inMYkitchen: Granola

Yesterday I made something so delicious, easy and amazing that I can't help but share it with you.

It's: GRANOLA!

I had this yesterday on top of yogurt as a snack.

I had it this morning with some milk for breakfast.

How have I never tried this before? IT'S SO EASY TO MAKE! Get ready to have your world rocked.

If you've been reading my blog since the beginning, then you probably remember this post AND this post where I explained how I feel about packaged foods, preservatives and the like. The great thing about making ANYTHING from scratch is that you can control exactly what goes in it. Not to mention, it's usually cheaper than buying it at the store.

To form the base of the granola you will need:

1 C Old Fashioned Rolled Oats

2 TBS Honey (I used local honey)

3TBS Vegetable Oil (not olive oil- it has to be a light oil, otherwise the granola will have a weird taste)

As for other ingredients, granola is totally customizable! It's part of what I love about it. 

Here's what I put in mine:

1/3 C Chopped Dates

1/4 C Chopped Almonds*

3 TBS Flaked Coconut

*Just because I always have them in the house, I used almonds roasted with dark cocoa powder in this. I think that the cocoa powder worked really well with the coconut, but I'm sure any kind of chopped nuts would have worked equally well. Also, none of these measurements in the second half are exactly exact, so feel free to play around with them.

What else could you use?

Chopped walnuts, sunflower seeds, dried apricots, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds... the list is really endless.

In fact, I have a second batch in the oven right now with raisins and a hint of cinnamon.

Let your creativity run wild!

Toss all ingredients together, spread on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 20 minutes (or until mix turns golden brown (stirring occasionally)

If you are using dried fruit of any kind, you can either add it to the mixture before baking or right after the mix comes out of the oven. Cooking the dried fruit will bring out the sugars but will also dry the fruit out more giving it a chewey texture. If you'd rather, you can stir any dried fruit in when the granola comes out of the oven, while it is still warm.

Enjoy!

On Recipes: Pasta Carbonara (with Leeks and Lemon)

Tonight I made this:

Ok, no, I didn't personally take this picture, but really... can you blame me?

I didn't have time. The Lieutenant and I were too busy scarfing down this delicious meal. 

This is Pasta Carbonara with Leek and Lemon from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food Magazine (and the photo was borrowed from her website). Now I know that people have rather strong opinions on Martha, but as I explained here, I feel that despite her recent bad press she is still a reliable source when it comes to cooking and home decor.

This recipe supports the above assumption. 

I halved the recipe for The Lieutenant and I and ended up with EXACTLY the right amount, which was somewhat of a triumph for me, as I almost always overestimate the amount of food I need to feed us. This recipe includes bacon which, let's face it, is a general man-pleaser. If you have a man in your life, try this recipe. Even if he isn't a pasta guy, I bet he'll like it. 

Traditionally (and in this case) a carbonara sauce is made with raw eggs that are combined with boiling water and then tossed with pasta. In theory, the eggs are partially cooked by the time they are combined with the pasta and consumed. I know that this recipe has been prepared this way for many years, but also understand that some people may be concerned about eating undercooked eggs. If it's something that bothers you, skip it and try one of the other recipes I've blogged about in the past. If you're looking for pasta, I recommend THIS ONE by The Pioneer Woman. :]

Modifications:

I used medium shells (conchiglie) instead of the orecchitte that the recipe called for, which worked out just fine. I think you could use any short pasta with this recipe and have a good result. Long pasta might not work as well, since it tends to soak up more sauce, and the sauce with this dish is fairly light. 

I put in about half (so 1/4 of what the original recipe called for) of the lemon zest and juice. I am not always crazy about lemon in savory dishes because I think it tends to overpower, but in this recipe I like the addition of the lemon (although it's not traditionally included in a carbonara) because it brightened up the dish and made it feel much more appropriate for a spring/summer day. I think halving the lemon in this recipe provided just the right amount.

And now a word about leeks. Leeks (like shallots) seem to be very trendy lately. Rarely do I see a recipe that calls for onions anymore, it's always leeks and shallots, leeks and shallots. Not that I have anything against these cousins of the onion (in fact I quite like them) but the fact remains that trendy can sometimes = pricey. For instance: I can buy a 3 LB bag of onions for $2.00 OR I can buy 2 leeks for $2.00. My point here is that if you are trying to conserve (as I'm sure most of us are right now) you can usually substitute. No the flavor won't be exactly the same, but if you take the time to caramelize the onions (I would use 1/2-1 whole onion depending on the size) you will still end up with a delicious end-result. Don't think you have to stick to the premium ingredients to end up with a great dish. 

This recipe comes with the recommendation of The Lieutenant, who has added it to his new favorites list

To view the entire recipe, click here

Big sister brag

Oh, hi.

Yes, I know I've been gone for about two weeks. But I promise I have a good excuse.
I've been to Maryland and back!

In other words, I went to visit my family.
In case you haven't read any of my other posts,
here's the only thing you really need to know about them.

THEY'RE AWESOME. 

This trip was the first time I've been back to Maryland since the holidays.
I made the trip solo- The Lieutenant couldn't come with me because he was working, while I am still gainfully UN-employed.
I made the trip because my little sister Audrey was in a play and I wanted to see it. I introduced you to Audrey here but in case you don't remember, here she is

In costume of course!
The play was called "Meet the Creeps" -- kind of a parody of The Adam's Family. Audrey's character was Tarantula Creeps (think a more friendly Morticia Addams).

Allow me to brag a little bit:

While I must laugh and admire the ability of Audrey's school to pick the most ridiculous plays year after year (last spring their production was called Wagon Wheels West), each year Audrey finds a way to shine through whatever ridiculous show they decide on. 

She is clearly talented.

Here's one thing I've learned throughout my time in the theatre:

Acting can't be faked. You can't pretend to be a character, you have to actually BE the character.

The audience can immediately tell the difference. 

While others on stage knew their lines, she knew her character. 

While others recited text, she made the text her own. 

And unlike most of the people on the stage, Audrey became her character.

I'm not saying the play suddenly turned into Shakespeare, but I am saying that Audrey made it great. 

( As a side note, there were others in the show who also showed potential. I'd love to see what these kids could do if they actually got their hands on something worth performing. *crosses fingers* maybe next year?)

When Aud was younger, she was EXTREMELY shy.

As in, she refused to even speak in front of strangers, let alone sing.

Getting up on stage? Forget it. 

She ran away crying when it was her cue in any given Christmas Pageant. 

My mom often said that she thought Audrey somehow missed the performance gene that the rest of us seemed to be born with. I guess in reality, it just took her a little bit longer to come out of her shell.

But now that she has, it's obvious that she's got it.

Curtain call: baby sis, star of the show. 

Yeah, I can brag on that.