Third Thursday: Food...Mmmm, mmmm good!

I picked a good day to fix some homemade banana bread since I had to blog about food today.

I have never kept it a secret that I LOVE FOOD.  While I am a fairly picky eater I love to eat a wide variety of food.  Don't let my fitness enthusiasm & 1fitmom status fool you either.  I eat plenty of food that is not on the healthy side.  Plenty.  Probably too much.  But we're not talking about that today....thank goodness.

In the last year or so I have personally worked to cook more from scratch.  Things like biscuits, pancakes, granola bars & more.  Things that I used to absent mindedly pick up at the store and pay for the convenience of having them made for me.  When I started to look at the looooong list of ingredients in them (little tip, the longer the list, the worse the product is for you) and many of the words I could not even pronounce, much less actually know what it was, I was sick to my stomach.  It seems like I was paying more to have chemicals, not food, put into our bodies.  

I know with a large family and with little ones (and there are many other good reasons) it's hard to find time to cook from scratch.  I guarantee you though, the time & effort really pay off.  It is really worth it.  Once you become more in the habit it becomes much easier and before you know it you'll never think of buying such food items at the store again.  Don't kill yourself by trying to go out and be all natural right off the bat.  Baby steps is key.  If you don't know how to make something, ask a friend or search the internet.  Hearts at Home has a bulletin board  that not only has a recipe forum, but is full of women who are open, friendly & willing to share on this very topic.  Don't be afraid to try different varieties of a recipe until you find one that works for you.  Once you find what works, stick with it.

Here are a few of my favorite recipes that I make for our family.  Feel free to copy & try it out for yourself.

Chewy Granola Bars
1 C. honey
1/4 C. butter
1/2 C. brown sugar
3/4 C. peanut butter
4 C. oatmeal
2C. Cheerios
1/2 - 1 bag chocolate chips (can use a variety of types (milk, semi sweet, dark, etc.) for this)

Combine first three ingredients in a pan.
Bring to boil and continue boiling for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter.
Stir in oatmeal and cereal.
Let cool briefly then stir in chocolate chips.
Pour into greased 9x13 pan.
Press firmly into pan.
Let cool and cut into bars.

*I have made other varieties of this by omitting the chocolate chips and using ingredients like raisins, nuts, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, etc.

Pancakes
 1 1/2 C. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/3 C. brown sugar
1 egg
1 C. milk
3 tbsp. melted butter

mix ingredients in order listed.  pour onto hot griddle & cook like regular pancakes.  I can almost guarantee you will never again buy a box of pancake mix after you eat these.  They are heavenly!

Buttermilk Biscuits
4 C. flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. sugar
1 C. unsalted butter (room temp and cut into pieces)
2 C. buttermilk

Mix all dry ingredient and then cut in butter.  Add buttermilk (batter will be sticky).  Transfer to floured surface, kneed in some flour to make the dough manageable, roll and cut into biscuits.  Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes.

*I have also added some garlic powder, parsley, basil, etc. along with some shredded cheese into the dough.  It makes them taste like Cheddar Bay biscuits from Red Lobster.