Breakfast Granola

I like clean food. I like food that doesn't have a whole lot of extra ingredients that I can't pronounce. That always makes me nervous. And, once upon a time, I read Michael Pollan's book, In Defense of Food, and I really liked it. There's a part in there about how our grandmothers wouldn't recognize what we call food today as food. He specifically brings up yogurt. And I discovered that even plain yogurt sometimes isn't just milk and bacteria. So I started making my own yogurt. My first attempt (I blogged about it here) was a total bust. I had icky milk with yogurt aftertaste in a jar. I then borrowed the Home Ec teacher's yogurt maker and had amazing success! Knowing I have to return it at some point, I asked for one for Christmas. And I got it! Hooray!! 

I under cooked my first batch. oops. Oh well. Today I'm making batch #2 and I have high hopes!

The question becomes though: "What? Do you just eat plain yogurt?" Um no. Homemade yogurt is delicious and doesn't really need a sweetener, but it's, um, plain. So I searched Pinterest (God I love Pinterest!) and found some granola recipes. And I started making granolas. I made this one. And this one. And this one! And I started fiddling around with the recipes. Finally I came up with a recipe I like a TON. And I'm going to share it with you. 

Princess is stirring the granola!

Another nice thing about granola, besides how tasty it is, is that the princess can help! This is especially good because we've been kinda trapped inside our home since the beginning of the year. We didn't get the giant snowstorm that was in the forecast, but it's been really really cold. And my darling princess has a cold. I think when she gets older, it will be fun to have her help me all the time, but for now we're sticking to stirring the granola and helping to scramble the eggs for breakfast.

The Princess eating eggs that she helped scramble!

Yummy Breakfast Granola

An original Shazamer recipe

4 C Old Fashioned Oats

1 ½ C slivered almonds

½ C packed brown sugar

½ tsp salt

½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp pumpkin pie spice

¼ C canola oil

¼ C maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup sweetened coconut flakes

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup sunflower seeds

½ cup dried apricots, chopped

Preheat oven to 300°F

Mix oats, almonds, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice together in large container. In a small bowl combine oil, syrup, and vanilla. Pour liquid ingredients into oats. Stir until well mixed.

Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper. Spread granola evenly on pan.

Bake 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

Add coconut, stir, and bake 5 more minutes. When finished, mix in cranberries, sunflower seeds, and apricots and allow to cool completely.

Enjoy.

Disturbance in the Force...

 Have you ever heard news that was so completely heartbreakingly shocking that it shook you? Hard? That was Tuesday for me.

I was driving home from work through the rural Ohio landscape. Running into my standard delays.

I was crawling along slow enough that I don't think I endangered anyone taking this photo.

And I know I wasn't even close to danger in this one. The only way to take a non-blurry photo of a train at a crossing is if that train happens not to be moving.

So there I was, taking forever to get home, and I decided (as I sometimes do when stuck at substantial delays on my commute) to check Facebook on my phone. I was surprised to discover that I had a message and there had been 17 updates to it. I wasn't panicky because I figured it was one of those messages from my friends or family that someone was participating in a Team in Training event, or someone was looking for a tutor, or something like that. But when I opened the message thread it seemed like for a brief moment the world stopped.

To quote Obi-Wan, "I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened."

Lisa had died. It is still so hard to process that someone so vivacious, so full of life, so encouraging, and so friendly was gone. A great big HUGE empty hole is left in the universe. Lisa affected so many people with her wit and her charm and her unbelievable sense of humor. Just like literally thousands of other food bloggers, I would have never started blogging if it hadn't been for her. If you read my very first blog post, I was already following the Daring Bakers, a group that Lisa and a friend co-founded. I felt so happy to be in the first 300 to sign on. It was the idea (she never did post the recipe) of her calamari sauce that I drooled over. I was lucky enough that I got to meet Lisa and her friends. Even though I was nervous, uncomfortable and completely lost, Lisa accepted me with open arms. She became the little voice in my head cheering me on. Just last week, when I asked my Facebook friends if any of them had ever made yogurt (I'm trying to get away from chemicals). Lisa encouraged me. She told me that the Daring Cooks had just done it.

I did make that yogurt Lisa. Gah! Well I attempted to make that yogurt. It totally failed. Completely liquid. It made me think of some of those Daring Baker challenges that just didn't work out. And that made me smile to remember how hard those challenges were and just how rewarding. Wednesday, I went into work determined. I borrowed the yogurt maker machine from the Home Ec teacher. I exactly followed the manufacturer's directions. And today I did it. There is yogurt in my fridge. 

And a hole in the force that can never be filled.

(I don't actually think Lisa was a Star Wars geek, but it's part of the culture of people our age. I think it would have made her smile.) 

Faux Creamsicles

I'm at a baseball game today, but if you don't live in the Northeast, and you are living somewhere where the temperature might actually be scorching, try a popsicle. These tasty and delicious popsicles are way more healthy than those delicious orange and ice cream popsicles. The recipe is super easy, super delicious, super cheap, and pretty much made from stuff I had on hand. If you don't have popsicle molds, you could try just freezing the popsicles in dixie cups for about an hour or two and then sticking a popsicle stick in until it freezes solid.

yum yum yum!

Vanilla-Orange Freezer Pops

from Eating Well

1 1/2 cups orange juice

1 1/2 cups nonfat vanilla yogurt

2 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix the ingredients together in a bowl. Pour among 6 popsicle molds and freeze until solid.

Happy Birthday Super G!

29 years ago today I came downstairs in my pajamas for breakfast only to find my Uncle Tom sitting there in the family room. Mom and Dad were no where to be found. That's because Mom went into labor in the early morning and lo and behold produced my sister Super G. And thus began a great big sister, little sister relationship. Super G is brilliant, like seriously a genius and as a kid I may have convinced her all sorts of horrible things just to mess with her. But now I cherish our relationship. We talk almost every day and we laugh, we cry, we fume, and we bake together. I'm really happy that she came into my life.

And she came over for dinner yesterday. See Her and her husband, the Tummy, had to return her stepson, Medium Dude, to his mother in Michigan. So they stopped here and spent the night. Which provided an excellent opportunity for us to celebrate her birthday.

Special occasions call for lamb chops. Medium Dude, who I've heard is a selective eater, even tried one and liked it. This is my favorite lamb chop recipe. It's from the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook. This cookbook has a surprising number of tasty recipes that just happen to be a little healthier than might otherwise be if they were to be found in some of those other cookbooks. And these Lamb Chops with Yogurt-Mint Sauce are not only healthy, but they're quick too. And I used a cucumber from my garden too.

I did alter this a teensy bit from the original recipe so I am not going to include the points value. Mostly the thing I changed is that the original recipe calls for 4 (5oz) bone in lamb chops, but I prefer the smaller ones. I think they're more tender.

Lamb Chops with Yogurt-Mint Sauce

from Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook

8 (3oz) bone in loin lamb chops, about 1 inch thick

3/4 cup plain fat free yogurt

1/2 cucumber, seeded and chopped roughly

1/4 cup fresh mint leaves

3 scallions sliced

1 garlic clove, chopped

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

1/2 tsp salt

freshly ground pepper to taste

Remove the lamb chops from the refrigerator about 1 hour before cooking. Preheat the broiler.

In a blender or food processor, combine the yogurt, cucumber, mint, scallions, and garlic and puree. Season with the crushed red pepper and 1/4 tsp of salt. Let stand at room temperature for at least 10 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.

Meanwhile, season the lamb with the remaining 1/4 tsp salt and the black pepper. Place on the broiler rack and broil 3-4 inches from the heat until done to taste, about 5 minutes per side for medium rare. Serve topped with the cucumber mint sauce.