Weekend Bake; Chewy Peanut Butter Muesli Bars

I've developed a tradition in my house; every weekend, I bake a new work-friendly snack for Mr. Lemon Living. It started off as a convenient way for me to try out new baking recipes, but one week, 3 or so months ago I skipped the baking and left packaged muesli bars for Mr. LL to graze on during the week. Much to my delight, by Tuesday night Mr. LL was telling me that he missed having something home made in his work bag. The rest is history.

It should be mentioned that, as Mr. LL has grown custom to my super healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner options, the weekly bake is almost never a healthy option. It's kind of an admittance on my part that if you're going to bake, it's really going to taste better with butter, sugar and the rest. Having said that, I usually eat one serving of each baking batch. There's usually excess which gets taken to work to share, or delivered to family or friends.

Here's to Lemon Living's first display of the weekend bake!

Chewy Peanut Butter Muesli Bars

Recipe from New Idea

I;

1 3/4 cups Rolled Oats

1/4 cup Pepitas

1 tbsp Seasame Seeds

1/2 cup Honey

3/4 cup Brown Sugar

2 cups Cornflakes

1/2 cup Sultanas

1/2 cup Crunchy Peanut Butter

125g unsalted Butter.

M;

Grease an 18cm x 28cm rectangular slice pan. Line base and sides of pan with baking paper, extending paper 3cm above pan edges - (I used 1 20x20cm pan, and 1 loaf tin as my pans were all too big).

Place rolled oats, cornflakes, pepitas, sultanas and sesame seeds in a large bowl. Stir to combine.

Combine peanut butter, honey, chopped butter and brown sugar in a medium saucepan. Cook, stirring, over low heat for about 5 minutes, or until mixture is slightly thickened.

Add honey mixture to oat mixture. Stir to combine.

Press combined mixture firmly over base of prepared slice pan.

Refrigerate until firm.

To serve, lift slice from pan, cut into rectangles.

This slice is yummy with a capital ! I think as a peanut butter super-lover, I am slightly biased as it is super peanut butter-y. My only criticisms of this slice is that it is super sweet, to the point of a sugar headache after 1 serving for me, but I am very sensitive to sugar. Mine also didn't set very hard (if you hold a bar from one end, it flops and falls apart), so I have wrapped them in individual portions and put them in the freezer door for Mr. LL to grab on his way out in the mornings.

Ignoring that, it's just ridiculously tasty.

Note that despite my extreme love of natural peanut butter and intolerance of the processed stuff, the processed stuff always stands up better against other ingredients in baking. I keep some in the house purely for this reason.

Also note the above as an amazing example of muesli bars not always being the healthiest option, and an excellent example of how they can be higher in fat and sugar than many dessert options.

Also note that sometimes, you just gotta' enjoy it.

Stay well,

Nat x

The First Supper

Breakfast is by far my favourite meal of the day. Brekky, for me, sets the tone and the standard for the rest of the day. If I have a fatty, sugary breakfast, then I only crave fatty and sugar foods for the following 24 hours. When I have a healthy, well balanced breakfast, I crave fresh, whole food for the rest of the day. It really does dictate what my day of food will involve.

In addition to this, breakfast is what it is, a 'break' of the 'fast'. Your tummy and insides have been cleaning themselves all night preparing for the next day and you have this grand opportunity to make it incredibly happy, so it makes no sense to me why people put too much butter on white bread with some jam and give that to their hard working insides. Yes it's easy, fast and cheap before work, but so's an apple, (or wholegrain bread with no butter but some peanut butter instead. Or both!). Imagine you spent all day cleaning your car only to have an overtaker splash mud all over you? I bet you'd much rather someone come along and polish it. Although, unlike the occasional white bread with butter, I don't think mud on your clean car is ever good. Even in moderation.

Right now, my usual 'every day' breakfast is home made un-toasted muesli, with fresh or stewed, (without sugar), fruit, and most of the time, some yoghurt. I always wake up to a glass of water with a squeeze of lemon juice and not for the detox benefits some people claim it has, but because I love the freshness in the morning! I follow with a green or peppermint tea. On weekends this usually changes and is accompanied by an long decaf macchiato.

It took me a while to get into making muesli, but now I've started, I'm addicted. The following is what I have in my current one, but it changes every brew. If you want to make your own muesli but are lacking in inspiration, have a look at http://www.mueslimixer.com.au .

Natalie's Current MuesliI;(Please don't ask for quanitites)A lot of rolled oatsFlaked almondsRaisinsSesame seedsSunflower seedsBran flakes & strawsDried apricot
M;Dice fruit & mix it all together! I store it in the fridge to keep the nuts, seeds & fruit fresh.

So why do I eat this? The filling factor of muesli is amazing, plus the oils, vitamins and proteins from the nuts and seeds, and the fibre from the dried fruit a long with the little sugar hit it provides. The fruit always feels amazing on my stomach first thing, (I often have an apple before I leave for work, and eat the muesli when I am hungry again at work), as well as all the obvious vitamins from fresh fruit. The yoghurt is a calcium as well as a protein thing - I don't eat a lot of dairy otherwise (I buy Jalna Low Fat Vanilla or Strawberry, but the Vanilla is better with the muesli). Most importantly, all of the above tastes ridiculously amazing and is hard to get sick of.

The above is an M creation. He by no means eats this every day, but I like to make an event of weekend breakfast's and M seems to be appreciating this, which makes me happy. On this particular morning, I offered to make M a toasted sandwich which, when he asked, I explained I did in the griller. Oh the things you learn living together! M says the proper way to make a toasted sandwich was as above; fried in a pan, in butter. I'm not big on frying in butter and probably would never have done this myself, but this smelt amazing. He promised to make me one some day and I can't wait to try it.

This was a mini-event weekend breakfast, (probably a Sunday, they're always smaller). Almost all our meals from breakfast to dinner are this different in appearance and ingredients. We're very different eaters (and I'll write about the vegetarian health nut living with the meat eating pretty relaxed eater very soon). We always eat breakfast very late on the weekends to avoid eating 3 very large meals. A late breakfast signals time to relax in my brain.
So, I'd love to know, what do you have for breakfast?And why?
Stay well,Nat x

Breakfast at Natalie's

(You have to sing the subject to the correct tune to get the full effect)

A part of M & I's present to my Mum & Dad for Christmas was a brunch, and this morning was the time. After much wracking my brain about what to make and how to ensure all the eggs were going to be cooked right and at the perfect time, (and how I would enjoy the morning whilst doing so much cooking), I decided to host a cold brunch. This, mixed with the really-sick-of-fatty-food factor felt by everyone at this time of year, resulted in a relatively healthy, cold brunch.

And this was the spread..

Menu

Muesli with Fruit

Mini Sandwiches

Banana Pikelets

Roast Tomatoes & Mushrooms with Thyme

Date & Walnut Loaf

Muesli with Fruit

Bottom Layer -

Stewed Apricots, (from M's parents garden). I put them in a bit of water, no sugar, & cooked them for 15-20 minutes. They were refrigerated for 2 days before serving.

Middle Layer-

Home made muesli. Rolled oats, diced dried apple, raisins, flaked almonds, sunflower seeds & sesame seeds.

Top layer-

Fresh strawberries sprinkled with extra almonds & shredded coconut.

Apricots are extremely high in Vitamin A & fibre, & very low in calories.

Sesame seeds are very high in calcium.

Strawberries, along with the oats, will help reduce cholesterol.

Mini Sandwiches

Smoked Salmon -

Smoked salmon, light cream cheese & a sprig chive on light rye bread.

Cucumber -

Cucumber, light cream cheese, a mint leaf & a sprig of chive on light rye bread.

Cucumbers will also help to lower cholesterol thanks to their sterols - just keep the skin on because, as with most fruit & veg, (though cucumber is technically a fruit), that's where all the good stuff is!

Banana Pikelets

Recipe from Best Recipes

Make a lot & were great cold.

I;

2 cups self-raising flour (I used wholemeal)

Pinch of Salt

1/3 cup of sugar (I used raw)

2 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 cups of milk

2 mashed bananas

1 tsp vanilla essence (I added this)

(the recipe calls for some butter or margarine spread, but I used a none-stick pan and no coating)

M;

Sift flour and salt into a bowl. Add sugar and cinnamon.

Whisk in sugar, butter, eggs and milk until smooth.

Add mashed banana and stir mixed.

Dollop spoons of the mixture into hot, non stick fry pan and turn when bubbling on top side.

I served drizzled with honey and cinnamon.

Whenever you can, use wholemeal flour - it's not the equivalent of eating a good whole grain bread, but it has some vitamins, unlike refined white flour. Same goes for raw sugar versus refined white sugar. In most recipes, they will act in exactly the same way and wholemeal flour is readily available in both plain and self raising.

Roast Tomatoes & Mushrooms with Thyme

Button mushrooms & tomatoes on the vine roasted for about 30 minutes (put the mushrooms in 15 minutes earlier/45 minutes total for the best flavour). They were hit with some olive oil and black pepper first, and served with torn and toasted, (also in the oven), wholemeal rolls before being sprinkled with fresh thyme.

Date & Walnut Loaf

Recipe from Taste

I;

• 1 cup pitted dates, chopped
• 1 cup boiling water
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 1/4 cups plain flour (I used wholemeal)
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 3/4 cup traditional rolled oats
• 1 1/4 cups walnuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

M;

• Preheat oven to 180°C.
• Grease a 6.5cm-deep, 9cm x 19cm (base) loaf pan. (The recipe calls for baking paper as a liner, however some spray olive oil and a none-stick pan made mine fall out beautifully)
• Place dates in a heatproof bowl. Pour over boiling water and maple syrup. Stand for 15 minutes.
• Sift flour and bicarbonate of soda together into a bowl. Add oats, walnuts and sugar. Stir to combine. Add the date mixture. Stir until well combined.
• Spoon mixture into prepared pan. Smooth the surface. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Stand loaf in pan for 5 minutes. Lift onto a wire rack to cool.

I found this loaf didn't need cream cheese, just a good cup of coffee alongside the plate.

I didn't use raw sugar as I love the flavour of brown sugar with walnuts.

This loaf, containing no eggs or butter, is a much healthier alternative to most (though don't count on it to be low in calories - but who would expect it to?)

Have you ever hosted a brunch? I highly recommend it. You can prepare things way in advance & when it's done, you still have to day to do things, as well as not having to go to bed with a very full stomach.

Stay well,

Nat x

PS. Can anyone recommend some good food/nutrition/cooking/health blogs?