (again, no camera at the family christmas) is delicious (or so they told me, i dont actually eat red meat) for meat-eaters. they should have a nice honeyed glaze on the top.

enjoy!

i was just thinking, if you are a vegetarian and you have kept reading this, then you just might be thinking these sound good but for some reason dont want to eat them. maybe there is a vegetarian option out there - vegan sausage with fake bacon? anything surrounded in brown sugar is probably good...

Snacking in a Pinch

Sometimes I play a game of chance with whatever random ingredients I have in my refrigerator. This usually happens around the time I realize that I need to go food shopping.

This weekend, I was in the mood for something healthy, light, easy, and available without having to trek out in the rain to go buy ingredients. Coincidentally, I had some spinach and grape tomatoes leftover from a salad a few days before. I boiled some water, cooked the spinach, popped the tomatoes in the boiling water for the last moments so they could warm up, then drained the pot. Next, I added some minced garlic, butter, and ground pepper. This really hit the spot with minimal effort!


I have come to realize that the right condiments and spices go a long way. To me, small touches like ground pepper and garlic can really help make a meal. One of my favorite "in a pinch" snacks is white rice with soy sauce. Really, you can't get much easier than that.