Nuts & Seeds Bars

I got the basic gist of the recipe here, but I made a lot of substitutions to fit my family's taste.  Let me tell you, these are awesome!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cashews
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup pistachios
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds

3/4 cup dried currants
1 cup dried shredded coconut (I used medium shreds)

1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup almond butter
5 Tbsp grade B maple syrup  (or 6 tbsp of agave nectar)

Directions:

1.  Line an 8x11 baking dish with parchment paper.

2.  In food processor pulse pistachios first (they are difficult to chop, so they take a bit longer).  Once you start seeing progress with the pistachios, stop the processor and add the other nuts and seeds.  You'll want to pulse the mixture until the nuts finely chopped, but not becoming butter yet.  It's actually pretty good if you have different size pieces of nuts and seeds left.  It adds interest and texture to the bars.  Transfer to a large bowl and add the currants and coconut.

3.  In a small pot heat up the coconut oil, almond butter and maple syrup (or agave) on low.  Once it is all melted, bring to a boil on medium, stirring CONSTANTLY.  If you don't, it will burn and then you've just ruined that batch. I learned that the hard way.

4.  Pour oil mixture on top of the nuts and seeds mixture.  Mix thoroughly.  You are going to want it to be somewhat moist but a bit crumbly.  If it's soggy, then you will want to add more coconut, nuts, or seeds to the mixture.

5.  Press into the lined baking dish firmly - using parchment paper if needed.  Allow to cool for about 30 minutes, and press firmly into the dish some more.  The more you pack it down, the firmer the bars will be when they are ready.

6.  Place dish into the refrigerator for a couple hours.  It will allow them to set up.  They will not set up fully without this step.

7.  When the bars were hard, I cut them in half lengthwise and then in 2 inch segments.  This made about 10 bars.


REACTION:  5 out of 5 kids loved them.  Hubby loved them.  I loved them.  They were even chewy enough that my 14 month old could manage small pieces of them.  Just typing this makes me want another!


**mine were a bit mushier than I would have liked, but I had put in nearly 7 tbsp of maple syrup.  That was just too much, which is why I suggest only using 5**

Taco "Meat"

This is my own little concoction of ingredients for taco meat.  I looked up various recipes, and personally I am not in love with eating a lot of soy, so I kinda mixed this, mixed that, tried this, and tried that.  This is what works for us.  This is what my kids like, my hubby likes, and I like it too.  The first time I made it, no one (except my hubby) even realized it wasn't real meat until after the fact.

Ingredients:

mushrooms (preferably portabella)
walnuts
taco seasonings (whatever you use)
brown rice (cooked)

Note:  For my family of 7, I use an entire package of baby portabella mushrooms and about 1 cup of walnuts, so adjust accordingly.  It makes quite a bit of "meat" and it can be re-heated the next day if you make too much.

chop up and semi-puree the mushrooms and walnuts in a food processor.  You want to make it like a slightly chunky paste).  Next, transfer to a pan, stir in taco seasonings of choice and cooked brown rice.  Allow to become fully heated.  It will look a bit mushy and weird, but once you put it on a taco shell or into a tortilla and doctor that baby up, it is amazingly yummy!

See...it looks a bit gross, but I promise it's yummy.  If my picky kids that have rejected meat time and time again will eat this, you know it's good.  :)

Sorry for not taking pictures of our tacos - I had to run out the door to Cub Scouts or else I would have taken great pictures.  I had to scarf mine down on the go.