Fruity Oaty Bars

After a long, and yet not very diligent search, I cobbled together my own personal recipe for fruity oaty bars. Why you ask? Simply put, I'm in touch with my inner Sci-Fi geek and I thought it would be cool. Or, if that's not good enough, I wanted to make my own energy bars for camping.



The search began with my ingredient list. Fruit and oats, how hard could this be? Well what fruit? I like cranberries, and apples, pineapples, cherries, raisins, bananas aren't an option due to certain health issues in the Sigboy household. I even considered prunes and dates, but I want everybody to eat them. I ruled out dried pineapple because I didn't know how it would take the oven, it would also probably be too acidic. Apples were a serious contender, but they also lost out because of the baking issue.



Without further ado, the recipe:
2 1/2 cups oats
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup finely chopped homemade honey roasted almonds
3 eggs
1/2 cup cranberries
1/2 cup cherries
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
2 teaspoons Vanilla
1 teaspoon Cherry extract
1 smidge of cinnamon

Combine sugar, vanilla, cherry extract and eggs in appropriate sized bowl, mix. Add oats, mix again. Add Almonds, mix some more. By now it should be fairly sticky and all items should be evenly coated. A mixer may work for this, but I didn't want to clean the wife's mixer, I just used a bowl. Add the chocolate chips and fruit, last time to mix, I promise. I added the fruit last because I didn't want it to get to beat up with all the mixing.

Grease a 9x13 pan, I mean hose it down (my wife doesn't clean up after my little baking 'experiments'). Spoon your mixture of fruity oaty goodness into the pan. Slide it into your oven at 350* (you did preheat it, didn't you? On a side note, turn the oven on before you mix anything. Than it will be ready). Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. 25 was just a bit to long in my oven, just check them at 20 and go from there.

Remove from oven and let cool (I mean it, let them cool), cut into bars and wrap, freeze for a longer shelf life. Finally, clean up your mess before your better half gets home. Just trust me on the last part.

Alright, it's taste test time, the flavor is good but the consistency isn't quite right. They are a little crumbly, they just don't quite stick together like they should. I'm thinking about maybe adding molasses or maybe another 1/2 cup of brown sugar. But I'm really at a loss now, and I'm hoping that my two female readers will come in and save me. So how do I make my bars stick together without ruining the taste? HELP!!!!!

Tin Foil Dinners

This weekend was my first official Boy Scout camp out. The boys planned out all their meals and the choice for Friday night was tin foil dinners. I had never before had tun foil dinners so a little research was in order. The Internet was a wealth of knowledge about how to wrap up a bland piece of hamburger meat with some potatoes. This was not exactly what I was looking for, if I wanted charred pot roast, I could just make it before hand and take it with me. But, part of this calling is the experience, so I decided to participate whole heartily
The one thing that was stressed in my research was that they had to be well lubricated. Butter and oil were your ally, do not be sparing with them. I kept that it mind as I made my two tin foil dinners; I figured if one failed there would still be another.


First:
The Classic tinfoil dinner. I used a garlic hamburger patty and doused it with red pepper seasoned olive oil. I precooked a russet potato for four minutes in the microwave, added carrots and onion, and topped it with a pad of real butter.

It came out alright, I should have cooked the carrots a bit before throwing them in, and added salt and pepper. The meat was perfectly done, but the flavors left a bit to be desired.



Second:
Barbecue chicken breast. I took one chicken breast, cubed it, and lightly browned in a skillet til about half cooked. I mixed in two slices of chopped bacon (remember, bacon makes everything better and I knew the grease wouldn't hurt), a healthy dose of onion, a heavy tablespoon of brown sugar, and a pad of real butter. Smoother that with the BBQ sauce of your choice and wrap it up.


It came out awesome, the flavors were great, and the added bonus was smelling it as it sizzled on the coals. Next time, I wont precook the chicken as much, but those that I shared with had no complaints.

So whats on the menu for the next tinfoil dinner? I am definitely doing the BBQ chicken again. I want to try something with sweet potatoes. Possibly Venison backstrap with apple smoked bacon. I am also considering a separate one for a vegetable medley.

MA vs. CA, Round 1

I grew up in California and for about 60% of my life, I was interred, detained, forcibly held, tortured, a proud citizen stuck behind the wire. I grew used to the nanny state looking over my every action. When smoking was banned in restaurants I thought it was awesome. But little did I know that was only the beginning, but I learned from the errors of my ways. Because of my California Conservative upbringing I had a steep curve to the top. I tell you this because Jay G of Marooned fame has gone on a rant discussed a new proposed bill that would force MA restaurants to be more diligent about food allergies.
The point is that they are trying to avoid ER visits by listing the ingredients that are in the dish and/or in the kitchen. Jay G says it better than I could:

"Look, if you have a food allergy so severe that mere contamination from preparation will pose a life-threatening risk, it is incumbent on YOU to be informed about the culinary practices of any restaurant you visit. If you are so susceptible to allergens and do not perform due diligence in checking out that your food is not properly prepared to avoid a reaction, then I'm sorry but you've earned the ride in the back of the ambulance."

One of the adverse developments to my wife's illness is some pretty nasty food allergies. The smell of Guacamole causes her throat to swell; touching bananas causes instant irritation, swelling, and redness. These are just two of many examples. My daughter is allergic to fish, so allergic that she had a reaction simply visiting the Long Beach Aquarium (btw, great place, go if you can). This precludes me from two awesome things while out to eat with the family, fish and fajitas. Seriously, fajitas with the itty-bitty shrimp, chicken, steak, a good spanish rice and fresh guacamole-pure heaven.
A simple word to the server is generally all it takes. Do I think that the government should force restaurants to list all this stuff? Nope. Do I think that the restaurant is responsible if my wife passes out on the floor because I ordered a steak burrito with extra guac? Nope.
People, we all have to be aware of our situations and deal with them accordingly. Government interference or forced compliance is no substitute for what should be your responsibility. You know what you can do and what you can't.

Success

My first attempt at Chicken Fried Steak, complimented with ultimate mashed potatoes and broccoli.

Chicken and Rice for $2.50

I attempted an experiment of sorts last week. I am tired of paying almost $6 for a freeze dried meal, there just had to be a better way. I did some research, and played around with it a little bit.
I present to you my first dehydrated meal:

Chicken and Rice with Vegetables. The recipe is simple.
1/2 cup Minute Rice
2 tbsp freeze dried corn
2 tbsp freeze dried peas
1 tbsp freeze dried carrots
5 oz canned chicken
1/2 tsp chicken bullion


Boil 1/2 cup water and bullion, add canned chicken, do not drain. Bring to second boil, add rice and vegetables remove from heat, cover and let stand 5 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste (mostly pepper). You can substitute the chicken for just about any other meat, or soy if thats your thing.

It is a decent meal, fairly lightweight, and it's filling. Definitely wont leave you hungry on a cold, rainy mountaintop.