10 years ago it was cold. I’m not talking about -20.C or even -30.C, here with the windchill it was a blistering -49C!!!
I remember it vividly. And it still gives me chills ❄️❄️❄️
Here I will share my memory & recipes with you. Stay warm!
January 18,2011
Being a stay-at-home mom and having the school 14 houses away, I could not with a conscious drive my kids to school….. alas, we walked (bundled up to the max!)… brrrrrrr. What you need to understand with a cold that COLD, is that it is really really hard to warm up afterwards. You should also know that I’m the kind of person who hates (HATES!) being cold, I think it’s the worst torture around. Usually, I’m wearing a sweater, slippers, and have a little heater going even when the house is a balmy 73.F!
anyways….
now that you know how cold it really was, and how much of a wimp I am you’ll understand why I wanted to turn my oven on and keep it that way all day! The only way I could do this was to bake and cook all day. Great timing too because I had been reading a bunch of blogs with amazing-sounding treats on it that I just needed to try!
Here it goes…..
Recipe #1 is a wicked salt and vinegar guilt-free tv munching snack!
Mix together:
sunflower seeds, apple cider vinegar and 3Tbsp of Sea Salt
Place in an oven for 250 & bake for 1-2 hours (stirring every 20 minutes).
These yummy beauties are a good source of Vit A, B3, B5, B6, Vit E, Phosphorus, Zinc, Magnesium, Copper, Manganese, Potassium, Fiber, Protein Calcium, Iron & some Vit C!
I’m glad I did these first cause they were so delish to munch on while making the rest of my goodies!!
While snacking on these yummy treats, I was also making some AMAZING granola bars… Here is what I did…
1 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 cup crushed walnuts
1 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
1 cup cranberries
3 Tbsp Chia seeds
1tsp vanilla
1 cup melted coconut oil
Mix well together, put on a cookie sheet and flatten. Place in freezer to set. While there make your chocolate sauce. I mixed together in a pot on the stove the following…
These are filled with goodness such as Vit A, B3, B5, B6, Vit E, Phosphorus, Zinc, Magnesium, Copper, Manganese, Potassium, Fiber, Protein, Calcium, Iron & some Vit C
2 Tbsp butter (or coconut oil)
1 Tbsp cocoa
2 Tbsp Maple Syrup
(I’ve since made these again without the Maple Syrup in the cocoa and it wasn’t as good, a little sweetness is not always a bad thing….)
Once the bars are set, take them out of the freezer, cut into desired sizes (bars or squares, etc), and drizzle still hot chocolate sauce. Put back into the freezer to set chocolate and store in the fridge. Now, I’ve never made granola bars before, but these turned out so amazing, that even my kids were sneaking into the kitchen to wolf more down!
So, I have now put away my cooled and flavoured sunflower seeds into a nice glass jar in the fridge. I’m starting to make some chocolate-covered peanut butter balls. Here is what they turned into..
This is with Chunky peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and flour mixed together (I used maple syrup instead of the sugar substitute listed) all rolled into cute little balls.
These guys have tons of Vit B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9, Vit E, Potassium, Phosphorus, Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, Sodium, Manganese, Zinc, Copper, Selenium
Put these into the freezer while you melt your chocolate….
Then dip each peanut butter ball into the melted chocolate, and place them back into the freezer to set. Store in the fridge (if you have any left) yum!!
Mine have little holes in the tops from the toothpicks I put in them to help me with dipping!
While I was making all these, I also made a few dozen (ok, 5 dozen), of my kid’s fav flour-free totally chocolate and peanut butter cookies….
you can find the recipe here…..