Monday, May 26, 2008

A Baking Holiday


So Scott said this is the first time in 10 years of marriage that he's seen me wear an apron in the kitchen! That's right..I'm getting serious about all this baking stuff and today was the fun day that I tried some new recipes. Some of these recipes come from my new favorite recipe book about Baking with Agave Nectar. A few come from my natural cookbooks as well. Four of the recipes use agave nectar instead of sugar as a natural sweetener. Agave nectar is a natural, organic, kosher, plant-based sweetener made from varieties of the agave plant. It's my favorite natural sweetener as I've been experimenting with different types. The power bars use Brown Rice Syrup which I'm experimenting with also. I got my books at amazon.com so you can search for agave nectar and get more info!

So tonight the children taste-tested things and I got 5 stars on everything I made! Yeahoo! These are winners! Of Course you should see my kitchen, oh my what a mess--yikes!

The fun recipes I made were:
1-Cranberry Orange muffins
2-Pecan Orange Granola
3-Fruit and Nut Bars
4-Do It Yourself Power Bars
5-Zucchini Raisin Bread

Wondering what makes up these great treats? Here are just a few of the ingredients that my children are eating while they say "yum yum" with each bite! Gotta LOVE it! Not only am I eating healthy but my kids are too!!

1-Cranberry Orange Muffins--Whole Wheat Flour--yes really! Wheat bran, unsweetened applesauce and nonfat yogurt.
2-Orange Pecan Granola--Wheat bran, Ground Flax Seeds, Almond Meal & unsweetened applesauce
3-Fruit and Nut Bars--Pumpkin Seeds, Sunflower Seeds, Macadamia Nuts & Apricots
4-PowerBars-Wheat Bran, walnuts (which my kids claim they don't like), brown rice cereal & wheat bran
5-Zucchini Bread--Whole wheat flour, flax seed meal, & nonfat yogurt

I'm so excited to have some more yummy options for 'snacking'. As many of you know I'm not eating any sugar or processed foods and so I've been struggling to find some more recipes and this is exciting!! =) Happy Snacking....
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2 comments:

Rachel said...

Sounds yummy! How about sharing the recipes? Love to try them.

Marc and Stacy said...

Those fruit and nut bars and the cranberry muffins look awesome. I'm with Rachel..pass those recipes on! :)