Nutritious Chow

Remember all the Orphan Cereal I had from the Dominoes  No one would touch it for morning breakfast. It was stale, of course. Yet, I found a way to eliminate that stale taste, and mix it with the super high level of nuts and grains. As a result, my kitchen is quickly becoming “the” hang-out spot for after school, for the fifth grade class. I have the best snacks. This is the best way to serve my non-vegetable eating vegetarian loaded whole grains. Since I started making this nutra-chow, I can’t seem to keep it in-stock. Good thing this is fast and easy to make.

I’m not using much sugar, because I’m using Stevia!

The real secret, of course, is the REAL BUTTER. But, at this growing stage, my kids need all the fat they can get.

With this healthy sweetener  and real butter, I mix in any ground whole grains, seeds and nuts I can find. Buckwheat Flour, Quinoa Flour, Almond Flour, Ground Walnuts, White Chia Seeds and Ground Flax Seed Meal.

He will eat none of these healthy foods on his own.

The secret is to grind them or buy them as powders,

ground almonds

and mix it straight into the melted butter and sugar.

Then, pour the whole thing right on top of  that cereal leftover from those Orphaned Cereal Bags from the latest Domino Building Project.

The sad part is this will not “set” as like Granola Bars — so, it’s more like Puppy Chow, and I have to put the finished chow into individual snack bags, which they grab and munch on. I’m sure if I ammped up the sweetener  I could get a perfectly square bar  — but there’s no need to. They’re perfectly content with the snack bags, and I’m perfectly content to mix it, just like it is.

Here’s the basic recipe:

• 2 cups Stevia
• 1 stick of Butter
• 6 Cups of Grains, cereals and or nuts. Pulverized, powdered or whole.
• Chocolate semi-sweet morsels for garnish.
• Dash of salt

Method:

1. Melt Butter, Stevia and salt into a sauce pan. Add any “powdered” nuts or grains at this stage. I typically add flaxseed meal, quinoa powder, buckwheat powder and ground walnuts. Add salt.
2. Let this mixture boil for 2 minutes.
3. Pour hot mixture over the rest of your whole grains (typically your cereal), and mix thoroughly.
4. Pout onto a baking sheet, and press the mixture down with a wooden spoon.
5. Throw chocolate chips on top, and press into mixture with spoon.
6. When cool, put into snack bags and seal tight.

Because these are made with whole grains, I keep the stash of Nutra-Chow in the freezer.

You would never know this was orphaned cereal.