Pumpkin Granola

We've been on a granola kick at my house lately. It goes in yogurt, gets mixed into cereal, poured onto ice cream, and I've even caught some members of my family eating it straight out of the container.  When I have time, I try to make a large batch of granola about every other weekend. That's usually enough to get us through two weeks of granola obsession.

I know I already posted The Girl's favorite recipe for granola. But when I saw Gina's recipe for Pumpkin Granola on www.skinnytaste.com I knew we had to give it a try. We like granola; we like pumpkin. It seemed like a match made in heaven! I was also intrigued by Gina's addition of quinoa to the mix, and wanted to check it out.

Did you know that the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations has officially declared that the year 2013 be recognized as "The International Year of the Quinoa"? Quinoa has amazing nutritional value. It has antioxidants, anti-inflammatory properties, and a high protein content. I've read a lot about quinoa, but haven't really done much with it. Going forward, I'm going to try to be much more intentional about learning how to incorporate more quinoa into our diets.

Okay, enough about that, let's get on to the good stuff.

After some minor adjustments to Gina's recipe, here's the list of ingredients I used:

• 1/4 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed well and pat dry with paper towel
• 1 1/2 cups old fashioned outs
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup shelled pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tablespoon applesauce or apple butter (optional but I like the "appley" notes it adds to the recipe)
• 1 tsp oil 
• 1 tsp pumpkin spice
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• pinch kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries or cherries.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Spread oats and quinoa out on a parchment lined baking pan. Toast in the oven 10 minutes, stirring once.  I had my doubts that the toasting of the oats would make a difference. We'd not done that before with our other granola recipe, but I will do it that way from now on. It makes things so, I don't know, "toasty."

Remove oats and quinoa and toss into a bowl with the seeds and nuts. Reduce heat to 300 degrees. Reduce it! Trust me - I didn't do this and things got a little brown faster than I had planned.

On the stovetop, combine honey, pumpkin, applesauce, oil, spices and vanilla. Stir everything until combined well and bring just to a boil. Remove from heat.

Pour the warmed ingredients over the oat mixture and stir just until combined. Spread mixture in the sheet pan, and heat in the oven for about 20 minutes. It should look toasted and golden.  I usually check it about every ten minutes and give it a stir to make sure things are toasting evenly.

After you take the pan out of the over, you can sprinkle the cranberries over the mixture. Other recipes have you add the dried cranberries in the beginning with the seeds and nuts. In my experience, that dries out fruit that has already been dried. So I always add it at the end.

Here's the closeup. Doesn't that look yummy? I honestly had my doubts about the quinoa but it really works. And the toasting seems to take it to a whole new level. The only down side we've found is that the quinoa tends to settle to the bottom of the container. So when you're serving it up, you might want to give your container a gentle shake to bring some of it back up to the top.

My favorite way to eat this particular granola is stirred into Apple Cinnamon Chobani Greek yogurt. It works with any yogurt, but that's my personal favorite. And, for the record, I made a batch of this a few days ago with my six year old niece, and it got her stamp of approval. She was a little skeptical about the quinoa too, but she liked the end result.

Big thanks to Gina at Skinnytaste for this recipe. Her website is a constant source of inspiration for me. I want her to adopt me. I want to live at her house. I want her to cook for me everyday. Until that happens, I'll just have to settle for cyber-stalking her recipes.

Let me know how it turns out for you. Enjoy!

Sunday Morning Cheese Frittata

I've never been a late sleeper. Recently, I don't know if it's stress or age or whatever, but it seems impossible for me to sleep past 6am. Oddly enough, when my alarm goes off at 5:30am on a weekday, I would give my children away for more sleep. But come Saturday or Sunday, and my brain is up early screaming "Get up!"

The bonus is that I typically have at least an hour in the morning where it's just me and the dogs. The house is quiet. I would love to tell you that I pour a cup of coffee and just sit and enjoy, but being the typical Adult ADD case that I am, my brain immediately starts asking, "What's for breakfast? What's going on today? What can we cook?"

This morning I decided to make The Girl's favorite egg dish - Cheese Frittata. I'd tried to master the frittata for years, with pathetic results. Until I found this instructional recipe The Basics: How to Make a Cheese Frittata. I think my problem with earlier recipes was that I was trying to get too fancy. This is a good solid basic recipe, and it is one of those recipes that I go back to multiple times. I also love that it is different each time depending on what you have in the fridge. Could be a feta and provolone frittata; could be a sharp cheddar and Parmesan frittata; could be a hot dog and Velveeta frittata.

Just kidding, it could never be a Velveeta frittata. Not in this house. We are not Velveeta people. Not that there's anything wrong with Velveeta people. Some of my dearest friends are Velveeta people. (P.S. Dear Velveeta, I have nothing against you. My daughter just doesn't care for you. It's her fault. Okay, maybe I lied a little. I don't care for you either. But that doesn't make you less of a cheese.)

I'm glad we cleared that up.

First and foremost, you need a large oven-safe skillet. I've been lucky enough to inherit some well-loved, well-seasoned cast iron skillets, and cast iron is perfect for the recipe.  I think of my Nana every time I get one out. Those suckers are heavy pans. She was a small tiny woman. I don't know how she did it.

Time to gather the rest of your ingredients:

• one small onion, chopped
• a handful of any or all of the following fresh herbs: parsley, basil, cilantro
• one clove of garlic (optional), finely minced
• the green part of two scallions (optional)
• a dozen eggs (NOT optional - it is an egg dish, for goodness sake)
• three handfuls of grated cheese (whatever you have in the fridge - we'll talk more about this later)
• salt and pepper
• hot sauce (optional)
• diced/chopped meat (optional) - can use bacon, sausage, anything left in the fridge. Ham would be good, or even leftover diced chicken. Probably need approx 1/2 cup
• oil - You can use whatever you have on hand, but plain old vegetable oil is my choice

I decided to add some meat to this meal. Just as The Girl is anti-Velveeta, she is also anti-pork. Something about pigs being really smart and cute. So we don't eat a lot of pork in this house right now. (But next fall she is going to college, and then you just watch out. It's gonna be a pig-fest of epic proportions.) Anyway, to save myself from early morning teenage angst, I decided to go with turkey bacon. 

Okay, let's get cooking.

Wait! Stop! I forgot the most important part of making breakfast.

Fix yourself a cup of coffee. This is my newest toy. It's a Keurig Vue. My friend Kathy gave it to me. Kathy has knack for winning things. Kathy is also very generous.

We love Kathy. We love coffee. We love the big mug that we bought when we went to New Orleans last year.

Tell me that's not the most beautiful thing you've seen first thing on a Sunday morning. Come to mama.

Now on to the rest of the meal. Let's talk about bacon. Pork or turkey, I really don't like cooking bacon. It's messy. It splatters everywhere. Recently, I've learned about cooking bacon in the oven. I covered a sheet pan with foil, and then because the turkey isn't very greasy, sprayed some nonstick spray and laid the turkey bacon on the pan. Cook in a 375 degree oven for about 12 minutes.

Keep an eye on it towards the end.  It will go from crispy to burned very quickly.  Now it's time to make the frittata.

Chop the onions and garlic.  Put your skillet on medium with a little oil. Toss in the onions and garlic and let cook until soft and translucent.

While the onions are cooking, beat up a dozen eggs. I buy a dozen eggs every week from a local farmer. These eggs come from chickens that are well-loved and well-cared for. They live a happy life. I know there are no hormones or anything funky in my eggs. It might just be my imagination, but I swear these eggs taste better.

Add salt & pepper. If you want to add some fresh herbs, now would be the time. I have one of those tubes with minced basil in it. I added in a good squeeze. I also add a few dashes of hot sauce.

Get your shredded cheese together. I love this recipe because I can pull out whatever cheese happens to be in the fridge. Plus it's a great way to use up little end bits of cheese. Sometimes I will save small bits of cheese in a freezer bag and the pull it out for the frittata. This morning's cheese is sharp white cheddar, smoked Gouda, and Parmesan. If you look really closely, you will notice that I stirred up the cheese with a knife. Don't stir your cheese with a knife. 

Mix 2/3 of the cheese into your beaten egg mixture.

Once the onions and garlic are soft, pour the egg & cheese mixture into the pan and lower the heat to medium-low. Cook 10-15 minutes until the edges are just barely set but the middle is still uncooked.

At about ten minutes, I tossed in some green onion.

And I chopped up two bacon slices and tossed those in too.



At this point, your smoke detector will go off because you have no ventilation in your kitchen. Run upstairs in a panic to pull it off the ceiling before it wakes your family and you have to practice a fire drill in your pajamas.  Oh wait, that might just be me. If you'd like, you may skip this step. That reminds me, my smoke detector is still in the bathroom buried in a pile of towels. I should go take care of that.

After you pour the egg mixture into the pan, you want to turn on your broiler and put your rack in the middle of the oven. Or, if you have a stupid oven like mine that has the broiler on the bottom that is totally inconvenient and never gets used, you can just fire your oven up as high as it will go. I turn my oven to 500 degrees, and that seems to work for me.

As soon as the edges are set, throw the last 1/3 of cheese on top and put the pan in the hot oven.  Cook for about 5-10 minutes, if in the oven. If you are putting it under the broiler, it should only take about 3-5 minutes.  Cook until lightly browned.

 

This is my stupid oven. Whoever decided to put a broiler on the BOTTOM is just as stupid. I never use the broiler. I feel like I have to lay down on the floor to get anything in and out. Hot, broiled items and me laying on the floor just seems to be a recipe for disaster.

Anyway, once the frittata is lightly browned and slightly puffy, you can take it out of the oven. I like to let it rest for about 5 minutes before cutting it into wedges. At this point, your family may start emerging from their rooms because they smell food. Or it could be because the smoke detector is still going off. Next time, be sure to bury it deeper in the towels. Either way, you can greet them with a yummy warm breakfast.

They will applaud and cheer and hail you as Mother of the Year. They will run into the kitchen and do the dishes for you.


That didn't happen at your house either? How disappointing.


I also want to mention that this frittata reheats really well. It would be great to make ahead and warm up. I like to take leftover slices for lunch the next day. (If there are leftovers.)

So, grab a cup of coffee, and enjoy some cheesy eggy goodness. 

Until next time...

Mimi

Two Pumpkin Recipes

Yesterday was the first official day of autumn. The nasty hot droughty (is that a word?) days of summer are behind us. Today was actually a little cool and rainy so I felt compelled to make something to celebrate Fall's arrival. I had a big 30 oz can of pumpkin, so I turned it into two things:

• Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer
• Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer
For the past few years, we have found Pumpkin flavored coffee creamer at our local grocery. It's a seasonal item, so it would be a big deal when we were able to find it. I'd never even considered that flavored coffee creamer was something we could make at home. When I came across a recipe for Homemade Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer,  my mind was blown. It's a simple mixture of sweetened condensed milk, skim milk, a few tablespoons of pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla. I threw it all in my Ninja blender. A few whirls later, and we had Pumpkin creamer.

I didn't measure it exactly, but I think the recipe makes about three good cups of creamer. I don't know how long this will stay good. I divided the recipe into two containers. One for home and one to take to work. Aren't my work people lucky? When was the last time someone you worked with brought in homemade flavored coffee creamer?

Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins
I never seem to use the same recipe twice, unless it's a true home run recipe. I'm always on the hunt for the "ultimate" muffin recipe. After an Internet search, I decided to try this recipe for Healthy Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins.

This recipe was for 12 muffins, so I made a double batch. After taking a few tablespoons out of the 30 oz can for the coffee creamer, I figured I had pretty close to the 2 1/2 cups of pumpkin I was going to need. Actually, I probably had closer to 3 cups. So I skipped the orange juice/water part of the recipe because I figured it was moist enough. I used all dried cranberries, no raisins, and I didn't use pecans. I don't have anything against pecans, I actually had them... somewhere. I keep them in my freezer and after a few minutes of digging around, I just decided to quit looking and forget about them. Which means I'll find them tomorrow when I don't need them. When I'm looking for something else.

These are pretty good. They are very moist and dense, not like your typical "cake-like" muffin. They are more like mini quick breads, if that makes sense. And I bet they'd be really good with pecans in them.

I'm taking half the batch to work tomorrow. My coworkers can have them along with their Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer. They are so lucky, don't you think? I'll be sure to tell them that tomorrow.

And another little surprise...
This morning I was at Target with my nieces and I came across a new candy that totally blew my mind. I don't know if you can handle this. Are you ready?

PUMPKIN SPICE HERSHEY KISSES!!

They're a limited edition flavor. Needless to say, the nieces and I were VERY excited. And I immediately bought a couple of bags. We also bought some Candy Corn flavored M&M's. I'm always intrigued by those limited edition flavors. I wouldn't eat them every day, but hey, they're limited. They might be gone tomorrow. Might as well seize the day!

And, for the record, I am NOT taking the candy into the office. I'm keeping those all for myself.

Nacho Cheese "Soup"

What do you call cheese that isn't yours?

NACHO CHEESE!

Sorry, couldn't help it. As I was putting this "recipe" together, I couldn't get that silly joke out of my head. 

Here's the story - a few weeks back, the Big Guy had a bunch of his guy buddies over for a Fantasy Football Draft Party. This is an annual event in my house. They all get together and spend several very serious hours putting together their fantasy football teams. Once it's all over, everyone can relax and enjoy some yummy refreshments.  This year, in an effort to keep things simple, I decided to put out a Nacho Bar. One "easy" ingredient that I decided to use was a large can of that liquid nacho cheese.

Did I say large? This can was HUGE. I don't know what I was thinking. Normally, I'm opposed to any form of liquid cheese - it just isn't natural, I tell you. But then to get the super-sized can? I must have had a serious lapse of judgement. Even worse, after the party, I still had massive quantities of this cheese left.  So, I decided to turn it into Nacho Cheese Soup. This is not for the gourmet chef, or the faint of heart. This is one of those "use up ingredients in the fridge" type experiences.


And have I mentioned that I have teenagers? This would get eaten.


The cast of characters goes like this:

• Liquid Nacho Cheese
• Salsa
• Milk
• Chopped or Shredded Chicken
• Onion

Pour a little oil in the bottom of a pan.  Please note - my pan is not dirty. It is well-loved. My friend Kathy gave me that pan. Thanks, Kathy!

 Chop up an onion.

 Toss into the bottom of the well-loved pan.

Stir to coat and cook until the onion is soft and translucent. By the way, see that wooden spoon? I bought it from a guy at a Farmer's Market. I don't remember his name. But I love that spoon. I need to get some more.

Toss in a little salt.

Pause to consider the incredibly large containers of salsa and cheese.

Six POUNDS of cheese. That's like the size of a baby. Okay, not a baby in my family. We grow them large in my clan. The Girl was almost nine pounds and 24 inches long. She was really hairy and had a huge head. I'm sure she'll be glad I told you that.

I was going to post the nutritional information for the Nacho Cheese. But we all know that's a bad idea.

You're going to need about 2 cups of chicken. I happened to have some already cooked and waiting for me in the refrigerator. It's like I planned it. I love it when a plan comes together.

Add the chicken to the onion in the pan. Admire the wooden spoon again. It has the guy's signature on it, but I can't read it. Think about going back to the Farmer's Market to find him.

Add about a cup or so of salsa to the chicken.

Let the chicken and salsa become friends.

Doesn't it look friendly?

Contemplate the cheese.

Add about two cups of cheese to the pan. I got this ladle at Weight Watchers. It is exactly a cup. Ironic, actually, considering the fact that this recipe is most definitely NOT a Weight Watchers recipe. So please don't ask me for the points value. I don't know. I don't want to know. We're all going to pretend for one day that this is health food.

Add the same amount of milk as cheese. In this case, two cups.

Stir it all together. Take a taste and see if it needs anything. I added pepper. Oh, and by the way, if the Big Guy is reading this, I did not fling my iPhone across the room as I was putting the milk away. That is just an urban legend.

The good news is that, if it HAD flown across the room, it did not break.

And sour cream. It just needed a little something.

As you're adding the sour cream, please try not to fling it across the kitchen. But sometimes, things happen. Iphones fly. Sour cream flies. Don't judge.

Call Daisy and George in for clean-up duty. If you look really closely, you can see sour cream on George's face. Thanks, George.

For the record, clean-up duty is not why I got dogs. But it's a bonus.

Anyway, let everything come together and heat up.

Dish up and serve.

There you have it. Easy dinner. Not health food. But still yummy. And a good way to use up a giant can of nacho cheese if you happen to have one sitting around.

Granola for the Girl

My daughter likes granola. And every single time we go to buy it in the store, I have two reactions.

The first is the to think, "Why does this cost so much?" How hard is it to make? I could make this. I should make this. You know, later. When I have all that extra time.

The next thought is "This is not health food!" Take a look at the nutritional facts. There has got to be a better/healthier way. Which I should find. You know, later. When I have all that extra time.

Well, recently, I came across a recipe that prompted me to give it a try. You can find it here - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/megans-granola/. It seemed like something the Girl would enjoy. Turns out, it isn't all that hard to make. I could make this. I DID make this. And you know what? It didn't even take all that much time.

Megan's Granola Recipe - Modified for the Girl

The original recipe seemed like A LOT of granola, so I cut it in half. It's just me, the Girl, and the Big Guy, so we didn't really need all that much.  Also, the original recipe calls for a combination of maple syrup and honey. I use agave syrup instead of maple because that is what I had in the cupboard. But you could use maple or agave or honey, or whatever combination floats your boat.  My recipe looks more like this:

• 4 cups rolled (or old fashioned) oats
• 3/4 cups wheat germ
• 3/4 cups oat bran (the cereal... trust me, it took me a while to figure this one out)
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons blue agave syrup
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup raisins or sweetened dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line a large baking sheets with parchment or aluminum foil. 

Combine the oats, wheat germ, oat bran, sunflower seeds, almonds, pecans, and walnuts in a large bowl. (For what it's worth, the original recipe says to "finely" chop the nuts - we like them left a bit chunkier in the recipe.)

Stir together the salt, brown sugar, agave, honey, oil, cinnamon, and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then pour over the dry ingredients, and stir to coat.

Spread the mixture on the baking sheet. Bake until crispy and toasted, about 25 minutes. Stir once halfway through. Now, depending on your oven, it might take more or less time. Keep an eye on it. There's a fine line between toasty and TOASTY, if you know what I mean.

Cool, then stir in the raisins or cranberries. The recipe, officially divided in half, calls for 1 cup of dried cranberries. The Girl says that is not enough. We add about 1 1/2 cups. Or 2 cups. Or the entire package and whatever we have on hand. What can I say? She likes her dried cranberries.

Once it's all cooled and mixed, store in an airtight container. We keep it in the pantry, and this batch will usually last us about a week.  We like to add it to Greek yogurt. It's good on ice cream. The Big Guy likes to add a handful to whatever breakfast cereal he is eating. Which is usually Cheerios. Because they're good for you and it's what adults should eat for breakfast. Which is what I tell him when he is whining that I didn't buy him Captain Crunch.

My next granola experiment is to figure out how to get the amount of oil down. I was reading somewhere that you could replace half the oil with applesauce. If that works, it would also add a nice flavor to the recipe.

P.S. Being that this is the first "official" recipe that I am posting, I feel compelled to remind you that I am still learning. If something is wrong or not clear, I'm sure we can work together to get it corrected.

P.P.S. If you made it this far, thanks for reading!

So, obviously, if you look at the length of times between posts, you will see that my friend was probably right. I don't have time. In all honestly, summer kind of got away from me. Now it's Labor Day; school starts tomorrow. In less than 24 hours, my kid is going to start her senior year in high school. Where did the time go? It seems like only yesterday I was watching her get on the school bus to head off to kindergarten. I distinctly remember how her new backpack seemed so big on her little body. Now she's seventeen and talking all about what will happen when she goes to college. It's not happening, by the way, I am in denial. She is going to stay with me forever.

But first - let's review what I DID accomplish this summer. We had a kick butt vacation on the East Coast on Martha's Vineyard. I had never taken a full two weeks of vacation time from work, and it was worth every minute. We also got in a few solid beach days on Lake Michigan. And we even worked in a few days "up north" in Traverse City.  Other than that, I worked. Drove a teenager to/from work. And I cooked. I cooked a lot. Unfortunately, I also failed to document most it. Shame on me. We will have to rectify that situation.  My next post, I'll document some of my successful culinary adventures from the past couple of months.

For the record, when I decided I was going to do this blog, I cracked open those recipe boxes and realized they didn't contain as much as I thought. (Guess I probably should have checked out the contents before I started this project.) The recipes from my paternal grandmother ("Nana") are actually kind of funny. They are very basic recipes. I think when my parents got married, she may have assumed that my mother was completely inept in the kitchen. The recipes are so ridiculously basic, I'm surprised there isn't one in there explaining how to boil water.

What I had been hoping for was more of Nana's classic recipes - the pesto, her gazpacho, creamed peas and onions.  I wanted the things that we had grown up eating at her house. Where were those recipes? I did a little research. Turns out, one of my cousins was fortunate enough to gain possession of Nana's actual recipe boxes after she passed away. So I contacted her, and she is going to send me the recipe boxes. (I had to swear that I would scan them, treat them kindly, and return them straightaway.) So hopefully I will have them soon and this adventure can commence.

Until next time, my friends. Go eat something delicious.

Recently, I've been feeling the need to do "something" with myself that involves a little communication and/or self-expression. The other day, while doing the dishes, it hit me. They were staring me in the face. On the window sill, above my sink, are two old metal recipe boxes. One of these I got from my mother, who got it from her mother-in-law (my grandmother). The other used to be my great-grandmother's, on my mom's side. They are full of recipes, which in full honestly, I have never really looked through.

I picked up my phone and sent a text to my BFF. "Hey, I've been thinking about food blogging." I won't subject you the conversation that followed, but after a back-and-forth exchange about food, family, and how we just really need to be rich and famous and have a lot of money to do anything we want, it ended with her saying, "But seriously, it's time consuming. And you think you have time?"

The answer to that question is NO. I do not have time. I work full-time. I have a side business. I have several volunteer things that I am involved in. There is always my family that, as selfish as they are, seem to demand my attention on a regular basis. And don't even get me started on my friends. They are so needy. Wait, maybe it's me that's needy. Whatever. Needy takes time - don't judge me. Plus I DO like to sleep. I don't have time.

But I want to. Have you ever heard of Pioneer Woman? Stop what you are doing right now. First, promise me you will come back. Because once you move on to Pioneer Woman, you may never return.  Promise? Okay. Now go here.   http://thepioneerwoman.com/

Did you come back? I hope you came back. Anyway, did you SEE all the stuff she does? I have a theory that Ree Drummond is actually like ten different people. She amazes me. But if she can do what she does, surely I can add a tiny little food blog to my repertoire.

So, here is my plan. I'm going to crack open those recipe boxes. We are going to see what sort of recipes are hiding in there, and we are going to test them out. The bestest recipe ever in the whole wide world could be waiting in there! I will do my best to share, to take pictures, and spread the joy of whatever discoveries we make. Along the way, I think we're all going to learn a little something about food, about family, and about what makes grandmother's so awesome. Someday I want to be an awesome grandmother. Not too soon though. My daughter is only sixteen so we have some time.

Honestly, there are a couple of recipes that I do hope are in there. My Nana, my father's mother, made this creamed peas and onion dish every holiday. I loved that dish. I don't know why. I have yet to find anything even close. Other dishes that I remember from my grandparent's house - popovers, Johnny Cakes, and pesto. My grandmother's pesto. She would make these great batches of pesto and we would sit there and scoop it up with crispy Stella Doro breadsticks. Yummy. 

Stay tuned. Who knows what grand experiences this will lead us into. Let the adventure begin.