Energy Bites

I am addicted to these healthy no-bake cookies from Pinterest. Make them if you dare. You will love them!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (dry) oatmeal (I used old-fashioned oats)
• 1 cup toasted coconut flakes, COOLED (I just toast for a few minutes in oven until golden brown at 325 degrees)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (I like dark!)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup ground flaxseed
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Method:

Stir all ingredients together in a medium bowl until thoroughly mixed. Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour. Once chilled, roll into balls of whatever size you would like. (Mine were about 1″ in diameter.) Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Substitution ideas can abound for just about any of these ingredients! Feel free to substitute in your favorite nut butter (almond butter, sunflower seed butter, etc.) for the peanut butter. And you could also add in some wheat germ in place of some or all of the flaxseed.

Some other fun substitutions for the chocolate chips (or an addition to them) could include:

• chopped dried fruit (apricots, dates, raisins, etc.)
• dried berries (cranberries, cherries, etc.)
• chopped almonds, pecans, or sunflower seeds
• other chips (butterscotch, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, etc.)

Soft Caramel Popcorn

This is the perfect soft caramel popcorn! And it makes a lot! After overdosing on the stuff, I made gift bags full for the ladies I visit teach. www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com

3 bags microwave popcorn, popped
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (I like to use salted butter since the rest of the popcorn is so sweet)
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Pop popcorn according to package directions and make sure you get rid of any unpopped kernels. Kim prefers the movie theater popcorn but it's good with really any kind of popcorn. This seems like a lot of popcorn but trust me it will get eaten! Place popcorn in a large bowl...larger than you think you will need.

In a large saucepan melt together the butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup. Bring mixture to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, reduce to medium heat and add the can of sweetened condensed milk. With the rubber spatula, stir constantly for 5 minutes scraping the sides and especially the bottom of the pan to
prevent any burning. The longer you cook it the firmer the caramel will be. I like mine a little on the soft side so I like to cook it shy of 5 minutes...around 4 minutes and 30 seconds.

Pour caramel over popcorn and stir until coated. This will take a lot of stirring to get it all incorporated. It's great warm or at room temperature. Feel free to add in M&Ms, nuts, or drizzle it with chocolate. I like it plain and classic. Enjoy!

Cinnabon Popcorn

The thing I love most about the Super Bowl Sunday is the food! We each picked a snack to have during the game. Bret picked wings, chips and con queso, and root beer floats. Ethan picked "Munchies," and Ellie picked a pack of multi-colored marshmallows. I picked this popcorn recipe from http://www.thegirlwhoateeverthing.blogspot.com/ to try and was very pleased with the result. Just one warning: it is very addictive!

12 Cup popped popcorn (about 1/2 Cup kernels or around 2 bags of microwave popcorn)

1 Cup pecan halves, roughly chopped

1 Cup brown sugar

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 Cup Karo Syrup

1 stick real butter (1/2 Cup)

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking soda

3 squares almond bark (or half a bag of white choc. chips)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees

Place popped popcorn and pecans in a large bowl.

Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a 2 liter capacity microwave safe bowl. Mix well. Chop butter into chunks and place on top of sugar mixture. Pour corn syrup over the top of everything. Microwave on high for 30 seconds and then stir to combine. Return to microwave and heat for 2 minutes. Remove and stir and then microwave for 2 minutes more.

Note: If you microwave it too much your popcorn will turn out really hard.

Remove from microwave and add in vanilla and baking soda. Stir to combine. Mixture will foam and rise. Pour caramel mixture over popcorn and pecans and stir very well so everything is well coated. Note: Stir more than you think you need to!

Spread popcorn mixture onto a foil-lined jelly roll pan. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and spread out on a large piece of parchment, waxed paper, or foil.

Melt almond bark according to pkg instructions. (OR just melt in the microwave at 30 seconds intervals, stirring after each segment until melted) Drizzle over popcorn mixture. When almond bark is hardened and popcorn is cool, break into chunks and enjoy! And oh, how I enjoy it!!