Bread and Bars

Lately I've been trying to find filling snacks for my kids' growing appetites. Here are two of our favorite recipes that I made this week that are healthy and filling and easy to make (thank you Ms. Kim):



Molasses Bread (Tasha Tudor's recipe):

2 c. oats

4 tsp. salt
1 c. molasses
1/4 c. butter

Throw together in large bowl. Then pour 4 c. boiling water over it. Let soak for 1 hr.

In 1 c. lukewarm water, stir in 4 1/2 tsp. of yeast in (then I sprinkle a little sugar on it and cover with saran wrap until nice and foamy- takes a couple of minutes).

Pour yeast mixture in big bowl mixture and mix in 9-10 cups of flour well. Knead for 8 min. Smooth into a big ball. Put a little oil in bowl and coat the dough on both sides and plop it back in the bowl. Take a clean dishtowel, put under hot tap water, wring out, put over bowl to add warmth and moisture. Let sit for 1 hour.

I cut my big ball into 4 large loaves. Put them in the greased bread pans. Let them sit an hour with the dishtowel trick over them again.


Preheat oven to 350. Bake for 45-60 min, depending on your pans you use.


This bread is delicious! Very moist inside and I love molasses so it was love at first bite.



Homemade Granola Bars


1 heaping cup of peanut butter
4 TB. oil
3/4 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp. salt
4 tsp. vanilla


Mix all together well then add:

5 c. oatmeal
some chocolate chips or dried fruit or nuts


Bake in a 9x13 inch pan at 350 for 12 minutes. YUM!

Christmas baking

We've been having fun doing our baking this week, getting ready for Christmas! The pretzel turtles the kids do all by themselves.

First, they unwrap a package or two of Rollos:


Then, they lay out the mini pretzels on the cookie sheet:

Then, they place the Rollos on the pretzels:

Then (Mommy) bakes them at 300 for 4 min. Then they 'smush' a pecan half on top:

Great for placing in tins, wrapping up and put under the Christmas tree:

Grape Day

I just bought a flat of grapes

from my local produce co-op.

My newly discovered snack

(thank you, Holly):

frozen grapes!

Where have they been all my life?

I just wash and lay them on a cookie sheet.

Freeze them for an hour or so.

Then put them in a freezer ziplock bag and Voila!

A healthy, refreshing snack.

(My kid's love them and for me... it's a great substitute for icecream when

I'm 'watching my figure'!)