Speaking of crunchy treehuggers....here's my granola recipes! I am not sure who to credit these recipes for, I combined 3 different ones that I found online.
Granola bars
- 1 and 3/4 cups steel cut oats
- 1/4 cups almonds
- 1/4 cups cashews
- 1/4 cups walnuts
- 1/4 cups sunflower seeds
- 1/2 cups pumpkin seeds (I used seeds still in the shell)
- 1.5 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ginger
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 5 TBSP unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 cup of brown sugar
2. In saucepan on stove, melt butter and honey.
3. When butter and honey are melted, add vanilla and brown sugar.
4. Pour wet mixture over dry mixture and mix well. **at this point, I divided my mixture and put dried cherries in half of it**
5. On a baking sheet (LINED WITH PARCHMENT PAPER), pour mixture out, spread all over baking sheet and flatten.
6. Bake for an hour and 15 minutes at 250 F.
7. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet.
8. When cooled, break into bars.
This is the granola mixture. Sort of looks like birdseed, eh?
The finished product....two very large granola bars.
Broken into bars. For my OCD readers, I know it's not a perfect rectangle. I like it that way, it looks homemade.
Crumbly granola (for cereal/toppings)
- 3.5 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup walnuts
- 1 cup pecans
- 1 cup pumpkin seeds (I used seeds in the shells)
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
- 2.5 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp ginger
- 3/4 tsp nutmeg
- 7 TBSP unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup honey
- 3 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
2. In saucepan on stove, melt butter and honey.
3. When butter and honey are melted, add vanilla and brown sugar.
4. Pour wet mixture over dry mixture and mix well.
5. On a baking sheet (LINED WITH PARCHMENT PAPER), pour mixture out, spread all over baking sheet and flatten.
6. Bake for an hour and 15 minutes at 250 F.
7. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet.
8. When cooled, break into small chunks.
Granola, spread out and ready to be baked.
Here's the scoop about making your own granola. It's really easy. Take oats and whatever nuts/seeds you like, just try to keep the total volume close to that of the recipe. Add the wet ingredients (you can omit the brown sugar, if you'd like) and any dried fruit you like.
I've had a couple of questions about oats. The canister on the left is old fashioned oats. You needs these for the crumbly granola. The canister on the right is steel cut oats. You need these for granola bars. Both types of granola can be cooked to make a delicious breakfast, follow directions on box. Add dried fruit, brown sugar, milk, honey, etc.
And here's tonight's dinner. I know you all are thinking, "Heids McGee, that is a hunk of red meat on your plate!" Crazy, I know, right? I eat red meat maybe once a month. You know last year's New Year's resolution was to become vegetarian. When I presented that idea to Mr. McGhee he laughed hysterically in my face. In our marriage, that means "you crazy woman, I will do no such thing." So Mr. McGhee grilled a steak for us, and I threw some mushrooms and onions in a pan with olive oil. I paired it with a side salad of berries and spinach that was deeeeeeelish! Way better than that steak.
Spinach salad
- spinach
- berries (I used strawberry, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries)
- crumbled goat cheese
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- salt and pepper
2. Season with salt and pepper
3. Slowly add olive oil and stir to mix.
I want to hear how your granola turns out! And, PLEASE make that salad, it's so easy and delish.
