Yin Yang Cereal Bars by Christy

I told you it has been a big food week at our house.

In addition to the pickles, my husband made home made pizza dough for home made pizza on Sunday. And I was a busy baking bee in the kitchen for all the birthdays.

I was inspired by my friend Chirsty who brought me these Yin Yang bars. She calls them Yin Yang bars because while they have corn syrup and sugar in them, they are also chock full of good stuff because she makes them with a variety of cereals and whole grains. See Below

So here is what I (think) is the recipe for the Yin-Yang Cereal Bars… this is modified from a recipe off of the GrapeNuts Cereal box. And she has provided her variation below. Thanks, Christy!

You can combine any dry cereals, grains, seeds, and nuts you like, and will want to have about 5 to 6 cups of dry mixture to the 3 cups of sticky/sweet mixture for the recipe:

This batch I used:

Combine the dry ingredients in a very large bowl.

2 ½ C  Grape Nuts Cereal

2C Kashi Go Lean Cereal

1C Kashi Puffs Cereal

1/2 C Melaleuca Cinnamon Clusters Cereal

2 handfuls Rolled Oats

½ C Chia Seeds

Handful Sunflower Seeds (Raw)

½ C milled flax seeds

¼ C Cinnamon

¾ C Caramel Balls/Bits (Consider Chocolate Chips, Cinnamon Chips,  Raisins, Craizins, etc.)

In a separate bowl, combine and microwave in one minute intervals, stirring in between micro-ing, until you get a smooth consistency and all sugar has melted (is not grainy):

1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Peanut Butter

1 Cup Corn Syrup

Once the peanut butter mixture is smooth, pour over the dry mix in a very large bowl.  Mix well to coat all of the cereal mixture.  Pour into a buttered or parchment papered 13 x 9 in. pan and press down…

Let cool and cut into squares.

  

Delicious!!!

I call them Yin-Yang, because…

Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary (rather than opposing) forces that interact to form a dynamic system in which the whole is greater than the assembled parts. Everything has both yin and yang aspects, (for instance shadow cannot exist without light). Either of the two major aspects may manifest more strongly in a particular object, depending on the criterion of the observation.

Oatmeal Cookies - The Real Kind

It's been a big food week around here at our house. This week the husband made his pickles (it's own post I'll save for later) and I have been a baking fiend because it's the birthday season (Dad, Husband and Brother in Law) not to mention it's our Anniversary today!

My husband loves those Mother's Brand Oatmeal Cookies. But I don't love it when he eats them because they are full of preservatives that he really doesn't need. Also, the un-frosted ones are difficult to find.

So I made some for him from scratch today and they are off the charts! They are raisin free (not everyone loves raisins) and great with coffee or tea.

I adapted the recipe from Smitten Kitchen for my taste buds. The recipe she uses and adapted from "Good to the Grain" cookbook, uses icing which I omitted. The measurements are funny because everything in "Good to the Grain" is in grams.

Raisin Free Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients 

• 2 1/2 Cups + 1 Tbs. quick cook oats
• 1 1/2 Cup all purpose flour
• 1 Tbs + 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 Cup brown sugar
• 3/4 Cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 Cup butter, melted (she calls for unsalted butter but instead I omitted the salt in the recipe and used what I had in the fridge - plain 'ol butter.)
• 2 large eggs

Instructions 

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Line cookie sheets with parchment.
3. Sift all dry ingredients together.
4. In a separate bowl, cream together butter, sugar, vanilla extract and eggs.
5. Fold in dry ingredients.
6. Round into balls that equal 2 Tbs. or use a cookie scoop (she uses a #40 scoop).
7. Bake at 350 for about 15-18 minutes.
8. Remove from oven and transfer cookies to cool on a wire rack.

Pickles!

It's pickle season!

Tomatoes, Peppers and Cucumbers! My husband challenged me to a pickle off so I made a batch last night.

It's the easiest recipe and they are quick fridge pickles, BONUS. No toiling over the stove on these hot summer nights. Eat them within a week or so, unless you do a traditional water bath and then they'll last on the shelf without refrigeration for up to a year. Directions are below:

Ingredients:

• 1 pound cucumbers
• 6 large cloves garlic
• 1 bunch dill
• 2 Tbs. black peppercorns
• 1 1/2 Tbs. salt
• 1 Tbs. sugar
• 1 Cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 Cup water

Directions:

1. Collect 1 pound of cucumbers from the garden or get them at the farmer's market. We grew "Mercury Persian," in our garden this year. They're small (between 6" and 8" long), seedless, completely burp-less and very tender, with a thin, mild skin. But you could do equally well with any Persian or Persian Hybrid which are similar to the English variety of cukes, such as "Sweeter Yet."
2. Wash a large mouth pickling jar and lid/band with warm soapy water.
3. Let the jar air dry.
4. While the jar is drying, cut the cucumbers and the garlic cloves into quartered pieces.
5. Place half the peppercorns, garlic cloves and dill in the bottom of the jar.
6. Add half of the cucumber slices.
7. Add the rest of the peppercorns, garlic cloves and dill.
8. In a separate jar with a lid, mix the apple cider vinegar, water, sugar and salt. Shake jar until salt and sugar are dissolved.
9. Pour pickling solution over the cucumbers.
10. Place lid on the pickle jar and refrigerate overnight.
11. Enjoy!