Meat Free Mondays: Homemade Larabars

I live in Brazil, and I had never heard of Larabars. All of a sudden, it seems they are everywhere: on Pinterest, featured on blogs and on cooking websites. I am not one to join the bandwagon just because, but I figured I should try it just to check if it really is as good, cheap and easy as I keep reading.

Homemade Larabars as seen on 100 days of real food

Ingredients:

1 cup of chopped raw cashews

1 cup pitted dates

1/4 cup peanut butter

1 tablespoon of water

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor.

2. Squash them together and then flatten them out on a cookie sheet.

3. Cut into individual pieces and keep them in the fridge or at room temperature.

My verdict? The are cheap, easy to make (although you get PB all over your hands!) and quite yummy for a nut fan such as myself. I am just not convinced they are all that healthy!

Play dough recipe

I work in an early education school, and if I had to pick one item that is sure to be a crowd pleaser ages 2 through 5, I would have to say PLAY DOUGH! It never ceases to amaze me how the younger ones are fascinated by its tactile quality, while the older ones can get into some quite elaborate narrative over it.

To make it even more fun, you can make play dough at home. Online, one can search and find tons of recipes which involve elaborate items or some cooking time, but I prefer the simpler version. Here is what most schools I know use as a play dough recipe:

Source

Ingredients:

1 cup of flour

1 cup of boiling water

2 tablespoons of cream of tartar

1/2 cup of salt

1 tablespoon of oil

Just mix all ingredients. To make it more fun, add some food colouring! Make sure you are careful if a child is helping you, as the boiling water makes the mixture very hot!

The Kind Diet’s Summer Succotash

You might have read around here that I have been attempting to cook. Today I would like to share with you a vegan recipe that pleased my husband, who is not into veggies: The Kind Diet’s Summer Succotash:

I love lima beans, but they are not well known in Brazil. Maybe it’s because we are serious about our beans and have quite a few of them. When I saw the canned imported lima beans on the grocery store shelf, I couldn’t care less about conservatives and the other stuff they put in cans to make it last long, I just craved for some lima loving that would remind me of good ol’ Georgia.

As always, I gave my own twist onto the recipe. First, because we don’t have vegan butter around. But also because I am just picky like that:

Julie’s Summer Succotash

Ingredients:

-lima beans

-corn

-tomatoes

-red onions

-garlic, olive oil, salt and black pepper to taste

-vinegar

-chopped parsley

Heat the olive oil and garlic, add the onions until soft. Add the lima beans first, the corn after a while and the tomatoes last. Sprinkle some chopped parsley and vinegar when you are done.