Gnu Bars and Larabars

I've been looking for healthy, yet yummy, bars that I can take to work with me when I have a snack attack and keep in my purse. There are sooo many "healthy" bars out there, but most are full of crap (high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, etc.) and I refuse to put stuff like that in my body (if I can help it!) I read my labels VERY carefully. I came acrose Gnu Foods Flavor & Fiber bars this past weekend at The Vitamin Shoppe. I decided to give them a try along with Larabars. I have to tell you, I found two winners. TheLarabar is tasty and completely healthy (only ingredients on the Cherry Pie bar are dates, almonds, and unsweetend cherries). There's 4 grams of fiber and 190 calories (at least in the Cherry Pie bars.) I'm definitely going to make them apart of my pantry. What's better than having bars handy that are only 3 simple ingredients and that taste great?

The Gnu bars (I tried the Banana Walnut and Orange Cranberry) are very yummy. The only downside is they have a bunch of ingredients (compared to the Larabar) but they are all good ingredients. There's only 130 calories and 12 grams of fiber (in the Orange Cranberry bar). That's 48% of your daily value for fiber! Wow!

You can go to www.GnuFoods.com and www.larabar.com to check them out. And just to make it clear, I'm not getting paid in any way to write this blog. I just found two great bars that I'd thought others should know about.

Have a great day!!

Happy Independence Day!!

Have a happy and safe 4th of July! I'll try to remember to post some yummy recipes I've been cooking/baking up these last few weeks. Unfortunately remembering is my downfall.

An old pic of me and my cousin eating the brownie or cake mix left in the bowl. I still do this!

Farmer's Market

Here are some pics from the Farmer's Market last Saturday.

A selection of my jams, salsa, and hot sauce. I really need to start making more flavors. I usually have a bigger assortment than this.
Brookies and Rhubarb Coffeecake. I'll have to remember to post the recipe for the coffeecake. It is delicious and has been a hit.

Chocolate Chip Cherry Scones, Blondies, Coffee Lovers' Coffeecake, and more Brookies.

Indian Fry Bread. These are such a HUGE hit. We made them two years ago but didn't make them last year because I started waitressing again. Now that I quit, we have time to make them again.

I have one gourd bowl that I'm selling. I really, really need to do more gourd and craft work but I've been so busy. I have a table on the right hand side where I sell plants and vegetables. In the middle of the food table, I have samples in the cake dish. Samples ALWAYS gets more sales.

Sesame-Tofu Stir-Fry

I made this for dinner last night and boy was it good. Yes, I did put shrimp in it only because E wanted me to. We had it a couple of weeks ago without the shrimp and he loved it, but this time he wanted something meaty. That, and he's afraid of getting too much soy.

Sesame-Tofu Stir-Fry
adapted from Fitness Magazine

1 12-oz package extra-firm tofu, drained and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Cornstarch
1/4 cup finely chopped unsalted peanuts
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 Tbsp cooking oil
1 16-oz bag frozen stir-fry vegetables*
2/3 cup bottled stir-fry sauce
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 cups hot cooked brown rice

1. Lightly coat tofu with cornstarch. In a bowl, combine 1 Tbsp of peanuts, the sesame seeds, ginger, and red pepper. Add tofu; toss gently.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat. Add tofu mixture to skillet. Cook briefly, stirring gently, until sesame seeds are toasted and tofu begins to brown.

3. Remove tofu. Add vegetables to skillet; cook and stir until heated through. Add stir-fry sauce; cook and stir gently until mixture is bubbly. Stir in tofu; heat through. Sprinkle with remaining peanuts and the scallions. Serve over rice.

*The original recipe says to thaw vegetables. I didn't. I put mine in the wok frozen and cooked until they were thawed and heated through.

**I cooked the shrimp in the wok before I cooked the tofu.

Egg Drop Soup

Oh yummy! I love egg drop soup. I've tried making it at home before with just chicken broth and eggs and I've even used a flavor packet from the grocery store, but this recipe is the bomb. I hope you enjoy it. E and I certainly did.

Egg Drop Soup
adapted from Simply Recipes

3 eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups of chicken stock
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 Tbsp soy sauce
3 green onions or chives, chopped
1/4 tsp of pepper
3/4 cup of sliced mushrooms (I used baby portobello, but shiitake would be really good).

1. Reserve 1/2 cup of chicken stock and mix with cornstarch until dissolved.

2. Place the remaining chicken stock, ginger, soy sauce, green onions, mushrooms, and pepper in a pot and bring to a boil. Add the cornstarch mixture and stir. Reduce heat to a simmer.

3. Slowly pour in the beaten eggs while stirring the soup. The egg will spread out into ribbons. Turn off the heat and garnish with a few more chopped onions or chives. Serve immediately.

This was even really good re-heated the next day. It's a definite keeper! I ate mine with a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. This would be great with an egg roll.

Farmer's Market Treats

Last Saturday was our first day at our new venue. We moved to the back parking lot instead of the park. There's so much more traffic now. It only made sense to move back there. We've been wanting to for a long time but the last market master didn't want us to for some reason. We now have a new market master and he was all for it. I had a table full of delicious goodies including our Indian Fry Bread which always sells out and Praline Brookies.

I made these cake pops to sell. The tasted wonderful, but the chocolate coating started melting because it was so hot. Everyone that saw them was impressed, but I only sold 3, go figure! The recipe is very simple (Thanks Bakerella!) Just bake a cake (any flavor). Using a 13x9 sheet pan is easiest. After it has totally cooled, shred cake into a big bowl. You can use a food processor if you like. Stir in 2 cups of cake icing (any flavor) and mix well. I had to use my hands. form into balls and place on a wax paper-covered sheet pan and pop into the refrigerator until set or freezer. Once everything is nice and firm, take out balls and push sticks in them. Dip them in melted candy coating (any flavor) and let dry standing up. I turned an egg carton upside down, punched holes in it and dried the cake pops on that. Worked wonderfully.

These are Sugar and Spice Donuts I made. I threw away the recipe because I decided I wasn't going to make them again. They were okay, but I have a killer Apple Cider Donut recipe that's much better. These were actually really good the next day after I heated them in the microwave for 30 seconds. I might try another donut recipe or I'll make some scones for this weekend. I have a couple of scone recipes I'm dying to try along with one that was a really good seller last year.

Storms

I love to take pictures of storms, especially lightning. Saturday, we went to C'ville so I could get a few supplies for baking. On our way back, we noticed the ominous sky. Going north, you could see how wicked the sky was and see all of the lightning. I told E that we just might beat it home. Well, we did, just barely. Coming up 15 we could see the bow in the clouds (the front of the storm) and it was just north of the house, but we were definitely going to get something. I tried to take pictures of it going up the driveway, but E was driving so fast and wouldn't slow down. Forgive the horrible pics, but you can at least get the gist of it.

This is as we were just turning in the driveway. You can see the edge of the storm. Where it changes from light to dark is the edge.

Here's another shot coming up the driveway. E was really flooring it! The dark clouds were so wicked looking. I was looking for rotation, but never saw anything.

Here is another shot coming up. The storm is already moving closer.

This is where the curve starts. The front was probably just above town at this time.

When we got home, we jumped out of the truck and unloaded it. I was able to get this shot in. I wish I had time to adjust the lighting and all, but I wasn't sure how fast the storm was moving. You can really see how wicked the clouds were.

We didn't really get any close lightning with this storm. The worst of it was just north of us. We did, however, get torrential downpours. It poured down for three hours and never stopped raining until Sunday morning. Our driveway was washed out in several spots and water was pouring out of the conduit pipe underneath the electrical meter. Something needs to be done about that because that can cause some serious problems! I wasn't too impressed with the storm, though. I was just in awe over the look of the clouds. I wish I had been home even 15 minutes earlier so I could've gotten some really good pics. Maybe next time!