I didn’t really know what to call this post. They can’t be called walnut and dried cherry bars, because those are the only two things I omitted from the recipe…I stuck with breakfast bars because I eat these for breakfast. Any suggestions for a more interesting name?

When I saw Ellie Krieger’s recipe for walnut and dried cherry bars, I really wanted to make them. The only problem was that I didn’t have any dried cherries on hand, and I can’t bring nuts to work with me. I decided to give it a try, anyway, with raisins and dried cranberries instead.

They were so easy to make and very delicious. It took about 5 minutes to put the ingredients together and 30 minutes in the oven, and I have breakfast for a little over a week.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 3/4 cup whole-wheat flour (I think I’ll put less next time)
• 1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce (Next time I’ll put half a cup)
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 egg, beaten to mix
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup apricot preserves

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl, mix together oats, flour, wheat germ, cinnamon, and salt.

3. In a large bowl, mix honey, applesauce, canola oil, egg, and egg white.

4. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet. Add the dried cranberries and raisins, mix. Pour into an 8×8 baking dish lined with parchment paper (Ellie tells you to spray it with cooking spray, but I find that parchment paper works much better – and clean up is easier!) and pour mixture in.

5. Bake for 30 minutes.

6. During the last 5 minutes of baking, prepare the preserves. Put the preserves in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 90 seconds, until liquidy. Brush over the bars right when they come out of the oven. Cool completely before cutting.

Next time, I’m adding coconut to the mixture and putting more preserves on top. I think more apple sauce/less flour will also be a good change.

These were much easier to make than the last ones I made. They are also denser, chewier, and a little less granola bar-ish. I like them both, but will probably make these more often just because they were SO easy while still being great tasting and pretty filling. A perfect quick bite for the minute before my students come through the door.

I cut them into 12 squares and wrapped them each in wax paper, then put in a zip top bag and froze them…Breakfast for two weeks!

Breakfast Bars is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

The Food Network website recommended that I try Ellie Krieger’s portobello lasagna rollups. These were very easy to make kosher – they are vegetarian, anyway. I didn’t use portobellos, just because they were kind of expensive. You can use any mushrooms, but I like the baby bellos, and they weren’t much more expensive than the white button variety.

This is pretty much a meal in one dish, with mushrooms providing the meaty texture, spinach, and ricotta cheese. It is also a great make-ahead meal (it freezes pretty well) and although it takes a while, it’s definitely worth it. Next time, I’m going to forgo rolling all those lasagna noodles and stuff either manicotti or jumbo shells with the cheese and mushroom mixtures.

Ingredients:

• 12 lasagna noodles
• 1 package mushrooms
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• 24 oz. marinara sauce
• 2 cups ricotta cheese (I used part-skim)
• 1 package of frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 egg
• a few handfuls of muenster cheese

1. Cook the lasagna noodles according to directions on package. Let cool on wax paper, to prevent from sticking.
2. Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Chop the onions and place in pan, stirring occasionally. Cook for about 10 minutes. Add some salt and a cup of the tomato sauce and simmer for two minutes.



3. Mix the ricotta cheese, egg, spinach, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl.







4. Spread about 1 cup of tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Spread about 2 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture on a lasagna noodle. Spoon the edge with about 1 tablespoon of the mushrooms. Roll and place in baking dish. Repeat with all the noodles.
5. Pour extra mushroom mixture on top. Top with the rest of the sauce and sprinkle with cheese. Cover and bake at 375 for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for another hour.

Mmmm…

Baby Bello Lasagna Rollups is a post from: The Kosher Foodies