Chocolate Peanut Buttah Granola

If Alex had his choice, he would probably live off of granola & waffles for breakfast. If he can't have waffles, he wants a big bowl of PB Chocolatey goodness to fill him up for the morning. While my favorite homemade granola recipe is my Mama's Homemade Granola, this salty sweet recipe holds a place in my heart. I mean, any recipe that has peanut butter in the name probably has a place in my heart, but this one is pretty dang good!

Chocolate Peanut Buttah Granola

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 3 cups puffed brown rice cereal
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 3/4 cup crunchy organic peanut butter
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup (or brown rice syrup, honey, etc.)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Optional: unsalted raw or dry-roasted peanuts & chocolate chips

Nutritional Info: (per 3/4 cup serving without nuts/chocolate) 361 calories, 5.1 grams fiber, 10.5 grams protein, 43.6 grams carbs, 14.4 grams sugar, 263 milligrams sodium

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine oats and cereal together in a large bowl, set aside.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together applesauce, peanut butter, melted oil, sugar, syrup, vanilla & salt. Once fully incorporated together, add the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients and mix until evenly coated.

Spread out the granola evenly on 2 large rimmed baking sheets. Pop in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove and stir to prevent burning and insure even cooking. Mix in peanuts and place back in the oven for 10-15 more minutes. You'll know your granola is ready when the top pieces are light golden brown and slightly crisp.

Remove from the oven and pour in a large bowl. Top with as much (or little, or no) chocolate chips as you want! Mix the chocolate chips into the granola and let sit for a few minutes. Once the chips are melted you can mix it up even more to incorporate the chocolate onto more pieces or let it cook and have bigger chocolatey chunks.

Let cool & get to munching! ;)

I love Mondays

 

Today I will..
Trust the process, stay driven & make a conscious effort toward pursing the things I love.

Homemade Doggie Treats

I was back home with the family this past weekend, enjoying a big bowl of homemade popcorn while watching The Bourne Ultimatum. I look to my right and laying next to me on the couch was my sweet Bella, looking up at me with the saddest, yet adorable eyes begging for a piece of my popcorn..

I mean seriously, how cute is this face?!

Well, I woke up the next morning still feeling guilty..

Enter in: Peanut Butter Flax Doggie Treats.

 

Homemade Doggie Treats

1/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup water
1-1/2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup flax seeds
1-1/4 cups rolled oats
1-3/4 cup brown rice flour
      (or any gluten free flour's you have on hand! This last time I used a combo of 3 flours, I don't think your pup will mind) ;)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a small microwavable bowl, mix together peanut butter and water. Microwave for 1 minute. Add melted coconut oil and stir to combine.

In a separate bowl, combine your oats, flour(s) & flax seeds. Add wet mixture and mix until well combined.

On a large piece of plastic wrap, flatten out the dough into a 1/4 inch thick rectangle. Fold over plastic wrap to cover & pop the dough into the refrigerator for one hour.

Remove from plastic wrap and cut the dough into whatever shapes you want! Or if you want to get fancy like me, you can use cookie cutters.

Place the cutouts evenly on 2 baking sheets and pop in the oven for about an hour. The original recipe I based this off of said to put them in for an 1 hr & 45 min, but mine would have burnt to a crisp if I had left them in that long! So check them periodically and you can judge how long to bake them. They should feel firm but not browned. They firm up more once out of the oven.

Let them cool completely before sharing with your pup & you can store them in the fridge to make sure they last for a couple weeks.

Choconut "Larabars"

Is it just me or is it hard to find truly healthy & affordable snacks these days?

Have no fear, Homemade Larabars to the rescue!

 

These beauties pack 7.6 grams of protein & 5.2 grams of fiber for just 300 calories. If you want a smaller snack then make them into smaller bars or energy balls to pop in your mouth when you need a little energy boost! They will fill you up and keep you going without weighing you down. 

Guilt free yummies, here for your pleasure.

Choconut "Larabars"
{12 servings}

 

1 cup water
18 pitted medjool dates
2/3 cup shredded unsweetened coconut, divided
1 1/2 cups raw walnuts
1 1/2 cups raw cashews
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Add water to a small pot. Place on the stove top on high to bring to a boil. While the water heats up, pit your dates and set aside in a bowl. Once boiling, remove the pot from the heat and add in the dates. Let the dates soak for 5 minutes.

When the dates are done soaking, drain off all the water and add them to a food processor. Add in walnuts, cashews, salt and cocoa. Process until the nuts are roughly chopped, add in coconut, & finish processing until the mixture begins sticking together.

You could use an 8 x 8 pan to press the mixture into then cut into bars, roll individual clumps into balls or, do like I did, separate the batter into 12 equal portions and hand form them into bars, squares, "cookies", whatever shape ya want! =)

Store bars in the fridge to firm up a bit & to keep them nice and fresh!