Do you have any idea how much money you spend on granola and/or nutritional bars for your kids? Take a minute and add it up; I would bet it’s more than you think. Before you say “they’re convenient”, trust me, I get it. On those busy mornings when you don’t have time for breakfast, there’s nothing easier than tossing a bar into your child’s lunch box and another one into your purse, but a majority of the brands on the market are not as healthy as their manufacturers would lead you to believe. Plus, they are made with ingredients I can’t even begin to pronounce.

About 8 years ago, I got so fed up with what my husband was spending on bars to take to work with him, I devoted myself to figuring out how to make them myself. I worked so hard at it, I even flirted with starting my own bar business! These Chocolate Chip Granola Bars are unbelievably delicious and, if you wrap them individually, just as easy to grab when you’re on-the-go as the ones you buy at the market (plus, you’ll have no problem pronouncing all of the ingredients in these). But the best part? This recipe makes 30 bars. Most pre-packaged bars will run you a dollar or more. That would come out to about $30 (!) compared to the less than $4 it costs to make this recipe (and don’t forget the time you’ll also save not having to go to the grocery).

If you can’t bear giving your kids chocolate chips first thing in the morning (my husband always gets tweaked when he sees the kids eating these at 8am), you can easily replace them with naturally sweet dried fruit like cranberries, cherries or raisins. My feeling is if my kids are going to have chocolate at all I would rather it be at the beginning of the day than right before they go to bed.

Chewy and crunchy with toasted oats and a sweet surprise in every bite, these Chocolate Chip Granola Bars are a must for your back to school rotation!

Chocolate Chip Granola Bars (makes about 30 bars)

4 Cups Old Fashioned Oats
1/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Cup Shredded Unsweetened Coconut
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Cup Chocolate Chips*
1/2 Tsp Kosher Salt
1/2 Cup Canola Oil
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup Honey

1. Preheat oven to 325 F.
2. Combine the first 6 ingredients in a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients.
4. Pour the wet ingredients over the oat mixture and stir to combine.
5. Place granola mixture on a parchment lined baking sheet and shape into a rectangle, about 13 x 9 x 1 inch thick.
6. Bake for 40 minutes.
7. Allow to cool for 10 minutes then cut into 3 x 1 inch bars.**
8. Serve.

* You can substitute raisins or other dried fruit for the chocolate chips.
** Individually wrapped, the bars will remain fresh for several weeks.

One of my favorite treats that my grandmother used to make us when we went over to her house to play were her bran muffins. She liked to serve them warm and must have always timed it so they would come out of the oven right as we arrived. I will never forget the heavenly smell of freshly baked bread that would hit you the moment you opened her front door.

I know what you must be thinking: What kind of kid looks forward to bran muffins? Aren’t bran muffins kind of boring and not very kid friendly? Some bran muffins certainly do reside in the “blah” category, but my grandmother’s were sweet and had an almost nutty quality about them.

Sadly, I don’t have my grandmother’s recipe, but I still wanted to recreate that food memory from my childhood. I played around a bunch until I came up with this version, which I think is pretty close to my grandmother’s. To give my muffins a little extra zing, I added one of my kids’ favorite dried fruits, cranberries, for both color and taste.

When I bake these, the smell in my kitchen takes me back to when I was kid and the taste is just as delicious as my memories. This recipe will make you think twice about ever calling bran muffins boring again — they are anything but!

Cranberry Bran Muffins (makes about 40 mini or 15 regular muffins)

1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Cup Wheat Bran
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 1/2 Cups Buttermilk
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Large Eggs
1/2 Cup Honey
1/4 Cup Oil
1 Cup Dried Cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Combine the first 6 ingredients in a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients except for the cranberries.
4. Slowly combine the dry ingredients into the wet, and then stir in the cranberries.
5. Pour batter into greased mini muffin cups about 2/3 of the way up and bake for 15 minutes (or 2/3 of the way up into regular size muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes).
6. Cool and serve.

Besides shopping at the farmers’ market for the food we eat during the week, we also like to stop when we get there and get breakfast from the prepared food vendors. For years we have been partial to pupusas, but in recent days, we’ve been switching things up a bit.

One of our newest obsessions are the multi-grain muffins from Valerie Confections, a local bakery. They set up the most beautiful display of baked goods and it is impossible to resist stopping by to check everything out, let alone not buy something. Pastries, cookies, chocolates, hand pies and — the inspiration for today’s recipe — beautiful little muffins packed with millet and pieces of dried apricot. My kids and husband adore them.

I’ve tried to pry the ingredient list out of one of the owners on more than one occasion. He will only hint as to what is inside these baked marvels, and even the few ingredients he would share are more likely found in a professional bakery than in a home kitchen. So, I finally stopped grilling him and got to work on developing my own muffin that would work for the rest of us.

These sweet, delicious gems are truly a treat. They may not be exactly what we buy at the farmers’ market, but if you saw the crumbs left on my family’s plates after I served them the first batch I made, you’d swear I got pretty darn close!

Millet Apricot Muffins (Makes 12 Regular Muffins)

1/2 Cup Millet
1 Cup All Purpose Flour
3/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Cup Buttermilk
1 Large Egg
2/3 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Ripe Bananas, mashed
3/4 Cup Dried Apricots, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Place millet on a baking sheet and toast for 5-6 minutes. Remove and toss the millet to make sure it is toasted evenly and toast an additional 5-6 more minutes. Set aside and allow to cool.
3. Raise the oven temperature to 375 F.
4. In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in the toasted millet.
5. In a separate bowl or standing mixer, beat the butter and sugar until combined, about 1 minute. Add the egg and beat for another minute.
6. Add the mashed bananas, vanilla extract and buttermilk and beat until combined.
7. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix in the chopped apricots until just combined.
8. Grease muffin tins and fill cups 2/3 full with batter.
9. Bake for 20 minutes if using regular muffin tins (or until a toothpick comes out clean) or 14 minutes if using mini muffin tins (or until a toothpick comes out clean).
10. Cool muffins for 5 minutes in their tins, remove and continue to cool.
11. Serve.

My inspirations for weelicious recipes come from a lot of different places. For some, they’re simply based on a food I see at our farmers’ market, for others it can be a dish I love from a restaurant or a food memory I had as a kid that I now find myself craving (and possibly want to make a bit healthier). In the case of this Summer Fruit Gazpacho, my muses were the mint growing wild in our garden and all of the naturally sweet fruits sitting on our kitchen counter that I was afraid would spoil. Traditional gazpacho is a cold soup made with tomatoes and other vegetables. This version is completely different, but I wanted to call it a gazpacho because I love the idea of a cold soup during these hot summer months and truthfully….I just dig the word “gazpacho”!

The morning after I made it and let it chill overnight, the kids and I sat on the kitchen floor armed with three spoons and an enormous bowl of this refreshing, sweet soup. There’s only one word to explain what happened at our impromptu picnic we tried the first refreshing spoonful: de-voured. We finished the whole batch before the day was over.

Soup for breakfast you might ask? After taking your first taste of this one, it won’t seem at all strange to eat in the morning or any time of day you want to serve it. Especially when it’s a nutritious as this!

Summer Fruit Gazpacho (Serves 4)

6 Cups Cantaloupe, peeled & seeded, cut into chunks
1 Tbsp Fresh Mint, chiffonade
1 Cup Strawberries, stemmed & quartered
1 Peach, seeded & diced
1/2 Cup Blueberries
1/2 Cup Yogurt
1 Tbsp Honey

1. Place cantaloupe chunks into a food processor and puree.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the mint, strawberries, peach, and blueberries.
3. In a separate small bowl, combine the yogurt and honey.
4. Evenly divide the cantaloupe puree into small bowls, top with mixed fruit and add a dollop of the honey yogurt sauce on top.
5. Serve.

* If you want to make this dish vegan, replace the yogurt and honey with soy yogurt and agave

My husband has discovered a passion for cooking. For me, this newfound culinary obsession of his is both a blessing and a curse. While on one hand it’s a huge relief because I don’t have to cook, it can also be a total pain in my tush (and not just because of the potential mess I likely find afterwards) because while he is completely focused on his latest creation, I am left in charge of two cranky, hungry kids.

It’s hard for me to get upset though. Hubby gets so excited about the whole process and the two hour mental voyages he takes while focussed on a new dish are kinda hilarious to watch. It’s like witnessing a 4 year old
trying to finish a 50 piece jigsaw puzzle for the first time. Plus, I love watching how jazzed the kids get seeing Daddy work in what they consider to be Mommy’s turf.

One recent Saturday morning, Daddy decided to make a beet pancake recipe he had seen in Good to the Grain, a fabulously gorgeous book by Kim Boyce. As soon as Kenya heard the words “beet” and “pancakes” he said, “no way, that’s gross”. It didn’t take long for Chloe to jump on the “yucky” bandwagon. It seemed like this experiment was going to leave two out of four of us with empty tummies, but as soon as the kids got into helping Daddy stir, mash and measure, they apparently forgot all about their initial aversion. By the time the beautiful ruby discs finally came off of the griddle and onto everyone’s plates, the kids downed about 5 a piece.
My favorite part of this story though, came later on when my husband asked Kenya why he was so resistant at first to the beet pancakes. Kenya just looked at him and said, completely matter of fact, “who knew they were going to be that good!”

I’ve simplified Boyce’s recipe here, adding some whole wheat flour, more pureed beets to further brighten the color and some Greek yogurt too, making these red beet pancakes a breakfast that will make everyone’s eyes as big as their stomachs when you set them on the table.

He may make a bit of a mess and take a while finding his way around the kitchen, but I have to say it’s unbelievably charming watching hubby take over what I usually think of as my kitchen….and make it more of ours!

Red Beet Pancakes (Serves 6)

1 Cup All Purpose Flour
3/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
3 Tbsp Light Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Kosher Salt
2 Medium Beets, roasted & pureed (about 3/4 Cups)
1 1/4 Cup Milk
1/3 Cup Plain Greek Yogurt
1 Large Egg
3 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, melted
1 Tsp Vanilla extract

Accompaniments: honey, maple syrup, butter, raspberry sauce

1. Sift the first 5 ingredients into a bowl.
2. Place the rest of the wet ingredients in a separate bowl and whisk thoroughly to combine.
3. Add the dry ingredients into the wet and stir until just combined (you don’t want to overstir the batter — some lumps are good).
4. Drop about 2 tbsp of the pancake mixture onto a greased griddle or pan over medium heat and cook for 3 minutes on each side.
5. Serve with desired accompaniments.

* To freeze: Place the pancakes in labeled zipper bags and freeze for up to 3 months

Every week at our local farmers’ market I buy several pints of assorted berries for the kids to munch on at breakfast or lunch. Chloe loves her berries, but when I offer her a mix, she always picks out the blackberries to eat first.

Over the past few weeks, the blackberries have gotten even bigger and sweeter than usual, so I’ve been buying extra. I love using them to make smoothies, popsicles, in cereal or just to eat on their own, but coming up with a recipe for a cake for them to star in was really exciting and new for me.

The best part about this the cake is that it isn’t too sweet, so you can happily enjoy it for breakfast, as an after school snack or even as a simple dessert (with tea of course, though it’s not required!). I didn’t actually get to test it out for all those different uses though since it didn’t stick around along enough. In less then 24 hours, the cake I made completely disappeared. Granted, it’s debut from my oven conveniently coincided with a gaggle of hungry kids that happened to be playing at our house, but it’s popularity only confirmed to me how special and unique this treat really is.

Blackberry Tea Cake

2 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
2 Large Eggs
2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Whole Milk
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
2 Tsp Lemon Zest
2 Cups Fresh Blackberries

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Butter and flour a 13″ x 9″ baking dish.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
3. In a standing mixer or bowl, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy.
4. On low speed, add the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla, milk, sour cream and zest.
5. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet until combined.
6. Place blackberries on the bottom of the dish and top with the batter.
7. Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
8. Cool for 20 minutes on top of a cooking rack then flip dish over for the cake to come out.
9. Cut into squares and serve.

One of the very first recipes I made when I was younger was banana bread. I loved peeling the bananas, smashing them in a bowl, dumping and stirring in the rest of the ingredients and just making something so easy and delicious. Everyone I offered it to always seemed to love it (which made me feel good). Those early experiences are probably one of the reasons I loved baking so much. Even as a kid, I found that when people responded positively to my cooking, it made me want to cook even more. The same is true today.

As long as you have ripe, sweet bananas, this is a fool proof recipe, even for people who rarely bake. I adapted my original recipe for muffins, which I find are more appealing for little hands, and added chocolate chips as a special treat. I guarantee the same great feeling I still have offering these to friends and family will happen for you too!

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins (Makes 12 regular muffins)

1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/4 Cup Honey or Agave Nectar
1 Large Egg
2/3 Cup Milk
3 Tbsp Vegetable or Canola Oil
2 Ripe Bananas, mashed
3/4 Cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips*

1. Preheat oven to 400° F.
2. Combine the first 4 ingredients in a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the honey, egg, milk, oil, and mashed bananas.
4. Slowly combine the dry ingredients into the wet, and then stir in the chocolate chips.
5. Pour batter into greased or lined muffin cups, about 2/3 of the way up, and bake for 18 minutes.
6. Cool and serve.**

* You can replace the chocolate chips with chopped nuts or dried fruit if desired.
** Place muffins in labeled bags to freeze for up to 3 months.

When I discovered last week that we had four (yes, four) half-eaten jars of peanut butter in the refrigerator, I was determined to not let it go to waste. There are plenty of great uses for peanut butter such as “O” Cookies, Bugs on a Log, Cold Soba Noodles and, of course, PB&J sandwiches, but when I realized that I also had a considerable amount of frozen pie dough leftover, my decision was made: homemade “pop tarts” filled with peanut butter and strawberry preserves.

The Raspberry Cream Cheese Heart Tarts we made for Valentine’s Day this year went over even bigger with my kids than they did with my husband, so I’d been planning on coming up with a new variation on them. Finding out that I had a year’s worth of peanut butter created the perfect excuse! Kenya and Chloe were so excited when they saw these tarts come out of the oven that they actually fought over who was going to get the first one. It was sad for me to watch them get so upset, but secretly it made me happy that they were so worked up about something I made! And once they tried these delectable treats, everyone was all smiles again — especially me, who got our runaway peanut butter supply under control.

Peanut Butter & Jelly “Pop Tarts” (Makes 12 Tarts)

1/4 Cup Smooth Peanut Butter
1/4 Cup Strawberry Preserves, Jam or Jelly
1 Double Crust Recipe or 1 14 oz Pre-Made Pie Crust*
Water

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Roll the pie crust 1/4 inch thick and cut into rectangles, about 2×3 inches.
3. Place one rectangle on a lightly floured work surface, top with 1 tsp each of the peanut butter and preserves in the very center. **
4. Lightly dip your index finger into a cup of water and “brush” the border of the dough around the pb&j with the water (this will allow the two sides of the rectangle to adhere to one another).
5. Top with another rectangular piece of pie dough. Take the tines of a fork and gently press down along the edges to adhere (making sure the mixture stays inside the tart).***
6. Place the tarts on a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet and bake for 18 minutes or until golden.
7. Serve.

* You can use prepared Pie Crusts too such as Pillsbury or your favorite brand
** You can also combine the peanut butter and preserves in a bowl and place 2 teaspoons of the mixture inside the tart.
** To Freeze: place tarts on a cookie sheet and freeze for one hour. Remove, place in a Ziploc bag, label and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to eat follow steps 6-7, adding an extra 2 minutes to the baking time.

Leggo my Eggo! Remember those commercials of two kids fighting over that last waffle just as it popped out of a toaster? I know how those kids felt because I grew up loving boxed frozen waffles, too. But I also adored the fresh taste of right-out-of-the-waffle-iron waffles.

As a busy mom, I’m often tempted in the frozen food section as I pass the perfectly arranged boxes with pictures of golden-brown waffles piled high under amber syrup and perfect pats of butter, but when I think about the ingredients most boxed frozen waffles are made with AND the cost of them (6 waffles for $4!), it doesn’t seem worth it to me at all. Not when I can easily make my own healthy, delicious waffles at home for less money than the store brands (try 10 for under $2!) and not forego the convenience of frozen waffles.

My solution is to make a single or even double batch of homemade waffles and freeze what we don’t eat for breakfast. Then, no matter how much of a rush we’re ever in in the morning, I’m always prepared for my kids last minute request for waffles and this couldn’t be more nutritious, so I know their bellies are filled with truly wholesome stuff and no one has to fight for the last one since I always have them on hand!

Whole Wheat Waffles (makes 10 waffles)

1 1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Plain Greek Yogurt
1 Large Egg
1/3 Cup Vegetable or Canola Oil
2 Tbsp Honey or Agave
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Accompaniments: maple syrup, honey, or raspberry sauce

1. Preheat waffle iron.
2. Sift the first 3 ingredients into a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining wet ingredients.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until combined. Do not over mix.
5. Pour 1/2 cup of batter into a greased waffle iron and cook about 3-4 minutes or according to manufacturer’s directions.
6. Serve with desired accompaniments.

*To freeze: Allow to cool, place in a Ziploc bag, label and freeze. When ready to eat, place in toaster oven until heated through or in the oven at 300 degrees and heat for 10 minutes or until heated through.

Easter is almost here and my kids are already asking what kind of treats they’ll be getting. Maybe it’s because they hang around me too much, but when my guys know a holiday is coming up, it’s all about the food for them.

As the name of this recipe states, these muffins are made with carrot, apple and coconut and are so naturally sweet and tender, you could put a few in your kids’ Easter baskets and they wouldn’t be at all out of place. And while muffins may not be an obvious substitute for jelly beans, Peeps or chocolate eggs, I guarantee they won’t disappoint your little Easter bunnies!

Carrot, Apple & Coconut Muffins (Makes 30 Mini Muffins)

1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Unsweetened Coconut Flakes
2 Carrots, peeled & grated, about 1 cup
1 Apple, peeled & grated, about 1/2 cup (gala, fuji, pink lady or red delicious are good choices)
2 Large Eggs
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1/3 Cup Milk
1/4 Cup Vegetable or Canola Oil
1/2 Cup Honey

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the first 7 ingredients in a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet and stir to combine.
5. Place 1 tbsp of batter into greased mini muffin tins.
6. Bake for 15 minutes.
7. Serve.