Barefoot Contessa's

Homemade Granola Bars
Store bought granola bars are loaded with so much junk, I never buy them. Oh, and they can be spendy for the loads of preservatives and high fructose corn syrup. So, i went of a search for a recipe that would satisfy me. This recipe is so good. Some of my kids do not appreciate them as much as I do, but this was only my first trial. Next time I will leave out some of the fruit and add chocolate chips. I doubled the recipe and put half in the freezer. With school right around the corner, I can use all the ideas that I can get. Enjoy!!

Homemade Granola bars
INGREDIENTS FOR 12-16 BARS:
2 C. old Fashioned Oatmeal
1 C. Sliced Almonds
1 C. Shredded Coconut, Loosely Packed
1/2 C. Toasted Wheat Germ
3 Tbs. Butter
2/3 C. Honey
1/4 C. Light Brown Sugar, Lightly Packed
1 1/2 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
1/2 C. Chopped Dates
1/2 C. Chopped Dried Apples
1/2 C. Dried Cranberries
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 by 12-inch baking dish and line it with parchment paper.
Toss the oatmeal, almonds, and coconut together on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the wheat germ. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.
Place the butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for a minute, then pour over the toasted oatmeal mixture. Add the dates, apricots, and cranberries and stir well. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Wet your fingers and lightly press the mixture evenly into the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool for at least 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares. Serve at room temperature.

Canning Pears

Tis' the season for pears. I had about 40 pounds of pears to can. We now have canned pears to last for a year. Pears are easy to can at home and can be inexpensive. Around here, you can get them for as cheap as $0.39 a pound. I like to can my own pears because they are just better. I can wait until they are ripe and are at their sweetest.

These are Bartlet Pears

Wash Ripe Pears
I place all of my jars in the dishwasher and run them trough a cycle so they are hot. Then place a small pan of hot water on the stove and place your lids in it so you can be ready to go. Select what kind of syrup you would like to use, make it ahead of time. I used medium for less sugar I added 2 C. Sugar for for every 4 C. of water. heat to boiling and then turn down so syrup stays hot but do not boil down. Peal and quarter pears and remove any seeds. I used and apple slicer to cut mine.
Place in jar. I like this funnel that you can get in the canning section at any store. It makes things much easier.
Add 1 Tbs. Lemon juice for pints and 2 Tbs. for Quarts.

After the pears are packed in the jar, add the syrup with a ladle.
Here is a big key to making sure that you jars seal - Make sure the rim is wiped off.
Place in caner. There are several different types - a Pressure caner, and Waterbath, and a Steamer. I have a steamer. It can only be used for fruits and high acid things such as tomatoes. Canning time in a waterbath and a steamer are the same: 25 minutes for Pints and 30 Minutes for Quarts.
Remove from caner and place of cooling racks and allow to cool. Be careful removing them - they are so hot! I have special tongs that fit around the top of the jar and I use a hot pad. After cooling, check the lids to make sure that they sealed. The lids should not pop up when you touch them. Label with a Sharpie Marker with the date and contents. Place on the shelf for delicious pears all year long.

Here is a recipe that I have from my sister in-law Elizabeth. We have these every General Conference and sometimes on birthdays for breakfast. They are yummy..

Pear Blitzes

1 ¼ C. Bisquick 3 Eggs
2 C. Milk ¼ C. Melted Butter

Mix together with a rotary beater until smooth. In a skillet make pancakes using 3 to 4 Tb. Batter per pancake. Set aside on paper towel.

8 Oz. Cream Cheese 2 cans pears drained
4 tsp. Light cream or milk cinnamon\ sugar mixture

Mix Cream Cheese and Cream and spread on pancakes. Sprinkle with Cinnamon\sugar. Roll up and place in lightly greased pan seam side down. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes.

Butter Sauce:
½ C. Butter ¾ C. Cream or Milk
1 C. Sugar

Cook in small saucepan until butter melts. Continue to cook on low for 5 minutes stirring constantly. Bring to Boil. Remove from heat and let thicken. Serve Sauce over Blitzes

Blender Wheat Pancakes

These are very yummy pancakes! (Very different from the traditional pancake.)
They are healthy too.




1 C. Milk
1 C. Wheat Berries
Blend 4 minutes in blender
2 Tbs. Honey
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Baking Powder
2 Eggs
4 Tbs. Oil
Blend all ingredients together and pour on hot skillet. Cook until bubbles begin to appear and flip. Top with light butter and real maple syrup. We also like fresh strawberries.


*You can get wheat berries in bulk at Winco or from any health food store.

Easy Whole Wheat Bread

I made this this morning. It was so good. My kids ate a whole loaf when they came home from school.


4- 8x4 in. loaves
7 C. Whole Wheat Flour
2/3 C. Gluten Flour
3 Tbs. Yeast
5 C. Steaming Hot Water
2 Tbs. Salt
2/3 C. Oil
2/3 C. Honey or 1 C. Sugar
2 ½ Tbs. Bottled Lemon Juice
5 C. Whole Wheat Flour

2- 8x4 in. loaves
3½ C. Whole Wheat Flour
1/3 C. Gluten Flour
1¼ Tbs. Yeast
2½ C. Steaming Hot Water (120-120 F)
1 Tbs. Salt
1/3 C. Oil
1/3 C. Honey or ½ C. Sugar
1 ¼ Tbs. Bottled Lemon Juice
2½ C Whole Wheat Flour

Mix together first three ingredients in mixer with a dough hook. Add water all at once and mix for 1 minute; cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Add salt, oil, honey or sugar and lemon juice and beat for 1 minute. Add last flour, 1 cup at a time, beating between each cup. Beat for about 6-10 minutes until dough pulls away from sides of the bowl. This makes very soft dough. (one day I had to add a bit more flour till it pulled from the side)
Pre-heat oven for 1 minute to lukewarm and turn off. Turn dough onto oiled counter top; divide, shape into loaves and place in oiled bread pans. Let rise in warm oven 10-15 minutes until dough reaches top of pan (Ours raised a little higher). Do not remove bread from oven, turn oven to 350 and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on racks.
Important Note: To make a 2 loaf recipe of this bread every other day for 1 year (1 loaf a day) you need 275 lbs. of wheat ground into flour, 4 gallons of oil 46 lbs. Of honey or sugar, 8 1 lb pkgs. of yeast, 61 C. of gluten flour, 3 2/3 qts. of lemon juice and 7.3 lbs of salt.
If you do not have a mixer with a dough hook and are kneading this by hand gradually add last cup of flour to keep dough from sticking to counter, you will add more flour when kneading by hand than when using a mixer simply to be able to handle this moist dough. With wheat bread, always add the least amount of flour possible to keep bread moist. Knead 10 minutes, shape into loaves.

*I sprinkled my bread with Zoom before I baked it.