Pinterest Finds: Homemade Granola Bars

Oh Pinterest, for every thousand posts on wedding dresses there's a few on wonderful recipes. That's how I got the idea for homemade granola bars. Why buy a box when it's so easy to make your own? I used an amalgamation of recipes from Smitten Kitchen, Good Life Eats' great formula, and Ina Garten's idea to toast the coconut and almonds. I used almond butter as my binder and agave nectar as my sweetener, though next time I'd throw in a bit of butter to make the bars more moist. In addition to almonds, oats, ground flax seed, and coconut flakes, I chopped up some dates, threw in some dried cherries, and golden raisins. I don't have a food processor, so instead of doing oat flour, I subbed some garbanzo bean flour I had on hand.

I'll admit, this recipe isn't exact, but as long as you follow the basic ratios outlined in the above formula, you'll be fine. That's the great thing about making your own granola bars--(mostly) anything goes!

1 2/3 cups quick rolled oats (I used Bob's Red Mill on sale from Ocean State Job Lot)
1/3 Garbanzo bean flour

1 C chopped toasted almonds
1/2 C ground flaxseed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 to 3 cups dried fruits. (Mine might have been closer to four)

1/4 C agave nectar
1 tablespoon water

I baked mine at 350 for 30 minutes according to Smitten Kitchen, but they came out a little well done and more crumbly than I would have liked. Next time, I'll try 325 for 25 minutes. I ended up with enough crumbles for a nice bowl of granola though!

Remembrance of Foods Eaten

Some people recall the places they've been by the sites they've seen. With me it's by dishes eaten. 

The other day I asked James, "Remember that huevos rancheros I had in Utah?" 

It took him a moment, but then he replied "You mean at the place we stayed in Zion?" 

Yes, that would be Zion National Park, one of the most awe inspiringly beautiful places I've ever been--like, beautiful beyond words beautiful, which is a lot coming from me. 

See what I mean?

And yet, my whole experience can be boiled down to a plate of eggs, rice, beans, and salsa.

But man, it was a good plate.

Since I won't be going back to Zion anytime soon, I decided to make my own huevos rancheros:

This is not a particularly hard dish by any means, but there are a few things one must do:

1.) Pan fry your tortillas.

I'll admit, I had never fried corn tortillas in oil, preferring instead to follow the stupid instructions to 'warm' them on the back of the package. Don't do this. Fry them in a little oil until crisp. Then, while the pan is still hot, fry your eggs. Which brings us to thing you must do #2:

2.) Don't overcook your eggs. 

Seriously. Part of the deliciousness of this dish lies in the egg yolk running together with the beans and salsa and tortillas.

3.) Keep your tortillas warm while you cook your eggs.

A pretty basic tip, but one that can make all the difference. No one wants cold, soggy tortillas with their huevos. I kept mine warm in an oven set on 150. 

Now, aside from these tips, you can pretty much do whatever else you want; use store bought salsa, beans, no beans, rice, no rice--I don't care. For this dish I used salsa verde because I love it and refried black beans. Add a little cheese, sprinkle a little hot sauce and voila! Or, rather, ole!

Surviving The Semester

I've spent the last two weeks wrapping up the semester, which has involved a lot of reading, commenting, re-reading, and grading. Also drinking from this mug. (Just tea, I swear!) But now it is finally oooover! Consequently, I haven't been up to much lately outside of work. I need to rest my brain for now with bad tv and celebrity gossip, but I'll be back with some fun things soon. Promise!

Things I "Like": Breakfast Smoothies

Over the past few weeks I've fallen hard for breakfast smoothies. Despite my love of breakfast food, I'm not a big morning eater. On the weekends I can go hours without eating, but during the week I have to choke something down, otherwise I'm super cranky. And since nobody wants Cranky Emily lecturing them on improper comma usage, a nice breakfast smoothie has helped bridge the gap along with upping my daily intake of fruits and veg.

Additionally, though the benefits of running this blog are pretty obvious, sometimes my pants don't fit. When I complained about this recently, James said "Stop baking all the time." Of course, then he emailed me a recipe for dessert pizza, so it's something we both need to adjust to.

As for smoothies, I've been experimenting with different bases and add ins, but usually include the following: almond milk or water, frozen fruit, and a handful of fresh spinach. Sometimes I'll add avocado to create a creamy texture and flax seed, chia seed, or more leafy greens for an extra fiber kick. Part of the fun is coming up with different mixes, which never gets boring, and it's a good way to use up any produce that's on the verge of expiring. 

The smoothie pictured above was made with 8 oz almond milk, a spoonful of almond butter, about a 1/2 C-1C of frozen blueberries, a handful of baby spinach, and about a tablespoon of chia seeds. James says it looks like swamp water, but I assure you it tastes much better. You can always add honey or agave nectar if you like your smoothies a bit sweeter.

Green Lemonade is a great blog for recipes and No More Dirty Looks just featured a post on the beauty benefits of morning smoothies.