Maple Cranberry Granola Bars

Wowza! My last 24 hours have been a whirlwind! Last night we went to a local bar to watch two talented Canadian country artists: Gord Bamford and Aaron Pritchett. If you've never heard of these two and you love country music, look them up ~ they're both doing really well on the country scene and they put on a darn good show! The venue was awesome, we were there with great friends and we had a great time. Unfortunately, it was a really late night and I got about 4 hours of sleep before I had to get up and get moving for work this morning. I am slowly coming to the realization that I'm not 21 anymore and 4 hours just ain't gonna cut it when I'm expected to be a functioning adult for an entire day. I love being in my 30s, but there are some things about getting older that I just can't come to terms with :-)

When I got home from work today, I decided to try my hand at homemade granola bars. I saw a recipe on Kris's website earlier this week and I've been thinking up my own recipe ever since. This is my first attempt and I think I did a pretty good job. There are so many variations you can do when making granola bars; I'm already making notes on an apple granola bar that I am going to try in the very near future.

Maple Cranberry Granola Squares
I made 8 bars, but next time I will be making them into 12 squares. This recipe makes very dense granola bars and I found the bars to be more than what I would want in a serving.

2 c. oats
1/4 c. walnuts, finely chopped
1/3 c. dried cranberries
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tbsp ground flax seeds
1/3 c. almond milk
1/3 c. maple syrup
1/4 c natural almond butter (or your favourite nut butter)
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix together the oats, walnuts, cranberries, cinnamon and flax seeds.

I grind my own flax seeds. I decided to add flax at the last minute and it was a perfect addition!

It was already looking pretty promising!!

In a separate smaller bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients. Add to the dry ingredients and mix well.

Let your mixture sit for 5 - 7 minutes.

Transfer your mixture to a flat surface that you can cut on. Press the mixture out into a square. The bars should be approximately 1/2" thick.

Cut into 12 squares (like I said above, I did 8 bars but because these are so dense, I found them to be too big for one serving).

I like my kitchen tools to be able to multi-task. A pizza cutter works great for cutting the bars.

Transfer your squares to the baking sheet. Bake for 16 - 18 minutes. You will want to gently flip the bars after 10 minutes of baking so that both sides get nice and golden brown. I like a granola bar that is crunchy on the outside but a little chewy inside. You can adjust your baking time to suit your tastes because these are good crunchy or chewy. NOTE: The granola bars are soft & chewy the next day. They still taste great, but I am going to do some work to see if I can't master a crunchy bar.

Remove from oven and let cool.

When I tasted my first bar, I thought they were a little boring on their own, so I decided to fancy them up with some chocolate glazes (doesn't everything taste better with your fave chocolate ~ I certainly think so :-)!

I drizzled some with dark chocolate (can you say yum?!) and my absolute favourite was a white chocolate glaze sprinkled with unsweetened coconut. They were delish!! I have a feeling a chocolate nut butter glaze would also rock these bars....see what I mean, the possibilities are limitless!

I am super-excited to pack one of these bars for my post-workout snack tomorrow. I just love delicious, homemade snacks ~ don't you?

What are your favourite type of granola bars? Do you have a favourite mix-in? What about topping?

Now I'm off to catch up on my beauty sleep, so I wish you all a good night!

Andrea

Roasted Beet & Sweet Potato Spinach Salad

Don't you just love it when you mull over a meal idea in your head and it turns out better than you imagined??

That would be what this salad did for me. When I decided I was going to do the 21 day cleanse, immediately I got to making a food list ~ I'll let you in on a little secret, I constantly make lists. There are post-its stuck around the house with to-do lists, grocery lists, handyman lists, gift lists, etc. etc. I probably have all my grocery lists from the past 2 months crammed into my purse and there is often a post-it note stuck inside my jacket pocket. This little 'habit' of mine is quite annoying to my better half, but I can't help it. I think its a genetic trait!

One of the first meal ideas I jotted down was a spinach salad with beets & sweet potato. I saw this in a magazine and it looked delicious and really pretty on the plate. I've been thinking about trying it, but if I have the choice between a processed veggie burger or a salad, you can guess which one I normally would choose. Well, that was the old me and now I am the salad diva extraordinaire!! I am also a sweet potato fiend as you can tell from my many sweet potato recipes!

Roasted Beet & Sweet Potato Spinach Salad
1 medium beet, peeled and cubed
1 small sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 - 2 tbsp olive oil
pinch of sea salt
1 c baby spinach
2 tbsp toasted pumpkin seeds
1 tbsp dried cranberries

2 - 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar (see recipe below)

Preheat oven to 350. Toss the cubed beets and sweet potato with a drizzle of olive oil and spread out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I was worried that the beets might run and discolour my sweet potatoes, but they didn't run at all.

Roast the sweet potatoes and beets for approximately 40 minutes, making sure to flip halfway through. You want them to be soft and starting to brown.

Once they are roasted, remove them from the oven and let them cool for five to ten minutes.

Start assembling this amazing salad.

1. Arrange your spinach on the plate.



2. Add the potatoes and beets.

3. Add pumpkin seeds and cranberries.

4. Drizzle with dressing.

5. Savour every single bite.

This salad makes one large dinner serving or two to three sides.

Of course, you can use your favourite dressing, but I came across the most fabulous recipe for an easy balsamic dressing recently.

Homemade Balsamic Dressing
Very slightly adapted from Oh She Glows

2.5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (or regular mustard)
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Ground black pepper to taste
1/2 minced clove of garlic (optional)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Add all ingredients into a small mixing bowl and whisk! Makes about a 1/2 cup of dressing. The only changes I made to the recipe was to reduce the maple syrup from 2 tbsp to 1 tbsp. I found it too sweet with 2, however you can adapt the measurement to your taste. I didn't have garlic and it was fantastic without, but I think next time I would definitely add it in.

I stored my extra dressing in a small mason jar in the fridge. I am a crazed-balsamic vinegar maniac, so I never have to worry about it going bad. Someday you might catch me slurping it up with a straw (ok, that's a little bit of an exaggeration, but you hear what I'm saying ~ I really love it!!)

So there you have it, two awesome recipes in one post. If you love sweet potatoes and beets, you are going to love this salad. The crunch of the pumpkin seeds paired with the sweetness of the cranberries puts this salad over the top. Add the most amazing and easy homemade dressing ever and you have one awesome salad...and believe me, the old me would never have used the words 'awesome' and 'salad' in the same post let alone the same sentence!!

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

Happy Hump Day!!

So, I am having a little problem. I am starting to get myself psyched up and ready to start the 21 day cleanse this weekend, but instead of weaning off caffeine, sweets and processed foods, that seems to be all I am craving. I think my subconscious is trying to tell me to eat as much of the "bad" stuff as I can before I start the cleanse, but my logical sensible voice is saying that I am really going to regret it when I have my first sugar and caffeine withdrawal!!

Derek is not helping matters. Today he bought me a Cadbury Cream Egg. I love cream eggs. I spied them in the store a few weeks ago and they have been on my mind since, but I have held strong and kept them out of my cart....until today. Derek has good intentions, but really he is becoming my "enabler".

In order to be able to eat my cream egg, I have made a deal with myself. I have to have a healthy dinner first and no other snacking. So, the question is...what am I going to eat that will be satisfying yet very healthy?? I've got it!!

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad w/ Cranberries & Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
2 c sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 tsp sea salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp rosemary (I used dried, but I think fresh would be even better)
1/4 c raw pumpkin seeds
1/4 c dried cranberries

Dressing:
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp dijon mustard
pinch of pepper
additional pinch of rosemary (if you love it as much as I do)

Mix cubed sweet potatoes, coconut oil, sea salt, garlic and rosemary.

Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 25 - 30 minutes (make sure you flip halfway through). I like my sweet taters dark and crispy, so I left them the entire 30 minutes.

Those look so amazing; why they look good enough to eat .... hehe

Meanwhile, toast your pumpkin seeds. Place them in a dry frying pan over medium heat. Stir constantly for approximately 3 minutes until the seeds are golden brown. Do not let them burn!

Also, you can whip up your dressing while the potatoes are cooking. Add all ingredients and whisk together.

Once the potatoes are cooked, place them in a large bowl and let cool for approximately 10 minutes. Add pumpkin seeds and cranberries.

Toss with dressing and serve.

This salad is really delish!!  I enjoyed it warm, but I think it would also be really good when chilled.

It is pretty and festive and would be a nice side to serve your guests. I think you could really spruce it up and make it look fantastic if you had fresh rosemary for garnish.

Hope you have a wonderful evening ~ I am off to watch Survivor (I am team Rob all the way!!)

Andrea

Note: I drizzled just 1 1/2 tbsp of the dressing over the entire salad. I was afraid it would be too overpowering and take away from the taste of the salad ingredients. Next time I might add a splash of honey to the dressing to mellow out the taste of the vinegar.