We recently had to switch to a dairy-free lifestyle in an effort to see if our younger kids have a sensitivity that is causing them some serious sinus problems.  I was having a hard time finding granola bars for our kids that were dairy free, mostly nut free and not expensive. We love to cook as much as we can from scratch so I tried to look up recipes.  I could not find any that would work for our family’s particular needs so I decided to try and make them on my own.  Children were consulted and they love peanuts and rice krispies so I used those as our base.

We buy 90% of our groceries from Costco as you can see. I bought the “Crisp Rice” at Winco and if you need to be gluten free this is where you could substitute gluten-free Rice Krispies and make the granola bars gluten-free. We are not super gluten sensitive so I did not worry about it.

I had my three year old dump all of the ingredients into a bowl and stir. It was a little sticky so I helped her a bit.

Next I pressed the granola bars into the pan using a regular spoon and put them into the oven for 20 min at 350 degrees.  Your oven temperature may be different or you may want them chewier so check them after 15 minutes.

After baking I melted some chocolate chips and spread them on the top. Be careful if you use something with a handle since it could get very hot in the microwave.

I let the whole thing set a bit and my kids ate them pretty much over night so I would say they are a hit!  Next time I might try adding some raisins and cinnamon or even dried apples and see how they turn out.

Happy cooking!

Easy Dairy-free Peanut Butter Granola Bars

April 29, 2017

Servings: 12

Prep: 10 min

Cook: 20 min

Total: 30 min

Difficulty: Easy

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Dairy/Gluten-free granola bars for the kids

By: Oscoey

Ingredients

• 2 cups Rice Cereal
• 3/4 cup Peanuts
• 1/4 cup Honey
• 1/2 cup Peanut Butter
• 1 cup chocolate chips (dairy-free)

Directions

• Step 1 Spray an 8×8 baking dish with cooking spray.
• Step 2 Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Step 3 Put Rice Krispies, peanuts, honey and peanut butter into a bowl and stir.
• Step 4 Press your mixture into the baking dish and even out.
• Step 5 Bake granola bars for 15-20 min until they are firm.
• Step 6 Allow to cool for a couple of hours.
• Step 7 Microwave 1 cup chocolate chips in a microwave safe dish for 60 seconds. Stir and microwave them for an additional 30 seconds if they are not melty.
• Step 8 Spread your chocolate chips over the granola bars and enjoy!

I love mild coconut curry with potatoes.  My mother-in-law makes a chicken coconut curry that is my absolute favorite but she doesn’t ever give up her real recipes so I created this cauliflower coconut curry recipe based on the many curry recipes I found.  Since the birth of our third child I have turned to my crock pot to get dinner started during nap time to avoid trying to wrangle the little kids while I cook. This recipe is very adaptable and you can choose a stronger curry or add some hot peppers if you want even more spice. We are currently dairy-free so I use coconut milk exclusively but you could also used whole milk if you are not able to eat coconut or even a mix of the two.  This is our go to recipe for meatless Monday and everyone, even the baby, loves it.

We do 90% of our shopping at Costco.  With three kids buying in bulk makes sense and we have gotten really good over the years at cooking the same protein many different ways throughout the week. We all love cauliflower and adding the potatoes, beans and rice to the recipe stretches your dollars even further.  There are many different kinds of coconut milk on the market but our favorite brand for cooking is Aroy-D.  I find it at specialty markets (Asian markets, Whole Foods) and sometimes order it in bulk from Amazon. The variety I used today is the Aroy-D 100% Pure Coconut Cream. It is a little rich but I bought it to try and make a whip cream substitute and it was not as successful as I had hoped so I am using it up as I can.  It is however excellent in coffee as a cream substitute. Usually I use 100% Coconut Milk – 8.5 Oz by Aroy-D and it is a little smoother.  I had a little extra of the cream so I poured it into a mason jar for my coffee this week.

This meal takes about 30 min to prep and you can adjust the cooking time to either 4 or 8 hours depending on how long you have until dinner.  You could possibly even start it over night and then heat it up for dinner the next day.  I use the Crock-Pot 6-Quart Programmable Cook and Carry Oval Slow Cooker that I found on Amazon.  It had the highest reviews when I was doing my research. It holds a lot of food and is super easy to use.  The only drawback is that the sides get hot and that is tricky with our kids since our counters are impossibly small but this is my first Crock Pot so I am not sure of others are the same way.

Basically the recipe is to throw everything into the pot after cooking the onions for a bit, then let it cook slowly so that the veggies absorb all of the yummy curry goodness.   Make sure to grease the inside of the Crock Pot with the tiniest bit of olive oil so that nothing sticks.

Cook your onions and garlic, add the curry and a little coconut milk to mix.

Cut up potatoes and cauliflower.  Add to Crock Pot with chicken broth (or vegetable), coconut milk and garbanzo beans.

Stir and put the lid on.

Wait for it to be cooked. Stir and enjoy over rice!

Happy cooking!

Easy Slow Cooker Cauliflower Coconut Curry (Dairy-Free/Vegan Option)

April 12, 2017

Servings: 10-14

Prep: 30 min

Total: 9 hr

Difficulty: Easy

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Throw this easy Cauliflower Curry recipe into the crock pot for an excellent meal.

By: Oscoey

Ingredients

• 1 tsp Olive Oil
• 1/2 Onion
• 4 Cloves Garlic
• 2 Tbsp Curry (Yellow for mild)
• 4-6 Med Potatoes
• 1 Costco Package of Cauliflower
• 1 Can Garbanzo beans drained and rinsed
• 1 8.5oz Can Coconut Milk
• 1 c Broth (Chicken or Vegetable for Vegan Option)
• 1 tsp Salt
• Pepper to Taste
• 1 tsp Fresh Ginger if desired
• 3 c Cooked Rice

Directions

• Step 1 Put a tiny bit of olive oil on a paper towel and coat the inside of your Crock Pot to prevent sticking.
• Step 2 Turn on Crock Pot to either low (8 hours) or high (4 hours) depending on how much time you have before dinner.
• Step 3 Cut up your 1/2 onion and press your 4 cloves of garlic.
• Step 4 Heat up the olive oil in a medium skillet on med/low and add the onions, salt, pepper and garlic once the oil is heated up.
• Step 5 Cook until the onions are translucent then add curry and a little bit of the coconut milk. Stir to mix completely and set aside.
• Step 6 While the onions are cooking cut your potatoes and cauliflower and add them to the pot along with your chicken (or vegetable) broth and garbanzo beans.
• Step 7 Add the onion mixture and the remaining coconut milk. At this point you can add the ginger and another tsp of salt if desired.
• Step 8 Stir well and cover. After about 20-30 min stir again if you are able to otherwise leave in the Crock Pot until either 4 or 8 hours are up.
• Step 9 Stir before serving over cooked rice. This dish pairs nicely with bread, potato chips or crackers.