homemade granola, photo fail

I had a photo fail today.  For some weird reason, I couldn't get my pics to load.  So, you will just have to use your imagination for now.  Sorry about that.

Made some homemade granola last night.  I was inspired by this granola recipe by Ina Garten.  Of course, I made some tweeks to it to make it "Raime-fied" though.

My version for homemade granola is:

2 cups rolled oats
2/3 cup sliced almonds
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 to 1 cup dried cranberries
1 tsp cinnamon1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil

Directions: Place all dry ingredients in a bowl and mix.  Then add oil and honey and stir until fully dispersed throughout the mixture.  Spread evenly on a baking sheet. Bake for 20-ish minutes, stirring at least once during the bake time.  Let cool.


For variety, I am considering the following add-ins for next time:
cocoa powder (I heart chocolate)
sunflower seeds
pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
pumpkin spice (for fall/seasonal flavor)
dried apples
chocolate chips (after it has cooled off, of course)

Nom nom nom. mmmm granola. 

Carb-less Pizza...oh, yeah.

I did it again...

Homemade Reese's cups. 

But this time i used Mara Natha almond butter, and i mixed some dark-chocolate chips in with the semisweet chips.  I dare say this version is better. (sorry about my shadow on that picture--photography is not my strong suit. I'm still a work in progress).

And another little creation that I am mighty proud of is this:

It's a portabella pizza.  Thats right...the portabella mushroom cap IS the crust. Amazing...I know.

I suppose it isn't completely carb-free, but it does not have the typical carbohydrate crust...so that's why i'm calling it a carb-less pizza.

The inspiration came from this recipe from the foodblog Oh She Glows. She made a vegan cheese sauce, but i was in the mood for real cheese. So I did it..oh yes I did.

Just top each mushroom cap (belly-side up) with:
marinara sauce
mozzerella cheese
red bell peppers, red onions, etc (the topping of your choice)
then broil for about 10 minutes until cheese is ooey-gooey melty and slightly golden.

After baking, i topped mine with some fresh basil and a sprinkle of parm.

Sooooo good and veggie-licious.


I will post more later when my brain is working. Sinus congestion is taking over me.  Someday soon, I fear I will cease to be human and just transform into a giant ball of mucus. Gross...I know.
 Raime

Food! Glorious Foooood!

When I was in between 5th and 6th grade, I was in a summer production of Oliver Twist.  I had a small solo during the "Food!  Glorious Food!" number.  My verse was "What is it we dream about?  What brings on a sigh?"  I think I was labeled "Orphan #2" in the program.  The point of being....even back then, I normally lived a "Food-themed" life.  But I digress.

I have not been able to venture far out into the world of culinary experiments lately.  In an effort to avoid eating vodka and fried chicken 7 nights a week, I've tried to stick with things that were easy to cook, and didn't require lots of preparation.

Southside was selling 10 pound bags of potatoes for $0.99.  How could you not buy that?  What else can you buy 10 pounds of for less than a dollar (excluding tax) (unless you live in a sales tax free zone) (or you steal it, which is not advocated by this blog at all so don't even go there)  I had visions of hash browns (I SAID I DIDN'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!), creamless thick soups, and other potato things that aren't worth listing.  Just google on your own time.

But all I've really gotten around to doing was this:

Chicken and potatoes with roasted cream sauce.  It was pretty good.  For chicken and potatoes.

Also, that night involved a turtle and a flip flop.  As a creativity exercise, create a caption for this picture.

I cut up enough chicken that night in order to not have to do it again the next night.  I had a mad hankering for some silver noodles, so I browned the chicken, cooked silver noodles, stir fried some veggies, and mixed in some teriyaki sauce.  FREAKING delicious.

I also cooked for my under-the-weather coworker again, with the help of another coworker.  I think I'm ready for iron chef.  All those years of being a bossy oldest child have really honed my skills of telling people what to do. 

We went to Fresh Market and picked out some veggies that looked good.  Beets, green beans, mushrooms, squash, and bell peppers all made the cut.

They were roasted up with some herbs and olive oil and they were perfect.

For the main dish, we made a meatloaf...with a secret.  It was also full of vegetables.  I processed garlic, onions, celery, green onions, bell peppers, squash, and zucchini and squeezed all of the water out of them.  They met up and had a party with some lean ground sirloin, eggs, and milk-soaked saltines.  The phrase "milk-soaked", while completely accurate, is also completely revolting.  A thousand apologies.

Back to the task at hand...Meatloaf.  Now that I have milk-soaked on the brain, I can't describe the meatloaf without gagging.  I can tell you that it was deceptively delicious.  You really couldn't tell that it was full of vegetables.  These other words may or may not apply:

Moist
Purple
Juicy
Flavorful
Skeeter

There, I was able to get the message out without feeling as though I were writing an adult novel or a grindhouse script.  We need a distraction.....Oh look!  Below is a picture!

So Beautiful!

To finish off the past few weeks, we just recently celebrated a lovely Father's Day.  My family came over to my condo and we grilled steaks that were served with a drizzled garlic butter and to accompany it, asparagus risotto and caprese salad.  My Mom is a bit obsessed with risotto now.  I'm not going to complain.  It was really easy to make and completely sinful to eat.

My Daddy left me with a bit of steak for the week, so last night I low-carbed it and made a salad.

And then I ate two cookies.  oops.

Ciao!