Granola

Wow... It's been a while since I've been over here to share the happenings of my kitchen. But, in all honesty, I haven't been making too much. I've been pretty busy working and studying... My cooking has been slacking a bit and the blogging even more so.

But since yesterday I didn't have to work and had "nothing" to do (I mean, I'm sure I could have found something that I needed to do...) it was a good day for cooking. Unfortunately, only one of my little adventures is really worth recording here: my granola. (I also tried to bake a lemon-raspberry coffee cake in tin cans... My result was mostly mush. I'll work on that again another time. And dinner was Omaha steaks and salad -- pretty straight-forward, I guess. *Note: Ken's Italian dressing makes the best steak marinade in the world.)

What You'll Need:

• Oats (I just use generic brand "Old Fashioned Oats")
• Flax seeds
• Coarsely chopped almonds
• Sunflower seeds, salted
• Honey and/or Agave Nectar
• Cinnamon
• Cloves
• Ginger
• Natural chunky peanut butter
• Dried Fruits: cranberries (Craisins, if you will...), chopped candied ginger, chopped figs

Put it All Together:

• Mix everything but the dried fruits together. If you've ever had granola before, you'll be able to eyeball the ratio of oats to seeds and nuts. The honey/nectar just depends on how sweet you want it. I used about 2 hefty tablespoons of peanut butter. (In the end, my granola filled a quart-sized container up to the brim -- you know, the ones your wonton soup come in.)
• Spread out evenly onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake at about 200... for a while. Probably about 2-3 hours. Mix it every 20 minutes or so to allow it to cook evenly. If you crank the heat up towards the end to speed up your goldening process, just be sure to check it more frequently so it won't burn.
• Mix your dried fruits in. Don't seal it into a container until it's completely cool.

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Carrot - Apple Muffins

 
As I perused various cooking sites in the world of the Internets on Tuesday I had my eye out for a healthy muffin recipe. Many called for ingredients that I didn't have... raisins, cake flour, sour cream. So I got out a notebook and a pen and wrote my own. I actually wrote down amounts and measurements, combining aspects of other recipes I liked and making substitutions for the basic components of a muffin:

1. Flour (I used white whole wheat flour)
2. Sugar (I used honey)
3. Baking powder/soda (I used both)
4. Eggs (I used... well... eggs)
5. Fat (I used applesauce -- in place of oil)
6. Milk (I used yogurt)

With my basic ingredients decided I set out to create a new muffin. To relative success, no less.

What You'll Need:

• 1 1/2 c. white whole wheat flour
• 3/4 c. oats
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. cloves
• 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 1/2 c. honey
• 1 egg
• 3/4 c. yogurt (I used plain with a dash of vanilla)
• 1/3 c. applesauce 
• 1 c. shredded carrots
• 1 c. shredded apples
• flax seeds (sunflower seeds would be good too)
• chopped candied ginger

Put it All Together

• Combine flour, oats, baking soda & powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves and ginger in a large bowl.
• Whisk together honey, egg, yogurt and applesauce.
• Fold in carrots, apples, ginger and flax seeds.
• Lightly stir wet mixture into dry. Don't over-stir or the muffins will come out dense. (And don't make my mistake: be sure to actually mix all the flour into the batter. I left a bunch of the flour mixture at the bottom of my bowl after I poured half the batter into the muffin pan, so half my muffins came out a bit... err... soggy.)
• Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

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