A Secret Recipe: Sweet Vanilla Granola

Jun 3, 2013 By Love & Flour in Other 10 Comments Tags: coconut, nuts, oats, vanilla

I was born to…what? When I try to finish that sentence, nothing comes to mind. I think I was probably born to simply hang out here for a while and enjoy myself, hopefully helping out a few others or doing more good than bad along the way. My Secret Recipe Club blogger, on the other hand, was born to cook.

After looking through a ton of delicious recipes on Melissa’s blog I Was Born to Cook, I wholeheartedly agree with her conclusion. I seriously considered many of the recipes before narrowing it down to three choices. I thought long and hard about roasted shrimp with either thousand island dressing or chipotle lime glaze before I did a complete 180 and settled on Vanilla Granola.

Melissa writes that granola is one of those things she never made at home prior to starting her food blog. After realizing how easy it is to make homemade granola, coupled with how delicious it tastes, store bought granola is a thing of the past.

The recipe calls for ingredients that are probably already in your pantry, and the ones that are not are easily substituted (like vegetable oil for coconut oil). I love all the adaptations granola recipes can take, and I Was Born to Cook features a number of other delicious granola combinations like cinnamon-walnut, pumpkin, peanut butter and maple-almond as well.

Now for how to use it. I typically eat granola as I would a bowl of cereal, but I also enjoy it sprinkled over a bowl of vanilla Greek yogurt or ice cream. My go to granola recipe, prior to this sweet vanilla granola, was a quinoa-based granola. Now that I have a new recipe to enjoy, I went in search of more things to do with it.

I came across suggestions to use it as a topping for muffins or baked fruit. Others suggested adding granola to banana bread, pancake or waffle batters. My favorite idea was to fold granola into cookies. Here are two recipes to get you started: granola cookies from NPR and granola cookies from CHOW. You’ve got the granola. Now go get your week off to a good start. Enjoy!

Sweet Vanilla Granola

Author: adapted from I Was Born to Cook

Ingredients

3 cups quick-cooking oats
½ cup slivered almonds
½ cup Craisins
¼ cup flaked or shredded coconut
⅓ cup coconut oil
¼ cup honey
¼ cup brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

In a large bowl, combine the oats, almonds, Craisins and coconut. Set aside.
Combine the coconut oil, honey, brown sugar, water and vanilla in a saucepan over medium high heat. Cook until melted and mixed, about 3-5 minutes.
Pour the liquid sweet mixture over the dry oat mixture and stir to coat.
Spread the mixture across a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake at 275 degrees F for 30 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. The granola should be golden brown when complete. If it is not yet done after 30 minutes, allow it to continue baking, checking at 5 minute increments.
Allow to cool completely, also stirring occasionally to help break up the granola as it cools.
Store in an airtight container.

Winter Pesto

Jan 31, 2013 By Love & Flour in Sauces No Comments Tags: nuts, spinach, winter

Welcome to Pesto 101. A few days ago I had never considered making pesto at home. In fact, I never much thought of pesto period. Now I think I am an expert capable of teaching anyone who reads this post how to become a homemade pesto expert. Why such bold confidence? Because it is easy. Super easy. When someone who wondered why the word “winter” was used to described this pesto recipe (yes, that would be me) can come so far so quickly, I know anyone else can too.

Lesson 1: History

Traditional pesto recipes call for basil. Since fresh basil is hard to come by at the end of January, spinach steps in. Not to worry though, this winter pesto still gets a good dose of flavor from dried basil.

Lesson 2: Health

I am not a nutritionist, but I like to think I have at least an ounce of nutritional sense. My instinct was this pesto is a fairly healthy recipe given it is packed full of a dark leafy greens and healthy fats from the walnuts and olive oil. Turns out I was partially right. This Top 10 Green Vegetables ranks spinach at number 5. It also discusses walnuts at the eighth most nutrient-dense nut.

Lesson 3: Math

Pesto = green vegetable + nuts + olive oil + cheese + garlic. Such a simple equation lends itself to seemingly endless variations. Any of the vegetables on the Top 10 list could lend themselves to pesto. As far as nuts go, traditional pesto recipes call for pine nuts, but why not try cashews or almonds or pecans or even pumpkin seeds? Asiago or Romano cheeses are good substitutes for the Parmesan. But you must use garlic. It keeps colds and vampires away, so there is really no arguing on this point.

Lesson 4: Home Ec

The only thing that equals the number of ways to make pesto is the number of uses for pesto. As you see here, I slathered it on some bread that I first toasted with a bit of olive oil in a cast iron skillet. I also tossed it with a bowl of pasta. If you go this route, reserve a bit of the water from the cooked pasta to thin the pesto sauce. Though I have yet to do it, I will likely use up the rest of my pesto by adding it to a grilled cheese sandwich or a quesadilla. I might also stir it into a scrambled egg or use it as a topping for a baked potato or a piece of chicken. Pesto is also great as a pizza sauce or as a layer between lasagna noodles. The ever-helpful Food Network has a list of 50 Things to Make with Pesto for other ideas.

Pesto is easy to freeze for use in the future. (This is the best way to enjoy summer basil pesto in the winter.) To freeze a batch of pesto, leave the cheese out of the initial preparation and add it in before use. Use an ice cube tray to freeze individual portions. Then transfer the blocks of pesto to a Ziploc bag once frozen. Thaw and use as needed.

After realizing how easy it is to make pesto – it took me all of 15 minutes to blend the ingredients and clean up the dishes – I plan to make it again and again. I hope you will too. Enjoy!

Winter Pesto

Author: Simply Satisfying by Jeanne Lemlin

Ingredients

3 cups spinach leaves, tightly packed
1 tablespoon dried basil
4 cloves garlic, peeled
¼ walnuts
½ cup olive oil, plus a bit extra for storing
⅔ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

Process all ingredients but the cheese and salt in a food processor until smooth.
Stir in the cheese and salt until blended. It may be necessary to transfer the processed spinach mixture into a bowl for this step.
The pesto will keep in a container sealed with a lid for up to two weeks when refrigerated. Be sure to pour a tablespoon or so of olive oil on top of the pesto when storing to prevent it from drying out.

Notes

Make sure the stems are removed from the spinach leaves. To make the pesto, you will want to use only the leaves. It is not necessary to make this pesto with walnuts, so simply leave them out if you are not a fan.

Nice Mice: Hershey Kiss & Cherry Mice

Dec 1, 2011 By Love & Flour in Crafts 6 Comments Tags: cherry, chocolate, hershey kisses, kid-friendly, nuts

When maraschino cherries, Hershey Kisses, chocolate chips, and almond slivers spend an afternoon in the kitchen, chocolate cherry mice emerge. This cute idea was shared with me by yet another dear reader after being seen on Omnomicon.

To make your own mischief of mice, melt the chocolate chips in a bowl set over a pot of barely simmering water. When the chocolate is melted and smooth, dip the maraschino cherries in the chocolate. Though you need to work consistentl, you do not need to work all that fast to apply the Hershey Kiss and almond slivers to the cherry.

You may need to work a bit more quickly if you use chocolate bark rather than chocolate chips as the bark sets up more quickly than the melted chips. I found waiting a few minutes before applying the almond slivers as ears resulted in ears that held in place instead of sliding down along the body of the mouse. I treated my mice creations as more of a process than an exact recipe, so I extend my apologies regarding any lack of specifics.

These little mice would be perfect for a Twas The Night Before Christmas theme. As I was writing this post, I realized I have put a Christmas mouse on my desk for many years. When I was much younger, my mother let me tag along on a holiday open house event held by a few local merchants in my home town. At the local flower shop, Foster’s Flowers, Mom let me pick out a gift for myself. I selected a gray, ceramic mouse wearing a Santa hat and holding a striped red, white and green candy cane.

Now a grown woman, I don’t know that I should admit to keeping a childhood mouse on my desk during the holidays every year, but that little mouse reminds me of happy times. Though it is December, it is certainly not necessary to turn your mice into Christmas or holiday mice.

Perhaps your mouse will turn out to be a country mouse.

Or perhaps your mouse will turn out to be a town mouse.

Three blind mice.

If Hershey’s ever makes white chocolate kisses, we could make Vanilla (M)Ice. Whatever your mice turn out to be, I wish you fun and happy creating!

Hershey Kiss & Cherry Mice

Author: As seen on omnomicon.com

Serves: 25

Ingredients

1 small (10 ounce) jar maraschino cherries with stems attached
1 partial bag Hershey Kisses
1 partial bag chocolate chips or other chocolate for melting
1 partial bag almond slivers

Instructions

Drain the cherries and set aside on a paper towel.
Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler, stirring frequently.
Remove the bowl of melted chocolate from the stove.
Hold a cherry by its stem and dip in the melted chocolate.
Set the cherry on wax paper to begin to dry.
Place an unwrapped Hershey Kiss at the front of each cherry to create a mouse head.
Place an almond slice on either side of the Hershey Kiss head to make mouse ears.

Notes

A small jar of cherries should yield at least 25 mice. Full bags of Hershey Kisses, chocolate chips, and almond slivers will yield leftovers if only one small jar of cherries is used.