Homemade Granola

My mother has made granola for as long as I can remember. On a recent trip to visit family, I learned that a cousin of mine has been making granola as well. And I was thrilled to find that she made it with ingredients that I LOVED! My mom's granola had raisins, which I did not love... this had almonds and cranberries... and, I learned, whatever I wanted! So, with a bit of guidance from her on the ingredients, and some guidance from here on the amounts. Here's what I came out with:

Ingredients:
5c rolled oats
1/4c honey
1/2c sliced almonds
1/2c shredded coconut
1/2c-1c dried cranberries
1/3c coconut oil
1T ground cinnamon
1/2c brown sugar

Instructions:
Mix all dry ingredients (all except oil and honey) in a large bowl. Mix in the honey and oil. Spread on parchment paper on a rimmed cookie sheet (or two). Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Stir, and then bake for another 15-20 minutes (or until golden brown).

Pumpkin Choclate Chip Scones

I am pleased to report that I am no longer a scone failure! My friend and I made scones this weekend honor of fall - Pumpkin Chocolate Chip scones... YUM! We  got the original recipe from here. We followed the recipe pretty closely, but learned from our previous mistakes and added the chocolate chips - because... well pumpkin and chocolate chips are FANTASTIC together! I'll share the recipe, then share with you what we did:

Ingredients

Scones:

• 4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup cold butter
• 2 eggs
• 1-1/4 cups canned pumpkin
• 3/4 cup milk, divided 

Glaze:

• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Directions

• In a large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, pumpkin and 1/2 cup milk. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.
• Turn onto a floured surface; knead 10 times. Divide dough in half. Pat each portion into an 8-in. circle; cut each into eight wedges. Separate wedges and place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Brush with remaining milk.
• Bake at 400° for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks; cool for 10 minutes. Combine the glaze ingredients; drizzle over scones. Serve warm. Yield: 16 scones.

Nutritional Facts 1 serving (1 each) equals 338 calories, 13 g fat (8 g saturated fat), 59 mg cholesterol, 348 mg sodium, 51 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 5 g protein. 

*** 
(and just to warn you, the rest of these pictures were taken with my computer.. so the quality is not stellar, but you'll get the point!)

We were kind of scared after last time, we were just hoping things would go better...

We mixed the dry ingredients...

Cut in the butter...

Mixed the wet ingredients, and then slowly added them to the dry (last time, we learned (too late) that it's best not to add all of the wet ingredients at once... and also a little trick about measuring the milk with the egg already in the measuring cup. It seemed to work much better this time. Once we'd mixed them completely, we added the chocolate chips.

Because we were actually able to create something that resembled a circle and didn't just stick completely to our hands... this is so much better!

Then we cut it...

and put the first half on a pan (we're so excited that they look so normal!)

While they were baking we made a little of the glaze, and glazed half of them when they came out of the oven - the glaze is yummy. We sugared the second half with sugar in the raw before baking them - they were wonderful as well!

Scones: Take 2!These are the "oh my goodness, we actually made normal-looking scones!" faces.  Hooray!

The scones were very tasty... you should try them - but not without reading up on scones... we did that too late the last time and this is what we ended up with...

this...

and this...

tasty, but an atrocious mess and not very pretty to look at...

Broiled Grapefruit

This morning, I made the mistake of going on a walk and getting coffee with a friend... (that's not the part that was the mistake) ... and when I drink coffee I feel full ... so I forgot to eat breakfast (the mistake). Around 9:00, I started deciding what I was going to make for lunch... at 9:00. As I go through Pinterest, trying to find the perfect easy recipe to try... for lunch. Then I looked at the clock and realized - THIS IS MADNESS! I realized that I forgot to eat and that I should probably take care of that before I started eating everything in sight.

Then, I remembered this idea I pinned a while ago on Pinterest (yes, I actually do try the things I pin!) and decided to try it. The recipe comes from this blog. I followed the recipe as is, but I'll make a  {few notes} as we go.

Ingredients
1 grapefruit, cut in half and segmented with a serrated knife
1T butter, melted
2T brown sugar
cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, etc {I only used cinnamon... because I'm in love with cinnamon}

Instructions
Turn on your broiler and position the rack in the top shelf, as close to the broiler as you can get it

Halve and segment your grapefruit. You might need to take a little slice off the bottoms so that they don’t roll around. {since it's just me, I saved half for later - and, as you can see, I sliced a bit off the bottom as recommended}

Mix butter, brown sugar, and desired spices until they form a thick paste. {I kept half of it off to the side to use on the other half later}

Place grapefruit halves in a broiler-safe pan and smear the butter/sugar paste on top. {I tried to make an easy cleanup by putting down some foil... it didn't work. There was some juice... it moved around a bit and did not follow my directions to stay on the foil}

Broil grapefruit halves for 4-6 minutes, keeping an eye on them and rotating if necessary. {I did 5 min}

see that run-off over there...

Remove from oven and serve warm. Yum! {It is yummy! Still just a tiny bit tart, but with that sweet goodness... it's tender and oh so tasty! Did someone say dessert for breakfast?}

French Toast

Last night, I decided to make french toast for dinner (I was feeling the breakfast theme), so I thought I'd throw that out there here - even though I'm sure that most people are very clear on how to make french toast. Once upon a time, I was not so clear on how simple it can be, so I'll share for those out there who forgot about or don't know quite how to make french toast. Beware that this is something I do not actually make with a recipe...

Basic Ingredients
bread {the fatter and drier the better... mine was neither fat nor dry, so I let it sit out for a few minutes before I started}
eggs {I usually do about 2 eggs for every 3 pieces of bread}

Optional Ingredients
cinnamon {I add it to the eggs}
toppings {peanut butter or butter, syrup, powdered sugar, fruit, etc}

Instructions
*Heat a skillet or pancake griddle.
*Scramble the eggs in a bowl.
*Add cinnamon {if you like it - I did a few dashes}.
*Cover both sides of bread pieces in egg.

*Cook on a hot griddle {just like you would pancakes}

*Flip, cook, serve, add toppings, enjoy!

Blueberry Pancakes

One thing that I have learned, cooking as a single girl, is that I can't do everything the way my mother does. My mom is a wonderful cook and baker, and always fed us well, but let's face it: I don't have the army to feed... one person cannot eat all that food, and sometimes it seems kind of silly to make something from scratch, when you're going to have way too much and there's a reasonable alternative. 

I learned very quickly that I like wheat pancake mix (I have not gone whole wheat yet... I tried it and I just didn't like it). This mix is one I get from Hy-Vee or Dillons and all you have to do is add water. Simple. Perfection. Sometimes I make them just the regular way, but I love to add fruit to my pancakes (usually it's frozen fruit). I have learned that blueberries and raspberries do really well. Strawberries seem to have a few issues... sometimes they don't get warm and the batter around them doesn't always cook. I think that cutting the strawberries up into small pieces would probably help the cause. I always thaw the berries a little bit in water before adding them to the already-mixed batter, and then just cook them. 

I realize that this isn't a real "recipe," but it does serve my other purpose which is to throw ideas out there for people who need quick and easy and more reasonable amounts of food in their recipes. Breakfast is always a good, quick meal at breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

One thing I will tell you is that most pancake mixes I have found will make more than I can eat by myself. I have sometimes cut the recipe in half, but mostly now (since I've been doing it for a while), I mix a little of the mix and water together until I know it's the right consistency. It's a good idea to make it once or twice as called for on the box so you know what that consistency is supposed to be. 

So, to make the pancakes:
*prepare the batter as directed on the box

*thaw some fruit (or use fresh fruit - or for those chocolate-lovers out there, pull out the chocolate chips)

*mix the fruit into the batter

*pour, flip, and enjoy :)