Granola Girl

I love granola. I love making my own. I haven't quite found a recipe that I can go by all the time, but here's sort of the ones I follow (combined.) I do improvise with whatever I have in my cabinet at the time.

6 cups of oats or more (I use what's on sale, but Bob's Red Mill are my faves)

1 cup coconut (today I didn't have any)

2 cups wheat germ (sometimes I do flax seeds ground up or half and half)

1 cup sliced almonds

1 cup chopped pecans

1 package of sunflower seeds (didn't have these today)

1 cup of baby oats or wheat flour

1 cup dried fruit (more or less to taste, I'm allergic to most fruit so I use dates, cherries, or apricots)

1 Tablespoon vanilla

1 cup molasses

1 cup honey

1 stick or less of butter melted

Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, (or whatever floats your boat)

Put all dried ingredients in a large bowl and mix. Then take a microwavable measuring cup and place wet ingredients in there plus butter. Cook til butter melts. You can use juice if you don't want the honey/molasses, or part juice. Pour over dried ingredients in bowl and mix.

Bake at 350, checking every 5 minutes to stir, until lightly browned. (About 20 minutes or so total.) Just depends on how brown you like it. (I like my crispy to stand up in the milk!)

Store in the oatmeal containers!

*I'd love your input on granola. Here is a post to my friend's recipe. She is a fantastic cook!

Liquid Laundry Detergent

Liquid Laundry Detergent
1 cup Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax
a bit of tea tree oil (to cut the mildew smell front loaders can have!)
1/4 cup or so of Dr. Bronner's Baby Castile liquid soap
4 cups hot water (first) then added about 8 more cups
**My mom pointed out that this makes a VERY concentrated soap.  It does!  If you use this recipe you'll only need a tablespoon or so for each load.  She uses quarts instead of cups of water in her recipe (same amounts of everything else)  and it makes a not-as-concentrated recipe that you'd use a capful of a normal washing bottle. I am using the quart method now myself because the other was overflowing!

I mixed it in a bowl with a whisk because the washing soda (soda ash) gets hot when it gets wet. (Luckily I knew this from my pool or I'd have probably burned my hands trying to get the clumps out.) I did put the end of it in the blender and mixed it there to try and get all the clumps out. Here are more recipes.

Chili for what ails ya

(I really need to find my camera! My cell phone doesn't take the best pics.)

ground turkey 1 1/2 lbs or so (you could use another meat or sub more beans for this if you wanted)
1 onion (chopped finely)
3 or 4 cloves of garlic (chopped)
Olive Oil
Chili powder (I used Penzey's Chili 3000) add as much as you'd like
1 can of Bush's Chili Starter
1 can of Bush's Chili Beans (or any beans)
1 bottle of Corona beer
1 28 oz can of Muir Glen diced tomatoes
about 1/2 cup of Herdez Salsa Taquera

Brown onions in olive oil in large pot. Add garlic and meat and brown with spices.
Add chili beans, starter, tomatoes, beer, salsa, and cook til it's done!

Best served with homemade cornbread, hot from the oven! (Fritos will do in a pinch though!)
I like mine with cheese and a dollop of sour cream on top.

Pizza Crust

New York Pizza Crust

(Makes 2 12” pies)

¼ teaspoon sugar

1 cup warm water

1 envelope (¼ oz.) active dry yeast (I use the quick rising)

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting

7 Tablespoons olive oil

If using a pizza stone, set it on lowest rack of oven. Preheat oven to 550 degrees.

In a small bowl dissolve sugar in warm water. Add yeast and stir. Let sit 5 minutes or until a layer of frothy bubbles appears.

In food processor (or bowl) combine salt and flour. Add frothy yeast mixture and 2 Tablespoons of oil. Mix until dough is smooth and pliable. Remove dough and knead on a floured surface for about 10 minute.

Oil inside of a bowl with olive oil and place dough in bowl. Cover with a dish towel and let dough rise until double in size (30 minutes to 1 hour)

When dough has doubled punch it down and knead 10 times. Form into a ball and cut in half. Roll each half out into a 12” circle.

Transfer each pie to a pan or a peel if using a stone. I dust the bottoms with a bit of cornmeal so they slide better when removing.

Spread tomato sauce (or sauce of choice) on pie, put desired toppings on pizza and top with cheese. Drizzle with olive oil if desired.

Bake on lowest rack of oven for 6- minutes or until it looks yummy!

*We love this recipe. I think we make pizza about once a week! It is so fast if you use a stand up mixer or food processor and quick rising yeast. Probably faster than delivery.

Cinnamon Crispy Hearts

"Cinnamon Crispy Hearts"
1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/2 c warm water
3/4 c flour
3/4 c whole wheat flour
1/8 tsp salt (I used salted butter and leave this out)
2/3 c butter
1 egg yolk
1 Tblsp. melted butter
2/3 c sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon (I used the fresh, strong stuff so only used 1 tsp.)

Sprinkle yeast over warm water, stir until dissolved and set aside.
In large bowl stir flour and salt. Mix in butter with a pastry cutter until crumbly.
Stir in yeast mixture and egg yolk until well blended. Cover tightly with wrap and
refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.
Turn dough out onto lightly floured board and knead until smooth, folding over at each
turn, about ten times or so. Roll out into a 12" x 10" rectangle.
Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar. Starting with a long side
roll dough up "jelly roll" style to center of the rectangle. Then on other long end roll up that side
to center mark also. Cut into 12 slices.
Sprinkle some of remaining cinnamon sugar on waxed paper and place a slice on the paper.
Flatten slightly with hand, pinching into more of a heart shape as you flatten, then roll with a
rolling pin to 1/8" thick. (Turn slice as you go to sugar both sides.) Repeat with other slices.
Place hearts on ungreased baking sheet and bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes.

*This recipe is not my original (although I made a few minor changes.) It is from "Farm Journal's- Homemade Breads"