Individual frozen rice packets
Have you ever tried the frozen brown rice packets at Trader Joe's? They are so quick and easy, you just take one out of the freezer and pop it in the microwave. I don't know what it is, but I always seem to forget about the rice until the last minute and then we either have none or white rice since it cooks in half the time. So, not wanting to pay Trader Joe's to do something that I could do myself, I prepared a pot full of brown rice, then divided it up into quart size ziplock bags (I just used regular ziplock, not freezer bags). When I needed rice, I took it out of the freezer, placed it in a microwave safe dish and nuked it for about 3-5 minutes. You can also hit the block of frozen rice against the counter to break in half if you don't need much. Try it today!
Homemade granola bars
It's so hard to find granola bars that don't contain high-fructose corn syrup, and those that do are expensive and are usually really hard to chew! I found this recipe online and modified it to fit my needs. The original recipe had much more honey. I like honey, but not too much so I substituted some of it for brown rice syrup and maple syrup. It also called for brown sugar, which I only have refined brown sugar, so I used my organic evaporated cane juice sugar. So here is my recipe (edited 4/9/09):
2 cups oats
3/4 cups wheat germ
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 unsweetened cocunut
1 cup crushed peanuts (or any nuts)
1/3 cup dry sugar (brown, white, raw, you choose)
1/2 cup liquid sugar (I used 1/4 brown rice syrup, 1/4 raw honey) - maple syrup works too
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup dried cranberries or raisins(or any dried fruit)
mini-chocolate chips (optional)
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spread first five ingredients on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast in the oven for appoximately 12 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Transfer to bowl to cool.
Line a 9x13 baking dish with waxed paper and spray with nonstick spray, allow enough overhang to fold it over onto itself and cover the bars.
Mix the dry sugar, liquid sugar, butter, vanilla, almond extract, and salt in a saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Cool slightly.
Add dried cranberries to the dry mix, stir. Add the sugar mixture and stir very well, assuring that all the ingredients are evenly coated. Transfer to the baking dish and spread evenly. At this point you can press the chocolate chips into the top of the bars. If they are still very warm, the chocolate will melt, but that's okay too! Now fold over the wax paper (or get a new piece) and press the bars firmly into the pan.
Set aside for 2-3 hours to cool and set completely. Turn them out onto a cutting board and cut them into bars with a sharp knife. Be sure to cut by pressing and not "sawing". Wrap each bar in plastic wrap and enjoy!
