From our Kitchen: Homemade Granola

Remember a few weeks ago when my friend Emily spent the night? Well, we had asked her what she usually eats for breakfast so she'd feel right at home in the morning (and be energized for a full day of travel home). She said usually granola with yogurt. Jay picked some up at the grocery store that afternoon and since Emily left without eating any of it, Jay enjoyed it throughout the week. 

Fast forward to a week later when we're at the grocery store. Jay is about to throw some in the cart & I realize that we have everything we have at home to make our own! And guess what? It will be cheaper AND we can make some that even I can eat (no nuts)! 

I found this recipe that I used as a guideline and got started. 

Here is what you'll need:

Oats (not the quick kind), maple syrup, raw seeds or nuts, chocolate, and dried fruit. The one thing I'm missing in this picture is the butter. You'll need some of that too.

Mix together the oats, raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas), raw sunflower seeds and nuts if you are going to use them. Then melt 2T of butter and mix with 1/2 cup of maple syrup. (Please don't even THINK about using that nasty fake stuff). Slowly drizzle the butter/syrup mix into the dry components and stir until they are coated. 

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread out the mixture.

Bake at 325 for 30-40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so. The longer you bake, the crunchier it gets. WARNING: Your house will smell REALLY good at this point. 

Put the pan on a cooling rack for about 10-20 minutes until cool. Then layer on the fun stuff. Here I used things that were already in our pantry - raisins, dried apricots, chocolate chips and a few butterscotch chips. You really don't need much of these ingredients - keep in mind that you want to have a nice balance of sweet & salty, crunchy & soft. 

Then mix it all up until it looks like this.

I put into a labeled ziploc freezer bag so that we know which one is mine (no nuts) and Jay's (w/almonds). 

Since it's warm in our place, I store it in the fridge so the chocolate & butterscotch chips stay firm. 

This really is such an easy recipe and it's great to have around the house! So far I've eaten it like cereal (w/milk & sometimes strawberries), mixed into plain yogurt (with or without strawberries), or just by the handful. It would also be really good on ice cream!! 

Enjoy & have a great week!!

xoxo

Weekend Update: And We're Still Alive

It has been a crazy past few weeks so sorry for the lack of updates! I've also been horrible and have barely taken any pictures so this is likely to be a quick post.

Jay's friend Shawn came to visit from Denver last week. It was so nice to see him and he & Jay had a great time working out, catching some rays, and drinking beer :) We had some great dinners and even made our homemade pasta again but this time with homemade pesto (and homeGROWN too - our basil plant needed to be trimmed!) and chicken. It was very good!

I was outside reading on Sunday afternoon and glanced over at our tomato plant to see this tiny little fruit growing! It was very exciting and I couldn't wait to show Jay that all his watering has been paying off!! I can't wait until we see a few more pop up!

Last night, Jay's cousin Erin and her friend stayed over. They had spent a few days at the Grand Canyon and were flying out this morning. It was a very short (too short!) visit, but so nice to see Erin's smiling face and to make plans for a longer visit! 

This morning after saying goodbye to Erin, I headed to my first day at a new job. I'm very excited about this new opportunity and had a great first day! Of course it was overwhelming with all the new information to absorb, so I'm sure to sleep like a baby tonight. 

We hope everyone is doing well & I promise to be back to the regularly scheduled program soon - I have a From our Kitchen post up on deck!

xoxo

Weekend Update: I Can't Think Of A Smart Subtitle...

Just a few randoms from this past weekend for you!

Saturday we headed to Joe's Farm Grill for a birthday lunch with Krista! It was so nice eating farm fresh food & celebrate her joining the 3-0 club! The weather was perfect for sitting outside - so nice that we ended up spending a few hours there! Happy Birthday Krista!

After lunch, we grabbed some groceries and made it home just in time to drop them off & head out to pick up Emily from the car rental return at Sky Harbor. She had been in Tucson for a business meeting & was flying out of Phoenix on Sunday morning. It was such a treat being able to spend some quality time with one of my best friends from Vermont! Jay and I made our homemade pasta & sauce along with delicious garlic bread and Pioneer Woman's Blackberry Cobbler. Emily and I caught up on everything but Jay & I  especially loved hearing all her stories about her 2 year old daughter Sophia (Soph) who is quite the sass!

We had to get up at 5am on Sunday in order to get Em to the airport in time. It was rough for a little bit but once we got back home, we felt awake enough to get ready & head over to 7am mass. Let me just say, this mass is not my favorite because it's music free, but we were up so it was nice to get the day started. 

One of the bonuses of getting up & out early on a Sunday morning? We were one of the first to arrive at the Farmer's Market that starts at 8am (and apparently will start opening earlier & earlier as it gets hotter & hotter). Here is this week's fresh & LOCAL bounty:

Carrots, peas, green onions and ginger. We also decided to try some local grass-fed beef from Red Mountain Cattle Company that is less than 20 miles from our home! 

We had the T-Bone steak that night with grilled tomatoes & sweet potato fries as sides. Let's just say that the grass-fed beef will take some getting used to. It definitely has a stronger flavor (more gamey?) than the corn fed stuff, but it's so much better for us, so I'm going to keep trying it!

Last night we made Martha's Crispy Ginger-Lime Chicken Thighs with the ginger & green onions and then had peas as the side. We both enjoyed the flavor, but for some reason the broiling method that Martha recommends didn't get our skin as crispy as we like. I think next time we'll bake at 400 like we usually do & see how they crisp up then. 

Well that's about all folks! We hope you have a fantastic week & stay cool!

xoxo