Crunchy Granola!

A few weeks ago I made a double batch of granola and I honestly remember blogging about it, but either it wasn't saved or I dreamt it. I even told a friend who tried it a few days ago that the recipe was posted on my blog. And guess what?!? She couldn't find it. And neither could I. So... ANYWHO!! Here it is now!

This is truthfully the best granola - and not because I made it.  It has the right balance. It is a lovely concoction of toasty, salty, sweetness that is quite addicting. We've been eating it sprinkled on Greek yogurt, as a topping with fresh fruit on hot oatmeal, in a big bowl with milk, or just as a snack straight out of the jar. My husband says this is the best batch yet and THIS time I actually wrote down the recipe! Yay me!

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups old fashioned oats

1 cup slivered Almonds 

1 cup Pecan pieces  

1/2 sesame seeds (flax seeds would be good too!)

3/4 cup unsweetened Coconut 

1 tsp salt  Kosher salt

1 tsp Cinnamon  

 1 cup Honey 

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/3 cup Peanut butter

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat oven to 300* and lightly grease a deep 9 x 13 baking dish.

2) Mix all the dry ingredients - oats, nuts, coconut, seeds, salt, spices -  in a LARGE bowl.

3) In a separate bowl mix the honey oil, and peanut butter until combined.  4) Pour over the dry ingredients and stir until everything is coated and spread evenly in your prepared baking pan.

5) Bake for a total of 50 - 55 minutes, stir at 25 minutes, and again at 40. You'll know it's done when it is a lovely golden brown and  smells heavenly!

NOTE: The granola WILL NOT be crunchy at first. Let it cool and harden completely in the pan. Then transfer & store in an airtight container.

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Cheesy Beer Bread

Today for lunch we are visiting my husband at work. The few times we have visited, I have brought a little something for his office mates - a peace offering of sorts for exposing them to the cacophony that is my children. They are good girls, but easily excited and the word quiet simply is not in their vocabulary. Today I made a quick beer bread recipe based on one in the America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book.

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/2 cups AP flour

1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1 Tbsp chives

3 Tbsp sugar 

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 1/4 cups beer (I used a pilsner)

4 Tbsp canola oil

1 T butter - melted

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat oven to 350*. Grease a 9" loaf pan.

2) Mix flour, cheese, chives, sugar, baking powder, salt, & pepper in a large bowl. Stir in beer & oil until just combined and no dry bits are left. It will be a thick batter. Careful not to over mix.

3) Scrape the batter into the greased loaf pan & smooth the top. Brush with the melted butter.

4) Bake until golden brown and it passes the toothpick test - about 45 minutes.

5) Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire cooling rack, and let cool for at least 1 hour before serving.

And here is the loaf! My house smells so yummy! Can't wait to see how they like it.

Shhh! They are good for you!

My cousin brought me three zucchini from her garden. 3 GIANT foot long baseball bat thick zucchini!! What to do? What to do? Muffins!! And how about Chocolate in them too?!? YES!!

The first thing I did was grate all of the zucchini. I discovered through looking at over a dozen recipes that you can freeze grated zucchini to use at another time. I ended up with almost 12 cups grated zucchini! Woohoo!!

I mentioned in previous posts that I've been trying cut down on the amount of refined and processed foods we eat. And I am moving our family towards a more gluten free diet (I'm not quite ready to give up bread though!)  So I did an online search and looked at recipe after recipe. I found a bunch of great recipes, but most were complicated or had unusual ingredients. Here is the recipe I ended up creating based on what I have in the house:

Cocolicious Zucchini Muffins
DRY INGREDIENTS:

1 cup old fashioned oats

1 cup almond meal

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp cinnamon 

1 Tbsp cocoa powder

WET INGREDIENTS:

2 cups shredded zucchini (squeezed dry)

3 Tbsp flax meal + 9 Tbsp water (or 3 eggs)

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup raw honey (or use agave if you are looking to make these vegan)

Non- stick cooking spray

Chocolate chips (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat oven to 350* and grease your muffin tin (makes 12 muffins)

2) In a food processor, pulse oats & almond meal until a fine flour is achieved.

3) In a medium sized bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients making sure there are no lumps & everything is combined. Set aside.

4) In a large bowl, combine all the wet ingredients. Then stir in the dry.

5) Divide the batter evenly to achieve 12 muffins. The cups will be 2/3 to 3/4 full.

6) Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted cones out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.

And here are the coco zucchini muffins in all their dense cocoa good for you tasty glory. You'll notice I decided to pile some up with chocolate chips - I put them on right out of the oven so that they are nice and gooey. Try them, I DOUBLE DOG DARE YOU! 

Series Of Unfortunate Events

Tonight we has fish had quinoa with dinner. The good news is that the kids LOVED it. All 3 ate an amazing amount of the fish. The quinoa on the other hand was only loved by our littlest. And that is the start of the not so good news - she got it in every crevice and fold. So we decided to rinse her in the kitchen sink.

Well, little miss wiggles wanted to get down and play. I decided to let her play without a stitch on since bath time was only 15 minutes away. What could go wrong in 15 minutes, right? Riiiiight! 

Not even 5 minutes later I hear her slowly and repeatedly saying "Uh oh. Uh oh." And then the older girls start shouting "EWE!!!" I stepped around the couch to see what was wrong and I found the baby sitting on the carpet, holding poop, and sitting next to a rather impressive pile. Bath time instantly got moved up. Baby needed decontaminating. Carpet needed washing. Older sisters needed calming. And I... needed to be done with this day.

I was SOO ready for a glass of wine and some shut eye. Whew, what a day! And that was only the last part! Good gracious!  

Baked Flautas ! Cha Cha Cha!

Last night we had baked flautas for dinner and while they are hardy traditional, OH MY GOODNESS they were good! Now I'm not a big left overs person in general, but I HAD to have them again for lunch today. And your crock pot does most of the work for you! You can't beat that!

Here is the recipe. Is supper easy and the filling could be easily used in tacos, on nachos, burritos, or even over rice and beans with some fresh veg like green onions, avocado, pico de gallo and topped with salsa & sour cream. Goodness, I think I'm drooling! Back to the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

1 bag of frozen BLSL chicken tenders

1 large jar of salsa (I used Herdez, mild)

1 can of corn, drained

1 - 12oz can of low sodium V8

2 Tbsp ground cumin

2 cups grated Colby Jack cheese

1 cup grated  mozzarella cheese

8 flour tortillas

Non stick cooking spray or aerosol oil

Optional toppings: additional salsa, sour cream, or guacamole 

DIRECTIONS:

1) Dump the chicken, salsa, corn, cumin, & V8 into your crock pot and cook on high for 3 hours. 

2) Remove the chicken, and using 2 forks, shred it all and return it to the crock pot, stirring to combine.

3) Cook for another hour on high.

4) Scoop 1/2 the chicken mixture out into a wide shallow bowl and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes. The other half can be saved for another meal.

ASSEMBLEY AND BAKING:

1) Preheat oven to 400*.

2) Coat a 9 x 13 baking dish with non stick cooking spray.

3) Take your cooled chicken mixture and stir in the Colby Jack cheese until combined.

4) Take a flour tortilla and sprinkle down the middle with about a tablespoon of the mozzarella cheese. Add about a 1/4 cup of chicken mixture on top of the cheese, spreading into an even pile from one side to the other and roll up tight, just like when you are making enchiladas.

5) Place seam side down in your prepared baking dish. Repeat with remaing cheese, chicken mixture, & tortillas.

6) Spray the tops of all the flautas with non stick cooking spray or aerosol oil. This helps the tortillas to crisp up.

7) Cook uncovered for approximately 20 minutes. I checked at 18 minutes and they were a lovely brown, so I pulled them out.

8) Serve with your choice of salsa, sour cream, and or guacamole. 

Pictured below is my lunch. I simply topped it with chopped up cherry tomatoes & avocado. Then had apples and cucumbers as sides. For dinner I served the flautas with Mexican rice, slices of avocado, and home made pinto beans.