How To Make Carob Candy Bars and Nut Clusters

I've tried to find carob candies in health food stores and diet sections of the grocery store to no avail, so I've resorted to making my own. The best thing about doing this is that you get exactly what you like! Today I'm just doing candy bars and nut clusters but at Christmas time I'll do some filled "chocolates". Here we go!

It all starts with a bag of Sunspire brand Carob Chips which I buy by the case from Amazon because my store no longer carries carob chips without milk and over-refined sugar, and the price is good.
Empty one 10 oz. bag of chips into a glass bowl with high sides or a large glass measuring cup. Using glass will help protect the carob from becoming too hot.
Add 1 1/2T. Coconut Oil
And 1/2t. Vanilla Flavoring or Peppermint, etc. (does not need to be oil-based)
Sweeten to taste if desired with 1 packet Xylitol or Stevia
Set into another bowl with medium hot tap water, not boiling. Remember that getting carob too hot will cause it to become stiff and chewy so warm only enough to gently melt carob. Stirring will help the chips melt with less heat and will blend in the other ingredients. Once the chips are melted and you're into your candy making, don't add more chips. Remelting means reheating, so wait until you use up what you've already melted and then start again with more chips. This melted carob can be used over ice cream like magic shell, or proceed to make candy bars.

Spoon a little of the melted carob into a chocolate mold. They have some that are meant specifically for candy bars or use whatever shapes you like! Tap the mold on the table lightly to remove air bubbles and place in the freezer for about 10 minutes.
Remove the mold from the freezer and gently loosen the hardened carob. When inverting onto the foil, catch the candy bar and set it down to keep it from breaking. It will be brittle.
If you want to divide the bar, wait until it warms to room temperature. Using a straight edged sharp knife, carefully cut the bar. If you are going to store the candy to serve later, wrap in foil and keep in a cool place or in the refrigerator.
If you are making nut clusters simply drop nuts into melted carob and stir to coat the nuts. I used roasted and salted peanuts. Drop by spoonfuls into candy cups or onto waxed paper. Cool and harden in the fridge or freezer. Store in covered container.
Now, when everyone is having a sweet treat, you can have one too! Or, you can share your goodies with your friends and family, helping them to learn to enjoy something a little healthier.
PS. If the carob turns grey it is only from being cold. Simply let it warm or you can use a blow dryer to warm it and it will brown right up! And by the way, chocolate does the same thing and can be fixed the same way, too :)

Buckwheat Flapjacks

Our daughter, Dawn, came to visit for several days and these delicious flapjacks are one of her favorite breakfasts.
Buckwheat has a distinctive earthy flavor and dark robust color as you may see by the pictures.

BUCKWHEAT FLAPJACKS

1C. Buckwheat Flour
1C. Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1t. Baking Powder
1t. Baking Soda
1/4t. Salt

2 Eggs
2C. Coconut Milk or milk of choice
2T. Coconut Oil melted
3T. Pure Maple Syrup or Honey or Agave
1t. Vanilla
1t. Cinnamon

Mix ingredients together and cook as you would any pancake. Remember that they are ready to turn when a number of the bubbles that appear on the top no longer close up.
Serve with the topping of your choice (we still prefer pure maple syrup!).
In this picture you can see how dark these pancakes are! Our little Garret loves "em!

Orange Ambrosia Cup How-To

This little fruit cup is both easy to make and impressive, and I'm no whiz at cutting fancy shapes out of fruits and veggies! First of all I measured from the top of the orange down about 1 1/2". This left enough of the orange to make a nice sized cup. At that point the orange measured horizontally at 10" around. The scallops on my flower cookie cutter are 1 1/4" so this meant I could evenly draw 6 scallops.

Next I cut the top off the orange with a citrus knife taking as much of the ink off with it as I could. The rest of the ink I washed off carefully with water and a scrubbie thingy.
Then I cut and scooped out the fruit of the orange and put the pieces into a bowl for use in the fruit salad.


After getting the orange cut up I added a small banana, sliced, stirring it to coat the slices with orange juice preventing them from turning brown, and 4 cut up strawberries. The empty orange had about a 1/2 C. capacity and this little fruit salad fills 2 orange cups very nicely. I think I could have put more fruit in the cup than the picture shows. Of course you can fill this little cup with whatever combination of fruit is your favorite. I put a little coconut ribbon on top before placing the strawberry.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!