Homemade Graham Crackers

I love graham crackers, but since I stopped buying stuff with high fruictous corn syrup, i stopped buying graham crackers. They are my favorite snack and I was very sad about that.

I came across a recipe on Pinterest, and modify it. These are made with brown sugar and honey.

They turned out soooooo tasty. The next time I make this I will roll of the dough thinner to feel more like the store bought ones.

Graham Crackers

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teasspoon baking soda

1/2 cup butter, cold and cubed

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all the dry indregients,

Then add the cubed butter and use a pastry blender (or fork) and blend the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.

Then add the honey, water and vanilla and mix until incorperated.

Remove the dough and shape it into a large ball.

On a floured surface, roll out the dough like you would cookie dough, roll out until it's less then 1/4 inch thick.

Cut out into crackers or cut out into shapes. Re-combine the scraps and roll out, cut out, repeat until all the dough is used up.

You can use a pizza cutter to make straight lines and a pointed skewer tto poke holes into the crackers.

Place the crackers on a lined (baking mat or parchment paper) cookie sheet and bake for 15 mintues.

To achieve the crispy cracker crunch, let cool completely.

These are super easy to make and super tasty. Enjoy!

*edited 7/1/2014

Posted with Blogsy

Oven Baked French Fries

I love starch. Potatoes are my weakness. I don't think I can live without them. There are so many ways to cook them. But whenever I get the chance, I like them nice and crispy. I love french fries, but I don't love the oil. Baking them is the healthier option.

The key to crispy baked fries is to soak them in water for a while. The more moisture pulled from the the potato, the crispier they get. So good!

Oven Baked French Fries

3 to 4 baking potatoes
1/2 teaspoon of salt
Salt and Pepper to taste

 I say the bigger the potato, the better.
Clean the potatoes under cold water with a soft bristle brush.

 Next, cut the potato in half and the slice the halves into 1/4 inch thick pieces, as shown.

Take the slices and lay then down flat and cut lengthwise to make sticks.
Next fill a large bowl of cold water and add the 1/2 teaspoon of salt and stir until it has dissolved.
Now place the potatoes in the salt bath and let sit for 20 minutes.

In the meantime, preheat oven to 410 degrees.

Drain the water and lay out the potatoes on a kitchen towel and pat dry, but not completely dry.
Transfer them to a large greased baking sheet and lay out so that none are on top of each other.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper to liking. With the potatoes being wet, the spices adhere better.

Place in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, while taking out half way through to flip over to get even browning on both sides. Additional time may be needed for crispness.

These turned out pretty good. I will be making these a heck of a lot more. So yummy!!

Granola

Have you ever looked at the ingredients of a store bought granola bar? There is a lot of good stuff but almost all (only a small few don't) have high fructose corn syrup.

Personally, I'm very tried of high fructose corn syrup in everything. 

I'm watching the sugar (sweetener) content of what I eat. As a whole we don't need all this refined sugar in our diets. A little is ok, but not a lot.

Ok, I'm sorry, I'll stop lecturing about healthy eating (for now) and get on to the yumminess!! Or rather healthy yumminess.

I got this from Shape Magazine and altered it to make it a little tastier.
And yes, another post with oatmeal in it. :)

GRANOLA

  preheat 325 degrees

2 tablespoons all natural peanut butter

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup old fashioned oats

1/4 cup almonds

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup reduced sugar craisins

-You can add other nuts and other fruit or nothing at all. Just the oats.

Add peanut butter and honey in a large mixing bowl. Then place in microwave for 20 seconds (just enough to heat up the two to mix well).

Add vanilla and mix until combined.

Then add your oats, and other add ins. Use a spatula to mix together, scraping sides often. Make sure that everything is evenly coated.

Next place on a baking sheet covered with foil, sprayed lightly with cooking spray. Or use whatever method you prefer. (I use silcone baking mats. o.m.g. I LOVE them)

Flatten and spread out the granola thin enough for even baking but not too thin. You want it to bake together in one large sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes at 325 degrees.

Let cool for at least a couple of hours so it's nice and hard, then carefully brake it up into large clumps.

Now it's really to eat. You can eat it by itself or add to yogurt or a topping for ice cream.

 All the ingredients

 A mixture of cashews and raw almonds

 Dried banana chips

 Raisins and craisins

I make one batch for me with the raisins and craisins. And another batch for my hubby, he doesn't like the same thing so I leave out those.