Sunday Morning Granola Bars

Hey ya'll! I went and joined this blog, and then went and took forever to post. Well, hopefully I can make up for that soon enough. Starting with this!

So, about Sunday mornings- still a bit of a challenge for us Giles folk. And just when I feel like we are getting better at them, we go and have a morning like this past Sunday where we showed up right on time... for confession. Well, Since I missed it in church, there it is. In writing. At any rate, the following recipe whips up pretty quickly the night before, (or, sometimes, if you're really on top of things, EARLY the morning of), and gets eaten pretty quickly by all of those sluggish toddlers, with crazy hair, stumbling around.

My mom's original recipe was:

Chewy granola bars

1 1/2 Cups of Bisquick (I know, I know. But if that absolutely turns your stomach, here is a bisquick substitute that I use from time to time.)

1 1/2 Cups quick oats

1/2 Cup butter, softened

1 Cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 Cup Chocolate chips, or raisins (with cinnamon and/or apples), or nuts, or whatever!

Mix everything, and spread it in a cookie sheet (about 1/2 an inch thick). Bake at 350* for 15-18 minutes. cut while warm.

Notes: If I am making this for just me and the kids, I use the above amounts, but I double it if Chad is sharing with us. Also, if it's just me and the kids, I half the amount of chocolate chips, and may add a bit of peanut butter.

Healthy Carrot Muffins

Last week we went out of town, so mom hadn't been shopping. When we got back there was very little food in the house other than carrots, corn grits and some canned pineapple. So the next meal we had was baked cheese grits and carrot, pineapple salad. I made way too much salad, as I usually do, so I made the leftovers into these muffins. Here is the carrot salad recipe, which I thought was pretty nice.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup raisins
• 2 cups pineapple tidbits, drained
• 1 pound carrots, grated
• 1 cup pineapple yogurt (We didn't have yogurt, so I used mayo + juice from the pineapple)
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Soak raisins in hot water for 30 minutes. Drain and dry.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the raisins, pineapple and carrots.
3. Mix together the yogurt, sugar and salt. Add to carrot mixture; mix well, cover and refrigerate.

And here is the muffin recipe if you have any leftovers, or if you just feel like a warm, delicious breakfast.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  
• 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
  
• 2 tablespoons wheat germ
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 medium carrots, grated (about 2 cups)
• 1/2 cup canned crushed pineapple, drained
• Special equipment: 12 cup muffin tin and paper liners

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line twelve 1/2-cup muffin cups with paper muffin liners.
Whisk the flours with the brown sugar, wheat germ, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In another medium bowl lightly whisk the egg, then whisk in the vegetable oil, and vanilla extract .
Quickly and lightly fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula. Stir in the carrots and pineapple just until evenly moist; the batter will be very thick. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Turn muffins out of the tins and cool on a rack.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Meg, here is your recipe... finally! This is a delicious, hearty butternut squash soup recipe. It took some time making my ideal recipe, but here it is. And sorry for some things being vague, I'm not sure the exact amounts on certain ingredients... I just prepare it until it is the flavor I like.

1 small onion, diced

2-3 cloves garlic, chopped

6 cups of butternut squash, chopped into chunks (I do about 1 1/2 or 2 butternut squash)

Melted butter for brushing

Kosher Salt

White pepper

3-4 cups of chicken stock (for your desired consisentency)

4 Tbsp. honey

2-3 teaspoons of minced ginger

4 ounces of heavy cream

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400 or 425 degrees.

Placed diced onion, garlic, and butternut squash on a large baking sheet. Brush with a fair amount of butter, sprinkle with kosher salt and a little bit of white pepper. Roast in the oven until the squash is nice and soft and smells strong.

Dump the roasted squash/onion combo in a soup pot. Add the chicken stock (preferably homemade tastes best), honey, and ginger. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. Puree in blender for best results, but stick blender works well too. Stir in the heavy cream, season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg to your taste buds =).

It is very tasty as is or with homemade croutons on top.