Bushel & A Peck
  • Blog
  • Health & Fitness
  • Artist Biography
  • Paintings
  • Photography
  • Drawings, etc.
  • About Me
  • Contact Me






More Granola Bars!!!

1/29/2016

0 Comments

 

    Granola bar recipe # 3!

​    I first posted THIS gluten-free granola bar recipe back in December 2013, then just this past October I shared THIS recipe for my gluten-free, nut free, & refined sugar free granola bars. The reason I even made the second version was because I wanted a more clean ingredient bar to send with my kids to school, and it was good....for a time....

   I mentioned in the post for the second granola bar recipe that my eldest son hates raisins, or any dried fruit at all. That recipe calls for dried fruit puree, and if I didn't get every single little lump of dried fruit pulverized, my autistic son's eagle eyes picked it out! Geez! So then I have this big batch of granola bars, and the girls will eat them and take them to school, but Caleb would not! 

    Then one day I was prepping a butternut squash for dinner, and was cutting out the seeds to wash and roast. When they came out of the oven, Caleb descended on the salty, roasted seeds like an un-welcomed seagull and ate them all!!! I was like "whaaaaaa?" because I had no idea he liked roasted squash seeds! 

   Well, since he clearly liked roasted butternut squash seeds, I thought I would offer him a handful of raw pumpkin seeds to see what he thought. He ate them and his only comment was, "these will not be very salty?" (the kid loves salty snacks and was a little bummed at the lack of saltiness in the raw seeds-but he still ate them!). Then I offered him raw sunflower seeds and he ate those up too, without any comments whatsoever! 

   So, with this new knowledge I thought, "why the heck am I not adding more super-heathy seeds to my kids granola bars?!?" 

   Well, I set out again to make a new granola bar for my kids to take to school, one with more seeds, no pureed fruit, still no nuts (nut-free school), no refined sugar, but still super tasty obviously or else my kids wouldn't eat them!

Picture
More Granola Bars!
Nut-free, gluten-free, refined sugar-free & dairy free
Adapted from Keeper Of The Home


Ingredients:
  • ¾ Cup sunflower seed butter (I use the kind I show in the linked photo below)
  • ½ Cup honey
  • 2 Tbsp butter or coconut oil (obviously choosing coconut oil for dairy free)
  • 4 Cups oats (make sure you get gluten-free oats if you need these to be g.f.)
  • ½ Tsp Cinnamon
  • Pinch o' salt
  • ½ Cup chocolate chunks or chips (for a dairy free option, choose a product like Enjoy Life chocolate chips or chunks. For a dairy & refined sugar free option choose a product like Pascha 100% Cacao Organic Dark Chocolate Baking Chips-the link for these is below if you click on the picture of the chocolate chips)
  • ¼ Cup raw sunflower seeds
  • ¼ Cup raw pumpkin seeds
  • ½ Cup optional add-ins such as raisins (if your kids don't despise them!), chopped dried fruit, mini M&M's, caramel chips, or something else delish and nut-free--All this is optional based on your diet and what you like! 


Method:
  1. Prepare a 9x 13 baking dish by greasing lightly and lining with parchment with overhang "handles", set aside (I usually double the recipe and make the bars in a prepped large cookie sheet. The bars are thinner, but I think they are a good send-to-school size)
  2. In a sauce pan on the stove, or in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave, warm the seed butter, honey and butter (or oil) until all soft and can be blended together
  3. While the wet ingredients are warming, whisk together the oats, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl
  4. Add in the chocolate chunks/chips, sunflower and pumpkin seeds and any extra you wanted to add (if using)
  5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and blend together (your chocolate chips may melt a little. If that bothers you just add more as the mixture cools!)
  6. It's very important that the mixture is not too dry. If it doesn't seem to be sticking together well enough, add more honey, one tablespoonful at a time until you have a nice sticky consistency
  7. Now dump the mixture into your prepared dish and lightly grease your hands
  8. Use your hands to press the mixture down into the baking dish (when I double this and make them on a cookie sheet I like to lightly grease my rolling pin and roll the bars out so that they are uniform in thickness)
  9. Let the bars cool until set, about 30-60 minutes in the fridge
  10. To cut, simply use your parchment "handles" to pull the bars out of the pan and place onto a cutting board. Cut the bars to your desired size! I cut mine to fit into a particular container my kids have for their granola bar they bring to school

                                       ***Store these bars in the fridge or freezer***

   Because of the sunflower seed butter, and the pumpkin and sunflower seeds, these bars need to stay refrigerated or frozen


      
    I am an affiliate marketer for Vitacost which is where I buy these products (which I use to make these bars!).
  
    What that means is that if you buy anything from Vitacost through my blog here, I make a small percentage at no extra cost to you at all! 
 
    I know there are some other great online food companies out there, but Vitacost doesn't take an annual fee (like some other discount food companies do), and if you're in Canada it's the BEST place to get a ton of healthy, organic & whole foods at super-duper prices, and for a low flat fee shipping rate. Trust me, I spent a lot of time trying to find a good health food & product store online that would ship to Canada!
 
    Vitacost rant over!!! I just really love them, otherwise I wouldn't go on and on about it! : )  

Picture

    So, these granola bars turn out soft and chewy, just sweet enough, and with nice flavour and crunch from the sunflower butter and seeds. Yumm-o. And they last for quite a while in an airtight container in the freezer, which is great!

    So, let's move on from granola bars, shall we....? I'm working on choreography for The Belleville Theatre Guild's "The Music Man" right now, and I'm listening to that music a lot because I like to be extremely familiar with the music in a show I'm in or working on. However, I have been distracted and listening to another musical sound track lately because I am obsessed with the musical "Matilda"!

   Remember the book by Roald Dahl? They made it into a movie in 1996, but in 2010 it opened as a musical in England, then opened on Broadway April 2013.....and it's amaaaaaaa-zing! I mean, you've got this cast of freakin' talented people, mostly children, and it makes me go, "golly"! (actually more like, "gaaaaau-lee!"-see the difference?)  : )     

   Because my random blog here is about whatever seems to pop into my head, I wanted to share a video clip from the 2013 Tony Awards where the Broadway cast of "Matilda The Musical" performed a medley from the show!

    Can I just say that these amazing kids perform this show 8 times a week, and then do performances like this, or on David Letterman and other late night shows, as well as the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, I mean, geepers x 1000! At the end of the clip you see 4 Matilda's and that's because there are 4 girls who share the role (2 shows per week, and being a stand-by 2 days a week). Why do I know so much about this show? I already told you, I'm obsessed!!! I have always loved performing, but I was pretty bad at it as a child! I still did it here and there, but I wasn't any good. Then there's these kids! Hokey dina!

   How many more strange expletives can I use here?!? Golly, geepers, hokey dina, golly gee, gee willikers, hot-dog, oh boy, heavens to Betsy, jumpin' jahosaphat K, I'm done.     


   The good news is that "Matilda The Musical" is having it's Canadian premiere in July, so I will get to see it! Two thumbs up!  

    I'm signing off now dear readers! Leave a comment if you'd like about these granola bars, granola bars in general, or your favourite musical! : )  FYI, "Matilda" isn't my favourite musical, "Into The Woods" is, and has been since I was probably 8 or 9 years old! I listened to the cassette tape of the original Broadway cast recording a LOT! Anywho...I digress....

​    G'bye! 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.



    Welcome To
     Bushel &
    A Peck!

    Hi, I'm Amy-Lyn!

    Picture
    I am the lady behind this here blog! I live in the sticks with my animals, my super handsome husband, and my
    ​ 3 amazing kids! 
    Here you'll find things from recipes (gluten-free, paleo, and strait up junk food!), DIY ideas, thoughts on raising a son with autism, and whatever else pops into my brain! : )  

    Read more about me by clicking here!

    Want to Stay Connected?

    RSS Feed


    Subscribe to my mailing list!

    * indicates required

    Find What
    ​You're Looking For on the Site!



    Vitacost.com

     Most Popular Posts

    Meat & Potato Casserole
    Gluten-Free Meat & Potato Casserole
    Picture
    D.I.Y Tea Cup Bird Feeder
    Picture
    Mini Caprese Kabobs

    Featured in The Huffington Post

    Picture
    Paleo Double Chocolate Avocado Cookies

    Featured in Woman's Day

    Picture
    Chicken Bundles


    Categories

    All
    Antiques
    Autism
    Birthday
    Breakfast
    Chocolate
    Dessert
    Diy
    Family
    Five Minute Friday
    Giveaway!
    Gluten Free
    Health-fitness
    Lunch/Dinner
    Miscarriage
    Motivational Monday!
    Muffins
    My Thoughts...
    Nifty Ideas
    Paleo
    Primal
    Recipes
    Sandwiches
    Soup
    Tea Party


    Some of my favourite products! 


    Archives

    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013

    my foodgawker gallery
  • Blog
  • Health & Fitness
  • Artist Biography
  • Paintings
  • Photography
  • Drawings, etc.
  • About Me
  • Contact Me