Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
3 1/4 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup honey
*2-3 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted (or other oil or butter)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray an 8x8-inch square baking pan or an 8x11-inch bar pan with cooking spray or line with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine oats, spices and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together brown sugar, pumpkin, honey, coconut oil and vanilla until smooth. Pour over oats and stir well, until all of the oats are coated and moist. Stir in chocolate chips.

Evenly press granola into prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool about 10 minutes. Carefully flip pan over onto a cutting board, or lift parchment paper out of the pan. Cut into bars and separate them a little bit so they can cool completely.

You can easily double this recipe, especially since they don't last long! Just bake it in a 9x13 pan.

*The first time I made the granola bars, I didn't use any oil but I thought I would add it the second time to see if it would make the bars a little more moist and plyable. There was not much difference between the two. The second batch was more moist but the oil didn't make them more pliable. Either way they were great

*This is actually from a friend of mine, I haven't tried making them myself but tried them at her house and thought they were fabuloso!. So maybe you might want to try making them. :)

Tortilla Soup

This is not a picture of my Tortilla Soup, but this is pretty much what it looks like. I rarely cook anything that doesn't have a picture in a cookbook, so here you are a picture...of someone else's Tortilla Soup

TORTILLA SOUP

1 Lg onion, chopped (for those who don't like onion a medium is great)

4-6 garlic cloves, minced

2 Tbsp dried cilantro

3 Tbsp vegetable oil (I think I usually use olive)

2 c. chopped cooked chicken (I have used canned chicken, but of course, cooked chicken is the best)

2 quarts chicken broth

1 (14ounce) can stewed tomatoes, do not drain and chopped

1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles (Rotel Original)

1 Tbsp ground cumin

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp pepper

Saute first 3 ingredients in the vegetable oil (or olive oil) in a stock pot for 5 minutes. Add chicken and next 6 ingredients. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Discard bay leaf.

TOP WITH:

Tortilla chips: crumble them, buy the strips or bake some using 6 inch corn tortilla for about 5-8 minutes at 400 degrees

Mozzarella cheese.

Avocado

hot sauce

and whatever else you think might be good in tortilla soup. Sour cream, guac, beans. whatever. Enjoy.