french fries

A quick and easy way to make yummy fries...is by baking them! So this bad for you treat becomes something that is actually healthy (or relatively so!).

-Potatoes (the bigger the better!!!) at least one per person. In my house two persons works better!

-Olive oil

-seasoning: salt, pepper, chili pepper, garlic powder- really anything that sounds good to you!

Time: 20-45 minutes

Serving size: How many potatoes do you want to peel?

Pre-heat oven to 450

Peel potatoes (although you can leave them unpeeled just make sure you wash them well if you leave them with the skin on. The littles in this house don't like peels and the chickens love them, so we peel ours) Cut potatoes into the size and shape you want your fries....stake fries, home fries, McD size fries, again this is up to you! My family chooses some where between the stake fries and the fast-food chain size fries. Sometimes it just depends on the meal!

Place uncooked fries in plastic ziplock bag add olive oil- enough to liberally cover all the fries. Don't be afraid to have left over oil. Its better to have too much than too little in this case.

Spread the oil coated fries on a cookie sheet and sprinkle whatever seasonings you have decided on (I find its good to mix the fries about so that both sides get season).

Place in oven and start baking. After about 7 to 10 minutes, stir and flip fries (this does not have to be precise! you just want them to bake fairly evenly). Every 5 to 7 minutes repeat this process. How long the fries take depends on if you like them soft or crispy. My family likes a nice medium- not too crunchy but nicely crisp. It usually takes about 30 minutes.

fruit granola bars

One of my mom's favorite treats was a soft granola bar from Wild Oats, unfortunately the store by our house closed down and now that treat is a rare commodity.

This is my attempt at make something like it for her and the rest of the family.

This recipe comes from "Love in the Kitchen" by Wendy Jeub with Cynthia Jeub. This is a well liked cookbook in our house as it is written by a mother of 14 and recipes yield nice sized quantities.

3 cups flour (whole wheat is better- but in a pinch like I was tonight white works fine)

3 cups oats

1 cup butter, melted (I use Earth Balance Natural Shortening- make sure you get the Vegan kind if you are trying to make a non-dairy version!)

1/2 tsp cinnamon + (I used more because I LOVE cinnamon)

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups brown sugar - (I used 3/4 cup because we don't like to use a lot of sugar here- toddlers and lots of sugar do not mix well, especially when they have ADHA and sensory issues!)

3 cups of your favorite jam

Pre-heat oven to 350

Mix all of the ingredients together - except for the jam- and press half of the mixture into a 9x13 pan sprayed with oil. Pour jam over mixture (heat the jam up, just a bit, if it is especially thick- otherwise when spreading it you pull up some of the bottom mixture.)

Spread the rest of the flour mixture on top and press down, but not too hard. Cook for 15-20 minutes. start checking at 15 minutes for jam bubbling around the edges of the pan, once there is a fair amount of bubbling- its done!

Cool and cut into bars.

Well, I must have done something wrong because when the bars finally cooled and I eagerly cut myself one- it was horrible! Crumbly and dry in parts and sticky and gewy in others. WAY to sickly sweet, like eating jam rolled in sugar with some oats along for the ride. Not at all what I was expecting!

I plan on trying it again at a later date, and altering the recipe even more...hopefully with better results!

(don't let this reflect on the book though! I have made many other wonderful dishes from it, this one just didn't turn out so great).

update

Just a quick update: Little brother is OK. He is home and safe. We're in the middle of making dinner right now so I will write a bit later and give yummy recipes.