In the Kitchen

I just wanted to share a few "in the kitchen" successes of the past week.

I have been experimenting with making granola bars lately as the babe can't eat store bought ones because of her food allergies.  I have always been a fan of the granola bar and thought it would be a nice addition to her lunch box. 

This week I created a Chewy Chocolate Chip Banana Granola Bar recipe that I am happy with:

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

1/2 c. butter (non-dairy kind for us)

1/3 c. honey

5 c. granola

1/2 c. whole wheat flour

½ cup chocolate chips (non-dairy kind)

1 mushed up banana

1 beaten egg (because we can do that now!)

½ cup applesauce

• In a saucepan combine brown sugar, butter and honey. Bring to boiling, stirring constantly.
• Stir together granola and whole wheat flour. Pour brown sugar mixture over granola mixture. Stir until granola mixture is well coated.
• Add egg, applesauce and banana. Stir well.
• Add chocolate chips.  Stir well again.
• Press mixture into a greased 13x9x2 inch baking pan.
• Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.

It doesn't take long and you can easily add/substitute in raisins, cranberries, nuts, etc.  To continue my quest for the perfect "babe friendly" granola bar, I think I will throw in some cinnamon and vanilla next time for additional flavour.   
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I tried a new recipe on Tuesday which I was quite a fan of.  We do vegetarian dinners on Tuesdays so I am always on the look out for easy and yummy veggie meals.  This week I took a magazine recipe and gave it a whirl.  You can grab the recipe by clicking here: Chickpeas With Chard and Pan-Roasted Tomatoes.

I should have used the good camera for this shot as you can't really see all the stuff going on in this dish, but it has tomatoes, rainbow chard, raisins, garlic, chickpeas and lemon juice.  It was an explosion of a lot of very interesting flavours and I am looking forward to making it again.  It has also made me a fan of chard which can only be a good thing. 

Feel free to share any great foodie finds from your kitchen and have a great weekend!