Alton Browns Homemade Energy, Protein, and puffed rice Bars!

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, Ive been VERY busy getting ready to graduate at SWIHA! 

Those extremely expensive bars that you buy for a quick and filling nutrient party are SOOOO bad for you!

Luckily for you, Alton Brown (from good eats) just taught me how to make a cheap, delicious, healthy version without the evil and FOR the lover of Green Eats!

Ingredients

4 ounces soy protein powder, approximately 1 cup
2 1/4 ounces oat bran, approximately 1/2 cup
2 3/4 ounces whole-wheat flour, approximately 1/2 cup
3/4-ounce wheat germ, approximately 1/4 cup
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 ounces raisins, approximately 1/2 cup
2 1/2 ounces dried cherries, approximately 1/2 cup
3 ounces dried blueberries, approximately 1/2 cup
2 1/2 ounces dried apricots, approximately 1/2 cup
1 (12.3-ounce) package soft silken tofu
1/2 cup unfiltered apple juice
4 ounces dark brown sugar, approximately 1/2 cup packed
2 large whole eggs, beaten
2/3 cup natural peanut butter
Canola oil, for pan

Directions

Line the bottom of a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish with parchment paper and lightly coat with canola oil. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the protein powder, oat bran, wheat flour, wheat germ, and salt. Set aside.

Coarsely chop the raisins, dried cherries, blueberries and apricots and place in a small bowl and set aside.

In a third mixing bowl, whisk the tofu until smooth. Add the apple juice, brown sugar, eggs, and peanut butter, 1 at a time, and whisk to combine after each addition. Add this to the protein powder mixture and stir well to combine. Fold in the dried fruit. Spread evenly in the prepared baking dish and bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 205 degrees F. Remove from the oven and cool completely before cutting into squares. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

SERVES 24

Calories: 167

Total Fat: 5 grams

Saturated Fat: 1 grams

Protein: 8 grams

Total carbohydrates: 23 grams

Sugar: 14 grams

Fiber: 3 grams

Cholesterol: 18 milligrams

Sodium: 79 milligrams

Check it out at the Food Network website as well:: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/protein-bars-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

Peroxide and dish soap carpet cleaner

This is just a simple little post to tell you about a miracle in carpet cleaning... a "middle of the week treat" if you like.

Peroxide and dish soap.. that is all. Put some dish soap (not too much) in a bowl, then some peroxide and a bunch of water, mix well... pour on your carpet then scrub with a dish brush or something of the like. Its amazing, it disappears in front of your eyes like OxyClean!

Spinach burgers!

These are my new signature dish! I found the original recipe here, but it really wasn't enough for me, and something needed to be changed (don't be mistaken, they are DELICIOUS, I just added personal flair and used FRESH ingredients) so I had to change it around quite a bit.

Here's what you'll need in order to impress everyone you know, for REAL! Prepare to be amazed because you really cant ruin these and they are the ultimate food if everyone in the house likes different flavors or someone has strong desire to be an individual or a rebel. ;)
Ingredients:

• about 1/2lb of fresh spinach, but if you have a family or group of more than 3 people you'll wanna use a full pound and everyone should get 2 burgers (and maybe more depending on how big you make them)
• 3 eggs
• half to a full onion, depending on if anyone in your family loves or hates onion.
• 1/2 c shredded cheese (of course you can add more cheese if you'd like!)
  
• 1/2 c bread crumbs
• 2 tsp Chili powder (or red pepper flakes, or whatever kick you want these to have)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• Bread to put them on, or tortilla/pita if you want a wrap, or just plain bread!
• Condiments - ANY THAT YOU CHOOSE. We had a whole buffet set up with things like Enchilada sauce, dining mustard, BBQ sauce, mayo, ketchup, various salad dressing, etc - these burgers are AMAZING with anything, and everyone can have funzies trying many different combos! (I just as I typed that realized how delicious feta cheese would be on these....)

So here's what we do...:

• Chop up the Spinach , doesn't have to be really small - just enough so it mixes and meshes well!
• Mix it all together in a bowl.
• Put some oil (of your choice) in a large pan to cook these babies up in.
• Here's the messiest part - if you have children make sure someone is watching them cause youll have your hands literally full for a few minutes - Make them into patties with your hands and throw them in the pan. You wont get them all in at once, so make the next batch wait their turn!
• Cook on med-high heat for about 5 minutes, or until they are turning golden and seem to be holding together a little better and flip them - they wont be perfect so don't worry too much, it will all come together when they hit that bun!

When both sides are done throw your new favorite food on a bun or whatever you chose, decide if you also want tomato on your "burger" then let everyone come dress it themselves. Then just relax and enjoy everyone's "ooh's," "ahhh's" and "oh my god this is the best thing I've ever put in my mouth" that echo through your home!

The baby even chomped down and ate a burger of his own, and he HATES GREEN FOOD!