Lee Hersh

DIY Coconut Apricot KIND Bars

March 18, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

DIY Coconut Apricot KIND Bars

Ever since KIND sent me some of their product in the mail a few months back, I have been addicted. What I love about KIND is that you can actually see the ingredients inside the bar, so you know they are less processed than most bars.

The flavor I decided on was apricot coconut and at the last minute I added some chocolate drizzle Why the heck not, right?

Confession: I only ended up making about half of this recipe into bars and the rest I turned into balls. I didn’t do a very good job coating my dry ingredients with the almond butter/brown rice syrup and I had some dry patches. Long story short- I got about 8 bars out of this recipe, which I ended up then cutting in half, making abut 16 squares. The other half of the recipe was turned into balls (which aren’t pictured).

Blake gave me the thumbs up to the recipe so I let him take some bars to work for his co-workers. I took the balls to my work. Ball lady strikes again. Win-win situation.

A few random thoughts and things I would change the next time I made this recipe. I LOVE unsweetened almond butter in this because the flavor isn’t as overwhelming as my normal peanut butter. I use the Trader Joe’s brand of unsweetened almond butter and I would definitely purchase it again for this exact same recipe. Next time I would use whole almonds and chop them up instead of slivered and I would use whole oats instead of quick cooking…just because chunkier is prettier!

Heck yes for the weekend.

What is your favorite kind of bar? (in general, doesn’t have to be KIND)

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DIY Coconut Apricot KIND Bars

Author: Lee Hersh
Yield: 14–16 bars 1x

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Ingredients

Scale

2 cups oats (rolled or quick cooking), toasted <—I would have used rolled, but I didn’t have any on hand
1 cup almonds, slivered
1/4 cup honey
1 cup chopped apricots
1 cup coconut flakes, unsweetened
1/2 cup unsweetened almond butter
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Begin by toasting oats and almonds. Cover a baking sheet with tin foil and place oats and almonds on top. Then drizzle over 1/4 cup honey and a teaspoon of salt and toss. Bake at 350 for about 5 minutes. Toss and bake again for another 5 minutes or until it starts to turn golden brown. Set aside.
In a medium size bowl, mix together honey and almond butter. If your almond butter is not drippy, put it in the microwave for 20-30 seconds to get it to a drippy consistency.
Next, add in toasted oats and almonds, chopped apricots, and coconut flakes and mix. You may need to use your hands for this part. Make sure all dry ingredients are generously coated with the wet ingredients.
Then, line a baking sheet (I used 9 x 13) with parchment paper and pour mixture on top. Using a spatula or wet hands, press mixture firmly into pan. My bars were about 1/2 inch thick. If you use a smaller baking sheet, then your bars will be thicker, keep that in mind.
Place baking sheet into refrigerator for about 30-45 minutes or until things firm up a little bit. Taking a sharp knife, slice into bars. Feel free to slice them into squares or into a traditional granola bar shape (anything works!).
Finally, melt dark chocolate chips and transfer into a plastic baggie. Cut the tip of the baggie off and drizzle chocolate over bars to taste. Put bars back into fridge for about 15 minutes to let the chocolate harden and voila!

Coconut Crusted Chicken Salads

March 18, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

I know you are all dying to know what the secret ingredient of tonight’s dinner was….Coconut!! Clare and I used an array of cocoNUTTY ingredients: coconut milk, unsweetened shredded coconut, and coconut oil!

Last night at TJ’s I stumbled upon coconut milk for only .99 cents! At a normal grocery story, coconut milk is a bit more pricey, $2.50 and up!

Coconut Crusted Chicken Salads

*Serve over a bed of spinach with plum tomatoes and dried cranberries. Drizzle with home-made coconut lime dressing

2 T coconut milk
2 T lime juice
1/2 T sour cream
1/2 t soy sauce
1/2 t curry powder

During dinner, Clare and I were talking about how this dish is a great healthy alternative to fried chicken! It is made with healthy fats (coconut oil) and whole wheat flour instead of grease and white flour/cornmeal. Next time I think I would sweeten it up a bit and drizzle it with honey or add sliced apple.

I have almost an entire can of coconut milk left over! Any ideas of what else I can make??

Coconut Crusted Chicken Salads

Author: Lee Hersh

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Instructions

Cut chicken breasts into slices and set aside.
In a small bowl, combine whole wheat flour, unsweetened shredded coconut, salt and pepper. In a different bowl, crack an egg and beat lightly.
Dip chicken slices into the egg and then roll in the coconut/four mixture.
Heat coconut oil over medium/high heat and sauté the chicken until golden brown.

Single Serve Muffin

March 18, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

Ever make an entire batch of cookies, or brownies, or bars, or muffins. And well…Accidentally eat the entire batch yourself? Not even in one sitting, but over the span of a few days? You see, I live a certain kind of life called “Single Living,” where I have no one but myself to cook for. So it is pretty much inevitabe that the entire batch will be consume by yours truly. Unless…I take it upon myself to do something nice and knock on my neighbor’s door and offer them a taste. *idea* Maybe I should deliver some to the people who live above me so they’ll stop doing their Jillian Michael’s dvd at 11PM. I am all for getting fit, but once the sun goes down…please refrain from jumping and or bouncing balls.

Haha. Okay I’ll stop complaining now. But seriously, my apartment building has paper thin walls and I can pretty much hear anything and everything from my neighbors above, below, and across from me. hmph.

Back to my point about eating an entire batch of cookie…Sometimes I just want one cookie instead of tempting myself with an entire batch of goodness. So…I decided to create a recipe for a single serve muffin! I went with a classic flavor, blueberry. I like to call this method of baking…prevention.

At the last minute I decided to to jazz it up a bit and add some protein frosting. Prior to this baking sesh, I did an upper body strength training workout along with one of the dvd’s from Booty Camp Fitness. AKA I could use the extra protein boost. More on my workout after the recipe.

Here is the muff pre frosting…

There was a lot of texture in this muffin. I could especially taste the flax. I am wondering if I should have used multiple different kinds of gf flour to get a smoother texture. I don’t really know the “rule” for gluten free baking, but I do know that Bob’s Red Mill’s Gluten Free Baking Mix has a bunch of different flours in it. Next time, I am going to try and add a mashed banana for some extra sweetness

Moving on to my workout. As you know, Booty Camp Fitness sent me a collection of dvd’s to test out. Today was the perfect day to try out “Ab-Salute! Core Vol. 2″ I did an upper body workout and still had some oomph in me when I got home for some abs.

Have you ever had issues with loud/rowdy neighbors?

Are you a gluten free baker? Do you have tips for me?!

Red White and Blue Oatcakes

March 17, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

Red White and Blue Oatcakes

I just wanted to clarify that these are also known as Wild Raspberry Oatcakes, but for the sake of the 4th of July…Red, White, and Blue Oatkcakes it is!

These pancakes were handcrafted by my friend Linley and yours truly! I’ve talked about Linley quite a bit on the blog, but I wanted to give a little background info on how Lin and I became friends!

Lin has been one of my dearest friends since I was a freshman in college. We met on the first day of classes my freshman year in Geology; it was friendship at first sight. Literally. We were both lost on our way to class and just so happened to bump into each other. Instant friends.

Lin and I grew to become very close throughout the year and eventually studied abroad in Italy together. Among the beautiful streets on Florence, we observed how the Italians did it. They went to the market daily and cooked with whole foods. This is where it really all began for me. I’d have to say, the Summer of 2009 is where I really fell in love with lattes and gelato.

Anyways, Lin is the type of friend who brings positivity, excitement, and passion to every situation. She’s a good one to have and to keep! Here’s a photo of us during a cooking class we took in Florence…

These pancake were made with wild raspberries that we picked at the river house and oat flour, which was ground down from oatmeal. They are dense pancakes, but till delicious!

So here’s how yah make em…

First grind the oats down to flour in a coffee grinder or small food processor. If you desperate, a magic bullet will work perfectly fine! (I’ve done it)

Then, mix together oat flour, baking powder, raspberries, milk, and honey together in a bowl. With a fork, mash the raspberries.

This is what your batter will look like before you make your oatcakes on the griddle.

Then, using a 1/4C scoop, scoop the batter onto the griddle and cook on medium heat for about 4 minutes on each side.

Wild Raspberry Oatcakes

Ingredients

1.5C oatmeal (ground down to oat flour)
1/2C milk (I used vanilla rice milk)
1/2C water
1 extra large egg
1/4t baking powder
vanilla extract, Splash
3-4T honey
~3/4C wild raspberries, crushed

Toppings: Vanilla Nonfat CHO, raspberries, and blueberries

Like I said, these are very dense. I would have added some GF flour to fluff them up, but I didn’t have any, so I improvised

These also would have been tasty topped with some nut butter and shredded unsweetened coconut!

They even look good vintage…

Friends at first sight…you got any of those?

What’s your favorite pancake topping?

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Gluten Free Pumpkin Bars with Crumble Topping

March 17, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

Gluten Free Pumpkin Bars with Crumble Topping

Gluten Free Pumpkin Bars w/ Crumble Topping

Oh pumpkin. I still can’t believe I have never baked with you until this very recipe.

Because I like you. I like your color, I like your taste, and I like your versatility!

Ingredients for Gluten Free Pumpkin Bars with Crumble Topping

butter
baking flour
almond meal
sugar
nut butter
Greek yogurt
pumpkin puree
eggs
vanilla extract
pumpkin pie spice

I actually made these bars for Linley’s going away party a few weeks ago. She is moving to the Dominican Republic for the next year to work for a nonprofit called DOVE Missions.

I am excited to say that I am 95% positive I am visting her in January!!!!!! More on that later

3 layers of pure goodness.

Nom. Nom. Nom.

Happy October!!!!

sigh.

Fall.

Okay fine I like you!

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stove top oats

March 17, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

This tutorial is WAY LONG OVER DUE. I have broken down my morning routine and recipe for my typical batch of banana oats. Also, I’ve answered some Frequently Asked Oat Related Questions at the end of the post!

Typical Recipe

[Ingredients]

-1/5C rolled oats

-1/5C oat bran

-1T chia seeds

-cinnamon (to taste)

-1/2 large banana

-1C + 1/2C water (or almond/rice/soy/cow milk)
*This recipe yields 1.5C cooked oats

Typical Routine

[step 1] Assemble your ingredients

In a small sauce sauce pan, mix together dry ingredients. Then, add in a half of a sliced banana and 1C of liquid. You will notice that the chia seeds and oat bran act like sponges and instantly start to soak up some of the water.

[step 2] Cook over medium/high heat

Turn your burner to medium/high heat and let your mixture cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently. You want your oats to thicken and your banana to melt into the mixture.

[step 3] Add more liquid

This is a secret step, but extremely necessary! Add an additional 1/4 to 1/2 C liquid to the mixture and let it re-thicken, cooking for an additional 2 minutes. This additional liquid increases the volume of your oats and gives it that delicious, creamy consistency.

[step 4] Top it

Toppings are an essential part to any bowl of oats! This is where you can boost the nutritional and satiation factor of your breakfast. I am notorious for sliced nanner, nut butter, and of course RAISINS!

Nutritional Profile [made with water, pre toppings]

FAQ- Oat Style

[Q] What is the difference between rolled oats and quick/instant oats?
[A] The difference between the two is how much they’ve been processed and how thinly they’ve been pressed. Rolled oats (Old Fashioned Oats) are made by steaming oat groats (whole grain) and flattening them with a roller. Quick/Instant oats are rolled into thinner flakes, which is why they take less time to cook.

[Q] What is oat bran?
[A] Oat bran is the hard, outer layer of of the grain. The bran of the oat grain contains the majority of the dietary fiber and is also high in vitamins and minerals.

[Q] Where can I buy oat bran?
[A] You can find oat bran in most bulk sections at your local grocery store. If you are looking for prepackaged oat bran, look in the cereal aisle near the oatmeal.

[Q] Do you eat oats every day?
[A] I think this one is obvious, but YES! I have found that a big bowl of oats keeps me satisfied longer than any other breakfast!

[Q] Why do you use chia seeds?
[A] I use chia seeds for a few reasons. First and foremost, it boost the nutritional value of my breakfast! Chia seeds are a great source of protein and they aid in digestion because of their absorption quality. Second, Chia makes my breakfast BIGGER! When these little guys are soaked in water, they expand x 8! 1T can go a long way folks!

Oat Hall-of-Fame