Nutty Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

Summer is a time for lengthy afternoon swimming & lazy BBQ-ing & ice cold sun tea-ing & long after-dinner walking. It's a time for late nights out on the patio because it's still light outside. It's a time to play in your yard with your kid(s) & enjoy all of the mysteries of childhood ("mama! a bee!!!") Summer is hardly a time to be slaving away in the kitchen.

I'm not a big heat person. I know you're surprised since I grew up in northern Minnesota, but I'm more comfortable with cold. I know how to dress in layers & I guess I'm just used to packing with extra jackets "just in case." My mom always baked something (or at the very least, would turn on the oven to warm the house) on exceptionally chilly mornings, so I think I've just followed that routine. I know how to tolerate long, cold winters because it's in my blood.

What I don't know how to live through is the heat. In fact, since moving to La Crosse almost 4 years ago, this was the first house that I've lived in that has air conditioning & it's not even central air... it's one window unit in our bedroom. 

So in the summer, when things get incredibly hot/humid/moist (yep, I said it), I want to be anywhere but in the kitchen. I'm actually compiling a list of my favorite non-cooking dinners to rotate through in the summer so that this summer can be spent where we belong-- outside! 

(Please comment below with any of your favorite summer meals!)

Although these granola bars may not exactly be dinner worthy, they most definitely are snack worthy. We are big snackers & I'm fine with that as long as we are filling our tummies with healthy, wholesome foods. For some time I've been making our own granola bars because I am picky, cheap, & don't like the majority of ingredients in the majority of granola bars we can afford. Plus, I hate individually wrapped things (what a waste!)

All that said, this is the recipe that I've been using for the past couple of years. It's incredible, BUT it was still way too sweet. I mean it's delicious, don't get me wrong, but the line between snack & dessert was being breached a little too much for me. Plus, I still wasn't a fan of all the ingredients even after I swapped the brown sugar for demerara & the karo syrup for honey (rice krispies have high fructose corn syrup in them... whaaaat?!)

So when my friend Lindsay over at The Live-In Kitchen posted this recipe, I knew I had found a winner. I love that there are only 7 ingredients in the recipe, that it is so simple & quick to make & that it is entirely satisfying. All of the nuts make for some serious satisfaction & the small amount of chocolate chips helps me ride the wave of chocolate bliss without coming down crashing into a crabby mess. 

And am I the last person on earth to make things with dates & like them?! I feel like I've avoided all things with dates in them because I thought I hated them. I guess I may have to revisit some other recipes I've poo-pooed in the past, but don't think I'll be trying those nasty date-filled cookies anytime soon. That's just a little too fast too soon.

Nutty Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup raw almonds
1/2 cup raw cashews
1 cup packed dates, pitted
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup crunchy natural peanut butter
1/4 cup  chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spread the oats evenly on a baking sheet & toast in the oven for about 15 minutes or until they are slightly golden brown. When they are golden, transfer them to a medium bowl.

Place the almonds & cashews in a food processor & pulse a few times until roughly chopped. Add nuts to the bowl with the oats.

Place the dates in the food processor & process until well-chopped & dough-like (about 1 minute). Add the dates to the bowl with the nuts & oats.

In a small saucepan over low heat, warm the maple syrup & peanut butter. Once it's well combined & warm, pour it over the oat mixture. Mix thoroughly, breaking up the dates until thoroughly combined. Let the mixture cool for a few minutes before you add the chocolate chips (unless you like them to be melty). Line an 8x8 baking dish (or 9x13 if you don't want them to be so massively thick) with parchment paper & transfer the mix to the dish. Sprinkle a few more chocolate chips on top & press down with another piece of parchment until flattened. Transfer to the freezer for 10 minute to harden. Use the parchment to lift the bars out of the pan, then cut into 10 (more like 16 if using a 9x13) even bars.

Recipe taken from The Live-In Kitchen

Sweet Potato Zucchini Muffins

My perfect day would always involve a hearty muffin. Nothing too sweet, nothing too dense. Just hearty & delicious. When done right, they really are the perfect snack/treat no matter what the situation.

Right after Ruby was born, one of my friends brought over a large ziplock bag full of mini zucchini muffins. She labeled them "midnight nursing treats" & they were the best! Nursing made me super hungry, & mini muffins are just so easy to pop in your mouth, so it was a complete score.

My kid is the world's slowest eater at breakfast (usually when we need to be somewhere). Muffins can be the perfect breakfast on the go, minus the crumb factor.

And then there's just general business. Muffins are great when you need a little pick-me-up & don't have time to make something really healthy. They freeze well, too, so like in my case, I usually make 2 or 3 batches of a particular muffin we like, freeze the majority of them & then take them out as needed.

Although my husband could eat Kwik Trip muffins for the rest of his life, I know we are just too good for that. Those are pure sugar bombs & although I will admit that their double chocolate muffins just might be one of the most rich & chocolaty treat I've had, I shudder to read the ingredients,

My friends, these muffins I share with you are really the best of both worlds. They are hearty, they are mildly sweet, & guess what? There are 2 different veggies packed in them (plus 1 fruit). The veggies aren't hidden in puree form, so they make a sort of confetti look (one that Ruby generally picks out & squeals, "spinach!" before shoving it in her mouth).

I might be one of the only people who would prefer a more savory muffin to the crumb topped sugary ones, but I think that even the traditional muffin enjoyers would be satisfied by this muffin. If you're looking for a few other simple muffin recipes, check these ones out too:

• Blueberry muffins
• Whole wheat pumpkin, walnut & chocolate chip muffins
• Whole wheat carrot walnut muffins

I have a whole board on pinterest dedicated to muffins. Looks like I need to try out a few more recipes in the near future. What are your favorite muffin recipes?

Sweet Potato Zucchini Muffins

Ingredients
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/3 cup demerara sugar

1/2 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup milk
1 overripe mashed banana
2 tbsp ground flax seed (+4 tbsp water)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup grated zucchini
1 cup grated sweet potato

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Using a box grater or food processor, grate 1 cup of fresh zucchini (it took about three small zucchinis). Peel 1 medium sweet potato & do the same.

Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl & stir to combine. In a separate bowl, combine 2 tbsp ground flax with 1/4 cup water & set aside to thicken into a “flax egg.” Once thickened, combine all wet ingredients & add to the dry mixing bowl.

Grease your muffin pan (unless you are using silicone cups, there there's no need!) & spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown & cooked through. If using silicone cups, pop them out of the cups immediately & allow them to cool on a cooling rack.

Recipe adapted from The Daily Garnish

Whole Wheat Almond Pancakes

Yes, I know pancakes are really nothing new. Most people already have their favorite pancake recipes on hand, but I'm mostly just posting this so that I don't have to take 5 minutes to look through all my recipes I've pinned. This post is mostly for me, but it's so good that I thought you might enjoy it, too.

We use this recipe quite often, as we are big fans of breakfast for any meal. I usually end up making a big ol' batch of them about once a month & Ruby is delighted with a special pancake "treat" once a week for breakfast. What kind of mom am I that pancakes are a treat? Oh, an awesome mom? Thank you very much.

Before you get all compliment-y on me, just let me tell you that I usually slather her pancakes with homemade applesauce instead of maple syrup. For one thing, she really doesn't need any more sugar-type-energy & for a second thing, I am kind of a maple syrup hoarder/snob. We buy the good stuff around here (please don't ever show up to my house with a bottle of Mrs. Buttersworth!) so I might get a little panicky when I see mounds of syrup oozing onto a plate.

Real maple syrup is one of those little things in life that just make it a little bit sweeter (yep, I went there). It's quite delicious in coffee (especially with whole milk & dark cocoa powder), it is scrumptious in basic almond granola & whole wheat corn bread, & of course, it pairs marvelously with these whole wheat almond pancakes.

Most people like to use vanilla extract in their pancake recipes & I agree that it's good. But just try some almond next time & if you're into almonds (I guess that's another food obsession of mine), you probably won't go back to those vanilla-y ways.

Whole Wheat Almond Pancakes

Ingredients
2 cups whole wheat flour
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups + 2 tbsp whole milk
1 tbsp almond flavoring

Slivered almonds
Butter

Directions
Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Add wet ingredients to the mixing bowl & mix well with a spoon until there are no more dry spots (don't over-mix). Heat a large skillet on medium heat. Lightly coat with melted butter & pour 1/4 cup of pancake batter. When the pancake starts to bubble, add a bit of slivered almonds. When the bubbles settle & the edges begin to set, flip the pancakes. Repeat with the remainder of the batter.

Recipe adapted from Skinny Taste

Coconut Bread

Right after we got back from our trip to Florida, I was sluggishly doing laundry. I was having a hard time transitioning back to our Siberia-like weather conditions & the thought of getting back to every day domestic life was really depressing. Who wants to do laundry, cook, & clean when you can just lay around at the beach, watching your kid squeal around in utter bliss? 

While I was taking our clothes out of the luggage, I caught a whiff of one of the dresses I frequently wore to the beach (don't worry, this story ends well). I actually grabbed it out of the pile & breathed it in. It smelled of the sun. Instantly I was back in the warmth, the giddiness, & the joy that we felt by being in Florida. I'm not sure why the sun does that to us, but it is so gosh darn life-giving.

I love how our sense of smell is tied to so many memories. There are times when I literally am stopped in my tracks because I catch a scent of something that reminds me of a childhood experience I had or a far off land I once visited. And for me, the aroma of coconut will always remind me of the sun. That might be attributed to all the tanning lotion I poured over my body growing up, or maybe from sipping coconut rum in my summer collage days. Who knows. 

I absolutely love baking with coconut. Since we have cut a lot of the processed sugar in our diets, I have used a lot of unsweetened coconut & I think I actually like it better than the sugary stuff. I feel like you actually get the full flavor of the coconut & you aren't left with a gut bomb afterwards. Coconut oil is also lovely to bake & cook with & besides the incredible flavor, your house will end up smelling like something out of a Jamaican resort. For the record, I've never been to Jamaica, but this is how I picture it- everything smelling like coconut.

If you are like me & all of a sudden semi-obsessed with coconut, you will absolutely love this coconut bread. And if that's just not enough, here are a few other recipes to tempt you:

• Coconut chicken nuggets
• Coconut chocolate pie
• Whole wheat coconut chocolate chip cookies
• Oat drops

Coconut Bread
Ingredients
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup demerara
5 ounces unsweetened flaked coconut (about 1 1/2 cups)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted & browned

Directions
Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, milk & vanilla.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder & cinnamon. Add the sugar & coconut, & stir to mix. Make a well in the center, & pour in egg mixture, then stir wet and dry ingredients together until just combined. Add butter, & stir until just smooth (don't overmix).

Spread batter in a silicone bread pan (you could use a different pan, but just make sure to spray it & lightly coat with flour first) & bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool in pan five minutes, before turning out onto a cooling rack. Wait until the bread is completely cooled before cutting.

Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Pesto Rolls

I keep saying this to everyone I know- these rolls are so going to get me in trouble (like the "there's more of me to love" kind of trouble). I made them for a community lunch that we had at our church this past weekend & now after eating a few, I'm really excited about the possibilities that they hold. For starters, they are super easy to make & although they took about two hours, most of that time was spent anxiously pacing around my kitchen, waiting for them to rise (yeah right, I was washing dishes). So they're pretty simple = win for me.

But then there's the whole slew of combinations that you can throw in the center. This dough will work wonderfully for cinnamon rolls (just sub the pesto & cheese for cinnamon, brown sugar, & butter). But then what about cheesy rolls (a lovely variety of cheeses) or artichoke dip rolls or roasted red pepper & feta rolls? Oooh or spinach & feta rolls. Pepperoni pizza rolls? Butter & garlic rolls? Really, the possibilities are endless.

I'm thinking that I might make a big ol' batch of rolls & then try freezing them after they are cut. What would be better than taking some already-made rolls out of the freezer to bake on a lazy Saturday morning?

These rolls might be the end of me, but it will be a very happy ending.

(like our new magnetic strip for our knives??)

Pesto Rolls
Ingredients
1/2 cup warm water (115 degrees F)
1/2 cup warm milk (115 degrees F)
1 egg (room temperature), slightly beaten
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons demerara
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups bread flour
1 (.25 ounce) package (2 1/4 tsp) instant dry yeast
1/2 cup pesto
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions
Place water, milk, egg, melted butter, sugar, & salt in a Kitchen Aid mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of flour on top of all the liquid mixture, sprinkling yeast on top. Using the dough hook, knead bread mixture on speed 3 until dough is smooth & elastic adding additional flour as needed (approx. 5-7 min.). Place dough in a greased bowl & cover with a wet towel. Allow the dough to rise until doubled in size, approximately 1 hour in a warm area.

(I've found that if I preheat oven to 200 while the dough is kneading, then turn the oven off when kneading is complete & stick my covered bowl into the oven & leave the oven door cracked open a bit, the dough will rise quicker).

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface & roll into a rectangle slightly larger than a 9×13 pan. Spread surface evenly with pesto & sprinkle shredded Parmesan cheese on top. Beginning with the long side, roll dough pinching the seam to seal. Cut into equal slices & place them in a greased muffin tin. Cover with a damp towel & allow to rise for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from muffin cups & serve warm.

Recipe adapted from Savory Sweet Life

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Breakfast Pizza

Hello, it's the Haas Machine eating breakfast for dinner again. Surprise, surprise.

The other week I made my very first cinnamon rolls & they turned out pretty well. After that, breakfast has still been on my mind, even more than usual. This time, I decided to go a bit more crazy & made breakfast pizza. I figured that the combo of breakfasty-type foods (eggs! bacon!) earthy flavors (scallions! shallots! chives!) & pizza (crust! cheese!) would be a win, win.

Turns out it was a win, win, win.

Part of this win was the bacon that I bought from the Holmen Meat Market. I don't venture to Holmen all that often, but when I do it's usually for meat. I love how all of the meat that they sell is from local farms (all of the pork is from Holmen!) & how high quality everything is. Plus the market has all kinds of exotic teas, wines, beers, jams, & homemade salsas for sale. I think I spent half of our food budget there, but it was soo worth it. Good bacon is always worth it.

I was very weirded out by cracking eggs on to my pizza crust, but it got way less weird when I took my first bite. John even groaned, it was that good (especially when just a slight nod of approval is his non-emotional way of saying something is incredible). We will be making this pizza again (maybe even for breakfast some day if I'm really motivated) & I'm anxious to experiment with even more breakfasty toppings. Maybe we'll throw hash browns in the mix or some hollandaise. Ooh, or biscuits & gravy? Is that too far?

What's the strangest, most delicious thing you've put on a pizza?

Breakfast Pizza
Ingredients
For the dough:

2 to 2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4-ounce package (or 2 1/4 tsp) fast acting yeast

3/4 cup warm water, about 110 degrees F
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cornmeal, for dusting
Bread flour, for dusting

For the pizza:
6 bacon strips
Olive oil, for drizzling
2 cups shredded mozzarella
6 large eggs
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 shallot, thinly sliced
Chives, minced
Scallions, trimmed & thinly sliced

Directions

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together yeast, warm water, sugar & olive oil. Let sit for about 3 minutes to fully dissolve & activate the yeast.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour & salt. With a rubber spatula, gradually mix the yeast mixture into the flour until just combined & dough barely holds together. Turn the dough out onto a clean counter surface dusted with flour. Knead the dough with flour-dusted hands until the dough has become smooth & elastic, about 10 minutes. The surface should bounce back slightly when pressed. Lightly grease a large mixing bowl with olive oil & place the dough in it. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap & set in a warm place to rise until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.

Once doubled, punch the dough down & divide it into 2 equal pieces. Knead each slightly to form a uniform ball. Set aside & cover them with plastic wrap to rest for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, if you have a pizza stone, place it on the oven rack to warm & preheat the oven to 450. Generously dust the surface of a pizza stone with cornmeal.

Heat a large pan to medium-high, add the bacon strips, & pan-fry until crisp. Put the bacon on a plate lined with paper towels, let it cool, & then crumble into bite-size pieces.

Lightly dust a work surface with bread flour. Working with one ball of pizza dough, dip your hands & your dough in the bread flour, & pat the dough down into a disk shape. Once the disk is large enough, drape the dough over your fists and carefully start stretching & expanding the dough from underneath to form a round that is 10 to 12 inches in diameter.

Place the dough on the prepared pizza stone. Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the dough &, using your fingers, brush the dough evenly with the oil. Sprinkle half of the mozzarella on to the dough. Crack 3 eggs over the top & season with salt & pepper.

Bake the pizza for 10 to 15 minutes, checking on it after 5 minutes & rotating if necessary to ensure that it is baking evenly. When the crust is golden, the cheese is melted, & the egg yolks are cooked to medium, carefully transfer the pizza to a cutting board. Sprinkle with half of the bacon, shallot, chives & scallions.  Prepare your second pizza the same way.

Dough recipe taken from the Food Network

Pizza recipe adapted from Dolcetto Confessions

Simple Mini Cinnamon Rolls

I've never made cinnamon rolls before (at least not from scratch). They've always seemed so time-consuming & intimidating. Lately I've been trying to get over my fear (more like laziness) & just give things a whirl that I've put off for years. Today it was me verses the cinnamon roll.

I planned to make breakfast for dinner & thought that they would be a lovely addition to the meal. Plus, that would give me lots of time to work on them without actually being hungry. How on earth people wake up & make cinnamon rolls for breakfast is beyond me-- I can't think of a more deadly combination in the kitchen than the morning & a hungry tummy.

Let's just say that I was pleasantly surprised by the ease of these rolls & may even attempt to make them for a morning meal at some point (for real, they took me like 20 minutes).

Although I do enjoy a good fluffy cinnamon roll, these were still quite delish. Most people like to slather their cinny rolls with a super sweet frosting, but I really liked them in their naked state. If you'd like, you could whip up a batch of glaze by adding some powdered sugar to milk & vanilla (or almond!) extract. Just make sure you don't have a dentist appointment for a week.

Simple Mini Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cup heavy cream
⅔ cup dmerara (or brown sugar)
1¼ teaspoon cinnamon
3 Tablespoons butter, at room temperature

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease an 8″ or 9″ baking dish. In a bowl, stir together demerara & cinnamon & set aside. Whisk flour, baking powder, & salt in a large bowl. Stir the cream in to the flour mixture & mix just until combined. The dough will be soft & moist.

Roll out the dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper into about a 20″ x 5″ rectangle. Spread softened butter over dough. Sprinkle demerara/cinnamon mixture over the butter. Roll the dough up lengthwise so that you have a long log. Cut dough log in to 20 or so pieces & place the pieces in to the prepared baking dish. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until light brown.

Recipe adapted from Growing Up Gabel

Sweet Potato Hash with Caramelized Onions, Sausage & Eggs

Ooh, breakfast for dinner is my favorite. Every time I think about making it, I think about the movie Juno. You know, the part where Bleeker isn't hungry & his mom says, "but puppy, I made your favorite: it's breakfast for dinner!" Yes, that runs through my mind every.single.time. & it's not like it's my favorite movie or anything. Let's just say that breakfast for dinner is very near & dear to my heart.

Breakfast, brunch, whatever, it's amazing. And I'm convinced that breakfast has the best of all foods (french toast?! cinnamon rolls?! pancakes?! eggs benny?! omelets?! any kind of eggs?!) because let's face it, waking up & braving the day can be challenging sometimes. At least if you have a delicious meal to start you off right, the day can be a little sunnier.

Don't even get me started on my love for all things sweet potato. I just adore them.  They are loaded with all kinds of nutrients, they make a great substitute for most potato recipes (especially fries), & best of all, my kid loves them just as much as I do. I've even put them in muffins before & everyone in the house scarfed them down. Sweet potatoes are where it's at.

This recipe is especially tasty because the sweetness of these potatoes pairs well with the saltiness of the sausage & the fragrant evergreen-ness of the rosemary (which is been known to help improve the memory, by the way). Plus, there's a ton of garlic & it's topped with a few fried eggs. 

I suppose it could be made into a vegetarian-friendly meal. I'm not sure what I would sub for the sausage... maybe a veggie sausage or some lovely meaty mushrooms would do the trick. I would just add some more seasonings to get the right flavor.

Are you a breakfast junkie too? What are your favorite recipes?

Sweet Potato Hash with Caramelized Onions, Sausage, & Eggs
Serves 2-3
Ingredients

1 pound onions, about 1 large
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
1/2 pound fresh sausage or chorizo
1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, about 2 medium potatoes
3 large garlic cloves
2 long stalks rosemary, about 1/4 cup of leaves
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 large eggs
Parmesan cheese, to serve

Directions
Heat the oven to 450°F. Peel the onions & cut them in half lengthwise, then cut them into thin half-moons. Cut the half-moons in half. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. When it foams up add the onions & sprinkle lightly with salt. Lower the heat slightly & cook the onions for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, & lowering the heat if they seem to be burning. Cook them until they are light brown.

Meanwhile, put the sausage in another skillet & brown over medium-high heat, chopping it up into fine crumbles with a spatula. Cook the sausage for about 10 minutes, or until it is browned & beginning to crisp. Drain away any excess fat.

While the onions & sausage are cooking, chop the unpeeled sweet potatoes into cubes that are about 1/2-inch to a side. Finely mince the garlic & rosemary leaves, & toss them in a large bowl with the sweet potatoes. Toss with the olive oil, kosher salt, & a generous helping of black pepper.

When the onions are light brown & the sausage is crispy, stir these into the sweet potatoes. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper & spread out the sweet potatoes evenly. Roast the sweet potatoes for about 20 minutes or until they are soft & browned.

Make small wells in the sweet potatoes & fry up an egg to your liking. Place the egg in the center of the hash & serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

Recipe adapted from The Kitchn

Easy Eggs, Rice, Spinach, & Cheese

I really struggle with making the right portions when cooking. For some reason, I have this great fear of running out of food, especially while entertaining guests. Although it's never happened to me, in my mind, I cannot think of many worse things when people are over (talk about a first world problem, huh?) OK, I'm sure there are tons of way worse situations we could face, like what if our plumbing went out or what if a meteor hit our house before I got to serve dessert, but those things aren't what cause me to over-compensate.

It's easy to really go crazy especially when making rice, & especially when you make it the way John & I do. We usually make a half brown/half white rice mixture, but there is no measuring involved. We just dump a bunch of rice in a pan, pour some water in it & then "measure" the amount of water in it by sticking a finger in the dish. If the water hits a certain sweet spot on the finger, then you're good to go. If it's too low, add more water. If it's too high, add more rice.

We almost always make way too much rice.

This recipe for eggs, rice, spinach, & cheese solves many of our rice problems. It's a great way to use up some of those left-overs instead of throwing them away or suffering through old crunchy rice. And it's really quite delicious & even better, Ruby loves it! I get a lot of strange satisfaction out of watching her shovel down mouth-fulls of spinach (do you even realize how healthy this is for you?)

I suppose I could learn to use some measuring cups for making rice, but what fun would that be?

Easy Eggs, Rice, Spinach, & Cheese

Ingredients

1 teaspoon butter

1 cup left-over (or fresh) rice

6 eggs, whisked

A few handfuls of fresh spinach

1 cup grated cheese (any kind, although feta is quite delightful)

Directions

If using fresh rice, first get the rice cooking however you like to cook it. Warm up a skillet with the butter on medium heat & place the cooked rice on the warmed pan & even out so it covers the whole pan, kind of like a crust. Layer the spinach on top of the rice & then add the whisked eggs. Top with the grated cheese.

Continue to cook on medium, covered. Turn the temp down to low once you start seeing the eggs bubble (you want to keep it on low with the cover on so that the bottom doesn't burn & that the eggs cook thoroughly). Remove from the heat once the eggs are no longer jiggly. Wait 5 minutes before serving.

Basic Almond Granola

Oh how I love granola. It's what actually attracted me to yogurt. I'm getting better at the proportions these days, but back before I fell in love with Greek yogurt, I would mix about a cup of granola with a tablespoon of yogurt & call it good. Now I just know better.

Granola is such an incredible thing but it can be quickly tarnished in my opinion. Neither John nor I enjoy dried fruits (especially raisins!) & a lot of granola recipes call for that. Ew. A lot of granola calls of mounds of sugar & we try to limit the amount of sugar we eat & eat the least processed kinds (like honey, maple syrup, & demerara). And almost all of the granola recipes I find are so massive in quantity that you're left with jars & jars of it, which might not be a bad thing if it's delicious, but if it's not so great, yikes (I know you could half the recipe, but that would mean I would have to do math).

This recipe, discovered by Lindsay over at The Live-In Kitchen, is delightfully nutty, crunchy, with just a hint of sweetness. It also made about 1.5 quarts, but now that I'm in love, I'll know to double the recipe next time. It's the most perfect quick little breakfast or snack, either eaten with milk, yogurt, or flying solo. Just don't give any to your unattended 18-month old or you'll be finding oatmeal bits stuck to your socks for weeks.

Basic Almond Granola
Ingredients
2 cups old fashioned oats
1/4 cup sliced raw almonds
1/4 cup whole raw almonds
1/4 cup raw honey
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
Pinch of salt

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl thoroughly combine all ingredients. Spread in a thick layer on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake 30-40 minutes. After the first 15 minutes, gently flip/stir to evenly cook. If you like big clusters, try to keep it packed together. Continue to flip every 10 minutes. Remove from the oven when lightly browned.

This granola pairs wonderfully with Greek-style crockpot yogurt!

Recipe adapted from The Live-In Kitchen

Crockpot Yogurt

 Decadently thick homemade yogurt with fresh strawberries & basic almond granola

Last night I almost killed our yogurt. And our pipes. And maybe even us. It was about -20 F & I shut off our heat (accidentally). I was fooling around with our programmable thermostat earlier in the day & in order to update the settings, you first need to shut the heat off, so I did. And then I got busy messing with the thermostat, which reminded me that I needed to throw our diapers in the dryer, which reminded me that I had a mound of other laundry to fold, which reminded me that I needed to re-organize some of Ruby's clothes... & the list went on & on, which meant that I forgot to turn the heat back on.

And then we borrowed Mad Men from our library & I honestly don't remember the rest of the night because I was in total & utter bliss. It's one of our most favorite shows & we've been waiting so patiently for it to come out on DVD so we could binge on all the goodness (how on earth people watch just one episode per week completely baffles me). Our TV is in the basement, so it's always pretty chilly down there, so I didn't notice the heat not being on.

But when I woke up this morning, my nose was cold, which was strange because our room is usually unpleasantly warm in the mornings (thank you radiator heat). At that point, I started wondering if our boiler was dead, which reminded me that I shut off the heat, which reminded me that I had yogurt brewing & that it might actually be dead (again).

The last few batches of yogurt-making haven't been so smooth. Well they've been smooth, just not thick. And I blame it mostly on the frozen tundra-like conditions both inside & outside of my house (we keep it pretty chilly at night, even when the heat is on). So when I ran downstairs & saw that our thermostat read 48 degrees, I worried about our little yogurt baby. Thankfully, my good ol' trusted yogurt-making friend had just suggested that I put the yogurt in the oven, wrapped in blankets & turn the oven light on, so that's what we did last night. And we got a little more into taking the temperature of the brewing yogurt, so now we've got it down.

I make this yogurt just about once a week & it makes a little more than a quart. We're saving all kinds of cash because the yogurt we really like is about $6 (Fage) & this calls for only 1/2 a gallon of milk. I even strain it so it's super thick & creamier than you could even imagine (if you don't strain it you will yield twice as much yogurt). I sub it for sour cream all the time & it's sensational.

Don't let making your own yogurt scare you. I had to get past that fear/weirdness of making yogurt, but once I did, now it's really a struggle for me to buy it. There's lots of different ways to make it, but I enjoy this method the most because it's super simple & for the most part, hands off. Because let's face it, we've all got a lot on our minds, so we don't need another thing to have to think about. Just leave the heat on in your house & it will turn out famously.

Crockpot Yogurt
Ingredients

8 cups of whole milk

1/2 cup of plain yogurt with live active cultures (we like whole milk or 2% Fage)

Directions (for summer)
In a 4 quart crockpot, pour in 1/2 gallon (8 cups) of milk. Turn crockpot on low & heat for 2 hours & 45 minutes. After time has elapsed, turn off the crockpot & let the milk cool in the crock with the lid on for 3 hours. After the additional time has elapsed, remove lid & stir in 1/2 cup of yogurt with live active cultures & mix very well. Place the cover back on the crock & wrap the entire crockpot in a thick bath towel or two & let it sit overnight (8-12 hours). 

In the morning stir yogurt & transfer it to glass quart jars if you like it thinner (you'll also get more this way). If you're like us & are kind of snotty about yogurt & like it thick, strain it. 

I have found the easiest way to do this is to take 4 coffee filters & place them in a strainer so the entire strainer is covered & then put the strainer over a large bowl. Scoop about 2 cups of the yogurt (for an average size strainer) into the strainer & let strain for 20 minutes or so & then place the remaining yogurt from the strainer in a jar & continue straining until you've thickened the heck out of the yogurt. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours before using.

Directions (for winter)

It's pretty similar, you just need to keep an eye on the yogurt more. Instead of letting it cool for 3 hours (after the initial cook time of 2 hours 45 minutes), take the yogurt's temp every so often. When it has cooled to 110 degrees (about 2 hours for us last night), then add your 1/2 cup of yogurt. Also, after you wrap your crockpot in blankets, place the it in the oven with the light on. This will help it to stay at the right temp overnight.

Recipe adapted from milkandhoneyliving.com

Fruit & Vegetable Smoothie

Let's just get something out there right now--I'm not a big smoothie fan. That probably stems from the fact that I'm not a big fruit fan (shame, I know). I think I can count the fruits I enjoy on one hand. That being said, smoothies aren't my bff. They're usually too fruity & far too sweet for my taste (now if they are made with chocolate, that's another story, but I think they call those malts). So, I kind of feel like a poser sharing this smoothie recipe, but I have to!

Recently, we had a friend stay with us from Duluth & she shared this smoothie recipe with me. She's been on this amazing health journey (my words, not hers) & she's lost some weight & has been making all kinds of healthy life choices, so when she shared this recipe, I listened. I adapted it a little bit to fit our "no sugar" thing, but it's still incredible. It's not too sweet & it's a bit earthy. And best of all, I get 4 servings of fruits, 1 serving of leafy greens, & 2 servings of protein (1 pro-biotic). I wish I would have had this recipe when I was pregnant & trying to cram all that food in (I had a serious log that included daily: 2 eggs, 4 servings of dairy/calcium, 6 servings of protein, 2 servings of leafy greens, 5 servings of grains, veggies or fruits, 2 servings of vitamin c foods, 3 servings of fats or oils, 1 serving of a vitamin a food & they couldn't overlap i.e. milk couldn't count for a protein & dairy!)

If you can't buy the fruits in season, you can play it safe & purchase them frozen. They are picked & frozen in their peak, so they aren't as much of a gamble (one reason why fruits frustrate me!)

What you need (you can obviously swap any fruit/veg, but I like this combo)

1/2 banana

1/4 avocado

5-6 strawberries

1/2 cup peaches

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt (we like Fage, but you could also make your own to save $$$)

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

2 tablespoons ground flax seed (ground flax has higher nutritional value)

2 cups spinach or other leafy green (I've tried kale & swiss chard, too)

Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Scones

I think I may have fallen in love with this new scone recipe I found on the Food Network website! Every month at work, all of the case managers get together for a 3-hour meeting & tomorrow it's my turn to lead the meeting. Since it's a morning meeting, I thought, why not first fill the ladies' (I work with all women) bellies with something yummy to get the meeting started in the right direction? Plus, it gave me a reason to be barefoot & pregnant in the kitchen :)

Scones really aren't that hard to make in general, but my old (now possibly retired) recipe called for a lot more ingredients (like buttermilk) that I don't always have on hand. Plus, it's nice to simplify when it comes to baking, so I can make them in a pinch. The thing I love best about scones is that they are incredibly versatile-- you can change what "kind" of scone you make with some minor adjustments. Say one day you're wanting something nutty or chocolatey or berry-y.... you can mix & match to your heart's content!

This particular recipe (the dry ingredients anyway) can be make ahead of time & given as gifts in pretty little jars. The recipient then only would need to add a stick of butter & 1 1/4 cups of milk, plus whatever filling they desire. Such a great idea!

Cinnamon Chocolate Scones

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I also added a handful of cinnamon chips)

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chunks

1 stick butter

1 1/4 cups milk (I used whole!)

Directions

Start by preheating the oven to 375 degrees. Mix the dry ingredients. Grab a stick of butter, cut it into pieces, & with the mixer running, add the butter & mix until coarse & sandy. You should still be able to see small lumps of butter. (I actually find that it works best to just use my hands to mix it all together-- that way you can break up the butter more easily & it doesn't all clump together in a mixer). Add the milk until almost combined.

Add the chocolate chunks & mix just to distribute them evenly through the dough. Do not overmix; there may still be some flour not mixed in. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface & shape into a large, even circle.

Using a the biscuit cutter, cut out circles (I cut them like a pie because I think they look prettier that way) & place on a cookie sheet. Bake until light golden brown, about 15 minutes. Mmm!

Recipe taken from the Food Network