Homemade Granola

Granola is a great staple to have around for breakfast with fruit and yogurt, as a snack on a hike, etc. The only tough part is that not only is it usually fairly pricey for a cereal, it also can be tough to find a healthy version. I was on a mission awhile back to find a granola recipe that was quick and easy to make at home as well as healthier (I always enjoy knowing the ingredients that are in my food.).

Cooking Light never lets me down on healthy, light recipes and I constantly am looking at their website and magazine for ideas. I have been using their Power Granola recipe as my go-to base granola recipe for awhile now and really enjoy it. The great thing about granola is that once you find a base mixture you like you can add in any variations of fruit, nuts, etc. that you like.

Below is the recipe and just to note on my latest batch that is pictured I added in fresh cranberries that I had leftover from Thanksgiving. I ran about 2 cups through the food processor to give them a rough grate and then threw them in with the granola mixture right before baking. The gorgeous red of the cranberries adds a bit of a festive feel for this time of year! In addition I doubled the recipe... believe me it will go fast!

Recipe
(Adapted from Cooking Light)

4 cups regular oats
2/3 cup ground flaxseed
1 cup chopped almonds
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2/3 cup orange juice
2/3 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4 teaspoons canola oil
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cooking spray
2 cups fresh cranberries (grated in a food processor)


Directions

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Combine first four ingredients in a medium bowl.

Next, Combine orange juice, agave nectar, and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat just until sugar dissolves, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in oil and vanilla. Pour honey mixture over oat mixture, stirring to coat. Spread mixture in a thin layer onto a baking sheet or jelly roll pan coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 300° for 30-40 minutes minutes making sure that you stir the mixture every 10 minutes or so and until golden brown (bake longer to make it more crunchy).




Note: Store completely cooled granola in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Crab and Goat Cheese Enchiladas

When you are craving mexican food it's not always easy to come up with something new and different besides the same old chicken tacos or bean and cheese enchiladas. To give enchiladas a little spin my friend Rachel suggested using crab meat. I thought this was a great idea and because I have a few family members with lactose intolerance I used goat cheese which I love cooking with.

This recipe was really simple and quick to get together. Here's what I did:

Recipe

2 cans real crab meat (not imitation)
1 large can green enchilada sauce (buy 2 cans if you want extra sauce to serve on the side)
8 medium tortillas (regular or wheat)
1 bell pepper chopped
1 onion chopped
1 can black beans
1 small log of goat cheese


First preheat the oven to 350 degrees and coat a casserole dish with cooking spray. Then pour a small layer of enchilada sauce in the bottom of the dish as a base for the enchiladas. Using an assembly line process dip both sides of the tortilla in the green chile sauce and then fill with crab meat, black beans, onion, bell pepper and a few crumbles of goat cheese. Fold up the enchilada and repeat the process until all enchiladas are made and placed in the casserole dish. After all enchiladas are made pour the remaining sauce over the top of the entire casserole. Last sprinkle as much of the remaining goat cheese over the top as you would like and any leftovers of beans, bell pepper or onion. Bake and enjoy!




Tip: If you are not a fan of crab you can substitute for anything else you like chicken, shrimp, more veggies, etc (same goes with goat cheese!).

Thanksgiving Feast

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. My family hosts the big meal which means I get to be the chef :). I have been making the Thanksgiving meal for the last four years and continue to tweak and attempt to perfect each dish. I love getting in a morning workout and then spending the rest of the day cooking away and listening to music until the guests arrive.

The turkey of course has to be the star of the show. For that I have been using a recipe from Giada the last few years in which you stuff the bird with citrus (orange and lemons) and onions. In addition you massage the turkey with a mixture of melted butter and herbes de provence which keeps the skin moist and gives it great flavor. I simplify the recipe a bit (see below) to keep the ingredients simple and cost-effective. These amounts are estimated based on the 21 lb turkey we had this year.

Recipe
(Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis)

3 oranges (cut into wedges)
3 lemons (cut into wedges
1 large red onion
8 Tbsp. butter
2-3 Tbsp herbes de provence

Directions:

After cleaning the turkey (see directions on Food Network for more), I stuffed it with the citrus and onion. In addition I put leftover citrus and onion wedges in the bottom of the roasting pan. I then roasted the turkey for 350 degrees for almost 6 hours (depending on the size of the turkey) and throughout that time I poured chicken broth in the bottom of the roasting pan and continously basted the turkey throughout. I kept a piece of foil over the breast of the turkey for most of the cooking time so that it did not burn.




Rather than make mashed potatoes I make scalloped potatoes based on a Rachel Ray Magazine recipe. I followed this one pretty closely, but rather than using *gruyere cheese I used a simple colby jack that we had on hand.

Recipe
(Adapted from Rachel Ray Magazine)

2 cups milk
3 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
Salt
3 pounds baking potatoes, preferably Idaho, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
3 ounces Gruyère cheese, coarsely grated (about 3/4 cup) *see above
Pinch cayenne pepper
Black pepper
1 cup heavy cream

Directions:
Place a rack in the top half of the oven and preheat to 375°. In a large saucepan, combine 2 cups water with the milk, garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add the potatoes and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally to prevent the potatoes from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the potatoes are tender but still slightly firm, about 8 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and, using a slotted spoon, transfer half the potatoes to a buttered 9-by-13-inch baking dish; arrange the potatoes in an even layer.

Sprinkle with half the cheese and the cayenne; season with salt and pepper to taste. Repeat with the remaining potatoes and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Pour the heavy cream evenly over the top. Bake the scalloped potatoes until golden and crisp on top, 40 to 45 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Stuffing: I kind of threw together stuffing loosely based on a recipe that I had which includes italian sausage, apples, onions, fresh rosemary, and packaged stuffing. If you want more info on that let me know and I can figure out the amounts!

Cranberry Salad: My mom has a great cranberry salad recipe that we have each year that is very basic but fresh and delicious. Here's a quick run through:

Chop fresh cranberries (1 package) roughly in a food processor. Then mix those with about the same amount of crushed walnuts (crush by putting them in a large baggie and smash using a rolling pin). From there you want to make strawberry jello on the stove top with a cup of sugar. Put all of those ingredients in the dish you want the jello served in and as a last step mix in a large can of crushed pineapple (with the juice). Cover and let refrigerate until set.

Green beans: I tried out a roasted green bean recipe with garlic and shallots but didn't love it. If you have a recipe you like please share!

The meal:

Palisade Wineries

If you haven't been to Palisade, CO (near Grand Junction) for a day of wine tasting and winery tours I highly recommend it for a fun weekend getaway! I am lucky to have one of my best friends living and working in the area which allows me to get there a few times a year and visit the various wineries. You can go at any time of the year and it is of course beautiful in the summer and early fall when the vineyards are lush. We went this weekend and were able to go tasting at a few that I have never been to.

My two favorites that I want to share are Canyon Winds Winery and Reeder Mesa Vineyards. The tastings at both places were truly a treat with amazing wine and great customer service. Many of these wineries are family owned and they are so appreciative and welcoming of guests. I was excited to pick out various types of wines at each to bring home for holiday dinners and parties.

I love that we have a unique getaway like Palisade close to Denver. Not only is it beautiful with great wine and fun, the people are wonderful. I hope you can plan a weekend there and if you want recommendations on which wineries to tour I would love to give you my recommendations!

You Can Never Have Too Many Shoes...

Especially if you are as organized as my friend Katie! Check out how she keeps her shoes organized below. I love this idea so that everything is neat and in order and you can always see what you have. Because, if you a bit shoe obsessed (like me!), you sometimes forget what options you even have to complete your outfit.



If you don't have the original shoe boxes you can find an array of different shoe boxes from The Container Store. This would be a great rainy (or snowy) day project and just think afterward you can reward yourself with a little trip to DSW :)

First Half Marathon Complete!

This past weekend was the half marathon that I had been training for the last few months. I ran the race with a few of my good friends from college and we had the best time. The half that we ran was the Snow Canyon Half in St. George, UT. I had never been to that part of Utah before, but was so excited to see what a gorgeous course it was.

A few things that I learned through training for the half:

- 12 weeks was probably too long of a training plan for me. I felt burned out about 2 weeks before the race and backed off from long training runs which actually seemed to work out okay in the end.
- Being able to race at a lower altitude was a huge benefit. You forget how much more difficult it is to breathe in Colorado when you train here full time!
- Fall is a great time of the year to get a race in... the crisp air in the AM is perfect for training and race day.
- I have a tradition of booking a massage for myself after big athletic events as a reward. I booked one as soon as I got back to Colorado this week and felt so pampered!

Lastly, I am so glad that I got to run with amazing friends. It was a great reason to schedule a trip and all keep each other motivated throughout the training process. We stayed together for the entire race just running and chatting our way through each mile, it was a blast. I can't wait until the next event!

Sunday Night Feast

It's tradition in my family to have a big meal together every Sunday evening. It's really fun for me as I know this will be a guaranteed time to try out new recipes. I love that I get to head to Whole Foods on Sundays and browse all of the amazing foods, try the samples and chat up the staff to learn about the different seafoods, cheeses, etc.

Tonight I decided to try out Pesto Mussels recipe from Real Simple Magazine that my friend Julie recommended. Real Simple does a great job of creating quick and delicious recipes with relatively few ingredients. I stuck to their mussels recipe (see below) but wanted to make sweet potato fries rather than the garlic fries (which I'm sure are great too). I can't get enough of sweet potatoes right now and thought they would be fun to incorporate. I tried two variations detailed below!

Lastly I felt like we needed another veggie in our meal so I roasted asparagus in the oven as well. It was a nice, light side and paired with the mussels and fries well.

Pesto Mussels Recipe
(From Real Simple)

1 cup dry white wine
2 pounds mussels, scrubbed
1/2 cup pesto (store bought or homemade if you are feeling ambitious!)

Directions:
Bring the wine to a boil in a large pot. Add the mussels and simmer, covered, until they open (about 3-4 minutes). Mix the pesto into the cooking liquid and let simmer for another minute or so. Serve with fries or bread.



Sweet Potato Fries Recipe

2-4 sweet potatoes (depending on how many you are serving or the amount you would like)
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
Italian seasoning

Directions:
Peel and slice the sweet potatoes into wedges/stripes. You can create whatever size fries you like, just try to keep them consistent so that they require the same amount of time to bake. Arrange the wedges flat on a baking pan or cookie tray. I coated all of the wedges with olive oil and then sprinkled half with salt and pepper and the other half with salt and Italian seasoning to try out different flavors (both were delicious). From there bake the fries at 425° F for about 30-35 minutes depending how crispy you want them (remember to flip and move them around about half way through).



Roasted Asparagus
2 bunches of asparagus
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Directions:
Wash and trim the ends off of the asparagus. Arrange on a cookie tray and coat with olive oil, salt and pepper (make sure to get both sides). Bake at 425° F for about 15 minutes or until they start to brown and are tender.



My family really enjoyed this whole meal! Tell me about your Sunday night dinners!