Easy Carrot Cracker Recipe

Crackers are one of the things we always have in our house, and so they became one of the first things I started making from scratch. And you know what? They are soooo simple! There are only six ingredients in my crackers, all of which you most likely already have and can pronounce. No more paying $3 for a cardboard box!

Another thing I always have in my pantry are canned carrots. They are constantly on sale, and David's grandfather is always giving me boxes of canned goods, always including a few cans of carrots. And since I don't like eating canned carrots, and my kids don't care for cooked carrots at all, they mostly just sit in the back gathering dust.

I've been sneaking them in all different places, like pasta sauce (and the pasta itself), but once I made carrot crackers, it was all over. (I have also made this recipe with sweet potatoes and it's excellent that way too!)

Carrot Crackers

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

5 Tbsp. unsalted butter

14.5 oz can of cooked carrots, drained

1 Tbsp. honey

Mix  2 cups of the flour, baking powder, salt together. Boring first step.

Mix the butter in until it has a course meal texture. I, of course, used my mixer, but if you don't have one, you can do this step with your hands. But, seriously, get a mixer already.

Now you add your carrots and honey. Boy, do I wish you could smell stuff on the internet - but trust me when I say, these smell fantastic!  When I made these with sweet potatoes, I ran the potatoes through  food processor  first to make puree. This time, I wanted less work/dishes, so I skipped this step and just put the carrots in there and let them break apart while blending. Both ways work fine, one has flecks, one doesn't. 

I added a rosemary garlic seasoning blend to my crackers which turned out delicious. You can use whatever seasoning you like here, or none,as I usually do. Gotta get fancy for the blog, ya know.

So now, break out the dough hook. Oh yeah. Just look at it. It's awesome.

If you don't have one, oh well, get to kneading. 

If your dough is too sticky, add that extra half a cup of flour. In the end you should end up with a smooth elastic dough that bounces back when you push on it. Roll it into a ball and stick it in the fridge for about half an hour. 

Use your time wisely. Give your baby that "a-poo" she's been pestering you for. And maybe brush her hair too... sheesh.

I divided my dough into fourths before I rolled it out. Don't know if that's important, but I thought I should be specific. Just roll it thin. Real thin. Like, cracker thin. 

Now you can cut it! Typically, I just cut them into squares because it's fast and it doesn't waste any dough, but like I said, I'm trying to be fancy for my blog so I used a cookie cutter!

I've made squares and shapes and have learned that my kids don't give a care what it looks like as long as it tastes good! I'm pretty sure they don't even look at it before shoveling it into their little mouths.

Preheat the oven to 350. Put your crackers on a baking sheet with either a non stick liner or parchment paper. Save yourself the headache of sticky crackers - get a Silpat.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until they are brown on the edges. I suppose they might cook better if you flip them, but who cares, I never do it and they're great.  

(This is just one of 4 pans this recipe made, be ready to eat!)

Aren't they pretty? 

This recipe makes about a box worth of crackers. I'm estimating, because there's no way I'm going to count crackers right now.

Hope you enjoy these as much as my family does (I'm eating them now with some hummus - yum!).

And now that I've written and said the word carrot so many times it looks/sounds wrong. It's a total weird word. Right?

Soft Chewy Granola Bars

Given that this is my second post about granola bars, you can probably guess how much we love granola bars over here. A LOT. For seriously.

These take about 10 minutes to make, and while they do need to chill/set you can eat these within an hour! Or just eat them with a spoon, whatever.

The best part of this recipe is the flexibility. I have made dozens of batches, each one a little different, based on what I have in the house that week. Mostly, I add in chocolate chips because that is my kids favorite. This week, I bought a dehydrator so I used dried blueberries. (I have been drying EVERYTHING.)

Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup crisp rice cereal

1/2 cup flax seed

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup chunky peanut butter

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup dried blueberries (or whatever)

Mix together first three ingredients in your PINK KITCHENAID STAND MIXER!

(Sorry, I just got one and I'M REALLY EXCITED. I use it for everything I possibly can, but a few weeks ago before I got it, I just used a wooden spoon to make these and it worked totally fine.)

Mix in the next three ingredients. I use natural chunky peanut butter (Meijer naturals to be exact), so the consistency is slightly different than regular peanut butter. I like using chunky peanut butter because I like peanuts in my granola bar, but I have used smooth and it's fine.

The mix should be wet, but not drippy. If it's too dry, add another Tbsp of peanut butter.

Then add your blueberries or chocolate chips. Or marshmallows. Or apricots. Or nothing, they're really super good without anything else.

Press into your pan with your hands or a spatula. I use a back of a spoon. Pack it down as hard as you can, it will make the granola bars stay together better. Once pressed down, put your pan in the fridge for at least half an hour before cutting.

I store mine in the fridge because I think they keep better that way. I have kept them in my cupboard, and they fell apart easier and since they have no preservatives, they won't last long. I can't tell you exactly how long they will last since mine are never around longer than a week.

So, enjoy! I made this batch earlier this evening, and they're half gone already!

The Best Salad Dressing. I Know A Lot Of People Say That, But Seriously.

I LOVE Italian dressing.
My mom always mixed the packets in the glass jar that comes with them. 

Image source: http://www.gapalicious.com/2011/09/09/recipe-of-the-week-scdgaps-italian-vinaigrette/

Poured over sliced tomatoes - classic side dish from my childhood.

As delicious as Good Seasons Italian Dressing is, 

(especially when it mixes with your baked potato... mmmmm....)

it's crazy salty and full of corn sugar and preservatives. 

Not to mention expensive!

Plus, Kraft is on the list of Monsanto owned companies, and I try to avoid them as much as I possibly can.

(Here's the list, I take it with me to the grocery store! http://www.realfarmacy.com/printable-list-of-monsanto-owned-food-producers#VgHrcvrsQQvptDYF.01)

So, naturally, I make my own dressing.

And let me tell you, it is DELICIOUS!

I think I could drink the stuff. I haven't, but I'm not going to rule it out. 

I may or may not have licked my plate. Just a little.

My kids love it too, my son actually said "I love this so much more than ranch!"

And if you have a young child, you probably know how much they love ranch.

(I took this picture after we ate a bunch of it - it makes more than that!)

THE BEST SALAD DRESSING EVAAAAAHHHH!

1/3 c. Mayonnaise (next time I will be using homemade mayo!)

1/3 c. Apple cider vinegar

3 Tbs. Olive oil

2 Tbs. Honey

1 clove chopped garlic

3 Tbs. Parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp. Onion powder

1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning

Half of a lemon juice

Mix it up! 

Tangy, garlicky goodness with a hint of sweetness.

Yum!

The kids really do love this dressing! The ate every last bite, and so did I!

And yes, I dipped my potato in it too!

Homemade English Muffins

Oh, English muffins.

So delicate, so delicious.

My very favorite breakfast (or lunch) is a toasted English muffin with an over-easy egg and a slice of avocado. Amazing.

And as it turns out, they're pretty easy to make.

I looked at a bunch of recipes, a lot of which involve making a kind of batter and frying it in metal rings.

Ain't nobody got time fo dat.

So I worked off of a recipe from Budget Bytes.

http://www.budgetbytes.com/2010/07/english-muffins/

The only change I made was to substitute whole wheat flour for half of the flour.

Ingredients:

1 tsp. active dry yeast

1 Tbs. sugar

1/2 cup warm water

1/2 cup milk

2 Tbs. butter

1.5 cups whole wheat flour

1.5 cups all purpose flour

3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup cornmeal

oil

1. Mix together the yeast, sugar, and water. 

Let it sit for 5 minutes or so until it starts getting frothy. Yum, right?

(I love the smell of yeast, tell me I'm not the only one...)

2. Melt the butter in the milk. 

3. Mix the flour and salt together, then add the milk mix and the yeast mix. It will be a sticky dough.

Add flour by 1/4 cup of a time until the dough becomes more solid and pulls away from the bowl. (I only added 1/2 cup more of flour.)

4. LIGHTLY flour your work surface and start kneading your dough. You don't want to over work the dough or use too much flour, or you'll end up with some tough muffins. Knead for about 5 minutes.

5. Shape your dough into a ball and place it in a oiled vintage pyrex bowl*. Oil the top of the dough, and cover with plastic wrap. 

*you probably don't need a vintage pyrex bowl, but I haven't tried it so I can't comment on that.

Let it rise for about an hour, or until it's doubled in size.

6. Punch that sucker down. Oil your fist first, so you don't end up with dough on your hands. 

7. Cover and let rise for another hour. Now it's looking good. 

8. Punch the dough down again and roll it out on a floured surface. You want it to be around 3/4 of an inch thick. I used a cookie cutter to cut my biscuits, but you could use a cup if you don't have a round one. Try and cut as many as you can out of each rolling because the dough is more difficult to roll out each time. You can see my biscuits to the left are a little wonky. Put the circles on a pan covered with cornmeal. Sprinkle more cornmeal on top of each biscuit.

9. Cover your biscuits with a damp towel and let them rise. Again.

Curse yourself for trying to make these because it's taking all freaking day and you really just want to eat one already.

10. Now it's time to cook your precious little biscuits. Be careful! You don't want to "pop" them. I deflated a few, and trust me, after all this waiting, it is a real bummer. 

Heat up a skillet or frying pan, coat it with oil and transfer your biscuits to the pan. 

11. Cook for 7-9 minutes on each side. You'll be able to tell when they're done, the have a hollow sound and a beautiful golden brown crust.

I made 9 English muffins from this recipe.

The don't have as many "nooks and crannies" as store bought English muffins, but they taste just as good. Trust me!

I'm waiting on another batch to rise right now. I've got eggs and avocados waiting with me too. 

Starting from Scratch and Vanilla Almond Apricot Granola Bars

I have three kids,each with their own food issues. My oldest needs food around the clock, my middle son is very underweight, and my baby could live on fruit snacks alone.
My husband and I have our own issues, but let's not get into that. (Ahem. Taco bell.)

It's a convenience thing for us. 

Fruit snacks, granola bars, gogurt, chicken nuggets, the list of boxed and bagged foods in this house is endless.

There are a bazillion reasons to cut out processed food. I'm not going to go into a lot of details because a, I don't know everything and b, you can google just as well as I can.

But I'll give you my reasons for going "clean".

1. It tastes better.

Fresh is always better. There's a reason why everything from the Farmer's Market tastes so much better than anything from Walmart. 

2. Those empty calories aren't doing ANYBODY any favors.

Like I said, my son Jared is skinny. Not the good kind of skinny that I wish I was, but scrawny. When I was thinking of ways to give him extra calories, I started thinking about the calories he was already getting. Yeah. Not good. All those chips aren't helping him grow, and they're sure as hell not helping my diet either.

3. It makes me happy.

The feeling of cooking or baking something from scratch is incredibly gratifying. Watching my kids devour the food I made with my own hands is just a bonus. Plus, it keeps me busy and makes me feel productive, both of which make me happy.

4. The cost.

I don't care what anybody says, processed food is not cheap. A freaking box of fruit snacks is over 2 dollars and it lasts about 3 days. 

5. Skill.

The only thing I can make consistently from scratch is chocolate cookies. (um, they're amazing.) I want to add to that list. 

6. My kids.

After reading about what I'm really feeding them, I can't turn a blind eye. I really love knowing that I'm feeding them food that is nourishing their bodies and allowing them to grow physically and mentally. Plus, I definitely want them to think I'm the best cook ever. Their wives won't ever stand a chance.

So this summer we're starting from scratch. Get it? Yeah, ok...

Food isn't the only thing I'm trying to make myself, I'll be doing tons of other projects as well, all which I will blog about, so stay tuned!

Who knows, maybe we'll love it, get a few chickens and move to a farm. (In my dreams) Maybe I'll try and sneak a cow into the garage and get fresh milk. I'm kidding, but look at these Mini Jersey Cows. I DIE.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/small-breed-milk-cows.aspx#axzz2U4N9nOWj

Ok, so without further adieu, here is my first from scratch recipe!

(I made this recipe up, mostly based on ingredients I already had in the house. I'm definitely going to make another batch, so I will come back with more tips!)

Vanilla Almond Apricot Granola Bars

Makes 16 bars

Ingredients

2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup chopped dried apricots

1/2 cup sliced almonds (not pictured)

2/3 cup honey

1 large egg

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 2 qt. casserole dish. (That's what I used, and I made 16 bars. You can use a different size pan, but the thickness of your bars and the baking time will change.)

2. Mix oats, sugar, cinnamon, flour, apricots, and almonds together in a large bowl.

3. Make a well in the middle of the mixture, and pour in the egg, honey, oil, and vanilla.

4. Use your hands to mix the egg and oil into the oat mixture. I put my hand in the middle and kind of scrunched the dry mix into it a little bit at a time. Those probably aren't the best directions, but just try it.

5. Press the mix into your greased dish. Try to make it flat, but it's not the big of a deal.

6. Bake for 20 - 25 min. Every oven is different, so just watch them. If they are getting brown around the edges, they're probably done.

7. Let the bars cool about 10 minutes before you cut them. Don't wait too long, or they'll be too hard to cut. 

Then, eat! They are seriously delicious. 

Kid approved!

I wrapped mine in wax paper, which the kids seem to enjoy ripping off. They could be stored in a Tupperware container or a baggie.

As for me, I plan on crumbling one up in yogurt for tomorrow's breakfast!