Homemade Granola ~ 9.30.10

Auntie Leila's Granola

Don’t be afraid to regard these amounts as approximate.

8 cups oats (fill extra large bowl 2/3 full of oats)
1 small package of sweetened flaked coconut, about 2 cups
2-4 cups chopped nuts – I like the larger amount
Mix together in bowl.

Mix together in saucepan, bring to boil, simmer for 5 minutes:
1 ½ cups brown sugar (this does seem like a lot, but this recipe makes many servings. You can start with a smaller amount at first if you like. You can also substitute honey, molasses, or maple syrup)
1 cup water
¾ cup oil
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp. salt – don’t omit! Salt is important to wake up the taste buds.
1 tsp. almond extract if using almonds

The object is to dissolve the sugar and slightly thicken the syrup.
Pour sugar mixture over ingredients in bowl, mixing well until all oats are coated.

Pour into shallow pan (a lasagna pan works well) and bake at 325* stirring every 10 minutes, until the mixture is evenly browned, about 30-35 minutes.

Remove from the oven.


Add in any combination to total 2 cups:
dried cranberries
chopped dates
raisins
Chopped apricots

Stir, cool completely, store in airtight containers (can be frozen).

Check out more of Leila's wonderful recipes for breakfast here
And yes, I've mentioned them before here.

Basil Tomato Soup & Killer Bread ~ 9.27.10

Once September hits, I go into super powered soup making mode. I could eat it every day. Seriously love me some soup! And one of my big faves is Tomato. I was all set to post this recipe when I realized I already did. DARN! So excited to post a recipe and here I've already gone and posted the same one 9 months ago!

I did not post this bread recipe though. It's so delish with a bowl of soup, especially this soup (see that's the same soup in the photo above- filled with veggie goodness!). I'm including two variations to the orginal recipe because I don't always have fresh basil, especially in the winter and I love the green onions in this AND I think artichokes on it would be a wonderful decision!

Killer Bread (or Wicked Awesome Bread or Super Duper Delish Bread... get the picture?)
(can be doubled) Serves 6

1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
clove garlic- minced fine
basil- couple leaves finely chopped or 2 tsp dried, crumbled
bread- sourdough, baguette- I had some hoagie-style rolls lying around and used those
butter
optional: green onions, sliced fine or chopped artichokes

Preheat the broiler.
Mix mayo, parmesan and garlic in a bowl. (add green onions if you're going that option or artichokes or both!)
Slice bread horizontally (like you're making a sandwich) and butter it.
Broil until lightly toasted.
Spread parmesan mixture over cut sides of bread.
Broil until top is puffed and golden brown. Sprinkle with chopped basil.
Cut into wedges and serve with a delcious bowl of soup (or steak!).

Back to school BIG cookie ~ 9.4.10

I happened upon this recipe the other day and I've always wanted to make a really BIG cookie. They're so pricy at the store and I don't like all the icing (I know I iced mine) or what they usually say. SO, I made one from scratch. Actually, I made three.... one for Gl's first day. One for M's first day and one for my friend who just had a baby a few days before her kids went back to school. I made it for her dessert when I brought dinner over to her. The first one I made on a foil lined pizza pan and the other two I made on my pizza stone. All three turned out perfectly. BUT I  will say this recipe makes more dough than necessary. I froze the extra in case I needed some cookies or wanted to make a smaller BIG cookie one day.

The icing... I had in the freezer leftover from the cakes I made this past year. It was the perfect amounts needed to pipe my little messages and a little border around the outside, too. So glad I don't throw stuff away... just popped them into baggies and defrosted them while the cookie cake baked. Snipped off a corner and voila! Instant piping bag!

Back to School Cookie Cake
(from here, with a different name)

Cream these in your mixer:
2 sticks of butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar

Add to creamed butter mixture:
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp water- just doing what I'm told...

Mix well, then add:
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups flour
2 cups oatmeal- I used quick cooking
4 handfuls of chocolate chips- I'm really precise about this... kidding

Dump your mixture onto a pizza stone OR prepared pizza pan (I lined mine with foil and sprayed it well with cooking spray).
Bake at 350 for 10 minutes then check every 2-3 minutes until golden brown. (Mine took about 18 minutes)

Let cool then decorate!

The kids were really excited to have a cookie cake on their first day of school and this recipe was indeed stellar!

My idea of Summer Dinner ~ 7.27.10

Ah Summer is nearly over already and I've been thoroughly enjoying my "summer break" in the kitchen.

I try to cook less and eat whatever I can find in and around the house. HA!

This is one of our favorite "oops-it's-already-5:30-and-we-need-to-eat-dinner" dinners. I call Snackie Dinner.

The general rule of thumb is that you pull out some veggies, fruits, cheese and all the dippers you've got stowed away in your pantry... and some DIPS: hummus, eggplant dip, salsa, brushetta... Set it all out on fun plates on the deck, pour yourself a glass of wine and fill the sippies with juice and get snacking! We usually pop in a movie and have popcorn for dessert on these Snackie Dinner nights.

Kid recipe: Cookies and {chocolate} Milk ~ 6.10.10

I nabbed this recipe on a discussion board of a class I'm taking online--we have a whole thread specifically devoted to cookie recipes. The class is a scrapbooking class. Now that is my kind of people! Anywho, it drew me in b/c I thought it would be a perfect summer recipe that the kids could make. I did a trial run the other night and it's a winner. So easy to make and I love the variety of flavors that you could make these cookies. Check it out.

Cake Mix Cookies

Ingredients:
a box of cake mix- I went with devil's food
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
2 cups of a mix in (chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, m&m, marshmallows, anything!)

1/2 cup chopped nuts (totally optional)

Stir it all together and drop onto an ungreased cookie sheet in rounded teaspoons. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. And once you remove them from the oven let them sit on the sheet for two minutes before moving.

They were especially good while they were warm! Enjoy!

BLT Pasta or How Crafty Makes a Mess in the Kitchen ~ 6.7.10

Last week I watched a DVR'ed episode of the RR show. I was salivating at 11:00 at night over her Bacon, Leek and Tomato Pasta but was not about to do anything about it then.

Fast forward to the next day when I was wondering what to make for dinner and thought about the bacon in my fridge and the spaghetti in my pantry. A quick trip to the store for a can of San Marzano Tomatoes and a leek and I was ready to make this dish!

Here's a link to Rachael's recipe: Bacon, Leek and Tomato Pasta 

One thing to note about this pasta- if you're a saucy kinda pasta lovin' person, you're not going to love this. It's a more chunky not too much sauce kind of sauce. You may want to double it or serve some other marinara sauce (and yes, I did that) on the side to satiate those saucier sauce lovin' peeps, K?

I was going on sheer memory but thought to google the recipe just to be sure once I started frying up the bacon. I wasn't using the recommended center cut bacon and needed to get rid of about a 1/3 cup of grease.

Oh glory! The scent of bacon in the house is just so lovely (I just wish is wouldn't linger so long)!

I added the chopped up leek and garlic. Do you know how to clean a leek? You do so AFTER you cut it b/c of all the grit and dirt that gets trapped between the layers. Cut your leek into half moon shapes and then put them all in a big bowl filled with water (I use my colander/salad spinner). Now, pretend you are a washing machine and swish your hand around and around. The dirt will fall to the bottom! Dry off those squeaky clean leeks and get them in the frying pan.... FAST!

Next, add the tomatoes with the juice. Why did I choose the pricey San Marzanos? This recipe has so few ingredients that I wanted the best tomatoes in here. San Marzanos are "up there" on the wonderful tasting tomato ladder.

I smooshed mine up with a potato masher and ... LOOK WHAT HAPPENED!

I give you exhibit A and B:

A.B.

tomato juice everywhere! oops.

ps. that's what a can of imported San Marzanos looks like (see Exhibit A)

All cleaned up and my pasta water was ready to get its healthy dose of SALT!

That is about the most UNFLATTERING photo of my hand, evah. It looks so fat! Moving on...

I added my half a box of regular Barilla thin spaghetti and my half a box of wheat spaghetti- which took the same amount of time to cook. Six minutes on the timer and I went back to stir my sauce.

Add some pepper and taste for seasoning.

IMPORTANT TIP: Scoop out a measuring cup of that pasta water before you drain it! IMPORTANT TIP! It will extend your sauce and make it all work together nicely.

Pasta is done, adding sauce to my drained pasta to incorporate it all together and MARRY the flavors. ( I love Marrying flavors here)

Plating it up! With a sprinkling of Parmiggiano Reggiano cheese!

Now for the real test. Did my boys eat it. YES! YES! they did! After a good crying fit and a trip to his room, Zachary realized the error of his ways and said this about it, " It is good, Mama! I like it!" A few others picked out the chunky tomatoe parts, but I'm pretty sure the bacon saved the day in this dish!

whew. thank you, Lord.

Serve it up with some fresh lettuce a neighbor picked from their garden and crispy breadsticks and you'll have a winner of a dinner!

mmm delectable!

Last Summer's faves ~6.5.10

a few recipes that are worth revisiting and trying this month!

1. Creamy Latin Pasta Salad - hoping to make this soon for picnics! delish and different from your typical pasta salad

2. Baked French Toast - throw it together before church on Sunday and then bake for brunch!

3. Cool and Crisp Cucumber Salad- a summer side staple!