homemade Archives - My Whole Food Life

12 Make Ahead Breakfasts for Back to School Mornings

August 17, 2013July 19, 2015 Melissa King 65 Comments

It’s that time of year again. The kids are going back to school. Mine start in a couple of weeks. So now is the time to get organized so you are not rushing on those busy mornings. Here is a list of make ahead breakfasts you can freeze and easily pull out in a hurry. I thought I would also share some of my favorite school lunch supplies.

Lunchbots Lunchboxes – We have had these going on 3 years and they are great.

Kids Drinking Thermos – Another product we have had 3 years so far. They are very easy to pop open. Perfect for little hands.

Lunchskins Re-Usable Snack Bags -These are easy to clean and quick drying.

Hot Food Jars – Perfect for bringing hot foods like pasta and oatmeal.

Kids Konserve Ice Packs – Made of non toxic materials and BPA free.

Olive Kids Lunchbox – Durable, BPA free and easy to clean. Comes in many styles.

Strawberry Banana Baked Oatmeal

This recipe will make a weeks worth of healthy breakfasts you can freeze and reheat for busy mornings. You can swap out the fruits for what you have on hand as well.

Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal

This recipe can also be made with peanut butter or sunflower butter. The choice is yours. Make, freeze and re-heat.

Almond Butter Overnight Oats

Use this recipe as a base and add in your own flavors. Fruits, nuts, seeds…the possibilities are endless! Make a weeks worth of these and then grab them when you need them.

Homemade Pop Tarts

Fill them with your favorite jams. I personally love them with blueberry chia jam. Then just freeze them and pull them out when needed.

Homemade Nutri-Grain Bars

These are perfect to throw in your child’s lunch box. My kids love them. Add in your favorite jam and you are ready to go. They freeze very well.

Banana Blueberry Muffins

These freeze very well and all the kids love them. They can also be done gluten free.

Raspberry Coconut Smoothie

Make a big batch of these and then freeze them in ice cube trays. Then on those busy mornings, just pop out and blend what you need.

Here are some other recipes from some blogs I follow.

Real Food. Real Deals No Knead Apple Pie Bread
Eat Good 4 Life Chocolate and Peanut Butter Chia Pudding
The Clever Carrot Gluten Free Zucchini Muffins
Sugar Dish Me Whole Wheat Poppy Seed Bagels
Chocolate Covered Katie Gluten Free Cinnamon Sugar Waffles

Homemade Clif Bars (Vegan and Gluten Free)

February 1, 2013May 27, 2017 Melissa King 194 Comments

Homemade Clif Bar recipe. When I made my Healthy Cookie Dough Bites the other day, I thought the flavors would be a great base for Homemade Clif Bars.

So, I set out to create them. A lot of readers lately have been asking if Clif bars are okay to eat. I used to but them by the case as well. I would take them to work in the days when I waited tables on the Las Vegas strip.

Here are the ingredients to the Chocolate Chip Peanut bar that I got off their website:

Chocolate Chip Peanut Crunch:

Organic Brown Rice Syrup, ClifPro® (Soy Rice Crisps [Soy Protein Isolate, Rice Flour, Barley Malt Extract], Organic Soy Flour, Organic Roasted Soybeans), Organic Rolled Oats, Organic Toasted Oats (Organic Oats, Organic Dried Cane Syrup, Ascorbic Acid, Natural Vitamin E [Antioxidant]), Organic Cane Syrup, Organic Peanut Butter (Organic Peanuts, Salt), Chocolate Chips (Dried Cane Syrup, Unsweetened Chocolate, Cocoa Butter, Soy Lecithin, Vanilla Extract), Peanut Flour, Peanuts, ClifCrunch® (Organic Oat Fiber, Apple Fiber, Inulin [Chicory Extract], Psyllium, Organic Milled Flaxseed), Organic Date Paste, Natural Flavors, Sea Salt.

Wow! That’s a lot of ingredients! Soy protein isolate is a hidden form of MSG. There are also “natural flavors” in these. Those two things alone would make me put these back on the shelf nowadays. So, moving on to my homemade clif bars.

My homemade clif bar recipe is great because it serves as a good base for you to add whatever kind of flavors you like.

These would go great with a glass of Homemade Almond Milk.

Homemade Clif Bars

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Prep Time 10 min Cook Time 20 min

Ingredients

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325.
Grind up the oats and almonds in the food processor .
When they have a crumbly consistency, add the dates and coconut.
Lastly add the water slowly as you pulse the ingredients together until a batter forms. It will be thick and sticky.
Line an 8X8 pan with parchment paper leaving enough paper sticking out on each side so you will be able to lift the whole thing out when done.
Working carefully, spread batter evenly out to all the sides.
Press mixture down with a spatula to get it firm.
Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.
Let cool completely before removing intact.
Cut bars with a pizza cutter .

by Melissa King

Homemade Almond Milk (Vegan)

October 9, 2012May 29, 2017 Melissa King 126 Comments

Homemade Almond Milk is super easy to make yourself. Great for those who need a dairy free option! Making your own nut milk is very easy and its even kid approved!

I have learned a few tricks along the way that I will pass on to you. First, I by the raw almonds in bulk from our farmers market.

They can be pricey, so I tend to buy a large amount when they are on sale. Second, make sure you have a good quality Ultra Fine Cheesecloth.

If you treat it well, you can reuse it over and over. Simply, rinse and hang dry. Third, get all your supplies out. I made a huge mess the first time I did it.

You can also watch a video of me doing this below. For more videos, you can subscribe to my You Tube Channel.

Things you will need:

A fine mesh strainer
A bowl or pitcher
Ultra Fine Cheesecloth
A big plate or baking sheet for the leftover meal
A blender ( I actually did mine in smaller batches with a magic bullet)

Looking for more non-dairy milk options?

Homemade Almond Milk

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Prep Time 15 min

Ingredients

2 cups raw almonds
4 cups water (you can play around with the water depending on if you want a thicker or thinner result)
1 tsp vanilla extract (I use crushed vanilla bean .)

Instructions

Soak almonds overnight.
Rinse the almonds until the water comes out clean.
Blend the almonds, water and vanilla in a blender for about 2 minutes.
Then have your cheesecloth, strainer and bowl ready for the “milking”.
Squeeze the meal inside the cheesecloth until no more liquid comes out. This takes a bit of muscle. Once complete the left over liquid is the milk.

by Melissa King

Recipe Notes

Once all the water is out, dump the meal onto a plate or baking sheet. You are left with almond meal afterwards. Don’t throw this meal out. It can be dried out in the oven and used in place of flour. It is also gluten free. I set my oven to 200 and bake it for about an hour. It will make your house smell like yummy almond cookies. Before using as flour, I would suggest that you process it into a finer, flour like consistency.

To store the milk, choose a bottle that you can shake because the milk will separate. It can probably keep well for about a week in the fridge although mine never lasts that long.