Recipes, Photography, Musings

Category: Snacks (Page 8 of 8)

Granola Bars

ImageI made a batch of these granola bars for my family yesterday morning, and they are already more than halfway gone.  We have been so busy the past couple of weeks, and we have been packing a lot of snacks to take with us to soccer games and family events.  Granola bars are perfect snacks because they are healthy, provide energy, and are easy to transport.  Of course I often buy granola bars at the grocery store, but they are not as healthy as homemade ones.  The recipe I will post for these homemade granola bars is easy and full of good ingredients like old-fashioned oats, wheat germ, and tahini, and natural sweeteners like brown sugar and honey.  The dried cranberries and sprinkling of chocolate chips add some appeal, especially for the kids.  I personally like the tahini, which is made from sesame seeds, in the granola bars.  It adds a richness, plus extra vitamins and protein.  If you are not used to buying tahini (I wasn’t, until I started making my own hummus), you can find it at many grocery stores in the section near the peanut butter or in the Mediterranean food section.  You can also be creative with homemade granola bars and mix and match ingredients.  Switch the dried cranberries for dried cherries, or switch the chocolate chips with mini marshmallows.  There are lots of granola bar recipes out there, but variety is a good thing, especially when feeding kids! The recipe I will post is both healthy and tasty.

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Recipe for Cucumber Cheddar Boats

Cucumber Cheddar Boats

Ingredients:

  • six Kirby or other type of pickling cucumbers
  • eight ounce block of cheddar cheese
  • toothpicks

Directions:

Thoroughly wash and pat dry the cucumbers.  Slice them in half lengthwise, so they form a boat shape.  Cut the cheese into the shape of a triangle so it looks like a sail.  Place the toothpick into the cheese triangle sail and place the other end of the toothpick into the cucumber boat.  You may have to experiment with the size of the triangle until you find the size that is big enough, but will not tip the boat over.  Also, the size of cucumbers varies, so you may have to experiment with the number of cucumbers needed.  Photos of the finished cucumber cheddar boats are in my post by the same title, as an example.  It probably goes without saying that these treats taste best when they are cold, so try to keep them in the refrigerator or a cooler until you are ready to serve them.  Enjoy!

 

Cucumber Cheddar Boats

One evening a couple years ago, my sister-in-law and I were sitting around brainstorming for something to take to my daughter’s school picnic.  I was feeling overwhelmed with everything that was going on at the end of the school year, and I could not get inspired about a dish to make for the picnic.  She came up with this great idea of cucumber cheddar boats.  I am truly grateful to her for this fun spin on ordinary cucumbers and cheese.  I have taken these boats to a number of picnics and school functions, and they are always a big hit.  They are healthy, tasty, and they look cool.

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