#AppleSauceInstead and giveaway

How much butter and oil do you use in your weekly baking that could easily be eliminated? I think you'd be surprised.


Not a lick of butter, and look at how awesomely golden and delicious this is. The secret? #AppleSauceInstead Don't feel like you need to stop with your baked goods either, just check out what happens when you replace an energy bar with a container of it.

Personally I go with their all natural variety over the original (no high fructose corn syrup in the natural). Musselman's wants to know what you'd sub out in your life to be healthier. And if you comment below you could win an apple sauce prize pack and a yoga ball to get you started on living healthier!

I'm currently using my yoga ball as my chair at work. PLUS I brought in some weights and have been getting in a workout right in my office during my lunch hour! How's that for a replacement!?


As for the granola, the recipe couldn't be easier.

4 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup apple sauce
1/3-1/2 cup agave nectar (depends on your sweet level)
1 cup coconut
1 cup almonds/nut of choice or sunflower seeds

Toss everything together in a large bowl and then spread evenly on a lightly sprayed sheet pan. Bake 30-45 minutes at 350, tossing every 10-15 minutes until crispy and done.

Apple sauce and yoga ball provided to me, opinions are all my own.




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Honest Body Granola

When I find a product that I love, I feel the need to tell the world about it. I've been meaning to write this post for a good month now and this and that keep popping up and getting in the way of sharing this with you.

I am in love with Honest Body Granola!! There I said it, I'm addicted to it.  Not only is the woman who makes it super nice and has adorable kids, her whole philosophy behind it is amazing. Another bonus for my allergy friends out there. This is wheat, grain and nut free. Booyahh!

Just look at the ingredient list (cranberry apple granola):
Soaked & Dehydrated sunflower seeds*, raisins*, coconut flakes*, fruit juice sweetened dried cranberries*, dried apples*, VT honey garden apiaries raw honey, cinnamon*, gluten free vanilla extract, redmond real salt. *organic ingredients


Not ONE thing that I can't pronounce or would question eating. Just look at the chunks of REAL food on the screen. AMAZING! I know I know I make my own granola all the time, but sometimes a girl wants to sit back and let someone else make up a tasty treat. This is one of those products I'm happy to buy and support!

Seriously, go buy some! They now have web ordering so go get some!

I'm not getting paid or asked to do this post. This is all me and my opinions and my pure unadulterated love of Honest Body Granola. Eat up!!

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Get Outside - giveaway

Is it springtime by you? Hard to tell around here with the ping ponging between freezing and 80 degree weather! According to Musselman's it is indeed spring and time to get outside! This time of year is perfect for reconnecting with nature, family and friends, by getting outdoors for a spring hike, complete with healthy snacks made with apple sauce!

You may have seen my post about the fruit and nut trail cookies earlier in the week. That was one of many recipes I received from Musselman's along with a big jug of their natural apple sauce! I always prefer the natural ones, no HFCS that way.

Another favorite of the bunch is their granola, I've been making granola using apple sauce for years and I'm so happy to see others doing it as well. Theirs is chocked full of oats, almonds,flax seeds and agave! You can print the recipe here.

As for the giveaway, want to win a box full of Musselman's products? Just leave a comment below with your favorite way to bake with apple sauce! (US shipping only. Must comment by midnight EST May 16th for your chance to win)


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Mixed Berry Sucanat Granola

OOO I forgot today starts voting for project food blog! head here to vote for me! Just an FYI you have to join or be a member of Foodbuzz to vote (it's free) but I don't expect anyone to sign up just to vote, but if you are part of foodbuzz and want to vote I'd appreciate it!! :D

The people at Musselman's contacted me the other day and asked if I'd like to try their latest and greatest flavor additions to their apple sauce family. Sure thing I would!


Delicious on their own you know I couldn't just eat them all and not try baking with them right? The first thing I thought of was a berry granola using the mixed berry variety. It's flavored with apple sauce, strawberry raspberry and blueberry puree plus fruit juice concentrate to sweeten it.

I kept the granola pretty simple because I really wanted that berry apple sauce flavor to shine through but feel free to toss in whatever you have on hand. I also wanted to try a granola sweetened by sucanat and am so glad I did, it was a delicious combo!


Wild Berry Granola
recipe by steph chows

In a big bowl toss together
4 cups old fashion oats
1 cup almond slivers
1 cup unsweetened coconut (if you like a sweeter granola use sweetened)

In a small bowl mix together
1/3 cup sucanat (if you don't have any you can use brown sugar)
1 cup (2 small containers) Musselman's Mixed Berry Totally Fruit

Toss wet into dry until everything is incorporated and slightly wet. Pour into a thin layer on greased cookie sheets and bake at 350 until crisp. I like to take it out and toss it around every 10 minutes. Takes about 30-40 minutes to be done.

Remove from oven and let cool then toss with dried berries of your choice or eat it up plain.

Apple sauce granola

We all love the pumpkin granola recipe Jeanne made awhile back as a guest blogger here... now I've got an apple sauce version for you... which is perfect since I can't find any pumpkin around here!! BOOO!!!! I thought this pumpkin shortage was over?? Why are we only getting hit now??


Well either way, I love this new recipe, and another great thing is it uses agave to sweeten it... this seems to have made it a little more susceptible to burning... so watch this batch with a closer eye than normal! John called me and I went gabbing away... when all the sudden I remembered... THE GRANOLA!!! OK honey... gotta go... no not in a second.. NOW! I got it just in the nick of time... another minute and this would have been charcoal! That would have been sad, sad indeed.

I plopped some into a mason jar for pictures... but truthfully this would make a lovely gift... you hear that extended family... guess what you're all getting next year :D (did I mention almost everyone on my christmas list got jam this year?? fun right :) )

OK onto the granola, as always, mix it up with whatever you have on hand, it's more fun that way :)

Apple sauce granola
by steph chows

Toss together in a large bowl:
4 cups old fashion oats
2 cups corn puffs
2 cups kamut puffs (i find the corn and kamut puffs in the organic section of my grocery store)
1 cup sunflower seeds (unsalted)
1 cup shredded coconut

Stir together in a small bowl
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup apple sauce (all natural)
1/3 cup to 1/2 cup agave nectar


Add wet to dry and toss until everything is coated. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet so there is a thin layer. Bake at 325 and toss around every 10 minutes. If you like larger granola chunks toss more gently and don't break up the chunks... like small chunks... break things up a bit as you toss them around :D Let cool fully and then add in dried fruit to taste.

I normally mix in the dried fruit as I eat it, that way I can change it up depending on how I feel!

More pumpkin granola

Who wants more granola?? ME ME ME!!! I've been chowing up all kinds of homemade granola as of late, tossing in whatever I have on hand! Seriously that's why I love granola so much, toss in whatever you like and you are good to go! Here's my latest version:

So this picture isn't of the below recipe granola... it's the batch previous... but I never took pics of this last batch... whooops!

This is my go to wet mixture:
Mix the following in a small bowl:
2 cups pumpkin puree
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar

Then this is my random whatever on hand dry mixture basics:
In a very large bowl toss together
5 cups old fashion oats
2 cups kamut puffs
1 cup sweetened coconut
1 cup chopped nuts of some kind

Mix wet into dry, toss to coat, bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes, tossing every 10-15 minutes so it doesn't burn. Let cool and then toss in raisins or other dried fruit.

I just love the pumpkin mix, and I LOVE LOVE the addition of the coconut.

CHOW!!!

Pumpkin Ginger Spice Granola by Jeanne

Jeanne and I met about a year ago, it was for a cookie and ornament exchange (totally fate bringing us together). Here is what she sent me. She is seriously the most genuine and kind person you will ever meet, and I'm so excited to say I'll be meeting her in person in a little over a month!!! (she lives in SF and I'll be there for the foodbuzz festival) Over the past year we've had so much fun exchanging emails and realizing more and more how much alike we are! Same birthday (1 year apart), curly hair, the love of baking something for someone who isn't having a good day, crochet/knit crafty stuff, our love of the outdoors! We are like two peas in a pod, twins one might even say! So now I turn it over to Jeanne and her amazing granola!!

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Back at the beginning of September Steph did a post about pumpkin muffins and although I didn't realize it at the time that's what inspiring this recipe. All I remember thinking is, "Pumpkin? Already? Does that mean that summer is over?" (Really. Check the comments.) And although part of me was sad to see summer go, I started to get excited about autumn food. Who doesn't love a good squash?

And so without really realizing why, I started to look for a new pumpkin recipe to try. Before now I've made pumpkin muffins, pies, cakes, pancakes, cookies, soups and... I even made a chili once. (It was gross. I don't recommend it.) But as I considered all these recipes, none of those seemed quite right for what I wanted to make.

Then one morning over a bowl of Trader Joe Ginger Granola, wondering when the TJ pumpkin granola would hit the shelves, I came up with the best idea: I'd make my own Pumpkin Granola recipe! So I did! I scoured the internet, learning how to make granola. Then I threw in all of my favorite ingredients.

And I loved the result! I cut the sugar way down, so it's not overly sweet like the granola you get in the store, but the hint of pumpkin, the kick of ginger and the delicious spice make this the perfect thing to start a fall morning. I loved it so much that I wanted to share it!

That's where Steph comes in. She's graciously allowed me to share it with you. I sent her the recipe a while back. Her response? "I like candied ginger... but that seems like a TON! lol candied ginger in my breakfast granola... I don't know... "


Trust me Steph. It's fab. In my opinion, it's not enough candied ginger!
But that's up to you. The great thing about granola? You can make tons of substitutions and I'm sure it'll still turn out okay. But, this is what I did:


Pumpkin Ginger Spice Granola
Preheat oven to 325F.

Mix the dry ingredients.
2 1/2 Cups Rolled Oats
2 Cups Steel Cut Oats (If you don't have this, just use rolled oats)
1 Cup Almonds, coarsely chopped or slivered
1 Cup Walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 Cup Sunflower Seeds
2/3 Cup Crystallized Ginger, finely chopped
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Ginger
1 tsp Nutmeg, freshly grated
1/2 tsp Cloves
1/2 tsp Allspice

Add in wet ingredients:
16 oz Pumpkin Puree
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Maple Syrup
2 Tbsp Oil
Mix until thoroughly combined and everything is moist. Put mixture on cookie sheets and bake for a total of 1hr. Stir mixture every 10-15 minutes.

When 10 min remain in cooking time, add:
1 Cup Golden Raisins

Take it out of the oven and ... don't chow. Sorry. Wait for it to cool and store in bags/Tupperware. After a day has gone by the flavor settles and it's TONS better. So it you can resist eating what has created the amazing smell in your kitchen wait 'til the next morning.
Then (just for you Steph) CHOW!