February 5th: Granola Bars and Chili-Garlic Chicken with Sesame Carrot Coins

I have been trying maaaaany homemade granola bar recipes this year, trying to find something that is healthy enough to put in Olivia's lunch and tasty enough that she will eat one every day until the whole batch is gone. I have not had much luck. The healthy ones she tires of quickly, the tasty ones are sugar-laden. The latest one I tried, she says she's not crazy about, but so far, they're being eaten, and I think they taste pretty good. I made them awhile back, but was waiting to see her reaction over an extended period of time before blogging about it. It's a good recipe in part because you can alter the ingredients to suit yourself quite easily. Altered slightly, original from smitten kitchen:

Thick, Chewy Granola Bars


1 2/3 cups quick rolled oats
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups dried fruits and nuts, your choice*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons melted butter (I used 7!) or oil of choice
1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 tablespoon water
1/3 cup peanut butter or another nut butter* (I used soy butter, notes below)


Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8″ x 8″ x 2″ pan in one direction with parchment paper, allowing it to go up the opposing sides. Lightly grease the exposed pan.


Stir together all the dry ingredients, including the fruit and nuts. In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, melted butter or oil, liquid sweeteners and water. Toss the wet ingredients with the dry and the nut butter until the mixture is evenly crumbly. Spread in the prepared pan, pressing them in firmly to ensure they are molded to the shape of the pan.


Bake the bars for 30 to 40 minutes, until they’re brown around the edges — don’t be afraid to get a little colour on the tops too. They’ll still seem soft and almost underbaked when you press into the center of the pan but do not worry, they’ll set completely once completely cool.


Cool the bars in their pan completely on a cooling rack. (Alternately, after about 20 minutes you can use your parchment “sling” to lift and remove the bars, and place them in their paper on the rack to cool the rest of the way. This can speed the process up.)


Once cool, cut the bars into squares. If bars seem crumbly, chill the pan in the fridge for 30 minutes, then cut them cold. To store, wrap the bars individually in plastic or stack them in an airtight container. They also freeze well.


*Suggestions: Dried cranberries, apricots, pecans, sunflower seeds, coconut, walnuts, sesame seeds, pepitas, dried apples or chocolate chips. My mix: pepitas, unsweetened coconut, rice krispies, chocolate chips, raisins, dried cranberries.

Obviously, since I was making these for school, I had to avoid nuts of all kinds. I opted to buy "Wow" Butter, which is soy butter proclaiming to look, smell and taste like peanut butter.

LIES! All lies! Look, yes; smell, almost; taste; NOTHING LIKE PEANUT BUTTER! If someone spread that on a piece of toast for me to eat, I would throw it back in their face. However, for this recipe, it worked.

I think if I made the recipe with peanut butter, peanuts and chocolate chips, it would be a surefire winner. Alas. Maybe this summer.

On to supper! I have had the flu the last two days, but somehow managed to pull off cooking meals, one of them a new recipe. I can't tell you a thing about them; I remember next to nothing of the dizzy, crazy state I was in. Today I felt on the better side, and I can report that supper was yummy! From February 2014's Chatelaine:

Chili-Garlic Chicken with Sesame Carrot Coins

MAKE 2 or 3 shallow cuts, about 1/4-in. deep, diagonally across surface of 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts. Stir 1 tbsp each rice vinegar, tamari (or soy sauce) and chili-garlic sauce with 1 tsp brown sugar in a medium bowl. Coat chicken with vinegar mixture.

HEAT a large non-stick frying pan over medium. Add 1 tbsp canola oil, then chicken. (Do not discard marinade.) Cook chicken 5 min. Flip and continue cooking, covered, until springy when touched, 6 more min. Transfer to plates.

RETURN pan to heat and add 6 thinly sliced carrots along with reserved marinade. Cook carrots until tender-crisp, about 5 min. Drizzle with 2 tsp dark sesame oil and stir in 4 sliced green onions. Serve with chicken.


I used the full marinade on two chicken breasts, but we found the chicken a little bland; in future I intend to double the sauce recipe so there is some left in the pan to pour over the chicken. I didn't have any chili-garlic sauce, so I used 1 tsp sriracha in its place.  The carrots were spicy and I loved them! You have to understand; I hate carrots! Also, Sadie loved them! You have to understand; Sadie doesn't like anything! I served this with jasmine rice.