August- Snack Time!

Split Pea Soup

(Courtney Zaugg)

1 cup chopped yellow onions

2 large cloves garlic, minced

1/8 cup good olive oil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4-5 medium carrots diced

1 small sweet potato, diced very small!

2 bay leaves

1 T. old bay seasoning

1 pound dried split green peas

10 cups chicken stock or water

In a 4-quart stockpot on medium heat, saute the onions and garlic with the olive oil, oregano, salt, and pepper until the onions are translucent, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the carrots, sweet potatoes, bay leaves, old bay, 8 cups of the chicken stock/water, and 1/2 pound of split peas. Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Skim off the foam while cooking. Add the remaining split peas. Add 1-2 cups of water if the soup is starting to look low and continue to simmer for another 45-55 minutes covered, or until all the peas are soft. Stir occasionally to keep the solids from burning on the bottom. In the last 5-10 minutes add another cup of water if the soup is looking low and heat through. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

Back to School Power Bars 

Stephanie Partridge

2 cups flour

1 cup oat bran

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

3 cups oats

1+ cup cooked quinoa

2 cups dried fruit ( I used a tropical fruit mix)

1 cup honey

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup applesauce

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp almond extract (I love the almond flavor, so use less if you want)

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a medium/large bowl stir together the flour, oat bran, brown sugar, oats, quinoa, and dried fruit.  Make a little bowl within the flour mixture and put the remaining ingredients inside it.  Stir it a little bit and then incorporate the wet into the dry.  I make the flour bowl to save dishes, but you can mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl if you want and then just combine them.  The dough will be the consistency of a sticky cookie dough.  Spray 1-2 rimmed baking sheets with cooking spray and then scoop big blobs of the dough onto the baking sheets and spread out with the back of a large spoon or spatula.  You want it to be about 1/2-3/4 inches thick.  It doesn’t spread or rise much so don’t worry about it cooking strange if one of your baking sheets isn’t completely full of dough.  Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Note: This recipe is very forgiving so add, take away, do what you want and as long as you keep the amount of wet ingredients and dry ingredients equal to what I have, it will most likely turn out fine.