Homemade Granola Bars

Hey guys! Today I am posting one of my favourite snack recipes over here in Sweden. When I was here last year I had a hard time finding granola bars that were similar to back home.. my beloved Kashi bars were no where to be found! I ended up finding a super easy recipe for homemade granola bars and have made them a few times since then. The great thing about this recipe is you can adapt it to suit your tastes!

Homemade Granola Bars:

Adapted from http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2012/02/healthy-banana-oat-snack-bars.html

Ingredients:
3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups Rice Krispies 
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup greek yogurt
1/4 cup natural peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup dark chocolate chips

1/2 cup dried ligonberries or cranberries 

Preheat your oven to 350F/177C. Line a baking pan with parchment paper, spray a little cooking spray ( I used my misto with olive oil). 

Combine the dry ingredients (flour, Rice Krispies, oats, salt, cinnamon) in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, combine the wet ingredients (bananas, greek yogurt, honey, vanilla, peanut butter). Whisk together to combine. 

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ones until combined. Slowly fold in the dark chocolate chips and ligonberries.

Transfer the mixture to your prepared baking pan. Use a spatula to pat the mixture down until smooth and level throughout. Bake from 15-30 minutes depending on if you want chewy or firmer granola bars. Remove from the pan to cool and cut into bars (should make about 15-20).

Before baking

You can wrap your bars in wax paper and store in a baggie or airtight container. I love this recipe because I know exactly what is going into my granola bars ( no funky preservatives here) and it's also a great way to save on paying $5 for 6 granola bars! Win-win in my books :)

Sorry I forgot to take a picture after they came out of the oven, but trust me on this one!

xo

Ash

Soups on!

As many of you already know, the reason we are in Sweden is because my husband is playing hockey over here. When you play hockey for a living it is impossible to avoid the odd bump and bruise now and then. After all, it is a pretty physical game. Along these lines, Liam had a rather unfortunate run in with the ice the other night and banged up his mouth pretty good. He came home with a protein shake for dinner and told me he couldn't eat any solid food for the next few days... which leads me to todays post! An amazing recipe for creamy chicken and vegetable soup! The recipe comes from one of my all time favourite food blogs and I can honestly say everything I have made from her site has turned out amazing so you should really check it out!

Here is the link to the recipe as I didn't really change anything, except for adding some frozen peas at the very end:

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2010/10/cream-cheese-chicken-and-vegetable-soup.html

Dicing up a storm

Creamy goodness!

Often times with cream based soups you know its going to be pretty heavy on the calories! However, this soup uses skim milk and low fat cream cheese and still achieves the same amazing silkiness of a full fat cream soup! I think this recipe can really work as a base for any combination of veggies/protein that you wish to use- the possibilities are endless! 

xo

Ash

Review: Dr. Oz's 3 day Cleanse

A few days ago a girlfriend of mine messaged me asking if I knew anything about cleanses. I replied that I didn't know much and would try to look into it, but before I got the chance she sent me this link:
http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/dr-ozs-3-day-detox-cleanse-one-sheet

I checked it out and it seemed fairly straight forward and not all that restrictive so we both decided to give Dr. Oz's cleanse a go. 

I headed out to the grocery store armed with my list of required foods and was able to find most items here which was great! And so we started the cleanse which consisted of:
a morning cup of green tea combo'd with lemon slices and stevia, a breakfast smoothie, lunch smoothie, snack smoothie and dinner smoothie! Basically a whole lotta liquid meals! You are also asked to take a multivitamin, probiotic and omega 3 supplement. 

Day 1: The green tea is nice in the morning and is a decent replacement for my usual 2 cups of coffee. The breakfast smoothie is REALLY good and very filling! By lunch time I am feeling a little hungry and so I blend up the next drink: this one is not so good and has a very thick consistency. I force it down over the next 2 hours...
I chose to have the breakfast smoothie again for my snack and it reminds me of eating a PB and J sandwich!! Manage to put off "drinking" dinner until about 7pm- I blend up the dinner drink and ugh I do not really enjoy this one either- it calls for a pinch of cayenne pepper and you can really taste it. I am a little sad knowing that I won't be able to enjoy my breakfast smoothie until tomorrow morning! For the cleanse you are also supposed to have a lavender and epsom salt bath each night, however, we only have a stand-up shower here, so I have to skip this part!  I head to bed feeling a little hungry.

Breakfast Smoothie- yum!

Lunch being prepared

Lunch smoothie... a little thick for my taste!

Day 2: Wake up super excited for my green tea and breakfast smoothie! It is very satisfying after my disappointing dinner last night. The routine is much the same as Day 1, however for the dinner drink I skip the cayenne pepper because I just couldn't handle the taste. For most of the day today, I have a headache- I think probably from lack of coffee. I try to drink as much water as I can and it helps a bit. After dinner I am really hungry and have the urge to eat something!! I decide to have a cup of hot water with lemon slices and this stops me from heading to the fridge.

Ingredients for dinner

Dinner smoothie sans cayenne

Day 3: I wake up happy this morning knowing that this is the last day of the cleanse and tomorrow I will be able to eat real food again! This gives me the motivation to finish without cheating! I have my breakfast drink a little bit later today and am not hungry again until about 2pm so instead of choking down the lunch drink I decide to skip straight to the snack. For some reason I decide it is a good idea to make cookies for a friend and manage to do so without eating any of the batter or finished product- a true test of willpower!! Blend up my dinner drink knowing this is the last smoothie I will drink for a while. Head to bed feeling proud of myself for completing the cleanse :)

Overall, I felt like this cleanse was pretty easy to follow and never really left me feeling hungry. I did miss chewing my food and drinking my morning coffee! In terms of any changes I noticed after, I did feel less bloated and probably lost a few pounds. It also made me take notice of the processed foods I had been eating and has inspired me to make a more conscious effort to eat more fresh and healthy foods. I will also continue with the supplements and try to incorporate the breakfast smoothie into my daily routine!

Dr. Oz recommends doing this cleanse 3-4 times per year, so when May rolls around we'll see if I am up for it again...

xo

Ash