Granola bites

Makes about 4 dozen bites

2 cups oats
3/4 cup wheat germ or oat bran
3/4 cup sunflower seeds
3/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup chopped nuts. Possibilities include:

• Peanuts
• Slivered almonds
• Pecans
• Walnuts
• Hazelnuts
• Cashews

8 oz block jaggery (aka panela) or 2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
4 Tbsp olive oil or butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt (unless you're using salted nuts and seeds)
1 cup mixed dried fruit and/or chocolate chips. Choose from:

• Raisins
• Currants
• Dried cranberries
• Dried apples
• Snipped prunes
• Snipped dates
• Snipped dried apricots
• Snipped figs
• Dried mango
• Crystallized ginger
  

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F if you want toasted grains.
2. Meanwhile, grease your mini-muffin tin with olive oil or butter. (I don't recommend liners. Too sticky.)
3. Mix the grains, seeds and nuts in an ovenproof dish and heat in the oven, stirring frequently to frequent burning.
4. Mix the jaggery, honey, oil, vanilla, and salt in a large pot and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly.
5. Mix all the ingredients together; you can do this right in the pot to minimize cleanup.
6. Place about 2 tbsps of the granola mixture in each muffin cup.
7. Use the back of a spoon, the bottom of a shot glass or a pestle wrapped in greased wax paper to press the granola to the bottom of each cup.
8. After 10 minutes of cooling, remove the bites from the tin with a twisting motion and store in an airtight container between sheets of wax paper. Alternately, cut up pieces of saran wrap, place a bite in the center of each piece, gather up the corners and twist together to wrap each bite individually.

This recipe can also be used for bars. Press into a 9" x 13" greased baking dish, cool, and cut into bars. They keep for a week, and don't require refrigeration. These are our standby snacks for trips to the pool, and contain no refined sugar unless it's in the fruit or you go with the brown sugar option.

Granola bars

I just use Joyful Abode's fantastic recipe, trying different fruits, seeds and nuts. I use jaggery (panela) instead of brown sugar.

Pumpkin Pancakes

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3 tbsp raw sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups milk
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin puree
1 tbsp molasses
1 egg
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp vinegar

1. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt in a medium bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, pumpkin, molasses, egg, oil and vinegar.*
3. Add dry ingredients to wet and stir lightly.
4. Heat a lightly oiled frying pan over medium high heat and reduce heat to medium.
5. Scoop the batter onto the griddle, using 1/4 cup for each pancake. Spread the batter out so that each pancake is 1/4-1/2 inch thick.
6. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

*Buttermilk can be used in place of the milk and vinegar. I just never have any!

Serve with maple syrup. I'm always in search of healthy ways to sneak vegetables into my family's diet. My toddlers gobble these pancakes up! The whole wheat flour adds to the heartiness of this dish.

Root Vegetable Mash

5 carrots
2-3 parsnips
2 small turnips
3 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

1. Peel all the vegetables and chop into chunks.
2. Heat water to boiling in a large pot and add all vegetables. Bring back to a boil and simmer until tender, about 30 mins.
3. Drain well.
4. Add butter, salt and pepper and mash vegetables until well mixed.
   

Chocolate Almond Meringues

3 egg whites, room temperature
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
2 tbsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp almond extract

1. Preheat oven at 150 degrees. (My oven only goes down to 170, but lower would be better.)
2. Using the fastest setting on your mixer, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until they form stiff peaks.
3. Sift sugar and cocoa powder into mixture. Beat until combined.
4. Add almond extract and stir in.
5. If the eggs are no longer holding their stiff peaks, beat again until they do.
6. Pipe 2-3 tablespoon mounds onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. I find it easiest to spoon the mixture into a disposable zipper bag, seal it, and snip a corner off.
   
7. Bake for two hours. Turn cookie sheet halfway through to ensure that meringues dry evenly.
8. Leave meringues to dry overnight.

These meringues turned out chewier than I wanted. Next time, I'll store them with a desiccant packet, and perhaps try meringue powder.

Whole Wheat Baking Mix

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tbsp salt
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup dry nonfat milk
1 cup shortening

1. Place all ingredients in your mixer bowl.
2. Use whisk attachment and mix at low speed until mixture is evenly mixed. It will look mealy.
3. Store in air-tight container and store either in refrigerator or at room temperature. Use within about 3 months.
   

This mix can replace Bisquick or other purchased mixes in pancakes, muffins and other baked goods.

Double Orange Roughy

4 pieces orange roughy or other mild-flavoured fish
1/4 cup orange juice
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp vegetable oil

1. Heat oil over medium heat.
2. Cook fish, turning once, until opaque all the way through, about 3 minutes per side.
3. Mix the orange juice, soy sauce and brown sugar.
4. Pour the sauce over the fish and cook for another 2 minutes.

I serve this over couscous. Simple, healthy and delicious.

Pear-and-applesauce

4 ripe pears*
2 medium apples**
1 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch ground cloves
pinch ground nutmeg

1. Peel, core and cut the fruit into chunks.
2. Put all the ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until mushy. This takes about 30 mins.
3. Process sauce to desired texture.***

* I use Bartlett pears.
** I prefer Granny Smith for their tartness. Gala apples are a good choice if you like a sweeter sauce.
*** Today, I just used the back of a spoon to break down any large pieces, making a very chunky sauce. Usually, I run into through my manual food processor, which leaves some small chunks. When the twins were new to solid foods, I used my blender to make a very smooth sauce.

The spices are my family's preference, but this pear-and-applesauce is equally delicious with no spices all, smaller quantities, or different flavours. We eat it straight, but it would be great on oatmeal, granola or pancakes.