Bring Your Own Granola

Recipe #99: surprise! You get to make it up yourself.

I recently got my Apprentice Interpreter (natural history/ecology, not languages) certification, then followed that up with a workshop hosted to give people ideas for more outdoor activity foods that you can easily make yourself. It was a small turnout but I had a lot of fun. Here's the outline we were given to make your own granola (credit to Laurie Schwartz of the Interpretive Guides Association):

Do-it-yourself granola

 

Pre-heat oven to 300° F.  Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Start with 2 cups of large flake oatmeal, add a pinch of salt, then add ¼ cup to ½ cup each of your selection of yummy additions, such as…

 

Dried fruit: raisins, cranberries, cherries, pears, peaches, mango, pineapple, figs, apricots, dates, currants, banana chips, blueberries  (Chop any big pieces of fruit into small dice.)

Nuts: almonds, peanuts, hazelnuts, cashews, pecans, walnuts (nuts can be chopped or left whole)

Seeds: sesame, flax, pumpkin, sunflower, hemp hearts, chia

Other: shredded or flaked coconut, soy nuts, wheat germ, bran

Spices: cinnamon, candied ginger, nutmeg, vanilla

 

I like to mix at least one of each of the kinds above. If you want to add chocolate, you’ll have to wait until after it has baked and cooled or you’ll have a big mess!

 

½ cup oil (canola or sunflower)

½ cup honey

 

Melt honey with oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until bubbly.  Stir briefly to combine, and then pour the syrup over your dry mix.  Stir to combine well. Spread the mixture on a rimmed cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes.  Be careful not to over-bake, because the granola will continue to darken as it cools.  You can stir the granola while it’s still hot to break it up into little chunks for cereal, or press it into a greased pan to cut into bars for the trail.  It’s easier to cut while still a bit warm.  

I made my own granola!

When I made mine last night, I randomly threw in 1/2 cup of whatever I dug out of the cupboard that fell within the suggestions above. I think I ended up with:  unsalted sunflower seeds, 1/4 cup chopped dried mango, banana chips, crushed walnut pieces, sliced almonds, 1/4 cup prunes, and raisins. I freehand measured some cinnamon and nutmeg, too. 

Mine turned out really well (in my unbiased opinion, of course). Even the Meatatarian ate some. I stirred it a couple of times while it was baking to keep it from sticking. Give it a good stir when it starts to cool after coming out of the oven for good. Mine was quite stuck to the pan. I laughed out loud when I finally figured out that the grapes which had suddenly appeared were actually the raisins. Cooking is fun! 

For next time, I will reduce the oil quantity (mine's a bit too oily for me) and maybe not get quite so excited with the nutmeg. And now that I finally found the dried coconut, I'll probably add that, too, along with dried apricots (if I have them) and Sean's dried apple slices. The best part about this recipe is that you can make it entirely yours!

Apple Squash Soup

Recipe #98: Apple Squash Soup

If it's possible to fall in love with the enemy, I have done so after making this soup. Squash and I have never been friends for as long as I can remember. Whenever squash is served - usually at a family holiday get-together or something similar because my mother knows I avoid it at her house - I give it the ol' evil eye and eat extra mashed potatoes instead. However, I am wise enough now to recognize the nutritional benefits of squash so I decided to see if I could fool my palate by eating the evil vegetable hidden in a soup.

Soup-to-be

 

 

The worst part of making this pot of deliciousness was peeling and dicing the butternut squash and the sweet potato. I've never dealt with butternut squash before and today, I discovered that it oozes clear sap-ish stuff when you cut it. Weird. I had to manhandle it quite a bit to get all of the skin off with the knife after discovering that my peeler was not up to the job. I also had to stop to sharpen the knife I was using - yes, I worked so hard that I dulled my knife! Ok, maybe not, but it sounds good. This be one dense vegetable and I have the calloused hands to prove it.

I ended up buying 2 squashes (squashi? squishes?) at the store this morning to get the weight called for in the recipe. I guessed on the sweet potato weight and went for a "medium" size one. For apples, I used Spartan because they were from Canada and the cheaper ones next to them were not. The chicken stock tetra that I used all of (said 900 mL on the container, but measured to 4 cups...?) was the no-salt-added kind by Campbell's. I opted for the dried spices since I already had them on hand; I actually added the 1 tsp of salt (I don't normally add salt) since the stock had none added; and I freehand measured the pepper as I am prone to doing. Grind, grind, grind, stir, grind, grind, good enough. I used regular Carnation Evaporated Milk instead of the 2% or Fat-Free, and then I used some of the leftover to make more tea. Mmmm.....

As far as the cooking goes, this soup was very easy to make. Once it got to boiling, I could finish the dishes and attempt to restore order in the kitchen which actually ended up more like me checking Facebook and texting friends. What dishes? Ha! Although we own a food processor, I don't like using it because it has all these blades and parts that I have to clean afterward so I pureed the soup in the old-school blender. I hate cleaning it, too, but at least I know it better. I learned from painful past experience to puree small batches at a time - no more pea soup burns on my arm!

Soup SO GOOD!

At last, it was time to taste the soup and - oh, joy! What delight! This soup is SO GOOD! Mine has a nice flavour to it (probably from the pepper, in part), and it's filling and nutritious. I'm bringing some to my yoga buddy tomorrow morning for her breakfast. I think I might need to eat more of this one for dinner tonight!

Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Pineapple

Recipe #97: Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Pineapple

Well, my only class today got cancelled so instead of working on an assignment that is due in a few days, I decided that I would put that off in favour of finally doing something culinary with the pineapple and yams that have been staring accusingly at me for a while now.

In a fit of what can only be described as "what WAS I thinking?", I recently bought two yams. Yams? I don't even really like yams. He doesn't care for them either, if memory serves, so why did I bring them home? Oh, right - the new What's Cooking magazine showed up in the mail the other day and I thought the above recipe looked good. Lucky for me, it IS good!

Tasty on Instagram!

I'm not quite sure how their suggested 4 sweet potatoes equates to about 2 lbs/900g. My two monsters weighed roughly that combined although I ended up using only about 1.5 yams after cutting off the parts that got fed up with waiting to be eaten. I didn't buy pre-cut pineapple to be sure to have 3 cups since it was more cost effective to buy a whole pineapple and use whatever it gave me (I estimated 1 1/2 cups). Next time, I'll buy 2 pineapples - the more, the merrier! I had to rehydrate my brown sugar with hot water in the microwave to get it to crumble enough to use; I used butter instead of margarine; and I added the suggested 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper for kick. I happened to have olive flavoured cooking spray on hand so I used that for the baking sheet.

Aside from having to hack up the yams (about as much fun as washing all the dishes...), this recipe was simple to make. I ended up with about a 2:1 yam to pineapple ratio in the end, and it has a nice shot of taste to it with the added pepper. Better still, it is a simple and delicious way to get some extra vitamins into me, especially if he won't eat any. Bonus: I LOVE HOT PINEAPPLE!

Get Well Soon Chicken Improv Soup

Recipe #96: I made up my own!

I've been feeling rather run down and lousy for the past day or so. It probably doesn't help that:
a) it's the end of the semester (and my degree!!!)
b) I work in a hospital and a fitness centre, and am a full-time student (3 extra-germy environments)
c) I keep encountering people who were sick with "that thing going around"

That being said (and the kale needing to be eaten), I thought I would invent myself some variation on chicken soup so that I would hopefully boost my immune system and start feeling better. What better reason to clean out the fridge that to make up a recipe as I go?

Cleaning out the fridge is good for me!

2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion (because you were tired of looking at it and it needed eating)
2 cloves garlic, minced (or finely chopped because the mincer was in the dishwasher and you didn't feel like cleaning it again)
4 cups cauliflower in bite-sized pieces
1 can (540 mL/19 oz) white kidney beans (or equivalent), rinsed and drained
1 cup chopped fresh mushrooms
1 cup small bows pasta
2 farmer's market medium tomatoes, chopped
1 cup chopped baby carrots
6 stalks celery hearts, chopped
2 1/3 cups reduced-sodium chicken stock (because it was in the fridge and needed to be used up)
3 2/3 cups organic vegetable stock (because the beef stock in the fridge had gone off and you only had vegetable in the cupboard)
2 cups water (or more in lieu of stock)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp squeeze tube basil
1 tsp squeeze tube oregano
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
3 cups organic baby spinach
71g/2.5 oz cooked chicken, shredded
4 cups farmer's market kale, stems removed, chopped well

I can't swear to it because I was multi-tasking while watching college football, but I'm pretty sure the cooking process for this soup went something like this:
1. Chop/dice everything that needs to be smaller.
2. Heat the oil in a big pot on medium-high; cook the onions and garlic for a few minutes until they start to burn and/or smell really good; turn the burner down to medium.
3. Add the celery and carrots; stir.
4. Add 1 cup of stock when the vegetables start smoking; wait until it boils.
5. Add more stock until you think you have enough; then, add the cauliflower, tomato, spices/herbs and mushrooms; stir.
6. Add water and chicken randomly; remember to add beans; stir.
7. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring periodically. Taste occasionally because you are starving and it smells good.
8. Add pasta, kale and spinach, stir.
9. Cook another 10 minutes, stirring and tasting occasionally until pasta and vegetables are tender to your liking.
10. Mangia, mangia!

Mmmmm.......

Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Curry

Recipe #95: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/cauliflower-sweet-potato-curry-95052.aspx

Well, the weather out here is mostly fall-like these days: 5 degrees and drizzling this morning ... although I was walking outside in the sun wearing capris and a tank top yesterday ... welcome to Calgary.

I can't quite remember why I chose to try this recipe aside from the fact that I had an excess of curry and cauliflower to use up. The Charmer won't touch chick peas, curry or sweet potatoes so I'll be eating all of this one solo.

I used regular cucumber dressing (store brand) and an entire white onion. I think it was a medium size although it did add up to about 1 1/4 cups when chopped. I have no idea if my sweet potatoes were "medium" - I bought them about a week ago and can't recall what the rest of the ones in the display looked like for comparison. I didn't measure them after chopping, either, but there is a lot of sweet potato in my pot... The rice is a nice one that we made last night. It's a mix of red rice, hulless barley, rye berries, black barley, whole oats, quinoa, and Himalayan long grain red rice. It's called Ancient Grains by Great Valley. I think we bought it at Costco? The Charmer added a can of cream of celery soup to it for flavour.

I'd say that this recipe was pretty easy to make, especially if you choose a big enough pot from the beginning and don't end up having to transfer ingredients partway through the cooking. Not the first time I've made that mistake. I ended up vigorously simmering the goods for about 25 minutes in total. The sweet potatoes weren't quite done by the 20 minute mark.

I didn't have any cilantro or toasted cashews to serve with this, but it sure makes for a strangely tasty dish when mixed with the rice dish from yesterday. Although this recipe might scare away those of the meat persuasion, it's really filling, probably due to all of the fibre. My favourite part is that it's not too heavy on any strong flavours - I had feared the curry would dominate. Om nom nom!

Crispy Topped Vegetable Bake

Recipe #94: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/crispy-topped-vegetable-bake-138144.aspx

Oh, hello there again! Yes, I've fallen off the blogging (and cooking) wagon recently, but now I am back.

For those of us in Canada, it's Thanksgiving weekend as I write. As always, I am thankful for many things in my life, but, in particular, I am thankful for the bonds of family and friendship that exist across the miles that separate me from most of mine. This is the 3rd Thanksgiving in a row that I have missed with my family, and I miss them very much.

As with most holidays, The Meatatarian and I don't really do much to celebrate them unless we have guests or are guests elsewhere at the time. I bought some turkey pepperettes yesterday as my nod to the occasion, but we're mostly just eating random food. I did have some broccoli and cauliflower hulking in the fridge this week so I decided to try this recipe to use it up.

In addition to the 4 cups of each called for, I added about 1 1/2 cups of baby red potatoes. I cut them small so that they were approximately the same size as the cut broccoli and cauliflower. We did not have skim milk on hand so I used 1%, and I used regular mozzarella cheese since I find the light  or fat-free versions rather disgusting. I went with the microwave instructions for the sauce (bottom of Kraft page), but found that it was not nearly thickened enough after 4 minutes. I think I nuked it for about 8 minutes in total - 1 or 2 minutes, stir, repeat until satisfied. Somehow, I ended up with sauce all over my sweatshirt, oven mitt, forearm and even in my nose. Don't ask.

I found the end product to be rather tasty although some of my potato pieces are slightly undercooked. Next time, I'll boil them for an extra few minutes before adding the cauliflower and broccoli. The stuffing on my version is a bit like hard clumps of crust in a few places - you might want to take the time (I lack the patience) to spread it more carefully before it goes in the oven. Regardless, we'll both eat this recipe so it's a way to get more vegetables into our bellies. That's what I consider to be success.

Cocoa Banana Bran Muffins

Recipe #93: http://www.all-bran.ca/en/recipedetails.aspx?RecipetypeID=23225

I have 5 words for these muffins: So. Good. And. So. Easy

These muffins came at a good time. It seems that the bunch of bananas I bought all decided to ripen at once and it was hard to eat them fast enough. I don't really like very ripe bananas. I used to give my mum fits because I normally eat bananas that are still somewhat green. Therefore, when I ended up with 3 quite ripe ones left, I started looking for a recipe.

What I like about this recipe is that I had everything on hand already. As far as ingredients go, I did not substitute anything. I happened to use organic free-range brown eggs and organic fair-trade cocoa powder, but everything else was ordinary.

The ingredients were really simple to assemble. I used muffin cup liners instead of spraying the pans, but I ommitted the banana slices on top of each pile of batter. The muffins sure smell good while they bake!

The end product is hot, soft and delicious. The chocolate and banana make an awesome combination (something I don't indulge in very often), and I didn't even notice the added benefit of fibre. I reheated one this morning for 20 seconds on power level 5 in the microwave for an excellent breakfast. I recommend you try one, too.