go bananas!

it's bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

Just a little shopping secret, many of you probably know already. Find out if your grocery store offers discount bananas during the week. A lot of time they will offer the really ripe ones (which are not even that ripe most of the time) at a very low price. Fred Meyer offers their ripe bananas at 29 cents/lb, and they are most always organic *yay* They are usually located somewhere by the regular banana display. At Fred Meyer they are wrapped in red tape, so when you see them...stock up! I usually buy all that they have and freeze them. Just peel them, break them in half and freeze them in large ziplock bags or other container. Here is a short list of the ways we go bananas!

• in smoothies (of course:)
• banana bread/muffins
• banana pancakes
• just right out of the freezer like a popsicle
• mash up a frozen one, add some honey, cinnamon, coconut, etc and you have instant healthy banana icecream
• mash up a frozen one, let it thaw a bit and you have banana baby food
• in many different raw dessert recipes
• almond butter and banana sandwiches (with cinnamon sprinkled on top...delicious!)
• dehydrated sliced bananas dipped in a honey glaze (haven't tried it yet, but sounds great)

...nothin' like a frozen banana to cool you off on a hot day...

reduce reuse recycle

Reuse those glass jars

You already bought them...might as well use them:) Some of the glass jars that I reuse are; baby food jars, juice jars, and my husband's mocha drink jars (like Starbucks mochas you can buy at the store)

The baby food jars make excellent drinking cups for baby as he is transitioning from a bottle or sippy cup. They are the perfect size for little hands. They hold just enough liquid for him to get enough drink but it wont be too much of a mess if he spills. The jars are pretty durable and probably will not break, especially from his height:) Both of my nutbars use them on a daily basis. It is a great alternative to using plastic cups or sippy cups. I know they make them now BPA free, but I am still skeptical about using plastic for our food and drink products.

There are so many other things you can do with the jars. Save the lids and fill them with various odds and ends, like buttons, safety pins, or tacks. They are also great for holding spices. You could refill them with homemade baby food too.

You can use glass juice jars or the mocha jars to hold dried beans, lentils, rice, grains, spices, chocolate chips, nuts/seeds, coconut, honey and any other product you might purchase in the bulk section at the grocery store.

I have slowly been trying to get rid of all my plastics...plastic cups/sippy cups, plastic Tupperware, plastic baggies. So those glass jars are awesome! I also switched over from plastic Tupperware to glass Pyrex dishes, which come with plastic lids...however, the food is not touching the plastic (so that makes it ok, right?)

But don't just throw away your old plastics...put them with the outside toys and let the nutbars use them as their dishes for making mud pies or playing in the sandbox:)

gRAWnola

I have tried a few times in the past to make granola in the oven and it has never turned out...the edges were always burned or over done and I just never found a recipe that I really liked. That is until I started looking at raw granola recipes. We invested in a food dehydrator and now I make gRAWnola just about every week (we go through it so fast) This recipe is not 100% raw, I guess rolled oats are steamed to a temperature above 110 degrees, but it is raw enough for me and it is so easy to just mix it up and leave it in the food dehydrator overnight. In the morning your house smells wonderful and you have delicious granola waiting for you to eat for breakfast. We also put it in our yogurt and just eat it plain right out of the jar.

Here is the fabulous recipe:

1/3 C honey

1/3 C coconut oil

1/2 T vanilla

1/2 t salt or less

1 T cinnamon or less (we love it, so always put a lot in everything)

1/2 -1 T carob powder (optional)

3 C old fashioned rolled oats

1/2 C seed mixture (I use flax and sunflower)

1 C chopped nut mixture (I just use almonds)

* Remember when making raw recipes to always use raw nuts and seeds...not roasted, toasted or salted. If you really want to get into it, you can soak your nuts/seeds before hand or even sprout your nuts for extra nutrition.

* You can pretty much add whatever you think will taste good. Other items might be unsweetened coconut, pumpkin seeds, pure maple syrup, raisins or other dried fruit.

Chop the nuts/seeds until desired size. I put mine in the food processor to grind them up pretty small in order for my little guy to chew up easily.



Add the nut/seeds to a large bowl or mixer and just thoroughly mix in all other ingredients. Spread onto food dehydrator trays, set the temperature at about 105-110. Let run for 8-10 hours depending on how crunchy you like your granola. I like mine a little chewy, so about 8-9 hours does the trick.



Store in an air tight container and it will probably last 3-5 days, depending on how many nutbars you have:) I now double the recipe so it will last a little longer.

You can also make this recipe in the oven, although I haven't tired that method in awhile. I would recommend baking in a large roasting pan or cookie sheet with lip at 300 degrees for about 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, so everything is baked evenly. You can add raisins or other dried fruit at the end as well.

Enjoy!