Banana Chocolate Nut Energy Bars with Vi-Shape Nutrional Shake Mix

I had been wanting to make energy bars as an afternoon snack for the kids but hadn't gotten around to it. The great thing about energy bars is that it ties them over until dinner time. If they don't get a good afternoon snack then 20 minutes later they're back asking for another snack, and another and another.

When I was contacted by Vi-Shape to develop a recipe with their nutritional shake mix, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to develop an energy bar recipe. Their shake mix is loaded with all kinds of vitamins, fiber, protein, and nutrients and the sweet cream taste combined really well with the nuts and oatmeal.

I started with my basic granola recipe but added a little bit more flour, the Vi-shake mix, and the bananas to make it into more of a bar but still with the hearty, chunky granola texture. The end result was awesome, everything you want in an energy bar with only a fraction of the sugar that you usually find in store bought brands. This is a recipe that is meant to be experimented with so don't worry if you are missing some ingredients. Use whatever nuts or dried fruit you have lying around or even try adding some chocolate chips or coconut for a different variation.

Banana Chocolate Nut Energy Bars with Vi-Shape Nutrional Shake Mix

Makes roughly 20 bars.

3 cups whole oats

1/2 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup Vi-Shape NutrionalShake Mix Sweet Cream Flavor

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup ground cacao nibs

1/3 cup almonds

1/3 cup pecans

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup honey

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 over ripe bananas

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1. Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees
2. Mix oats, flour, Vi-shapeNutritional Shake Mix, cinnamon, salt and cacao nibs
3. Chop the almonds and pecan into large pieces and add together with the sunflower seeds to the oat mixture
4. In a microwavable bowl or small saucepan, mix brown sugar, peanut butter, honey, vegetable oil, coconut oil, and bananas together. Mash the bananas and mix well with the other ingredients. Microwave on high for a minute or two or heat over the stovetop until almost boiling. It's ok if there are still a few banana lumps but it should be mostly mixed up. (It's also OK to get help with this part if you have some little people around).
5. Add the wet ingredients to the oat mixture and mix well.
6. Pour into a greased 9 by 13 inch glass dish and bake for 25 minutes.
7. Cut into bars and enjoy with a cold glass of milk.

Blue Cheese Pão de Queijo with Bacon

We've been getting on the kids' case about speaking too much English. We have a rule; at home we only speak Portuguese. Christian and I are not great at inforcing rules apparently because both Enzo and Maria are speaking way more English than Portuguese these days. Christian, the only one in the house who's first language is English, is the one who is the most disciplined about speaking Portuguese.  

We're your average mixed ethnicity family. We switch back and forth between two languages, we celebrate American holidays and wish we could celebrate all Brazilian holidays - for the 4 day weekends that are always coming up in Brazil. I'm not a purist, not with language, not with culture, and definitely not with food. I like mixing and experimenting and trying new variations.

Kerrygold, sent me a 3-pound wheel of their Cashel Blue cheese for me to use in a recipe.

Since cheese and crackers are my staple snack I have been eating away at this wheel like no one's business. This semi-soft cheese is creamy to perfection. I wanted to use this cheese in something besides a salad or the traditional pairing with steak or figs. Since, like I said, I'm not a purist I decided to try mixing the Kerrygold Cashel Blue with a pão de queijo recipe. 

If you've been to a Brazilian steakhouse you've probably had a pão de queijo or two. Pão de queijo literally means cheese bread and they're becoming more and more popular in the U.S because they are gluten-free, made with tapioca flour. I have a recipe that I like to make using my muffin tin. There are some great recipe out there as well like the one from The Kitchn and the one from Simply Recipes. 

For the blue cheese variation I experimented with an older recipe I had and modified it a bit. The chashel blue really brings the dough together. Not only does it add a mild blue cheese taste to the batter, it also makes the batter way creamy. As for the bacon, well you know... it's bacon one of the few foods you can never go wrong with.

Blue Cheese Pão de Queijo with Bacon

Yields: 5 dozen

8 slices of thick cut bacon

1 kilo (2.2-pounds) sour cassava flour or tapioca flour

1 + 1/2 cups warm water

1 cup milk

3 eggs

1/2 cup olive oil

1 cup Kerrygold Cashel Blue Farmhouse Cheese 

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

salt to taste

*Preheat oven to 350

Cook the bacon until very crispy.Crumble the bacon and set aside. Reserve the bacon grease for later.

Mix the flour and 1 cup warm water. Break any large lumps with your fingers. If you've never worked wit tapioca flour before it may feel a little strange. It resembles corn starch and you will want to get the flour to feel smooth and chalky.

Measure out 1/2 cup of bacon grease. On a small saucepan heat up the bacon grease and the milk and bring to a boil. Then pour on top of the flour and water mixture.

Knead the dough until all the milk and bacon grease is well incorporated into the flour. 

Add the eggs, olive oil, Kerrygold Cashel Blue Farmhouse Cheese, parmesan cheese and salt and knead the dough until smooth. 

Add the crumbled bacon and fold it into the dough.

Roll little balls of dough on your hands and place on a cookie sheet 1 dozen at a time.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm 

Baby Kale Chips with Sesame Seeds

I made kale chips because I thought it would be a great afternoon snack for me and the kiddies. Kale chips and carrot ginger juice, yum! I know, I'm such a rockstar mom, I feed my kids awesome nutritious food - yeah, right. They didn't really like the kale chips and were fine drinking the carrot juice until I told Christian "come get some carrot ginger juice before it's all gone" and they immediately decided that they hated the juice, because they hate ginger because ginger is too spicy. I'm not a fan of spicy food myself, but really?! I don't even think Maria knows what ginger is. Whatever, I was so not in the mood to argue. I was in the mood to get out and enjoy the sunshine and not make a storm out of something so unimportant like kale chips. Besides, more for me!

After snack time I told Enzo and Maria I wanted to go to the park. They were down with that idea until I told them they needed to clean up first, at which point Maria went into hysteria and Enzo looked at me as if I had just said something in Greek. Ohhh-kayyyy then, I guess this is how it's going to be. Fine. Forget cleaning up, lets just get out!

We got to the park and our old neighbors were there. Love. Also, there was a dad who was there with a guitar playing for 2 hours straight. Love. And I just want to make it very clear that he was totally paying attention to his kid. He would follow his kid around and play the guitar simultaneously. I think it was a great trick so that his kid wouldn't ask him for a push on the swings, you know 'cuz dad has his hands full. If this is the case then double love!

Seriously, remind me to leave the house more often.

Kale Chips with Sesame Seeds

5 oz baby kale pre-washed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon seasame oil
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 300*F.In a big bowl toss together the kale with olive oil, sesame oil, and sesame seeds. Divide between two cookie sheets and spread the leaves out so that they're not touching. Bake for 15-20 minutes until crisp.

Loaf Pan Popsicles

I know that you know that I have a favorite popsicle maker, only because I talk about it all the time and then some. I would love it if everybody owned this popsicle maker because I really do think it's that wonderful and also because I'm going to be doing an entire month of popsicles and it would be fun if we had the same gadgets to play with.

That's not to say that I don't appreciate the simple things, and the inexpensive things, the things you already own. In fact simplicity and inexpensive often go hand in hand. And truth be told most of the things I cherish the most are simple and inexpensive.

You can do marvelous things with what you have at your disposal. 

Use what you've got.

Reinvent it and give it a new life.

Green Smoothie {because Enzo thought it would be a good idea}

Recently I've been noticing a theme going on in my life. Has that ever happened to you, like when you discover something and then that thing keeps emerging in different forms over, and over, and over again? Chances are it was probably there all along but now your eyes just sees it in a different light and Bam(!), it's right there in your face.

It's not like a light bulb that goes off in your head and you realize that you need to act fast. It's more like a stream of Christmas lights, totally unassuming and if you're in the mood it can bring you some cheer.

Lately I've been getting the vibe that I need to feed my family healthier meals. It started happening when I was re-writing my about page and thinking about the type of food that I cook. It was also the visit to the doctor last week where I asked Maria's pediatrician why her nose has been runny non-stop since March of last year. We're thinking she might have a food allergy, we just need to know what. Then I saw these movies, and then I got this book to review, and then my good friend, Ana Paula, told me about the benefits of eating raw foods, and now I want to change the way we eat. Not in a preachy way, I mean I'm not even sure it's realistic considering our student income budget, but I do want my family to eat more organic produce, whole grains, and less sugar.

Is that totally unrealistic?

Halloween Snacks

Enzo has a Halloween party at his preschool and I have to bring a snack to share with the class. I might just bring the monster eyes but I kind of want to make something new.

I like the snack-o-lanterns because it's made from short grain rice cooked in carrot juice, which I personally think would taste delish, with the green pepper on top...yum. It's the type of snack that some kids would love but others would hate but the teachers would appreciate the no sugar factor for sure.

The orange smoothie is super basic and would be an all around hit. I would use plastic cups and maybe substitute the orange sugar crystals for purple crystals, something I have in my pantry left over from Easter and if I don't use it now it's going bye-bye real soon.

Which one do you vote for?

(photo source)

easy after school snacks

five recipes selected with my kids in mind

all from the lovely Martha's back-to school series

.

1. banana yogurt smoothie with polka dots: It's recipes like these that makes Martha the genius that she is. Seriously painting polka dots with a paint brush and raspberry jam is awesome to the moon and back
2. cinnamon tostada: I've made this before and it never fails. We like to dip in greek yogurt.
3. popcorn balls: this is more like dessert than a snack but whatever. Enzo is always asking us to make sweet popcorn, and we do!
4. snowflake quesadilla: I forgot how fun and easy this recipe is. In fact your kid could make the snowflake themselves.
5. frozen fruit salad : Enzo is not a huge fan of frozen fruit but my teething baby can't get enough.

Do you have a favorite easy snack that you like to make for your kids?

tiny potatoes with furikake

I like to refer to them as batatinhas (baby potatoes)  in Portuguese.

I also call baby Maria batatinha

maybe that's why I like them so much.

Trader Joe's calls them teeny tiny potatoes, which is cute too. You cal all them whatever you like, as long as you agree that delicious is their middle name.

Tiny potatoes are small round yellow potatoes that have a very soft skin and a buttery flesh. I grew up eating tiny potatoes. My grandma makes it to accompany quail eggs. She seasons both with olive oil and salt and we much on them throughout the afternoon. Good times.

I spotted tiny potatoes at Trader Joe's about 3 months ago and have been buying them regularly. I rinse them off than cook them in a pot of boiling water until they're soft, maybe 10 minutes. enzo doesn't like potatoes unless they're fried. Boo. Baby Maria, on the other hand likes these a lot. They fit perfectly on the palm of her little hands and the skin is so soft I'm not worried about it being a chocking hazard.

Recently, I've been experimenting with different seasonings. JFC - Nori Fumi Furikake (Rice Seasoning) 1.7 Oz. is the best. It's salty and a bit crunchy so it gives the potatoes a fun texture. 

As soon as I drain the potatoes I lay them on a large plate and spread butter on top. The butter melts quickly and helps make the furikake stick. 

Then I eat.

Simple Snack

because nothing tastes as good as simplicity.

Nothing.

Today I ran into a good preschool-mama-friend in the midst of chaos and the quick hug we exchanged made me crave simplicity. Much like the yogurt snack above. A simple concoction of fresh fruit, vanilla yogurt, and granola.

You know, preschool snack. 

Yeah, that's right, I guess I'm craving a preschool kind of snack.

Because preschoolers can make anything look delicious

and they can also make delicious things look disgusting, they're so tricky.

Don't get me wrong I'm enjoying summer very much but I'm also missing the structure of school days.

Indoor Pulled Pork

Hello blog. It's been such a long long time. My life has gone from crazy to crazy-chaos. In the last couple of months I went from feeding 3 people to now feeding 6 people with complicated eating habits.

My mom works at a factory from 6:00am-2:30pm. She takes her own lunch every day, so I have to keep her in mind when I cook. I have to keep my picky 3 year old in mind and my 17 year old sister who is skinny beyond belief and desperately needs some fat on her bones, in mind. I think of myself because I could literally have 10 meals a day and still be hungry. I blame it on nursing. My husband is easy, but he's just not around that much these days to help.

Cooking has gone from fun to work. blagh. Oh well, it is what it is and no matter what we gotta eat whether I like to cook these days or not.

My friend Mariko showed me how to make indoor pulled pork this and I love how a) easy it is and b) how many people it can feed and c) how many different things you can do with it.

My favorite was sandwiches.

• 4lbs pork butt
• liquid smoke
• rock salt
• Hawaiian sweet bread
• cream cheese

1. Rub down the pork with liquid smoke and rock salt and place in a crockpot on low for 8 hours, or until the pork pulls apart with a fork.
2. Spread cream cheese on Hawaiian sweet bread and place some pork inside. I buy Hawaiian sweet bread at Costco in California. I'm not sure if you can find it in other states.
3. Serve warm.

Enjoy

Gingebread Cookies

If you love gingerbread cookies raise your hand.

I love them when they're soft and warm and good to eat and I love them when they're hard enough to break your teeth 'cuz then they're perfect for going on the Christmas tree. I also love how easy they are to make.

Gingerbread Cookies

1/2 cup shortening 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup dark molasses 1/3 cup water 3 1/2 cups flour 2 teaspoons baking soda 2 teaspoons ground ginger 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice dash of salt In large bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, molasses and cold water with electric mixer on medium speed until well mixed.  With wooden spoon, stir in remaining cookie ingredients until soft dough forms. Wrap with plastic wrap; refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours Heat oven to 350°F. On floured surface, roll dough 1/8 inch thick Cut dough with Christmas cookie cutters Place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Reroll dough, and cut additional cookies Bake for 10 minutes for a softer cookie and 12 for a harder cookie Cool for 10 minutes before eating and cool overnight for decorating.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

It's that wonderful time of year when we have more pumpkins than we know what to do with. This week I tried adding some pumpkin puree to a classic snickerdoodle recipe and the end result was a success. Earlier in the week it was cold so we had warm pumpkin snickerdoodles with hot apple cider. Yesterday and today was super hot and we had popsicles. Go figure!

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
(printable version 

yields 2 dozen cookies

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar

• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

1. Cream the butter, sugar, and pumpkin puree
2. Add the egg to the creamed mixture and beat until well incorporated.
3. Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl.
4. Add half of the sifted ingredients into the egg mixture. Stir with a mixing spoon. Then add the rest of the sifted ingredients and stir until well incorporated.
5. Cover the mixing bowl and put it in the refrigerator for one hour.
6. Preheat oven to 400*.
7. Mix one tablespoon of sugar and one tablespoon of cinnamon on a small plate.
8. Break off a bit of cold dough, about the size of a walnut, and roll it into a ball.
9. Roll the ball around in the dish of cinnamon-sugar.
10. Put it in the cookie sheet and make more balls the same way.
11. Leave a lot of room around each cookie.
12. Bake for 10 minutes. These cookies are really soft when you take them off the cookie sheet. lift them up carefully with a spatula and set them on a wire rack to cool.

From the Archives: Pao de Mel (Brazilian Honey Bread)

A friend on facebook asked me for a Pao de Mel recipe. So here it is. The original post is pretty hilarious if you want a good laugh.

Pão de Mel (Honey bread)

• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 tablespoon baking soda
• 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoon butter
• 1 egg
• 1 cup honey
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup dark or milk chocolate (for topping)
  

1. preheat oven to 350
2. mix all the dry ingredients first (not the chocolate)
3. add the butter, egg, honey, and milk.
4. mix until smooth
5. place mixture in cupcake pans. We filled it up 3/4 full and I think it was too much. I had 2 full pans (24 total). I would only fill it up 1/2 way
6. bake for about 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean
7. when it's ready take out and cool in a wire rack.
   
8. Cool completely before you put the chocolate.
9. melt chocolate and cover the Pão de Mel (traditionally you're supposed to cover the entire Pão de Mel in chocolate. Because they were so big and hard to manage I only did the top).
10. Let the chocolate harden before you put the Pão de Mel away. I made sure to save it in an air tight container or else it gets rock hard.

Chocolate Chip Orange Scones WITH Chocolate Cream Cheese Spread

Woah...what a long title and this will probably be a longish post. I found this recipe at The Apronista and since we have so many sweet oranges I decided to make our Sunday afternoon snack an orange theme. I'm loving summer and all the sweet produce we've been getting. Even after eating the scones I was still putting down some oranges.

(I figured I should update you with a pic of my very pregnant belly)

On to the recipe...

(original recipe found HERE)

• 2 cups flour
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. grated orange peel
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 425 f degrees. Butter a 9 inch diameter circle in the center of a baking sheet. If using a mini scone pan, spray with Pam with Flour.

2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut the butter into small cubes and distribute them over the flour mixture. With a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, stir together the eggs, orange juice, vanilla, and orange peel. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir to combine. The dough will be sticky. With lightly floured hands, knead in the chocolate chips until they are evenly distributed.

3. With lightly floured hands, pat the dough into an 8 inch diameter circle in the center of the prepared baking sheet. If using a mini scone pan, using a silpat mat, spread the dough out with your hands into a 9x9 inch square. Cut into equal quarters. Then, cut those 4 squares diagonally across. Cut again, in opposite direction.

4. You should have 16 adorable little triangles now! If desired, brush the glaze mixture (see above) over the top and sides of the dough. If using mini scone pan, only brush the tops of your scones with the glaze. With a serrated knife, cut into 8 wedges. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center of a scone comes out clean. If using a mini scone pan, bake for approx. 17 minutes, checking at 15 minutes to see if done.

5. Remove the baking sheet to a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes. Serve warm, or cool completely and store in an airtight container. These scones freeze well.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Spread
Makes approx 1 cup

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 ounce bittersweet chocolate (I used Valrhone Bittersweet)
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. sour cream

1. Melt the butter and chocolate in the microwave (about 30 seconds). Stir until thoroughly combined. Cool for 5 minutes. In a small bowl, with a fork, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the sugar and vanilla. Gradually beat in the chocolate mixture until blended. Stir in the sour cream.

2. Cover and refrigerate until slightly firm. To serve, let stand for 5 minutes at room temperature to soften.

Earth Day

(image source: the decorated cookie)

I love our earth and I am thankful for living in such a beautiful place where I am surrounded by nature. Being born and raised in the city of Sao Paulo I know that for many seeing a single tree is considered a luxury. Thank you Heavenly Father for creating such a beautiful place for us to live. I just hope that I'll be able to continue learning and applying ways to live a more sustainable lifestyle. Thank you to everyone who has participated in my giveaway. I've enjoyed reading all the comments about how you practice green living in your kitchen. The giveaway ends tonight and I'll send the winner an e-mail tomorrow.

I want to celebrate Earth Day by making these lollipop sugar earth cookies found in The Decorated Cookie blog. What are you planning on making today to celebrate Earth Day?

Goiabinhas

This, my friends, is my comfort food of comfort foods. Lately I've been in desperate need of comfort. It's a bit sad selling off my skinny jeans because I know I won't be able to fit back into them for another year (o.k fine, two at least). Selling off skinny jeans to buy maternity clothes :)

I'm also in need of comfort because I'm in my second trimester of pregnancy and I'm still nauseous. Did you really think that I wasn't posting because I've been so dang busy with school? That is true BUT there is a whole other reality to my lack of posts. It's because I'm on a strict diet of toast for breakfast, quesadilla for lunch, and cereal for dinner. That's right peeps we've been feasting on cereal none stop because whenever I cook I want to throw up and even though my boys will eat anything they refuse to eat throw up. So cereal it is. We've even expanded our cereal cabinet. Once upon a time we only had cheerios and crunchy corn bran and today we have Kix, Honey Bunches of Oats, Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies and then the trusty cheerios and crunchy corn bran.

When I do cook it's usually something very nutritious like those goiabinhas up on top. Which is basically shortbread cookie with guava paste inside.

If you want a taste of Brazilian cuisine go get yourself some Goiabada. We love this stuff. So much so that one of the most traditional and loved desserts of all time in Brazil is a slice of Goiabada with a slice of queso fresco. We call it Romeo and Julieta because it's the perfect match and also because Brazilians love to name food after love things, like beijinhos (kisses) and...(another post, I promise)

Goiabada is guava paste which you can find in any Mexican store. Easy to find in California but maybe harder in other places. Goiabinhas are the cookies that you make using goiabada. This is my grandma's recipe below. She gave me this recipe as a wedding present so treat it with respect because it's worth gold!

Goiabinhas

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon yeast
• 1/2 cup warm milk
• 1 cup vegetable shortening
• 2 cups chopped goiabada (see picture above where I have them all cut up and separated)
  

1. preheat oven to 350
2. In a medium bowl mix the yeast with 1/4 cup milk.
   
3. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the goiabada) and mix by hand until you get a flaky dough
4. Make little balls with the dough.
   
5. Flatten the a ball of dough using both hands and put a piece of goibada inside and close it back up in oval shape. Repeat the process until all the dough is gone.
6. Place the oval goiabinhas on a cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes.
7. sprinkle sugar and Cinnamon on top after they are done cooking.

Monkey See Monkey Do Some Monkey Munch

On Thursday one of my favorite food bloggers, The Food Librarian, posted a genius recipe called the Monkey Munch. On Friday I read her post and an hour later I was eating these little things none stop. It's cereal covered in chocolate and peanut butter. I think it's genius how Americans love getting perfectly un-sugared cereal and covering it in marshmallows and butter (rice krispie treats make my top 5 list of desserts), or in chocolate and peanut butter. Are there any other desserts I should know about that involves cereal? If so tell me PLEASE. The original recipe calls for chex cereal. I had 3 boxes of crunchy corn bran cereal so I used those instead. To see a way better picture of some Monkey Munch and for a more detailed post visit the Food Librarian.

Monkey Munch
4 cups Crunchy Corn Bran cereal
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/8 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar

1. Melt the chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter in the microwave. It took me 3 minutes because my microwave does not heat well. It should only take you 1-2 minutes
2. Stir till smooth than add the vanilla
3. Mix the cereal into the melted mixture and place the whole thing in a zip lock bag with the powdered sugar.
   
4. Shake and spread out on a cookie sheet and let cool for a couple minutes before storing it in an air tight container.

p.s I made this with my 2 year old and he wwas able to pretty much do everything by himself. It's a really fun recipe to do with kids

Pumpkin Seed Granola

I've been on the search for a good granola recipe for years now. I had one that always burnt and another that tasted so nasty it was impossible to eat. A couple weeks ago, in Enzo's preschool, a mom brought the most tasty granola I have ever had. I think it's the coconut and the salted roasted pumpkin seeds that makes this so delicious. She gave me the recipe and Enzo and I made it together. It's easy to make and yields about 8 cups. We go through a bag of Trader Joe's granola, which is about 4 cups, every week so I'm glad this recipe will last us a little more than the usual.

Crunchy Granola

• 4 cups oats
• 1 cup coconut slices
  
• 1 cup raw sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup raw sesame seeds
• 1 1/2 cups raw almonds
• 1/2 cup flax meal
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup coconut oil (I used melted butter because I was all out of coconut oil but I recommend using coconut oil. It's so much better for you and has a nice taste)
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup roasted salted pumpkin seeds
• 1 cup raisins

1. preheat oven to 250*
2. mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl except for the pumpkin seeds and the raisins. (this is the part that Enzo could do all by himself)
3. Place the mixture on a cookie sheet bake for 1 1/2 -2 hours mixing EVERY 2o minutes.
4. When done add the pumpkin seeds and the raisins.
5. Let it cool down completely before storing in an air tight container.
   

How Many...

How many pictures can you take of your kid eating a cookie without feeling like a totally obsessive parent? Today my kid and I went on a date to Monterey. We hit up the aquarium, Cannery lane, and the train cars that are right in the middle of the bike lane.

We also went to the Nestle Toll House cafe. Have these things always existed? If so why didn't you tell me?! I obviously don't get out much but I was very surprised when I saw the cafe in front of the harbor. You can smell their cookies from a couple blocks away and we were not disappointed when we walked in and saw all their creations. Enzo picked the rainbow chocolate chip cookie and I had a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie that was so decadent I almost asked someone to take a picture of me eating it so I could put it on the blog. Ha! Just kidding, I don't eat my cookies nearly as cute as my son.