Welcome! I'm happy and humbled you've stopped by.....Cozy up and follow along as I share my attempts at simple living with you.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Fun in the kitchen

I had a little fun in the kitchen today. There have been a few items I have been wanting to make. So after making my rounds in the garden this morning, I got busy. There were a few strawberries still lingering that made it into my basket. There wasn't enough to make a pie or strawberry shortcake, but I did have just enough to eat on a little yogurt. I love granola on my yogurt and fruit! So I whipped up a batch of homemade granola. I had been wanting to try out this recipe for some time now. It is Crystal Miller's recipe from http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/. Check out her site if you get a chance. There's a girl that's got it going on! ......Oh, and the granola....de-lish!




My Favorite Granola

12 cups uncooked oats
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup powdered milk
1 T. cinnamon
1 ½ t. salt
1 cup light olive oil
1 1/3 cup honey
1 T. vanilla
2 cup raisins
2 cups nuts of your choice, chopped


You will need a very large bowl for mixing. Combine oats, coconut, flour, powdered milk, cinnamon and salt well in the large bowl and mix well. In a saucepan heat the oil, honey and vanilla until just warm. This helps the mixture pour easily. Pour this over the oat mixture and stir well. I start out by stirring it with a large spoon, but end up mixing it with my hands to insure that everything is evenly mixed. Spread this in a thin layer on 2 to 3 large cookie sheets and bake in the oven at 300 for 45 to 50 minutes. You will need to stir it about every 15 minutes. I bake two trays at a time and switch the position of the trays each time I stir so that the granola browns evenly. When the mixture is done you can pour it back into the large pan and let it cool. When completely cool stir in the raisins and the nuts. You can store the finished granola in any air tight container or even a couple of large Ziploc type bags. This recipe will make approx. 20 cups of granola.


Yogurt+strawberries+granola=delicious!




While the granola was baking, it was on to my next project-croutons. I love homemade croutons. And with all the lettuce in the garden, we have salad every evening. You can make croutons with any kind of bread you choose....leftover stale bread never needs to go to waste. I don't even use a recipe. I just kinda throw everything together. But here's the crouton basics to get you started:

Cut bread into cubes, place in a large bowl
Drizzle and toss cubes with olive oil
Sprinkle with seasonings of your choice ( I like garlic salt and oregano)

Bake at 350 for 15 min or until golden brown
Remove from oven and sprinkle with Parm Cheese

Enjoy!







In the next post, I will share some tips on homemade dressings for your garden lettuce.

Have a great day!

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