The Crabby Cook - by Jessica Harper

I was wishing I had one of these at four o’clock Friday when I almost bought those black Repetto shoes to wear to a memorial service but instead left the store empty-handed due to shopper shutdown.

I was wishing I had one of these on Saturday, on that drive down to D.C. for the memorial service, because the rest stop only offered the broadest variety of Cheeto-ish food I have ever seen.

I was wishing I had one of these after the memorial service to distract me from the chocolate mousse cupcakes that were served.

I was wishing I had one of these later at the smelly Marriott when, at 3:32 this morning, I was awakened by somebody gathering ice from the dispenser near my room and I noticed I was starving.

I was wishing I had one of these three hours later when I left that smelly Marriott in D.C. to go to the airport after a rocky night. (Who gets ice t 3:32 a.m.?)

I am wishing I had one of these right now, while I’m on the airplane, heading west. My wish is soon to be fulfilled: I’ve got some in the freezer at home.

 

Cranberry Quinoa Breakfast Bars

(adapted from The Art of Eating Well: Helmsley and Helmsley by Jasmine Helmsley and Melissa Helmsley)

Makes 10 bars or 20 small squares

2 ripe bananas about 3 oz. each

9 ounces of quinoa (soaked in water for at least 30 minutes and up to 12 hours)

2 Tablespoons of chia seeds

3 ½ ounces of chestnut flour (I used all-purpose flour)

1 ½ ounces of coconut oil at room temperature, plus more for greasing

1 ½ ounces of sunflower seeds

1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon of sea salt

2 Tablespoons of maple syrup

1 ¾ ounces of dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10 x 8 in. baking dish (or smaller for a thicker bar)

1. Mash the bananas by hand in a bowl, then mix in the rest of the ingredients plus ½ cup of water. Or if using a food processor combine all the ingredients except the dried cranberries plus ½ cup of water and process until just blended. Stir in the cranberries with a wooden spoon.
2. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread it out evenly.
3. Bake for 5o minutes or more until lightly golden brown on top. Remove from the oven and leave to cool before turning out and slicing into bars or squares. Freeze the bars for the week ahead!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: baking with chia, cranberry bars, healthy snacks, quinoa recipes, school lunch snacks

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 5th, 2016 at 1:53 pm and is filed under Breakfast, Just Desserts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.