Coconut Oil Granola Bars

 I've really cracked down on what we're consuming in this house, and it hasn't been easy! Everyday I'm finding different alternatives to our unhealthy habits, and I've really gotten strict on myself. My number one struggle though....chocolate. I can't remember a day when I haven't craved chocolate! In an effort to come up with another substitute for the unhealthy processed junk we eat, I asked SS today if he wanted to make some granola bars. Of course his answer was yes, because he loves helping me cook...and my cooking (; "best cooker ever" as he says, gets awarded to me every night! You wouldn't be able to tell it from the past few posts, but we've been doing pretty well! I actually haven't posted anything in a month looks like, and the last few previous posts are weeks old! So from now on, besides one thing coming up, you will be seeing much healthier recipes and alternatives!

Ingredients:
2/3 cup coconut oil
2/3 cup peanut butter - I used 1/3 cup crunchy and 1/3 cup creamy because I don't have any nuts
2/3 cup honey
2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup chocolate chips or any other add-in you like
Examples....nuts, raisins, cranberries, apriocots...
I also added in some cinnamon...you could also use vanilla extract, pumpkin spice, just about anything....
This truly is a customized snack, and I love that! You can make something different every time!

The trick to really making this healthy, besides the coconut oil, is if you use organic or natural ingredients. I just used what I had on hand, but I would definitely recommend natural honey, and organic peanut butter if you have it, and can afford it. You can also use gluten free oats, and dark chocolate chips. Use whatever you like!

Mix together your coconut oil, peanut butter, and honey. Melt in the microwave for 30 seconds and let it cool. I also added in some cinnamon. In another bowl mix your oats and chocolate chips. This of course I also added some cinnamon to as well! After your coconut oil mix cools down, thoroughly combine the two mixtures.

Line your baking dish with parchment paper, and press the mixture into place. The larger the dish you use, the thinner your bars will be. I like my bars thick, and I don't have much room in my fridge with all the food prepping I've been doing. So I used a square baking dish. Put the dish in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight until hard, and cut into bars, shapes, cubes, whatever you like.

These turned out perfect and SS squealed with excitement that they were delicious! I think we have a new favorite. I can't wait for Hubby to taste them! Try these out and let me know how you like them!

Bagel Pizzas

Hubby and I were starving and it was a lazy relaxing day, so I didn't feel like cooking. We ran to the store real quick, and grabbed some bagels and pepperoni. I had some pizza sauce that had been sitting in the cabinet for months and it sparked an idea while scrolling through Twitter...bagel pizzas!

Ingredients:
Bagels
Pizza sauce
Mozzarella cheese
Pepperoni or other toppings of your choice

I'll let the pictures do the talking....(:

Turn your oven on to broil and sit them on the top shelf for 2-3 minutes. After a minute or two watch them until they're melty and crispy. DO NOT turn your back on them! The second you do, they'll burn quicker than you can blink. SS LOVES these, and they're actually quite filling. Its music to my ears when my boys tell me their full, so this is a great easy lazy day meal or even a snack. Try it out!

Easy Apple Crisp

We had lots of little apples that needed used up and I was in a super baking mood! This was the same day I made the no bake cookies, actually....So I was on a roll! When Hubby and I began dating, one of the first things he asked me was what was my favorite kind of pie. After I answered apple, he told me I was perfect. LOL, So we love apple pie and apple flavored things in this house! He is always coming home from work with pocket fulls of apples, and they're one of all of our favorite snacks!

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup of butter or one stick
3 big apples or 6 small apples
Ground cinnamon - as little or as much as you like

Start by peeling and cubing your apples. I loved this because I get to use my nifty little peeler contraption Hubby got me. I LOVE the time I save with this thing! And SS loves to turn the handle and eat the peels. I also love my apple slicer because I SUCK at cutting apples!

Generously butter a baking dish and spread out your apples. Top them babies with some cinnamon! Yummm!!! Preheat your oven now to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, mix your flour, brown sugar, and butter with a pastry cutter. Add in some cinnamon to this too if you like! Ya'll know I did! When your mixture is clumpy, and not fully mixed, top your apples with it. Bake 30-40 mins until golden brown.

I promise, your house will be filled with the most amazing and perfect smell ever and you will want to dig right into this! Top it off with some home style vanilla ice cream, and you're good to go. You will thank me for this. I guarantee it. Try this super easy recipe out and let me know how you like it!

No Bake Cookies

If you've never had no bake cookies, you haven't lived... My Mom makes these and they're by far my favorite cookies ever. I can't eat enough of them!! I introduced these to Hubby and he's in love as well! SS loves to help me make them. He seems to have a thing for asking me how I make everything. I mean, EVERYTHING. Breakfast, his lunch, dinners, desserts, snacks...Curious 4 year old! I swear I ate one of these every night and maybe one or two during the day. Shush. They're just too good!!! Next to good old fashioned chocolate chip cookies, it doesn't get much better than this.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup whole milk

4 tbsp cocoa

1/2 cup smooth peanut butte

3 1/2 cups quick oats

2 tsp vanilla

In a saucepan, mix the first four ingredients together. Bring to a rolling boil, and let cook for 1 minute. In case you don't know, a rolling boil is when you stir the mixture and your stirring does not disrupt the boil or slow it down.
( little SS hands :D )

Next, add the last three ingredients and mix WELL.
Note...do not take sauce pan off heat like in the picture! I did this mostly for a picture. You want everything to mix together while it's hot or your cookies will not harden, and will be sticky.

Drop mix onto parchment paper into cookie sizes, and let cool for a few hours until hardened.

Please, please, please....eat these! You will never be happier you ate a cookie. Try this yummy recipe out and let me know how you like it! (:

Chicken Fried Steak with Country Gravy

THIS. WAS. SO. DANG. YUMMY!! This was my first time making anything like that, and first time making gravy. I'm not a big gravy person, but I couldn't have imagined eating this dish without it! We all scarfed our plates down, and I could have licked it clean! So yummy. So yummy. SO YUMMY!!!

Ingredients:

Cube steaks -
3 lbs of cube steak
1 - 1 1/2 cups milk
2 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
Season salt
Few dashes of Cajun seasoning
Lots of black pepper
Canola oil for frying

Gravy -
1/3 cup flour
2 cups of milk
Lots of salt and pepper

Mix your eggs and milk in one shallow container. Mix flour, season salt, Cajun seasoning, and black pepper in another. Begin by seasoning both sides of each of your cube steaks. Dip in your egg mixture and coat each side, then your flour mixture. Coat in the eggs again, and the flour again. 
Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat, and cook your steaks about 2 - 2 1/2 mins on each side until the edges are golden brown.

For your gravy, don't clean that pan! Sprinkle 1/3 cup flour evenly over the grease. Using a whisk, mix flour with grease, creating a golden-brown paste. Keep cooking until it reaches a deep golden brown color. If paste seems more oily than pasty, sprinkle in another tablespoon of flour and whisk.Whisking constantly, pour in milk. Cook to thicken the gravy. Be prepared to add more milk if it ends up too thick. Add salt and pepper and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until gravy is smooth and thick.

We served with homemade mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob which my Hubby made, and seasoned green beans! It was all perfect! Almost embarrassed to say Hubby ate three steaks....but, they were that good...I don't blame him. SS ate a whole cob and a half of corn!! He just kept wanting more halves! All around, it was a great night and we went to bed with happy bellies. TRY THIS!!!

Mug Brownie

As I've been trying to detox and eat better, I've of course had some cravings. My biggest craving for as long as I can remember has always been chocolate. Almost every night I have cravings. I've been a good little girl since moving into my own home, and keep the sweets to a minimum during our grocery trips. But when I was, of course, browsing through Pinterest, Hubby and I both craving something sweet, this one hit me hard!

Now you'll notice I'm not using my typical Simplemente Delicioso cook ware for this recipe because not only is my Avenger's mug my favorite and biggest, but it's best to make this in a mug with a flat bottom.

Ingredients:
2 tbsps unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tbsps brown sugar
2 tbsps flour
Dash of salt and sugar
1 tbsp of vanilla extract
2 tbsps canola oil
2 tbsps water

This is easy to double or cut in half. I started out with the cut in half recipe because this is RICH. Mix your dry ingredients thoroughly so that there's no clumps. Then mix in your wet ingredients making sure there's no bubbles of dry ingredients not mixed in. Scrap the bottom corners of that mug! Microwave for one minute. 30-40 seconds if you half the recipe.

Top it with some yummy ice cream and you're good to go! My favorite part is when the ice cream melts and mixes with the brownie. Um, YUM!!!

This is easy to make as a little snack. Hubby asked for one in his lunch for work. And it's a super quick sweet treat without needing to buy a box mix, wait forever for a batch to cook, or dirty up a bunch of dishes! Try it out and let me know how you like it! (:

Mammaw's Macaroni Salad

This is 100% the ONLY macaroni salad I will ever eat. I could eat it the rest of my life if I had to, it's that good. I never liked macaroni salad until I tried my Mammaw's during a holiday dinner. Ever since then, I demand she make it every time I see her. This is the first time I've been brave enough to make it myself, and I'm pretty satisfied! Not so satisfied that I have to eat all this myself! But, it's too good to be too upset.

It's pretty simple!

Ingredients:
Cooked elbow macaroni
One large cucumber, seeds spooned out
One tomato, seeds spooned out
One green pepper, seeds spooned out
One onion
Two stalks of celery
One- two large pickles
Three-four hard boiled eggs
About 2 cups of Duke's mayonnaise
Salt and pepper

Cook your macaroni and eggs while you dice up all of your cleaned vegetables. Mix in a large bowl, and that's it! Make sure you stir it often and salt and pepper it. It can keep for about 3-5 days. Try out this deliciousness and let me know how you like it! (: Makes me miss my Mammaw and Pappaw at each bite.