Homemade Granola Bars

I decided to make something with what I had in the pantry... and this is what it led to!

What you'll need:
-1/4 cup butter
-1/4 cup honey
-1/4 cup brown sugar
-2 tablespoons white sugar
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla
-2 cups quick cooking oats (or old fashioned)
-1 cup Rice Crispies
-1 oz semi-sweet chocolate
-hand full peanut butter chips
-hand full chocolate chips

First, combine the brown sugar, white sugar, butter and honey in a medium or small sauce pan and put it on medium heat.

 Stir until it's boiling steadily at a rolling boil. Add the vanilla. Then remove from heat and stir.

Combine the Rice Crispies and the oats in a large mixing bowl. Stir until evenly distributed.

Then, combine the sugar/honey/butter mixture with the dry mixture and stir until it is evenly coated. Then pack an 8 x 8 baking dish (lined with wax paper) with the combined mixture. Make sure you pack it as hard as you can.

Once it is tightly packed, spread the chocolate chips and peanut butter chips on top. Make sure you press in the chips as hard as possible as well, or they will fall off (much as mine did).

After that, melt the chocolate in the microwave for about 20 seconds at a time until smoooth and liquidy.

Using a spoon, drizzle the chocolate over the bars however you would like.

Put them in the fridge for about 20 minutes or so or until the chocolate has hardened. Then remove the wax paper from the baking dish and cut into 10 bars.

Enjoy! :)

Blueberry Cobbler Bars

It's blueberry season! Time to get out there and pick bucket fulls of delicious blueberries and make wonderful things with them. :)

What you'll need:

The crust:
-3/4 cups butter (1 1/2 sticks of butter)
-1 1/2 cups flour
-1/2 cup sugar
-lemon zest and juice from 1/2 a lemon
-pinch o' salt

The filling:
-3 cups blueberries
-4 oz cream cheese
-1/4 cup milk
-3/4 cup sugar
-1/3 cup flour
-lemon zest and juice from 1 lemon
-2 eggs (whipped)

First combine all the ingredients for the crust in a bowl.

It will be thoroughly mixed when it looks crumbly and yellow.

Then, press the crust into the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan (or however many pans you want to make it in) like so. Then bake it for about 12 minutes at 350. Also, reserve about 1/2 cup to layer on top.

While the crust is baking, begin to combine all the ingredients, except the blueberries. Mix the mixture evenly.

Then gently fold in the blueberries into the mixture.

 Then pour the filling mixture on top of the cooked crust and spread out evenly. Then sprinkle the remaining crust on top. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until light brown on top.

And this is what it looks like, fresh out of the oven!

Serve warm or cold!

Happy Eating!

Chicken and Gnocchi with Garlic Breadsticks: Olive Garden Copy Cat recipe

I decided to make my all-time favorite thing to order from Olive Garden. This garlic-y soup makes my taste buds tingle, and those breadsticks drive me crazy!

What you'll need:

Chicken and Gnocchi Soup:
-1 pkg. of Gnocchi
-1 pkg. of spinach
-1 quart of half-n-half
-1/2 lb. to 1 lb. of chicken
-1/2 teaspoon of thyme
-1 teaspoon of minced of garlic
-2 tablespoons of butter
-1 teaspoon of garlic powder
-1 tablespoon of parsley
-3 cups of water
-3 bouillon cubes
-1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
-4 tablespoons of flour

Breadsticks:
-4-5 cups of flour
-5 tablespoons of butter (to be divided)
-1 pkg. of yeast
-2 tablespoons of sugar
-1 1/2 cups of warm water
-salt
-1 teaspoon of garlic powder

*breadstick recipe from: http://readableeatables.blogspot.com/2011/08/olive-garden-breadsticks.html

First, prepare the gnocchi according to the directions on the package. You know they gnocchi is cooked when the dumplings float.

Next, boil the chicken in a large pot with the water for about 20 minutes or until the chicken is white all the way through. Then shred the chicken and set aside. Then add the bouillon cubes to the water and simmer. Then add the shredded chicken to the water.

Then add the minced garlic, parsley, the butter, and the olive oil to a medium sauce pan and cook it together until everything is even and consistent. Then add the flour and cook about a minute more.

Next, add the half-n-half and stir constantly. Stir until the mixture is hot and consistent. Then add to the chicken in the large pot. Then add the thyme and spinach (already cooked/heated up) and stir until thoroughly mixed. Let simmer until ready to eat.

For the breadsticks, mix the water, yeast, and sugar in a large mixing bowl and let sit for about 10 minutes.

Then add 2 cups of flour and stir until consistent. Then slowly add more flour until it is dough-like and pliable. Then let it sit for an hour until it has doubled in size.

 Melt 1-1/2 tablespoons of butter.

Spread out the dough into a log-shaped thing. Then cut into 14 long pieces. Then roll out into about 6 inch pieces.

Then put them on a greased cookie sheet. Put them in the oven set to 170 degrees and let them rise for about 15 minutes.

 This is what they look like rolled out.

 Once they come out of the oven, spread the butter out on top of them.

Then heat the oven to 400 degrees. Then, put the breadsticks in the oven for about 12 minutes or until golden brown. Add the garlic powder the remaining melted butter. Then add the butter mixture on top of the cooked breadsticks.

Then serve!