Easy Overnight Granola

I recently found this recipe on the Alicia Cooks blog. I made a double batch this week and I've been enjoying it as breakfast cereal each morning since. It would also be a great topping for ice cream, yogurt, applesauce, etc. The best part about this granola, apart from it's slight sweetness and warm spices, is that it has clusters! All of my other granola making attempts have resulted in a loose granola that is impossible to eat without a spoon.
This will be my new go-to granola recipe. Alicia's recipe is a great basic granola so it's perfect for adding whatever flavors are your favorite. I added chopped pecans and almonds to mine. If you add nuts, put them in before baking. If you're adding dried fruit, add them after the granola bakes and cools.

Overnight Granola

1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. salt
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup quick oats (not instant)

Preheat your oven to 300*.

Combine oil, honey, vanilla, spices, and salt in a small dish and stir to combine. Place oats in a large bowl and stir to mix the two kinds up, then add the liquid ingredients and stir until well coated. Spread the oat mixture out on a baking sheet or large jelly roll pan. (I pressed the mixture down with my hands to help form clusters)

Place the oats in the oven and bake for 10 minutes and then turn off the oven and leave the granola inside. Do not open the oven. You can leave the granola in overnight to cool or take it out after about 3 hours.

Stir a bit to declump and store it in an airtight container at room temperature.

Makes 6 servings

Easy Juice Gelatine

It's really easy to make your own "Jello" using gelatine and juice. Two ingredients... couldn't be easier!

Here's what you'll need:
Gelatine - You can usually find it on the top shelf near the Jello. Get the unflavored variety.

Then you'll need a strongly flavored juice. I chose berry this time but any flavor will do. I've tried apple juice before and it's kind of "blah" since apple juice is mildly flavored.

Take 1-4 packets of gelatine and sprinkle it over one cup of cold juice. Let it sit for a few minutes.

Why 1-4 packets? Well, 1 packet will yield a soft set jello. Still giggly but you have to use a spoon. 4 packets will give you firm, cutable, hold in your hand "jigglers".

Heat 3 cups of juice until almost boiling. It's not a big deal if it actually boils.

Stir the hot juice into the cold juice/gelatine mixture and stir for 5 minutes.

Either leave it in the bowl or pour it into a 9x13 pan. Refrigerate until set (3 hours). Enjoy!

My kids love it. It's so much better for them then packaged jello that is just gelatine, sugar, and flavorings. I think we'll try a firm set next time and try cutting out shapes with cookie cutters!

My Favorite Homemade Granola Bars

I've done it! I've finally found a granola bar recipe that I LOVE. I've found ones before that I've liked but none have been amazing. They're usually way too sweet and fall apart. This granola bar recipe has it all. It's simple, has few ingredients, they're crunchy without being hard, they hold together really well, and they're lightly sweet. I'd definitely recommend you give this one a try.

Chocolate Chip Granola Bars (Whole Foods Market.com)

4 cups quick cooking oats
1/3 cup oil
2/3 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips (chopped)
1 cup finely chopped nuts (optional-I didn't add them this time)

Preheat the oven to 350*.

Spread oats on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, stirring a couple of times. Allow oats to cool to room temperature.
Combine remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add cooled oats. Spread mixture into a 9x13 baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Press mixture firmly into the baking dish. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool completely and cut into 16 bars.
See how the oats in the foreground are darker? Be sure to stir often while toasting the oats so they don't get darker then this medium brown.

I'm glad I thought to chop the chocolate chips before adding them. Because the quick oats give the bars a finer texture, I thought big chocolate chips wouldn't work. Chopping them also made sure that each bite has a bit of chocolate.

Is it strange that I find ingredients pretty?

I used a piece of plastic wrap sprayed with Pam to press the mixture into the pan. (take the plastic away before baking, of course)

After they were cool and cut (this was tough so use a sharp knife and be careful), I put the bars into snack sized bags so they would be ready for lunch boxes or to throw into my purse on the way out the door.

I'm looking forward to trying different flavor combinations using this recipe. I think dried cranberries and pecans would be great. You could really add just about anything in place of the chocolate chips as long as they were small enough... cinnamon chips, raisins, walnuts, dried blueberries, candied ginger, the possibilities are endless.

Fruit Popsicles

I've found a homemade popsicle that the kids really love. I've tried just fruit juice in the past but they didn't really love them. This time I pureed fruit mixed with pineapple juice to sweeten it (you don't have to use pineapple... I just use it because I save the juice from any can of pineapple I open). These popsicles turn out like those "whole fruit" popsicles that sell for big bucks in the store.
This version was strawberries, banana, and pineapple juice. I've also made yogurt pops with banana, vanilla yogurt, and whatever other fruit I have around.
Easy, cheap, healthy....

This Week In Food

Wow, I'm really slacking with the blog this week. We've had such wonderful weather that we've been spending a lot of time outside lately. I have a lot to catch up on. I'll start with a post full of food. I like to post the successful new recipes that I try so I can keep track of them. I tend to have a stack of printed out recipes with scribbles all over them with the changes I've made. Posting them keeps them much more organized and readable.


Homemade Ice Cream
adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe

8 egg yolks
2/3 cup of sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
3 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla

In a large sauce pan, whisk together all of the ingredients except for the vanilla. Stir constantly over medium heat (I switch to a wooden spoon after the sugar is dissolved). Cook until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the wooden spoon. Take the custard off of the heat and stir in the vanilla. Transfer mixture into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap (making sure the plastic wrap touches the top of the custard to avoid a skin forming) Refrigerate until the custard is cold. Pour it into your ice cream maker... simple as that.

I like to freeze ours in small storage containers so no one is tempted to eat the whole batch in one sitting. Though I know no one in this house (Jon) would do that.

Super Easy Peanutty Snack Mix (from the top of the Smuckers Peanut butter)

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup peanut butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. cinnamon

4 cups Cheerios (I used 2 cups honey nut and 2 cups regular)

1 cup peanuts

1 cup mini pretzels (I didn't have any so I used another cup of plain cheerios)

Heat oven to 350* and line a baking sheet with foil.

In a microwave safe bowl, combine butter and peanut butter and microwave until the butter is fully melted. Stir in vanilla and cinnamon.

In a large bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients. Pour the butter mixture on the cereal and mix well. Pour onto the baking pan and bake for 10-12 minutes. Let it cool and store in airtight containers.

**I also added raisins to this mix AFTER baking. This recipe can be really flexible. I think you could probably substitute any similar cereal for the cheerios. I bet Chex would work well. You could change out the peanuts for another nut... or add other dried fruits. I loved how the cereal stayed nice and crunchy even after 5 days.

"See my cheerio?"

Evan is a good cinnamon shaker.

I'm going to be making a double batch of this before we go on our next trip. It would be a perfect car munchy snack.




Oven Roasted Crispy Potatoes

This is more of a method instead of a recipe. I've roasted potatoes before but have never gotten them crispy. I finally have figured out how to oven roast them so the bottoms are nice and golden brown and crispy.

Potatoes (I like Russet for oven roasting)

Olive Oil

Lard

Salt (I used sea salt)

Pepper

Preheat oven to 450*. Cut up the potatoes in large chunks. Put them into a large casserole dish or on a baking sheet. Pour enough olive oil on the potatoes to coat them heavily. Put little bits of lard around in the pan so it'll melt when the pan goes in the oven. I put about a tablespoon total. The lard was the essential crisping ingredient. Sprinkle liberally with salt and as much pepper as you like. Toss the potatoes around so they're coated and bake for 45-60 minutes. (I stirred the potatoes about 10 minutes after I put them in the oven so that the melted lard would be evenly distributed)

I used this same method over the weekend for french fries but cutting the potatoes into spears and laying them in one layer on a baking sheet. YUM!





Mini Fruit Pies

I had leftover pie crust and decided to use it to make mini fruit pies using a muffin tray.

I used a large drinking cup to cut out circles from the pie crust.

I sprayed a muffin pan liberally with non-stick spray and then lined each one with a crust disk.

I still had a quart sized bag of frozen strawberries leftover from last summer so I tossed them with 2 Tbsp. of corn starch, 1/4 cup of sugar, a little cinnamon, a little salt, and a bit of vanilla. I baked them at 400* for about 40 minutes.

Before

After

The cornstarch left a bit of white powder on the tops of the pies but otherwise I was over the moon pleased with these. The juices gelled nicely so that the pies held together and were easy to get out of the pan. Between Jon and I, these only lasted 2 or 3 days. Very, very delicious.




Whole Wheat Banana Bread (adapted from King Arthur Flour recipe)

(I doubled the following recipe so I could freeze one loaf)

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

3 very ripe bananas

3 Tbsp. peach jam (or any other slightly tart jam)

2 Tbsp. honey

2 large eggs

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt (because I use salted butter... if you use unsalted butter, use 1 tsp. of salt)

2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

Preheat oven to 325* and grease a 9x5 loaf pan.

In a food processor, puree all wet ingredients (butter, sugar, honey, vanilla, jam, bananas, eggs) until smooth.

In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients well. Pour in wet ingredients and stir just until combined but DON'T OVERMIX!

Bake for 45 minutes, lay a piece of aluminum foil over the top of the pan to prevent over browning and the bake for 25 more minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes then turn it out onto a rack to cool completely.

*This banana bread is great on it's own but it's heavenly when you toast a slice and top it with plenty of butter.




Peach Pie

Before

After

No recipe to go with this one. I used the same recipe as my apple pie but I used a gallon sized bag full of frozen peaches from last summer. This pie had great flavor but because I left the peaches mostly frozen, the bottom crust didn't get quite done enough. It also leaked all over my oven because the peaches were so juicy. Next time I think I'll let the peaches thaw halfway, drain any extra liquid from them, and definitely put them on the bottom rack of the oven lined with a cook sheet to pick up any spills.

Her cousin, the apple pie behind her, was delicious just the way it was. Miss Apple Pie also didn't leak all over my oven. Not that I'm playing pie favorites....

Honey Wheat Rolls (from King Arthur flour)

I actually didn't change this recipe at all except to make the rolls larger so I could use them as hamburger buns.

These made delicious hamburger buns (they're topped with butter in case you were wondering what that was in the picture). I wanted a softer, potato bread style bun and this was it. I'll definitely be making these again as dinner rolls or hamburger buns.

Lentil Brown Rice Casserole

After reading a few recipes online for various lentil/brown rice dishes, I came up with this one. It was amazing. Jon even loved it and he's not a bean lover like I am. It was healthy, filling, and so inexpensive. It took me 5 minutes to get it ready for the oven. I'm going to be making this a lot more often.

Preheat the oven to 300* (yes, a low oven).

In a 9x13 pan, add the following:

5 cups of chicken stock (I used unsalted homemade stock.. skip the extra salt if you use salted stock)

1 1/2 cups of lentils

1 cup brown rice

1 onion, chopped

3 medium carrots, chopped

1 tsp of salt **see note with the stock.. you may need to reduce the salt**

pepper

Stir all of the ingredients together. Cover with foil. Bake for about 2 hours. You'll know it's done with the broth has been absorbed. Stir in a few tablespoons of butter before serving.

Ginger Snaps (adapted from this recipe)

This recipe makes a lot of cookies. I froze half of the cookies after I baked them.

2 sticks of butter, softened

1/2 cup lard, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup molasses

4 cups flour (I used 3 c. whole wheat pastry & 1 c. All purpose)

4 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

3 tsp. cinnamon

3 tsp. ginger

1 tsp. nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375*.

Cream butter, lard, sugar, and molasses until fluffy. Add eggs one at at time and the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture a little at a time until full combined. Put the batter in the fridge to firm up for a few hours.

Roll the dough into balls about an inch around. Be sure to put the cookie balls about 1 1/2 " away from each other since they spread into discs. Bake for about 11 minutes. Cool on a rack.

The cookies on the left were baked for about 12 minutes and are crispy all the way through. The lighter cookies on the right were only baked for about 9 minutes. They were crispy on the edges but chewy in the center. Either way is perfectly delicious.

These have been a hit around here. They're spicy, a bit sweet, and wonderfully crisp.

Well, I'm hungry now... how about you?

Last Week In Food

This has been a busy week in the kitchen. To continue my effort to make more foods from scratch, therefore eating fewer processed foods, I kept the oven busy this week. Here's what we've been eating.

Homemade Hamburger Buns. This is a good recipe. I'm not going to call it my favorite yet since I'm looking for a softer, almost potato bread type bun. That might be hard to attain though since I want to use mostly whole wheat flour. I skipped the onion powder and bagel seasoning since I didn't have either.

The buns spread outward as well and upward while rising so I had to make our local ground beef into very thin, wide burgers. They were delicious!

These bagels were a bust. I was so excited to make homemade bagels but I think between not letting them rise quite enough and by using only whole wheat flour, they turned out more like chewy hockey pucks. I tossed these and I'll experiment with other recipes and post the keeper recipe. Feel free to suggest a recipe if you know of one that is a winner.

Mmmmm... more graham crackers. I cut them out using spring inspired cookie cutters.


These graham crackers never last long around here.

We eat breakfast for dinner about once a week around here. This was a busy weeknight dinner of local eggs, homemade bread toasted with homemade jam, and homemade strawberry applesauce. It took me about 10 minutes to make dinner and it's a whole lot healthier and cheaper then fast food or ordering take out.

Charlotte helped me make pudding popsicles this weekend. We made vanilla ....

and chocolate using the pudding recipes found here. I make up a bag of mix and keep it in the pantry so I can make pudding whenever we get a craving. It's not as rich as an custard based pudding but it's still delicious. The kids love it. I need to pick up more popsicle molds at the store this summer. (pouring the cooked pudding into a spouted measuring cup makes it much easier to pour into the mold)

I was looking up local food co-ops and buying clubs after reading about how much money they can save you on The Inadvertent Farmer blog. The Deep Roots Market was the only thing I came up with in my search. It's about 25 minutes away so the kids and I headed there on Saturday morning while Jon with with his high school band kids at All State try-outs.

I was hoping to find bulk grains, nuts, flours, etc. at a great price to be able to stock up. Unfortunately, I found a very small, jam-pack store that in many ways was just like Whole Foods in price. Everything was MUCH more expensive then I could afford. The boxed cereal was at least $2.00 more per box then I can find at a regular grocery store. The flours and grains were no bargain. I'm fully willing to pay a bit more for healthy food but I'd go broke buying from stores like this.

We left Deep Roots and headed to the farmer's market. They have an indoor space where vendors set up year round. I have a favorite shop at the farmer's market, J & S Farms, that is struggling to make ends meet right now. He usually carries every kind of flour and grain you can imagine, mostly local and all milled locally, but he can't put in a grain order because he's only making enough to pay the rent on the space. He carries local meats, cheeses, eggs, milk, and a little bit of anything you could imagine. If you're local, please consider shopping at the farmer's market to help keep these small family farms/businesses afloat.

I did end up picking up some organic sugar, semolina flour, roasted peanuts, local honey, and a butternut squash.

It was so beautiful on Saturday that we got to eat our lunches outside. The pudding (leftover from making popsicles) was the first thing to be eaten.

I made eight loaves of bread. I'm using 100% whole wheat flour now (mostly white whole wheat
) and I need to learn to let it rise a bit longer since the loaves came out a bit shorter then they usually do. I put it in the freezer to be taken out as we need them.

I made pizza the other day with more of the local sausage. I made small pizzas for the kids and a larger one for Jon. When I got to making mine, I decided to make it into a calzone of sorts. I rolled out the dough, spread out pizza sauce on half and sprinkled it with sausage, sealed up the little pocket, and baked it at 400* until it looked done. It was AMAZING! I can't wait to make more!

These are supposed to be homemade crunchy pretzels. I say "supposed to be" because they didn't work. I think I had the same problems that I had with the bagels. I used White Whole Wheat flour and didn't let them rise enough to combat the density that can happen with whole grains. I also didn't bake them long enough so they came out dense and slightly chewy/crunchy. The flavor was really good though so I'll give these another shot soon with using a little All Purpose flour mixed with my Whole Wheat and let it rise more before boiling them.

These are Pumpkin Gingerbread muffins. YUM!!!! These are now my second favorite muffin after my apple butter muffins.

Pumpkin Gingerbread Muffins (adapted from a King Arthur's Flour recipe)

3/4 c. butter, melted

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. honey

3 Tbsp. molasses

2 cups pumpkin puree (or a 15oz. can)

3 eggs

2 3/4 C. Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (you could use A.P. if you want)

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. ground ginger

Preheat oven to 350*

Spray about 20 muffin cups with Pam or line them with muffin cups.

In a large bowl, mix together all dry ingredients. In a small bowl, mix together all of the wet ingredients. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir ONLY until just combined. DO NOT OVER MIX. Fill muffin cups 2/3 of the way to the top. Bake until toothpick comes out clean (~20 minutes).

And finally, last night I put chili in the crock pot to cook all day since I used dried beans. I used a combination of kidney and black beans that I had soaked overnight. I added corn at the last minute. I used my cast iron skillet to bake/fry some corn cakes using my cornbread recipe. I made sure to put plenty of butter in the skillet before adding the batter. They were delicious!! I'll definitely be making them that way more often. Charlotte has requested the leftover corn cakes for dinner again tonight.

I have loved the added baking and cooking that I've been doing lately. I've found the challenge of making more from scratch to be very therapeutic for me. It gives me a creative outlet and I find it a lot of fun to search for recipes. I wonder what I'll make this week....

Flaxseed Cookies, Travel Plans, And an Olympic Update

A weekend away! Yippee! I am so excited because my kids have officially hit "that age". The age I've been dreaming of. The age where they're easy to take on trips. The age where they can play together and keep each other entertained. The age where they can both sit to eat at a regular table (though boosters are still helpful).

Jon has a band obligation out of town this weekend and usually the kids and I would stay home. Cabin fever is starting to sink in and I jumped at the chance for us to tag along. Luckily we're only going about 90 miles away so it won't be a long drive.

I wanted to share some of the food that I'm taking along. I've kept my resolutions in mind while packing for this trip. Instead of packing an armload of boxes of processed snacks, I tried to bring as many homemade snacks as I had time to make.

.
First, a new recipe. These cookies are so delicious. I have a hard time stopping at 2... or 3.... or 4... They remind me of an oatmeal cookie but with a wonderful nutty, flax seed flavor.

Flax Seed Cookies

3/4 C. Butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened
3/4 C brown sugar
2 Large Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 1/2 Ground Flax seed (I find it in a box next to the flour in the baking aisle)
1 3/4 C Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1/2 Tbsp. Baking Soda
1 1/2 C. Oatmeal (grind it up in the food processor a bit but not so fine that it's powder)

Preheat oven to 350*

1. In a medium bowl, cream butter and sugar together.
2. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until well blended.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the remaining ingredients well.
4. Add the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until combined.
5. Drop dough onto lightly greased cookie sheet leaving a bit of space between cookies.
6. Bake for about 10-13 minutes or until the edges just barely become golden brown. The center will still look under-cooked. Don't over bake or they will be dry!! Let them cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring them onto a cooling rack.




The last time I made Apple Butter Muffins, I made a double batch and froze half of them. I'm taking these muffins with us on our trip.

I also baked some graham crackers this week so they're going as well.

We'll be going out to eat tomorrow night but luckily the hotel room has a mini fridge and a microwave so for tonight's dinner I packed mac&cheese leftovers from last night and the small hot pockets from 2 night's ago.

I'm also bringing some cereal, applesauce, and bananas.

Enough about packing... moving on to knitting Olympic update...

Here is my sock so far. I've knit the heel flap but don't have time to learn to turn the heel before we go.

Does anyone know why my 1x1 ribbing looks like it's wrong side out? One side of the stitch is sticking out further then the other.

See you in a couple of days!