Oatmeal Bars

This is a recipe I found that was originally from www.makeandtakes.com. These bars are one of the snack foods that I make weekly for lunches for my kiddos. They can be for sack & at-home lunches or after-school snacks. They freeze very nicely if you prefer to do that.

As a side-note - making snacks and getting everything ready on Sunday for the upcoming week is a great way to save time and money. Other easy snacks that you can find us assembling on Sunday: jello, homemade chocolate pudding, pretzels, veggies like carrots/baby tomatoes/celery, cookies (for lunches I like to pretend they are healthy so I make things like oatmeal-raisin and I alway use wheat flour). I love the inexpensive multi-colored baby snack cups with lids that you find at Wal-Mart to package up the treats!

2 1/2 cups oats (I use whatever I have - quick or regular)

1/2 cup Rice Krispies

1/4 cup coconut

1 cup M&Ms or chocolate chips

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup margarine, soft

1/4 cup honey (spray your cup with Pam so the honey doesn't stick)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup peanut butter

Mix all ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Press into in 9x13 pan and smooth out the top. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes, then score the bars into the size you'd like (don't cut all the way through). Let the bars set completely and then cut into bars and store in a sealed container.

Whole Wheat Bread

adapted from myfoodstoragedeals.blogspot.com

Makes 2 loaves (for the original recipe which makes 4 loaves and calls for instant yeast go here).

I love this recipe because I don't need a Bosch to make whole wheat bread. I tried about half a dozen other recipes (one of which resulted in the untimely demise of my Kitchenaid - which they replaced, whew!) and all of them didn't work out for me. This dough is soft enough to not strain my 4.5 qt Kitchenaid Mixer (I have the Artisian) when I knead it for 10 minutes and the dough is so easily handled I never need any flour when I roll out my dough. I have started baking my own bread exclusively and I bake a couple of loaves about every 5-6 days. They have kept beautifully! If you don't go through bread quickly or you want to make extra and freeze them, use the sugar instead of the honey - it tastes better after the loaf is thawed I think. I also measure out extra sets of the dry ingredients when I make this and place those extra mixes in labeled ziploc bags so they are ready the next time I need to bake.

Ok, so here you go!

2 1/2 cups warm water

1 1/2 Tb yeast

Proof in your mixing bowl until bubbly.

3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/3 cup vital wheat gluten

Add, mix 1 min on "stir" or 2 at the fastest. Cover and let rest 10 min.

1 Tb salt

1/3 cup oil

1/3 cup honey (use the cup the oil was in and it slides right out!) or 1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/4 Tb lemon juice

Add and beat together 1 min.

2 1/2 cups wheat flour

Add one cup at a time, beating after each addition. Beat for 6-10 minutes. The longer you let it knead the more gluten you'll develop in your loaf and the better it will be! Feel free to substitute some white flour if you prefer. I do when I use the hard read wheat to make my flour - it has a stronger taste than my family prefers. I think hard white wheat makes a better tasting flour and doesn't need to be mixed with all-purpose flour - just my opinion!

Turn oven on for 1 minute and then turn off. Cover dough and let rise until doubles - this usually takes me 45 minutes, sometimes less.

Divide dough into two even halves. Knead 5-10 times by hand to smooth out dough and then shape into an oval. I use a pastry mat instead of my counter - but if your counter is clean go for it! Roll each into a rectangle - about the same size as a 9x13" pan. Roll up dough tightly jelly-roll style starting on a short side. Pinch and smooth seam. Pinch ends of loaf and tuck underneath to smooth the look of your ends. Place each loaf into a greased bread pan and let rise in warm oven till doubled. Then bake for 20 minutes at 350F. When done, bread should be browned and sound hollow when you tap the top. Cool in pans for 10 minutes and then cool on wire racks.