Rhonda's Honey Nut Energy Bars

Rhonda's Honey Nut Energy Bars

 Because we love healthy energy bars, and because I happened to look at the ingredients on a box from the store...I decided we could do better using all natural ingredients.    Here is what I came up with.

Mix all in a bowl:

1 cup oats

1 cup Rice Crispie Cereal

1 cup chopped mixed nuts

2 T Choc chips if desired

1/4 cup peanut butter (natural)

1/4 cup raw honey (I added a bit more until the mix stuck together well)

Press into a loaf pan, which should be lined with foil to help lift out.  Bake for 30 min at 350. Let cool and cut into 8 pieces.  

265 cal. each, 15  G fat, 6 G Protein, 31 G Carbs   

Carmel Apple Pizza

Caramel Apple Pizza

We love pizza...even for dessert!

Basic French Bread dough

Canned apple pie filling (I use my own homemade filling, but you can buy canned filling)

Butter and Brown Sugar and chopped nuts on top

Bake at 350 deg. until golden and bubbly, top with caramel apple topping and nuts.  Serve with vanilla ice cream for an awesome treat!

Honey Mustard Turkey with Roasted Potatoes 

 This recipe originally called for Chicken thighs, but all I had 2 lovely large thighs in the freezer from a tom turkey I grew last summer.  Since harvesting our honey I was looking for some good savory recipes to use it in and ran across the chicken version online.  I tweaked it a little....

   1/2 cup brown mustard

   1/3 cup honey

    2 T olive oil

   a couple fresh sprigs of rosemary

    6 or so nice potatoes, scrubbed and cut into large pieces

Mix the mustard, honey and oil. Place thighs skin side up in cast iron pan, coat tops with mixture, arrange potatoes around the meat and stick rosemary between and on top meat.. Put into preheated oven 400deg. on roast setting if possible, cover with foil for 1 hr, removed foil, brush the drippings all over meat and potatoes, continue cooking for 30 to 45 more minutes until brown on top and juices flow when pierced.  Drizzle the sauce in the pan on the meat and potatoes when serving.  I also recommend buttermilk/lard biscuits with butter and honey.  Delicious!

Honey...how sweet it is!

 I was so hesitant to take any honey this fall...simply because the swarm was installed in early July. Most hives are started in early spring, to give the bees time to build comb, increase their numbers and store honey for winter.  But...after opening it up and inspecting it I found that the whole top box was full of honey, pollen and some brood cells...and the bottom box was starting to build comb and fill with brood and honey around the edges.  I made the call...I took 3 frames of capped honey off the top hive box.  Leaving them 7 full frames and some in the bottom.  I guess if they need supplemented before spring, I will make some sugar cakes and slip in the box.  

 I was able to harvest 9 pints of glorious, sweet, sticky honey, and then rendered the capping's and comb wax to get a nice little 3 oz cake of wax for candles, soaps, balms...whatever.

 I plan on sharing a little with family...and keeping the rest to hold us over until the spring nectar flow.  In addition to the gift of honey...we saw a huge increase in our garden yield.  The bees worked hard all summer pollinating the tomato, cukes, berries, corn, beans and everything else.  We had 11 watermelons on 2 plants!  We were covered up with tomatoes and corn...and the biggest red peppers I have EVER seen.  God sure made a wonderful little helper for mankind when he made these honeybees.  Love having them here...and looking forward to another growing season with them doing their thing!