Granola

I have been on a long quest for making my own granola for some time now, and I am finally happy with this recipe.  This quest started because over the years I have realized there are way too many prepackaged snacks.  What did mothers do 50 years ago?  Not only do I hate to think about all of the preservatives and empty calories, but I can't take all the packaging waste.  A box for the product and then all the wrappers.  It makes me crazy to create all the trash just for a few bites.  So I have slowly being trying to replace our store bought snacks with ones we make at home.

The two best things about this recipe is that it is very easy to make and you can substitute in and out your favorite nuts and dried fruit.

Preheat oven to 250

3 cups rolled oats

3/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut

1/4 brown sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 1/2 cup chopped pecans (I used pecans because I love them and they came out of my Grandmother's tree)

1/4 vegetable oil

1/4 pure maple syrup

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup rasins

Mix dry ingredients into a lagre bowl, keeping rasins a side.  In a smaller bowl mix all of the wet ingredients   Combine well together and then spread onto a cookie sheet with an edge.

 Place into a preheated over of 1 hour and 15 mins.  Turn the granola every 15 mins so that it will brown evenly.

Once it is cooled store in an air tight container.  I can not tell you how long it will keep because it is typical gone with in 48 hours.

This granola is fantastic on its own, on top of yogurt, but this our family's new go to breakfast cereal.

I will separate some portions out for snacks to be put in our pantry's snack box (more on that later)

Enjoy!

Robin-

Yummy Sunday Dinner

I love soups and stews. That is one of the best things about fall and winter for me. Tonight we tried and new recipe and it was a great hit with everyone in the house.

Creole Rice and Bean Soup

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 large carrots, diced

1 med onion, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1 small green pepper, seeded and diced

1 small red pepper, seeded and diced

2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 (28oz) can crushed tomatoes

1 (28oz) can whole tomatoes with their juice

4 cups vegetable stock

1 (15 oz) can coconut milk

1/4 cup brown rice

1 (15oz) can red kidney beans, rinsed

3 cups chopped and washed kale

1 (10oz) package frozen peas

3 to 4 sprigs fresh thyme

1/2 bunch parsley, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Heat the canola oil in a large pot over medium heat; saute the carrots, onion, celery, peppers, can dried thyme for 5 minutes, until the vegetables are crisp-tender.

Add the tomato puree, whole tomatoes, vegetable stock, and coconut milk to the pot; simmer for 5 minutes. Break the tomatoes apart with a spoon and add the rice.

Simmer uncovered for 45 to 50 minutes, until the rice is tender. Add the kidney beans, kale, peas, and fresh thyme; simmer for 10 minutes. Add the parsley; season with salt and pepper.



This soup was so colorful. It looked great in the bowl and was very easy to throw together. Which is nice on days like today when the baby was super fussy. We made cornbread to go along with it but crusty bread would be great too.

Enjoy

BLOCKS!!!

So, I have been trying to add a new post for over a week now, and besides the fact that I keep getting taken away from the computer to attend to my little ones, I have come to realize I have blog block!



As I started thinking about this I realized that is not the only place in my life right now that has a block, so I decided to make a list.

BLOGGER'S BLOCK: I have started a new post 3 times over the last week. Each new attempt has been about something different. I have too many ideas (things to say) floating around in my head. -mom's visit, 1st grade issues, birthday weekend, baby stories, 3yr old stories, the arrival of spring, possible road trips, the list goes on and on. Where to start... so I short circuit and write nothing. TOO MANY CHOICES!

SCRAP BOOKER'S BLOCK: We went to DisneyWorld in the beginning of December and here I sit with an empty scrapbook. I have the paper, photos, and the tools. I printed 92 out of 850 pictures. The 92 photos only covers half of the trip, so clearly I need to do some trimming. So I sit and stare at the pictures, the paper and short circuit. TOO MANY CHOICES.

PAINTER'S BLOCK: I have lived in my house for almost six years and when we moved in every wall was white and from the moment I moved in I have talked about painting. I love color. I love the warmth and cozy feeling it brings to a house. So, six years later I live in a house where 90% of the walls are still white. I have endless ideas and paint chips, several paint samples that I have yet to use because I short circuit. TOO MANY CHOICES.

CHEF'S BLOCK: I have gotten several new cookbooks lately and here again I thumb through the pages and I am left with TOO MANY CHOICES. So, my husband has helped me on the this one. I had him get me started, he has gone through and flagged what he wants to try. So thanks for helping me out on this one.

I am sure there are other BLOCKS in my life, but the kids are factor in those. Like the Lego container being spilled out just to find one block among the thousands that the boys own. (of course they have not picked up the blocks yet).

Like all things I know these things will resolve with time and there will be other bumps. But for now I am sick of BLOCKS.