Sun Oven Chronicles!

In case you hadn't noticed, the baby food Fridays are over because I've not needed to make any more.

Never fear, something much nerdier is about to come forth- solar cooking!!

Jay and I have felt a push to be prepared for an emergency, and though we'd probably be okay with food for at least a couple of months, if we lost electricity, we'd be in big trouble.  We've debated quite a bit about what to rely on for cooking food, and I've been swayed by the Sun Oven.  I mostly love that it requires no fuel to store, and that I've been wishing for a double-oven since we moved here and this, believe it or not, may have given me my wish!

When I think of Solar Ovens, my first thought takes me back to a time when I tried to cook my own "pie crust cookies" in a homemade one with my friend Charlotte many, many, many moons ago.  As you may have guessed, that tin-foil-lined box covered in plastic wrap never got hot enough to do much more than turn our pie crust slimy.

Nice.

Well, this technology is *a bit* more advanced. :)

I've only had the Sun Oven for a week, but I've been cooking up a storm, and I'd like to chronicle my successes and failures here, so I can remember what worked and what didn't and be able to reference them in the future.  Who knows, maybe someone "out there" would learn something as well.

Without further ado, here's my first attempt: Granola Bars.

I love this recipe from mealmakeovermoms.com and I thought I'd give it a go in the sun oven.

First off, I was impressed that after only 20 minutes, it was at 325 F!  That was much quicker than I thought it would take.  You could also really feel the heat coming out when you opened up the oven to put the food in.

 The recipe says to bake them for 18 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  I checked them after 18 minutes and they weren't done, but then I forgot to set a timer again and sort of forgot about them...  I think they were probably in there about 45 minutes, luckily, they ended up being great!

 As you can see, they even browned a bit!  One of the great things about the Sun Oven is that it just heats up the air inside the oven, unlike a regular oven that blows heated air into the oven.  That means your food won't get dried out as it would in a regular oven if you say, forgot about it...

They turned out just as yummy as usual.  Hooray!

PS I bought my sun oven here- they are having a 20% off sale on the newer American version, until June 21st, if you're interested.