Cranberry Pineapple Chex Mix

Chex Snack Mix

5 1/2 cups Rice Chex cereal

1 cup Chopped Walnuts

1 tsp Ground Ginger

1 cup Coconut Flakes

3/4 cup Dried Cranberries

1/2 cup Large Dried Pineapple Chunks, sliced in 1/8 inch strips 

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1/3 cup Butter

1/2 cup Brown Sugar, UNpacked

1/2 cup Agave Nectar
1 tsp Molasses

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1/2 cup Dried Cranberries

1/2 cup Chopped Walnuts

1/2 cup Large Dried Pineapple Chunks, sliced in 1/8 inch strips

1) Mix first set of ingredients in a large bowl and set aside

2) 2nd group of ingredients:  Melt butter in a pot on the stove and add sugar and agave nectar.  Heat on high constantly stirring.  Bring it to a foaming boil.  Stir for 1 minute while it is foaming and boiling so rapidly that you cannot stir it down. 

3) Pour hot mixture over the dry ingredients and with a rubber scraper, fold in gently 'til all pieces are mostly covered.

4) Spread out on a large cookie sheet and let cool/dry, then break up and add the remaining Cranberries, Pineanpple and Walnuts.

5) Store in a ziploc bag.

Don't forget the GELATIN!!

I developed my White Sandwich Bread and my kids and I were IN HEAVEN!!  We loved it!!  I made several pre-packed mixes so I could make it every other day for a few weeks and we used it all.  Then I made more mixes and we started the process again.  EXCEPT. . . something changed between the mixes.  Suddenly my bread was crumblyish and when I put the peanut butter on (sun-butter) it would roll up off the bread covered in crumbs.  The peanut butter literally could not stick to the bread.  I don't know how to express how I felt.  The loaves before were absolutely PERFECT and I could not think back to what I had done differently in the other set of loaves because they were packed weeks ago. So my last 5 loaves have been spent troubleshooting.  I felt like I was in the stages of discovering this perfect loaf again. Devestated-- a drama queens description of how I felt.  FRUSTRATED!  DEFINITELY!

SO I checked it all, the amount of Xanthan Gum, Eggs, Pudding, Flax, sugar. . . Nothing.  I thought perhaps a change in brands of Xanthan Gums did it; you know a lesser quality.  Nothing fixed it.  Then I decided to start adding items.  Since gelatin is something I use in all my breads, I tried adding it first. BREAD FIXED.  Lesson learned. Take better notes when I am creating AND DON'T FORGET THE GELATIN!!

Pancakes

This is the family's favorite pancake recipe. When we eat these, we always have them with Dark Agave Nectar as the syrup.  Not only does it have the same health benefits as honey, but it has a very pleasant flavor similar to white sugar. The sweetness is slightly stronger than white sugar, however, unlike honey, it has no affect on your blood sugar.  In other words, a Diabetic could eat as much Agave Nectar as they would like and not have to worry about a spike in their sugar levels!!  Truly amazing!! And better yet, my kids love it!

If you are interested in Dark Agave Nectar or any of the ingredients I mention, check my Best Priced Ingredients page. All the ingredients come from outside sources, but they are the best deals I could find anywhere.   

Pancakes

1/2 cup Sorghum Flour

1/2 cup Tapioca Flour

1/3 cup Amaranth
1/4 cup Rice Flour
1/4 cup ground Flax

1/4-1/2 tsp Baking Soda (For thick Bisquick style pancakes, use 1 tsp)

2 tsp Baking Powder

1-1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon

3 Eggs

2 tsp Vanilla

1/2 cup Water

Add Rice Milk to desired Consistency

In a Medium mixing bowl add all ingredients in the order they appear.  Mix all dry ingredients together after adding the cinnamon.  Then proceed to add the wet ingredients.  After adding all the wet ingredients to the bowl, mix sufficiently to wet most of the dry ingredients.  DO NOT OVER MIX. Let sit for 5-10 minutes.

Using Med-high heat and greasing/spraying skillet between every batch, make pancakes of your desired size.  Flip pancake when bubbles cover the entire pancake and edges stiff enough to put a spatula under with out tearing. For blueberry pancakes add blueberries to each individual pancake right after placing batter on griddle; flip as normal.

Serve with whatever toppings you like.  We usually eat them well buttered with Dark Agave Nectar as our syrup.