Healthy Breakfast: Homemade Strawberry Cereal Bars

Better Housekeeper — Mon, 23 Jun 2014 14:07:59 +0000

Everyone knows that store-bough cereal bars are loaded with sugar, and not much fruit. Try your hand at making your own cereal bars at home. It’s simpler than you think, and your kids will love them!

These strawberry cereal bars are so sweet and tasty, they’re perfect for breakfast or as a snack for your kids to take to school. Instead of strawberries, try making them with blueberries or raspberries, or both! Real fruit and oatmeal make this a great start to your day, and a much healthier alternative than buying the store-bought variety. You can use a whole-wheat pastry flour for added vitamins and fibre.

Homemade Strawberry Cereal Bars

Strawberry is a good source of vitamin C, manganese, potassium, and folate or vitamin B9. Also, this fruit is rich in plant compounds and antioxidants that are beneficial for blood sugar control and heart health. Making recipes using strawberries as the main ingredient is a good idea for a healthy breakfast or snack. You’ve probably tried making your own strawberry frozen yogurt and want to try a new strawberry recipe for your children. This time, why not try making homemade strawberry cereal bars? A healthy alternative to store-bought cereal bars, these have a sweet strawberry filling in a whole-wheat oatmeal dough. Pack them in your kids’ lunch boxes or enjoy them for breakfast!

Strawberry Filling

1 pint fresh strawberries, stems removed
1/4 – 1/3 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you would like the filling to be)
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp water

Dough

1 cup whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup oats
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
6 tbsp room temp. coconut oil
2 tbsp plain Greek yogurt
2 tbsp honey
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

In a blender, puree the strawberries until smooth. Add the puree, sugar, and lemon juice to a pot and bring to a boil. Whisk the cornstarch with cold water, then add it to the pot. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 5 minutes until thick. Remove and allow to cool.
In a bowl, mix together whole wheat flour, oatmeal, baking soda, cornstarch, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
In a bowl, cream together yogurt, coconut oil, and honey. Add egg yolks and vanilla and beat until well combined. The dough should come together, but it will be wet.
Line your work surface with wax paper and dust it with flour. Divide dough in half, and cover one ball, and place the other on the wax paper.
Sprinkle dough with flour and place another sheet of wax paper on top. Roll out the dough into a rectangle. Cut the dough into 4×4.5 inch squares.
Spoon 1-2 tbsp of the filling down the middle of each square. Fold one side over the filling and pinch the dough together to prevent the filling from leaking out. Turn the bar over seam side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat this process with the remaining dough.
Cover and place the baking sheet in the freezer for 15 minutes.
While the bars are in the freezer, preheat the oven to 350 F.
When the oven has heated up, bake the bars for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden.
Store the cooled bars in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can also freeze them between sheets of parchment paper in an airtight container.

Healthy Beverage For Your Homemade Strawberry Cereal Bars

Keep your children healthier by serving homemade strawberry cereal bars with milk or homemade juice for breakfast. Smoothies are also perfect for homemade snacks while watching TV or after playtime, energizing your children after a long day.

These homemade strawberry cereal bars aren’t just for kids. They’re also great for adults because strawberries and cereals are rich in fiber, vitamins, and minerals, which are good for the heart. Adults can pair their strawberry cereal bars with black tea, which makes for a healthy breakfast or snack. Check everything you need to know about black tea as the best beverage partner for your strawberry cereal bars.

Takeaways

You’ve just learned another quick healthy breakfast and snack recipe—homemade strawberry cereal bars! Pair this recipe with healthy beverages like milk, fruit juice, shakes, and even black tea.

Photos: Half Baked Harvest, Super Healthy Kids.

Here’s a Fun Way to Grow Strawberries – In a Basket!

Better Housekeeper — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 14:43:06 +0000

Strawberries are the easiest fruits to grow, and there’s nothing tastier than home-grown strawberries! Instead of planting them in your garden, how about planting them in hanging baskets? This is how to do it!

Growing strawberries in hanging baskets has always been popular, mostly because strawberries are really easy to grow and maintain. There are several varieties of strawberries to choose from, but most only require minimal but frequent care. These will look great hanging from your front porch, or on your patio! Read the following steps on how you can get started planting your own!

Step 1: Prepare the Baskets

The most popular baskets to use for strawberries are wire baskets lined with Coco fibre. However, any hanging basket or pot with good drainage will work well. Before adding soil to the basket, make sure that you soak the basket or pot that you will be using.

Step 2: Soil

You’ll need to create a mixture of soil for your basket. Use peat moss, vermiculite, and perlite in a 8-1-1 ratio and mix well. This will be a lightweight mixture that won’t weigh the basket down. It’ll also retain water better than most potting soils and keep your strawberry plants from drying out too quickly.

Step 3: Add the Soil to the Basket

Take the mixture you created and fill the basket to a depth of 2-4 inches from the top. Create a hole in the soil that is large enough for the strawberry plants. Try to spread the plants out to help stimulate growth.

Step 4: Water

Next you need to water the plants thoroughly so that the soil and the roots of the plants are soaked.

Step 5: Hang the Basket or Pot

During the first few days after planting you’ll need to make sure that the plants are in a location out of direct sunlight. Keep the plants in that location for 3-4 days while they are adjusting to their new basket or pot. After, you can gradually move the strawberries into the sunlight. Only leave them in the sun a few hours a day at first, and gradually increase the time until they are left in sunlight for 6-8 hours a day.

Step 6: Maintenance

Make sure that the soil is moist but not soaked. Use a water soluble fertilizer every 10-14 days. Use fertilizers that are high in phosphorus because this will promote growth.

Photos: Tumblr, DIY Crafts Mom, Growing Days.

strawberry – Better HouseKeeper