Date Bars

I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful spring.  Spring has definitely sprung in Missoula. 

The trees are blooming and the first farmers market was full of vegetables, raw honey, sun, and fun!

I finally got back to a recipe I've been wanting to tweak before posting.  I'm personally a big fan of dates and while this recipe may get set in the back of the folder until next fall, I look forward to many more date bars next winter.  It's full of good fiber and gluten free.

My husband had a bar for breakfast this morning and last night he enjoyed them with the only thought that ice cream would be a nice addition.

Gluten Free Date Bars

Fair warning - I don't like to skimp on the middle date layer and I like nice buttery crumble.

Ingredients for Crust and Oat Crumb Topping
1 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup Gluten Free Flour Blend (I use King Arthur's Gluten Free Whole Grain Flour Blend)
1/4 cup almond meal
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
5 oz butter (or a little more than 1/2 cup)
1/8 cup (or to taste) chopped unsweetened coconut

Ingredients for Filling
1 3/4 cup dates, pitted and chopped
2/3 cup water
2 Tablespoons lemon juice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and lightly spray a 8x8 or 9x9 square baking dish.
2. In a bowl mix together oats, flax, brown sugar, flour and almond meal. 
3. With a spoon, mix in maple syrup.
4. With a pastry cutter, cut in butter.  (Fingers would also work!)
5. Press 2/3 of the dough into the prepared dish, pressing down into a crust and slightly up the sides.
6. Bake the crust for 6-8 minutes.  It just needs to be set, not browned.
7. In the meantime, simmer your dates, water, and lemon juice over low heat.  Stir regularly until water is absorbed and mixture is getting creamy.
8. Into the remaining crust crumbs, mix in the coconut.
9. After you pull the crust from the oven, top with the date mixture and crumble the remaining crust on top.
10. Bake in the 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden on top.
11. Cool completely and cut!

Layer One: Baked Crust

Layer Two: Topped with Dates

Layer Three: Topped with Crumble:

Additional Notes:

1. I think a 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon might also be a good addition to the top crumble.
2. Trying to cut out butter?  My next efforts are going to be to replace some of the butter with coconut butter!  If you try it let me know.
3. Any type of date will work.  I used two different types in here.  I splurged for the pitted dates because it's like cleaning shrimp - why if you don't have to?
4. Could you substitute honey for maple syrup?  I don't see why not!  The maple is a good flavor with the dates though.

Happy Blooms!

National Peanut Butter Day

Now this is a day to celebrate, January 24, 2012 is National Peanut Butter Day.  WooHoo!  I am licking the peanut butter off my fingers from lunch as I type.

Peanut butter is the closest thing I come to addiction.  Ask my dear husband!  I do go through periods where I have to abstain because I've been eating it with a spoon out of the jar too much.  It's true!

Here, the Huffington Post talks about National Peanut Butter Day and the virtues of peanut butter, but even they say we should not over do it, something about calories....

Now I am picky about my peanut butter.  I can't eat any of the peanut butters with sugar.  Blah.  Bring on the jars that I have to stir, just straight peanuts please.  And you know how some people are creamy, while others are chunky?  Not me, I alternate between the two!  Who needs those kind of hard decisions!

Peanut Butter Tip #1.  When you buy natural peanut butter, let it sit upside down on it's lid for a couple days, that way the oil moves to the bottom and it's easier to stir it in without making a mess.

Peanut Butter Tip #2. Going on a trip where you may need help getting a healthy breakfast or snack?  Justin's Nut Butter is your answer.  You can order these online or find them in various stores like Whole Foods.  Individual packages of peanut and almond butter?  Who ever thought that up is awesome!  I take these backpacking and will eat it straight out of the packaging to keep me going.

My favorite ways to eat Peanut Butter?

Well for lunch, to celebrate the special day.  I had a piece of toasted bread with local honey and peanut butter and an apple with a little peanut butter on each slice.  Mmmm.

But, I also like the following for snacks and breakfasts:

• Peanut butter and banana sandwiches or just a banana sliced up with a little peanut butter on each slice.
• A dollop of peanut butter mixed in a few tablespoons of plain greek yogurt, if it's breakfast I add a chopped apple.
• Ok, ok, I do eat it with a spoon just straight out of the jar.  But only when no one is looking.  I try not to do this!
• On pears.
• On Celery
• Oh, I also love to mix in ground flaxseed or sprinkle it on top of any of the above.

What are your favorite ways to eat this nutritious food?

Backpacking food #1: Gorp

I've been busy lately planning the food for an upcoming 76 mile backpacking trip.  We'll be hiking the length of the Wyoming Range of mountains.  As I was fixing food on Sunday, I thought - "Girl you are a fool, if you don't get some blog posts out of all this kitchen time!" 

A bit of an introduction for you.  I'll post more details about the hike after we finish, but we are planning to do this 76 mile trip in 8 1/2 days.  We will be doing it a little slower than normal, with less than 10 miles a day.  That's a safe mileage as my knees continue to get older, but let me tell you, even that amount makes you hungry climbing a mountain and carrying a pack!

This first post is just on gorp, but there will be upcoming posts on Breakfast/Drinks and Dinners.

We are mostly gorp eaters for lunch.  Some hikers bring cheese, dry salami and crackers, but that is usually too bulky for us.  We like to graze versus eat a large lunch.  If I stop backpacking and eat a full lunch, my stomach doesn't want that hip belt tightened around it afterward and I'm lethargic. So we graze throughout the day and keep it pretty simple. 

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines gorp as " a snack consisting of high energy food".  It is otherwise known as trail mix.

I enjoy making up my own trail mixes.  Some people like always having a sweet and some like more dried fruit.  I focus on nuts and seeds myself. So here are the four mixes, we'll be eating on this trip.

Traditional Gorp
My husband wanted a traditional sweet mix.  This one is easy, peanuts, almonds, m&m's, and raisins.

 Sour Cherry Gorp
This is my favorite, because I like mixes without chocolate.  This has Mary's Gone Cracker's Sticks & Straws, sesame sticks, dry sour cherries (dried by yours truly from our tree), almonds (roasted and raw), pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds.

Peanut/Sesame Stick Gorp
This is a new mix for us.  It is another salty mix, sesame sticks, wild rice sticks, peanuts, and pumpkin seeds.  Hmmm, on seeing this picture I might go back and add pecans to this mix!

Dessert Gorp
Some people get fancy with their desserts.  I find that when I'm walking all day.  I want simple food, that isn't bulky and I don't have to mess with or cook.  As an unofficial rule, we only start the stove twice a day for coffee and dinner!  Even then dinner has to cook in less than 10 minutes and if we are out for longer than a week, coffee isn't common.  Fuel is something else you have to carry.

 So I made this for a little something after dinner and I've packaged it in much smaller amounts.  Here we have dark chocolate covered cranberries, dark chocolate covered almonds, dark chocolate m&m's, almonds, and pistachios.

Other Snacks
Other than gorp these are the things we eat throughout the day.

• Peanut butter  and Larabars - these are all mine.  Nobody touches my peanut butter!  One might think you need crackers if you have peanut butter, but I just eat it straight when I need a dose of salt and protein - or perhaps because I have what some might describe as an unhealthy addiction to peanut butter.  The good news is it's only natural peanut butter, I won't eat the stuff with sugar in it.
• Joe likes the Keebler cracker nabs.  He usually take snickers, but says he doesn't want any this trip. 
• This is not pictured here, but we'll carry some jerky.  This is mostly for Joe as I'm not a big jerky fan.
• Dried fruit.  I'm going to carry some prunes, dried mangos, and dried apples for something different and

Just for fun and because they are lightweight.  I've also dehydrated some pickles and vegetables.  This is a test, we'll see if I find them tasty on the trail.  There is only one way to describe dehydrated pickles - zing!  The next installment.... Breakfast and Drinks.