Roasted Red Pepper Chicken

You need:
Chicken breasts cut into cubes
roasted red peppers
garlic
olive oil
cream of chicken soup
Brown rice

1. a few hours or in the morning soak your brown rice. in the pot you are going to cook the rice in, put the rice and water (2 cups of water for every 1 cup of rice)
2. put the rice pot on the boil and keep covered. Once it boils, turn down to low (like 2 or 3) and let simmer until all the water has been absorbed (usually about 20 minutes from start to finish)
3. mean while, put a bit of olive oil in a frying pan and add the garlic and chicken. Cook until chicken is almost cooked.
4. Add roasted red peppers and cook until they are warm
5. add soup and simmer until soup starts to bubble Serve over rice and with whatever green veggie you like (broccoli or asparagus work nicely) Enjoy!

Granola Bars

When i go to the grocery store and look at the boxes of granola bars, carefully reading the ingredients and nutritional information, I always think "well, I might as well buy cookies!" So I am experimenting with making my own chewy granola bars that are actually healthier than what is offered at the store. Most of what's at the store except Kashi also have high fructose corn syrup as a main ingredient. Disgusting! While I LOVE Kashi products, they are expensive.

Pre-heat oven to 400 F
You will need:
3 cups oats (not instant)
3/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup flax meal
3/4 seeds (your choice)
1 cup crushed nuts
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
4 TBS butter
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp Kosher salt (if you use salted butter, do NOT add salt)
8 oz dried fruit

** To crush your nuts, put them in a plastic bag and smash them with a mallet, rolling pin, sauce pan etc.

Mix the nuts, oats, wheat germ, seeds in a baking dish with sides Toast them in the oven for 10 – 12 minutes. Stir every few minutes so they don’t burn. Meanwhile, line a glass baking dish (11X13 inches or there abouts) with wax paper. Parchment paper works too.

Lightly spray with nonstick spray Put the brown sugar, honey, butter, vanilla and salt into a sauce pan and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. By now, your nuts and grains should be toasted, so mix everything in a large bowl. Add dried fruit. Turn off your stove – you don’t need it anymore.

Mix everything REALLY WELL!

Dump your granola mixture into the baking dish.

Fold over the sides of the wax paper or add a sheet on top. PRESS HARD all over the granola. You want to compact it together so that the bars won’t fall apart when you cut them.

Wait 2 – 3 hours or until the granola had totally cooled. Then open the waxed paper. Firmly pressing down with a big knift (not swinging) cut your granola into whatever size you want. You can either wrap in plastic wrap, or store in an air tight container with wax paper in between layers.

OR  you can bake them in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes.

oats and beans and barley grow

More like cauliflower, broccoli and peas.

My kids were anxious to start the garden, so we started a few plants inside and we will transfer them outside when it's spring time.

We also have oregano and basil trying to grow, but Boo was a little overzealous in watering them, so I'm not sure they will make it.



We also have pumpkin seeds and a few other veggies we like to eat. Their great-grandmother has a huge garden of blueberries and raspberries. She said in the spring we can come and help ourselves to some of the plants, so we will have some fruit as well!

Pumpkin is excited that it will rain tonight "so we can plant the garden tomorrow". Of course, it still being the middle of winter, I explained that we have to wait a couple of months for the season to change.

fresh baked bread

For Christmas I received the wonderful gift of a bread maker! That has been a real money saver. The money I spend on flour and yeast (and other ingredients) is far less than what I would spend on buying bread! With groceries being significantly more expensive here than in Toronto, I have to cut costs where ever I can.

I make my own bread
I buy eggs from a farmer ($2.80/dozen lrg far fresh eggs delivered right to my door!)
This summer I will be planting a veggie, herb and berry garden.
I will also be canning this summer some fruits and preserves that are simply too expensive in the winter. Like peaches that cost $4/lb!