Super Easy Superfood Oatmeal...

Quinoa for breakfast is nothing new. In fact, combining quinoa and oats for a delicious protein rich breakfast isn’t new either, but it is new to me. As quinoa continues to grow in popularity here in the United States I continue to come across new and interesting uses for it. Of course, I never have time to try all the recipes I see, or even half of them, and when it comes to breakfast food I’m usually at a disadvantage anyway since I’m not much of a morning eater anyway. Which is why I normally opt for a fruit or green smoothie.

Of course, there are those rare days when I wake up with breakfast on my mind, and today was one of those days. Normally when I crave breakfast it’s something carby, or decadent. It’s always something that requires work and effort and it’s very seldom wholesome. Today was different, maybe it’s the cool autumnal weather, or the fact that I’ve been feeling less then ideal lately, but I woke up craving oats. Actually, that’s a lie, I’ve been craving oats for days now actually but I’ve just been to lazy to make them. Since I woke up extremely early this morning for no apparent reason, and have the day off I decided that if I wanted oatmeal then there was no time like the present.

The original idea was just to make a basic pot of oatmeal that would be large enough to last me through the weekend, but as I was standing in front of my pantry I thought “why not try that whole quinoa breakfast thing?” So I decided to add some quinoa to my oats. Then I started thinking about what else might be good. I had a single apple sitting in my fruit basket, and that always tastes great in oatmeal, I have bags of random Superfood burning holes in my pantry shelves and so why not add them too for a super nutrient dense, antioxidant rich breakfast? See how it is? Once you get started down a certain path you can’t stop, and I ended up with one of the most enjoyable bowls of oatmeal ever. The goji and mulberries really added a nice element to the oatmeal, a subtly sweet and complex blend of flavors. Even my husband who is no fan of oatmeal, but reluctantly agreed to try it, loved it!

The beauty of this oatmeal is you can literally do whatever you want with it. There are so many things you can add in, so many variations, an endless amount of options to keep you interested. This morning I chose to add the blueberries, cherries, flaxseeds, sunflower seeds, maple syrup, pomegranate molasses, and unsweetened almond milk to my bowl and it was divine. My husband meanwhile chose blueberries, cherries, flaxseeds, chia seeds, raisins, maple syrup, pomegranate molasses and vanilla almond milk.

However you choose to eat it, I hope you enjoy it!

Super Easy Superfood Oatmeal 

1 ½ C Steel Cut Oats
½ C Quinoa
5 C Water
1 Granny Smith Apple Peeled and cubed
4 Tbsp Goji Berries
4 Tbsp White Mullberries

Optional Add Ins per Serving 

2 Tbsp Fresh or Frozen Blueberries, Raspberries, or Blackberries
8 Fresh or Frozen Whole Pitted Cherries
2 Tbsp Ground Flaxseed
1 Tbsp Raw Sunflower Seeds
1 Tbsp Hemp Seeds
1 Tbsp Chia Seeds
1-2 Tbsp Raisins
1-2 Tbsp Walnuts
Sliced Banana
½ - 1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
½ - 1 Tbsp Pomegranate Molasses
Almond, Coconut or other favorite non-dairy milk

- Combine the Oats, Quinoa and Water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Once boiling reduce heat and let simmer on the stove for 40-60 minutes, stirring occasionally until the oats have thickened and are tender.

- Ten minutes before the end of cooking add in the peeled chopped apple and stir to combine.

- Five minutes before the end of cooking add in the Goji and White Mullberries and stir to combine.

- Remove the cooked oatmeal from the heat, and spoon out individual servings. Top each serving with desired add-ins.

*** Note - To ensure this is Gluten-Free use GF oats. *** 

White Chocolate Cherry Smoothie...

I don’t know about you but I’ve been addicted to cherries lately. I probably buy a few pounds per week and every morning I eat a bowl of them for breakfast. I’ve always loved cherries, but this summer they seem to be particularly ripe and delicious, and I just can’t get enough. I’ve also been really addicted to peanut butter lately, and I’ve had a strange craving for white chocolate which got me thinking this week that I might like combining all three of these things in one way or another.

This morning after a little bit of deliberation I decided to try mixing them together in a smoothie. It was either that or a dessert and I just didn’t feel like baking today. As it happens though this smoothie is like a dessert in a glass, super yummy, and decadent! Actually - as weird as it sounds this smoothie tastes a little bit like Christmas - probably the nutmeg. Anyway it came as a big surprise to me because I didn’t have any real idea of what the end result would be. I can honestly say it far exceeded my expectations, and if you like decadent dessert like smoothies definitely give this one a try!

White Chocolate Cherry Smoothie 

1 1/4 C Vanilla Almond Milk
1/3 C Vegan White Chocolate Chips
1/3 C Frozen Cherries
½ Frozen Banana
** 2 Tbsp Peanut Butter & Co’s White Chocolate Wonderful Peanut Butter
1 ½ tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Maca Powder
1 tsp Lucuma Powder
½ tsp Mucuna Powder
1/8 tsp Ground Nutmeg
1/8 tsp Ground Cinnamon
4-6 Ice Cubes

- Place the vegan white chocolate in a small saucepan over medium heat. After about a minute the chocolate should begin to melt, add in a 1/4 cup of the almond milk and stir the two together until the white chocolate has melted fully.

- Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

- Combine the white chocolate mixture with the cherries, banana, peanut butter, maca, lucuma, mucuna, nutmeg, cinnamon, remaining almond milk and ice cubes in a highspeed blender. Blend on high for 90 seconds or until the mixture is smooth.

- Pour into a glass and garnish with a dash of nutmeg and a few dried cranberries or cherries for a festive feel. Enjoy!

*** Note - I don’t know if there’s any real substitute for Peanut Butter & Co’s White Chocolate Peanut butter, but you could just use regular peanut butter and add in more vegan white chocolate to compensate. Also you can use fresh cherries rather then frozen if you prefer, but then you may want to use more ice to get the same consistency.*** 

Vegan Mofo #12 - Taymer’s Pina Colada Ice Cream...

Vegan Mofo #12 - Taymer’s Pina Colada Ice Cream 

The Region - The Caribbean
The Book - Caribbean Vegan
The Author - Taymer Mason
The Recipe - Pina Colada Ice Cream
Page # 202
Difficulty - Easy
Duration - The active time on this recipe is about 15 minutes, but it requires some before hand prep. Once the ice cream base is made it needs to refrigerate overnight, I actually made the ice cream base very early in the morning and then popped it in the ice cream maker in the evening. Once it’s gone through the ice cream maker for 30 minutes it needs to freeze for 3 hours. Since I like soft serve ice cream I skipped the freezing step.

Okay, it’s finally time to get into the Island spirit, with a Caribbean inspired dessert. This recipe comes from Taymer Mason’s book “Caribbean Vegan” which is a book I’ve owned for a while now, but don’t use very often. This recipe in particular is one I’d been coveting for some time - probably as long as I’ve had the book - and I never made it because up until last year I completely forgot I owned an ice cream maker. I know, how do you forget something like that? Well, it was a wedding gift and it got lost in the shuffle somehow and at the time that I received it while I was a pretty good cook I wasn’t so experimental. Certainly it had never occurred to me to make home-made ice cream back in those days. These days it’s all different, becoming vegan has inspired all sorts of new creative culinary pursuits and I love making things from scratch from condiments to soy milk, to tofu, and even ice cream. Since I knew I wanted to include The Caribbean as a region I explore during this mofo, I thought there was no better time then now to finally try this delicious pina colada ice cream. Even if summer is only a few days away from being over.

Now, some of you might think making homemade ice cream is a chore, or that it’s laborious, but really it’s not. Not if you have an ice cream maker anyway. All you really do is spend a few minutes whipping together a base, you let it cool, and then you pop it into the ice cream maker and it does all the rest of the work for you. When it’s done you can eat it straight out of the machine provided you like soft serve. If however you prefer a more frozen ice cream it’s generally a good rule of thumb to freeze the finished product for 2-4 hours. Once you get the hang of this little dance making ice cream at home is fun and easy, and out of all the ice creams I made over the summer I’d have to say that Taymer’s Pina Colada is probably my hands down favorite. I just really love the mixture of flavors, and they all come together so nicely.

The base is pretty simple, non-dairy milk, non-dairy creamer, arrowroot powder - I used cornstarch -, coconut milk, sugar and coconut extract. Then you stir in white rum - I used Captain Morgan cause that’s all I had - crushed pineapple, and candied cherries. I also didn’t have candied cherries but I used jarred maraschino cherries that I blotted with a paper towel to remove the excess juice. The recipe also calls for Angostura bitters which I didn’t have and couldn’t find and so I just left that out.

Really this ice cream is so superb, it’s better then any store bought ice cream I’ve ever had, vegan or otherwise, and the craziest part is that I don’t even like Pina Coladas! No really, I don’t. There’s just something about a pina colada I can’t stand, it’s a strange taste, and texture, but I love pina colada flavored things which is bizarre. Anyway, a scoop or two of this flavorful ice cream will make you feel like you’re in the tropics. I know I’ll be making this again and again.

PS: Since we ate this straight away as a soft serve it didn’t photograph real well in a bowl. So since we were eating it with a pie I made I decided to photograph it topped onto the pie. For anyone curious the pie in question is Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s Purple Plum Pie with Crumble Topping from “Color Me Vegan” and seriously it’s one of the best pies I’ve ever had. So damn delicious, and it tasted great combined with the tropical flavors of the ice cream.

The Valentine’s Day Post...

The Lovely Valentine's Day Flowers My Mom Sent Us

I hope everyone had a lovely Valentine’s Day yesterday, I know I did despite a little pre-V-day stress and a last minute change of plans. The original idea you see, was to go out and have a romantic dinner just the two of us, but a culmination of things turned that into a less then stellar plan. So instead I decided to invite some close friends over for a Valentine’s Day Dinner Celebration which turned out to be a very successful good time, despite the before mentioned stress.

Banana Split Waffles

The stress as it were, was all due to the fact that I wanted to make the perfect Valentine’s Day dinner, and I wanted it to reflect the colors most commonly associated with Valentines, as well as the spirit of love. I searched and searched and searched through all my cook books and the web for recipes I had not yet made that would fit both my criteria and my budget. What I found was an endless supply of dessert recipes and nearly as many cocktail and appetizer recipes but hardly anything suitable for a main meal. It must also be said that there are WAY too many people out there who consider marinara sauce to be an appropriate expression of love. Spaghetti and marinara for Valentine’s? No thanks.

Banana Split Waffles

What I really wanted to do was utilize the beets that were in my fridge. I bought a bunch that I’d planned to use this week and I thought what better time to use them then V-day? Except virtually every beet recipe I came across was for roasted beets. Let it also be said that apparently when it comes to the beetroot most people are seriously lacking in imagination! Roast beets are great, I adore them, but there isn’t anything fancy, romantic or even particularly thoughtful about them served alongside something else.

Banana Split Waffles

The other challenge was the fact that I was cooking for others. Whenever you cook dinner for other people you always have to be mindful of their taste preferences. If someone doesn’t like spicy, or a certain vegetable or this or that it can set the whole thing off. You have to be conscious, and also when cooking for others you want to enjoy their company not spend the whole night in the kitchen. Which means you have to pick a dish, or dishes that are both simple yet elegant. Not the easiest task in the world. Finally I decided to stop worrying, forget looking for the recipe of another and just go with my gut and do what I felt was right. In the end it worked out beautifully, much to my own surprise and amazement, but before I get to the main course lets start with breakfast shall we?

Caponata

For breakfast I made the Banana Split Waffles from "Hearty Vegan Meals for Monster Appetites" by Celine Steen & Joni Marie Newman. Served with Chocolate Sauce, Rice Whip, Maraschino Cherries, and Soy Delicious Purely Decadent Cookie Avalanche Ice Cream. The authors recommend you serve these waffles with their recipe for Cake Batter Ice Cream, and as much as I would have loved that I honestly wasn’t about to dig out my ice cream maker just to make a batch for breakfast. Not to mention the fact that there isn’t room in my freezer for the ice cream maker anyway. We searched high and low for vegan cake batter ice cream at the store, but not finding any my husband picked out this flavor for the waffles. It was definitely tasty! A good choice. As for the waffles they were delicious! Full of flavor and filling and they tasted amazing with ice cream and whip. Never in my life have I had such a combination, and certainly not for breakfast but it was a nice treat. Except I’m the sort of person that while I have a serious sweet tooth I can only take so much sweet and so much chocolate in one sitting before I want to puke. By the time I got to the last of my waffles I was in that mode, and couldn’t finish off the last couple of bites. Sugar overload.

Caponata

With a breakfast like that under our belts there was absolutely no room for lunch. I did however make a lovely appetizer to proceed dinner. The Caponata from "The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen" by Donna Klein. Garlic, onion, tomatoes, celery, capers, olives and eggplant are cooked down with water, tomato paste, sugar, red wine vinegar, and basil to make a delicious sweet/tart antipasto for toasted bread rounds. Absolutely incredible mix of flavor and the four of us went through 2 loaves of French bread in an attempt to finish off ever last morsel.

Caponata

After that, dinner. Seeing as how I’d made the caponata to start I figured I might as well keep with the Italian theme and so I decided on pasta. I made a lovely Rotini dish with roasted beets, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and red onions. Keeping with the color theme of Valentine’s I really wanted to use pink, purple or red foods, but decided at the last minute to throw in the spinach for some added "POP" and nutrition. Thanks to the beets the pasta was stained a lovely shade of pink, which really made it feel romantic and fitting for the day. As for the recipe I promise to post it later.

Rotini With Roasted Beets, Red Onion, Spinach & Sun-Dried Tomatoes

After a long period of digestion it was time for dessert for which I’d made the Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake from "Party Vegan" by Robin Robertson. This cheesecake was delicious, very rich and very creamy, but - at least for me - it’s not the kind of thing you want to over-indulge in. The cake was very sweet, and very chocolaty so much so that by the last few bites I was beginning to feel a little ill. Chocolate coma for sure. Everyone loved the cake though, and seconds were had. My only complaint about the cake is that I thought it should have more cherry considering it’s called a Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake. Cherry Jam is spread in a thin layer overtop of a chocolate cake and then the cake is dotted with fresh cherries - or in my case maraschino since I didn’t have fresh - but I thought it would have been better to also blend some of the cherry jam into the batter, or even a few whole cherries. That’s just me though, everyone else seemed to love it as it was.

Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake

To drink we stuck to water and Republic of Tea, though I’d originally planned to make cocktails I’m glad that in the end I didn’t. The Plum Berry White tea and Rose White Tea were the perfect accompaniment to dinner and a great way to end a good evening.

Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake

After our guests left there was some very lovely cuddle time and then a viewing of the film "I Love You Phillip Morris" starring Jim Carry and my all-time favorite actor Ewan McGregor. It’s a film we’ve seen before, and while it is a rather unconventional romance it is still a romance nonetheless. If you haven’t seen it you should! The perfect end to a perfect day, I hope you all had a lovely time as well, and stay tuned for that Rotini recipe!

Whole Wheat Apple Cherry Waffles...

I know, two waffle related posts in just a couple of days, it’s crazy right? I swear it wasn’t intentional. It’s just that after my last post about the pomegranate syrup I awoke the following morning with a wicked hankering for some fluffy, sweet, waffle goodness. It’s been so long since I had a waffle or a pancake for that matter, and when the desire strikes it does so with a vengeance.

I mentioned a little while ago that ever since coming home from vacation my stomach and digestion have been a little off kilter. I mentioned that around Christmas I had been slowly working towards setting myself back to rights, but that I wouldn’t be able to do so fully until the New Year. I’ve been doing very well with it, as you can probably see from the recipes I’ve been posting, a lot of my diet lately has consisted of soup, salad, smoothies, then simple grain or veggie dishes with an emphasis on eating as much raw fruits and vegetables as possible. I haven’t cut either oil or sugar out completely but I’ve significantly decreased the amount that I use. I used to use oil everyday, sometimes for multiple dishes now I seem to use it only a few times a week at most and I honestly don’t miss it much. As for sugar, I’ve been staying away from dessert for the most part, aside from a cinnamon coffee cake I baked the other night when going to a friends, and the occasional Oreo (Oreo’s are vegan by default by the way) this week, I haven’t been consuming much sugar at all. When I have had that sweet tooth craving I’ve been trying to stick to fruit, a fruit smoothie, or in rarer cases I’ve made a flax milk, or almond milk shake or pudding with banana, chia seeds and a tbsp of cacao powder which I’ve found very satisfying.

Digestion wise I’ve been feeling pretty good over the past couple of weeks, and things seem to be going back to normal, which I’m ever so grateful for. Breads and bread-like things - gluten in general really - is one of the things I’ve been avoiding, hence my not having had waffles or pancakes in a while, so when I felt that urge, I thought since I’ve been feeling better why not indulge a little? Of course I’ve made virtually every waffle and pancake recipe in all the cook books I own, barring a few my husband would have no interest in eating - like say chocolate waffles or pumpkin pancakes - so rather then remaking something I’ve already had a billion times, I thought I might as well create something new. I figured if I was going to break the few dietary rules I’d placed before myself I might as well do it for something original. Thus Apple Cherry Waffles were born, more out of necessity then anything else since I’m running a bit low on groceries at the moment. The surprise is that they turned out brilliantly. Who doesn’t love apples and cherries? Well I know I do, and they work wonderfully together. These aren’t an especially sweet waffle and can be made even less so by opting out of using the sugar, as the fruit - particularly the cherries - may be sweet enough for some. This recipe makes eight square waffles, and they come up thick and fluffy. Truly they taste lovely on their own but if you want to jazz them up - as I always like to do - a little pat of Earth Balance or other non-dairy butter, a drizzle of pure maple syrup and just a light dusting of powdered sugar make these waffles really melt in your mouth.

Another great idea would be to enjoy them with a little bit of fresh sauteed apple or some sauteed fresh cherries. Unfortunately the apple in this recipe was my last, and I didn’t have any cherries on hand otherwise I would have been all over that for sure. Feel free to play around to find your ideal topping, and as always enjoy!

Whole Wheat Apple Cherry Waffles

2 ½ C Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp salt
2 Tbsp Ground Flaxseed
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 Tbsp Granulated Cane Sugar
2 C Flax Milk (or other non-dairy milk of choice)
1 Tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
3 Tbsp Canola Oil (or other nuteral vegetable oil)
3/4-1 C Chopped Dried Cherries
1 Granny Smith Apple Peeled and Grated

- Combine Apple cider vinegar and Flax milk in small bowl and set aside to curdle.

- Combine all dry ingredients in separate bowl, make well in center.

- Combine Oil with milk mixture then pour into dry ingredients. Mix until thoroughly combined, and a batter has formed. It’s okay if there are a few lumps.

- Add in chopped cherries and grated apple. Mix until just combined.

- Pour batter into lightly greased heated waffle iron and cook per manufacturers directions. My waffle iron makes four waffles at a time, and about 1-1 ½ Cups of batter is good per 1 batch.

*** Note - If you don’t have a waffle iron you could always turn these into pancakes. Scoop 1/4 -1/3 C batter into a lightly greased heated pan cook till bubbly, then flip over and cook until golden brown. Easy! ***

- Enjoy waffles with favorite topping of choice, perhaps with a side of fruit and a tall glass of orange juice and a cup of tea.

Kale Salad with Fresh Figs and Roasted Balsamic Mushrooms...

This salad makes a nice simple meal that’s both delicious and filling. A perfect salad to enjoy during one of autumns warmer evenings. It also makes for a lovely presentation as a starter salad. The lemon juice, maple syrup, cherries, figs and mushrooms make for the perfect combination of sweet, savory and sour. Enjoy by candlelight, with soft music and a bottle of Pinot Noir.

Kale Salad with Fresh Figs and Roasted Balsamic Mushrooms

Salad

1 Bunch Kale
2 Carrots Julianne or grated
½ -1 large red pepper sliced thin
½ Large red onion sliced into thin half or quarter moons
Handful of dried Cherries
Handful of Sunflower Seeds
4-5 Fresh Figs Quartered
1 Batch Roasted Balsamic Mushrooms

4-6 Cloves Garlic finely minced
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2-3 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1-2 Tbsp Maple Syrup
pinch sea salt and black pepper

Roasted Balsamic Mushrooms

20-25 small to medium Cremini Mushrooms
2-3 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1-2 Tbsp Olive Oil
½ tsp rubbed sage
½ tsp crushed Rosemary
1/4 tsp ground thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
5 garlic cloves minced fine
Dash of Agave (optional)

- First remove the stems from your mushrooms. You can keep them and use them or discard them. I kept mine. Then place mushrooms in sealable container along with minced garlic, vinegar, oil, agave and seasonings. Place in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours to marinate, turning once.

- When you’re ready to make your salad, preheat your oven to 400'F (202'C) then chop your kale into bite sized pieces and place in a large serving bowl. Add the olive oil, Lemon Juice, Maple syrup minced garlic, and pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Stir thoroughly until all kale is coated. Then set aside to marinate at room temperature.

- Lightly spray a small baking dish with non-stick spray. Dump your mushrooms along with the marinade into the dish and roast at 400'F (202'C) for roughly 20 minutes until mushrooms are nice and soft.

- While mushrooms are roasting prep your veggies but don’t add them to the kale just yet.

- When mushrooms are done remove them from the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes so that they are still warm but cool enough to eat without burning yourself.

- Add Carrots, red pepper, red onion, dried cherries and sunflower seeds to the kale, mix to combine.

- Distribute salad evenly amongst two plates and add quartered figs. Use a slotted spoon to remove the cooled mushrooms from the roasting pan and place them onto the salads. At this point you can either discard the mushroom marinade or reserve it to drizzle a tsp’s worth over each salad.

- Serve and Enjoy!

Nutty Fruity Banana Yogurt Bowl...

You know there are some mornings when you wake up and you just want to poor some sugary cereal into a bowl and scarf it down. You’re tired, you have a busy day ahead of you and the thought of actually taking some time out to make a breakfast is just too daunting. Well I have the perfect solution. Last week I was going through something of a banana craze, which is odd for me considering I don’t really like bananas - never have - at least not in their whole state. Banana flavored things, or banana in something - such as banana bread - okay, but on their own, No. However last week for whatever reason I was mad for bananas, eating at least 2 a day, and sometimes 3. One night I was craving bananas so bad that my husband and I made a Midnight run to the local 24 hour grocery and spent about $5 on bananas. Do you know how many bananas you can get for $5? Well at 55c per pound I’ll tell you it’s quite a lot! Subsequently around the same time I was craving nuts, walnuts and cashews in particular and so the following morning I assembled this simple yet delicious breakfast using some leftover fruit and vanilla soy yogurt that needed to be gotten rid of.

Nutty Fruity Banana Yogurt Bowl

1 large banana sliced
1/4 C strawberries sliced
1/4 C dark red cherries sliced
1 tsp hemp seeds
1/4 C Walnuts chopped
less then half 1/4 C chopped cashews
1/2C Vanilla Soy Yogurt

- Pour Vanilla Soy Yogurt into a bowl

- Layer in your sliced cherries, strawberries and sliced banana.

= Top with chopped nuts, and hemp seeds and enjoy!

It really is as simple as that. It might take a couple minutes longer then dumping cereal into a bowl but it is a lot more nutritious, and far more satisfying. Another great thing about it is that the fruit and nuts are pretty interchangeable. Use whatever you have on hand, I think Pecans or pistachios would work really well, and to make things even easier use fresh berries instead of slicing up strawberries and cherries. Or just use extra banana. For example 2 bananas instead of the additional sliced fruit.

I do however suggest you try it my way at least once though as it really is amazing. In fact I ended up eating some variation of this bowl for breakfast all week. It’s a great way to start your day, I promise! Even though there’s only one banana in the bowl it packs a heavy banana punch and the other fruits are kind of muted by it, lending to the bowl that hint of sweetness you might be craving in the early or mid morning. I think this bowl Is even tasty and sweet enough to use as a healthful desert, which I may have done more then once.

PS: I’m not really a fan of soy yogurt. Most brands to me taste very soy-like and artificial. However I do highly recommend the Wildwood Brand Vanilla Soygurt, it’s so good you can eat it straight out of the carton. You can also use it for baking. Check it out!

Super Multi-Purpose Cereal Bar....

Rice Krispies Squares - or Rice Krispies Treats as they are commonly referred to in America - are a universally loved junky snack food of children, and is it really any surprise considering children are exactly who they were invented for? A little interesting history here that you may not be privy to is that Rice Krispies Squares were invented by the Home Economics Department of the Kellogg Company as a fund-raising idea for the Youth centered group Camp Fire Girls sometime in the 1920's. The treats originally consisted of Rice Krispies Cereal, melted butter, and melted marshmallows, and their sweet, sticky, yet crunchy texture was apparently an instant winner. Now I don’t know about you, but marshmallow’s to me have always tasted a bit like chalk. That’s not to say I didn’t appreciate Rice Krispies Squares as a kid, they just weren’t my favorite, and since becoming an adult I can’t recall the last time I actually ate a ‘traditional’ Rice Krispies Square.

Since the 1920's many variations on this quick and simple recipe have surfaced, and now I throw my hat into the ring with my slightly healthier, much tastier, protein packed, yet still a bit junky concoction.

Super Cereal Bar

Dry Ingredients

2C Puffed Brown Rice Cereal (I used Nature’s Path, but you can use anything, even actual rice krispies although read the ingredients list because in some countries rice krispies are vegan and in some countries they are not)
1 1/4C Rolled Oats
1/3C Ground Flaxseed
1/4C Sesame Seeds
1/4C Hemp Seeds
1/2C Dried Cherries
1/4C Sweet Cacao Nibs (Optional)
Dash Cinnamon
Smaller Dash Nutmeg

Wet Ingredients

3/4C Organic Peanut Butter
1/3C Brown Rice Syrup
1tsp Vanilla Extract
1tsp Almond Extract
1-2tsp lemon juice
1Tbsp Maple Syrup

- Toss all dry ingredients into mixing bowl and stir to combine.

- Heat a small pot over medium low heat, then add wet ingredients, stir constantly until mixture becomes smooth and warm.

- Pour wet mix into dry mix, fold in and stir until everything is combined and sticking together. ***Note you may need more wet ingredients at this point. You don’t want the mix to be wet and gooey but you do want it sticking. If it’s still dry and crumbly and there’s still a lot of loose ingredients in the bottom of the bowl add another quarter to half cup of peanut butter, and another quarter brown rice syrup to the pot with a dash of extract and lemon juice, stir till smooth and then add once more to the dry ingredients. ***

- When everything is sticking together nicely grease a square or rectangular pan, then press mixture evenly into it. Once mixture has been evenly pressed into pan, cover with parchment paper and refrigerate for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cut into squares, or desired shapes and enjoy. Will keep in the fridge for 1-2 weeks.

These things are seriously good! I’m telling you, and the greatest thing about them is you can really play around with the ingredients. You could add any kind of seeds you want, you can add any dried fruit that you want, and you don’t have to use peanut butter. You could use almond, or cashew or any nut butter really.
Though I do recommend trying it my way once, as they are very, very tasty!

The other thing I love about these bars is that they can be eaten as a breakfast, a snack, or a desert. They’re perfect for if you need to bring food on a long drive, perfect to bring camping or hiking, and they’re a great ‘on the go’ food. You gotta love a treat that’s multi-purpose right?

Enjoy!!