Baking day - Homemade muesli bars, hummus and minestrone

I love winter. It's a time for cooking and baking and spending hours in the warm kitchen creating new things. When it's cold and drizzly outside (as it is today) then the kitchen is my favourite place to be. This morning we ducked out to the library and to do some grocery shopping then it was home and into the kitchen! On today's menu:
Homemade muesli bars
Hummus
Minestrone
 
After being suitably inspired by my friend Sophia - a woman of wonder - to make a healthy lunch box snack for my preschooler I have turned my hand to muesli bars. The good thing about these ones is that my daughter - who is allergic to dairy, eggs and nuts - can enjoy them too!!

I searched the internet and checked through the ingredients of our cupboard. This is the site where the original recipe came from Taste.com.au.

My own recipe varied from this one slightly, simply based on what we had. I've never cooked with quinoa before and bought the white stuff, not the flakes so cooked it up before adding it. I was a bit unsure about it, but it had a lovely grain-y smell when cooking and the raw mixture tasted so good that I couldn't even taste it!


Homemade Muesli Bars

Ingredients

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup dessicated coconut
1 cup sultanas or cranberries (I used half a cup-ish of each one)
1/2 cup quinoa (cooked as per instructions)
1 cup corn flakes (crushed) - but I suppose puffed rice or rice bubbles would be fine too
1/4 cup sesame seeds (again, could add more according to taste)
125g butter (or Nuttelex in our case)
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Dash of vanilla
300g dark cooking chocolate (entirely optional - except in our family where it's a necessity!)

 

 These are not my hands by the way - the Captain was helping out while I took a pic!

Method

* Preheat over to 180°C

* Grease and line slice tray with baking paper

* Combine oats, coconut, sultanas/cranberries, corn flakes, sesame seeds, and cinnamon

* Cook quinoa in a saucepan as per instructions. I was industrious and melted the chocolate in a bowl over the top of the quinoa while it simmered quietly underneath for 15 minutes

* Combine sugar, honey and butter in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat til butter has melted and sugar dissolved. Add splash of vanilla. Bring to the boil then add to the other ingredients

* Spread the melted chocolate over the bottom of the tray

* Then add the muesli mix over the top, pressing firmly in the pan

* Bake for 15-20 minutes til golden brown

* Cool then refrigerate til chilled

* Cut into squares or rectangles and Enjoy!!

The Hummus was much easier to make. My kids love hummus, as do we, so we thought we'd try and do it ourselves. The recipe is pretty straight forward:

Ingredients

400g chick peas

1 tbsp tahini

3/4 lemon

80ml olive oil

1-2 gloves of garlic, crushed (depending on how much you like garlic!)

1/2 tsp ground cumin

Method

Blend all together in a food processor. 

Enjoy with turkish bread, crackers or vegie sticks

It was delicious and even our son, who is quite picky with his hummus, loved it. He especially loved watching it be made! And of course, friendly for our allergy-stricken girl!!

The Minestrone I have no recipe for because the Captain threw everything into a saucepan and I have no idea what's in it - though it smells and looks good and I can't wait to try it for dinner tonight!!

Have you been in the kitchen lately? What's been cooking? Share the ideas, I certainly need some more!!