Granola

Hello, my name is worst food blogger ever, it's nice of you to join me considering I'm never around and I only cook things, take pictures, than stop there and never post... I'm so sorry. Please don't hate me. I'm making something tonight that should be awesome, and it involves my brain and another recipe I found so it should be good, since my brain really is smart.

Today, however, since it's been far too long since I've posted you're going to get a second hand post from my regular blog that I posted before I ever decided I was a good enough to cook to have a whole separate blog for it.

Love me:



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I can't tell you how awesome it feels to be posting my own (adapted) recipe. And it's for something as versatile as granola, which has uses in the health food world, as well in the dessert world.

This version is deliciously nutty, and I pretty much don't like any nut other than those of the peanut variety.

So go forth people, and whip up some granola, its fibery goodness that your colon will thank you for.

Ingredients:3 and 1/4 cup of quick oats
1/2 cup of chopped (crushed, I used the bottom of a glass) unsalted peanuts
1/3 cup of honey
1/3 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tbsp warm water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Directions:1. preheat oven to 250 F, lightly grease baking sheet
2. in a large bowl combine and stir together all dry ingredients
3. in a separate bowl combine everything else and stir together really well; then pour over the oat mixture and mix till evenly coated
4. spread out evenly on the baking sheet and cook for one hour stirring every 15 minutes for even cooking

This is delicious as cereal, but really filling. I'd go as far as saying better than Honey Bunches of Oats, which we all know is the best healthy cereal ever (best unhealthy cereal being rice crispy treats cereal). Plus making your own granola is fun, and it makes your house smell all wonderful and comfortable. Plus, since mother nature thinks it's funny to make it cold again, this will warm your heart and your kitchen.

Hummus

Lets get real: hummus is not only entirely delicious, it's become a huge staple in the diets of people our age because of it's versatility. And it's delicious. Humus is easy enough to make, which is why once I made it I thought I'd share the basics with you so you can make it yourself and never have a dry bit of pita again.

1 can (14.5 Oz.) Garbanzo Beans, Rinsed And Drained

2 Tablespoons Tahini

1 cloves Garlic, Chopped, Or More To Taste

½ teaspoon Lemon Juice

Sprinkle Ground Cumin, Or More To Taste

Salt To Taste

herb of choice, or none

1-3 Tablespoons Cold Water

1 teaspoon Olive Oil

Things you could add to make it awesome: cheese, bacon, jalapeno (probably a half per can I think might be enough) glitter, bubbles, or smiley faces.

Okay, kidding. I think the next time I go to the store I'm going to check out the varieties and test em' out for you.

Easiest way to make these is in the blender I have in my kitchen. If you have your own I suggest using that one, but you can also use a food processor or a potato masher if you have lots of time and your elbows are naturally greasy.

I made like tree batches of these and I found they blended better if you smashed the up a little first with a fork. So do that. During this part you may find the skins of the chickpeas are coming off and feel free to throw them away. They also contribute to the difficulty in blending.

And chop some garlic. Waring: if you eat garlic no vampire will ever love you again. I warned you.

Once you are done mashing add the chick peas to the blender, squeeze a bit of lemon juice in, add the garlic, salt, cumin, tahini (the more you add the nuttier the flavor. Tahini is yummy, but don't lick the spoon) and any herb you think would be lovely. Suggestions are Parsley or Basil, but I would go out on a limb saying that Rosemary would be fresh too. If you're feeling sweet maybe some coco powder, cinnamon and sugar. If that last one doesn't taste good don't hate me, I haven't tried it, it's just in my head. Dry herbs work fine, just make sure to smash them u pa bit to release the flavor properly.

Blendy blend blend. The hardest part of this is getting everything nice and smooth. My last batch was pretty chunky because I got lazy. It tasted fine, but it felt weird going in (heyo!) Based on the consistency add a little water to smooth things out. You know what hummus looks like, use your best judgement.

When you feel like everything is smooth to your liking separate it into dishes, put it in the refrigerator for later or eat it with a spoon... To serve sprinkle a bit of olive oil over the top and you can garnish it with things like chopped scallions, paprika for color, or olives. It'll stay good in the fridge for about a week or so.

Happy Hummusing people. Happy hummusing.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

My favorite food is a sweet potato... at least today it is. My favorite way to eat them is in fry form with a nice cold strongbow from the tap. Yum, seriously, yum.

Since eating deep fried food accompanied with ice cold hard cider is neither healthy or an activity I can do each and every day of the week, I decided to learn how to "healthify" them, and I cut out the strongbow, when I have to.

Start with an entire bag of sweet potatoes, because if you're making them, you might as well make a lot.

Don't peel them all at once, do it one at a time and slice them as you go. Sweet potatoes get brown so fast, and the less time they are exposed to air the better.

Peel and slice into whatever size you want. I've done cubes before, they were delicious too, but I prefer fries.

Yes I do it the old fashioned way, yes I use a knife. No I don't have a fry cutter. (Want to get me one for my birthday? It's coming up)

This stage takes the longest, about a half hour.

As long as you really do cut them one at a time you'll be Golden.Plunge them immediately into a salt water bath once sliced to prevent browning. I don't know why this works, but it does. If you skip the step you'll have brown potatoes, and they won't be as wonderful.

Once finished with all of the potatoes drain them, dry them off and put half back in the bowl to toss.

You'll be tossing them in a little olive oil, some cinnamon, paprika, and a pinch of salt.

You want them covered in oil, and spiced with the rest. You can do it all at once or toss in oil first then the spices; whatever works best for you.

Just make sure they are covered, but not drenched.

Cooking them on a foil lined cookie sheet makes clean up easy. I'm all about easy.

After you've done the tossing in however many batches it takes, lay them out on the cookie sheet. Make sure they aren't overlapping at all. I usually need two cookie sheets if I do a whole bag, the more exposed to the hot air each piece is, the crispier they'll be.




Cook at 350°F for 10 minutes.

Take them out, toss them around, put them in for another 10 minutes.

Take them out again, toss them again, and put them in the oven for the final 10 minutes.

When they are evenly brown on all sides that's when they are done. Serve them with ranch,

whipped cream, caramel, Ice cream, or plain. They are truly delicious.

The only problem you'll have is making sure you have left overs to eat the next day for breakfast... these go faster than something that goes really fast. :) I'll work on my similes... and you work on making these asap.