Homemade Maple Granola

I love granola. There is only so much bread you can eat every morning before you say ok I need something with a different texture. I used to buy just a box and find I’d go through it in a week. It had been a long time since I’ve made homemade granola, but now I think I will get back into it. It is so much cheaper to make at home and it is so easy. I got this recipe from Jessica Fisher’s Not Your Mother’s Freezer Recipes cookbook and she even mentioned getting the spin off from Ellie Krieger (one of my favorite recipe people!) Literally put all your ingredients together (except dried fruit which you add at the end) mix with maple syrup, then bake. I added some orange zest to the mix as well. The variations are endless, but I was happy with my mix of nuts, sunflower seeds, and cranberries. Add in generous dollops of vanilla yogurt and it is a tasty meal!  A definite must-try for the mornings!

Creamy Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Spinach and Artichoke dip is such a staple in restaurants. It’s hot, creamy, and tastes so decadent. I got this recipe from Ellie Krieger’s The Food You Crave where she takes favorites and makes them healthier. I love it when nutritionists try to make things just as tasty but not as bad for your body. I took this to girls’ night in dinner and it was a hit! Note to self this makes a TON and I have so much leftover. I’ll have to think of some creative ways to use this since I can’t imagine eating this as a dip everyday. But my friends said they really liked that they could taste the veggies and that while it was still rich and creamy it wasn’t heavy like the ones you eat in restaurants. A definite “must try” for everyone!

Crispy Shrimp with Sweet and Sour Sauce

My friend MM and I have the same cookbook and we decided to try some recipes from it. This crispy shrimp dish was one of them. The most convoluted part was probably the sauce. Not having kumquat preserve on hand, or plum, I suggested we just use some dollops of orange marmalade. It was perfect. We didn’t need to add the sugar to the recipe either. The vinegar part was strong but completely mellowed out when we added the raspberries and it melted in. We weren’t sure why to only use egg white in the coating part, but either way it was a fantastic dish. The shrimp coating was super tasty and the sauce was amazing on it. Too bad I can’t handle too much fried stuff, but between the 2 of us we ate quite a lot of shrimp!! Definitely a great party dish too I’ll bet!

Chicken Chili Con Queso

Another Robin Miller recipe from her cookbook. I hesitate to say it is anything like something you get at any Tex-Mex place. In fact it is better to just say it is a cheesy chicken recipe with spinach and it is tasty and good. I’m not sure yet how it will “freeze” but it did taste good when I first made it! She said you could also use this as a dip with chips and I can see it would be really tasty that way too. I think personally I’d like it a little spicier or somehow with sharper cheese, but overall it is a nice easy standby for a meal. I’m not sure I’d do this again, but I’m glad I gave it a try.

Moroccan Chicken

I used to enjoy watching Robin Miller’s cooking shows. Sadly they were cancelled, but at least I have some of her cookbooks and have tried quite a few of her recipes too. I admit I sort of had mixed feelings about this one. It smelled good, tasted pretty good, but not necessarily a “wow I can have this all the time” recipe. I love Israeli couscous. They are bigger and I like being able to bite down on them. It made a great bed for the chicken and vegetables. Is this truly authentic Moroccan? Perhaps not, but it doesn’t matter too much since it still made for a good meal. I like all the ingredients, I suppose I am just scratching my head because it didn’t quite hit the spot for me. I am only wondering why this is. I have a portion set aside in the freezer to see if it can hold up post-freeze. I started trying to do some freezer cooking last week and I shall continue to test which ones are good recipes to freeze.

Cinnamon Cardamom Banana Bread

Ahh the craziness of “fall” even if it is still in the triple digits here. I am already predicting I will probably have one of the busiest fall seasons and inevitably will not have time to exercise and eat good things. So cue “freezer cooking” which seems to be a fad that I am late to the game. A lot of these types of recipes tell you to double the ingredients, but when you are cooking for one (I know cue the sad music) there is always enough leftover with the regular recipe. This banana bread recipe comes from a “Not Your Mother’s” series cookbook on freezer cooking. You could bake these into loaves or muffin shapes. I used all my muffin tins AND I still had enough to make a small loaf. I have enough that I could eat one banana bread muffin a day for at least a whole month. Good thing these are really tasty! I have them in the freezer and they will hopefully be just as tasty when I take one out for breakfast. The recipe doesn’t originally call for cardamom. But there is something magical about combining cinnamon and cardamom together. It almost makes the flavor more intense. Try this recipe out, but be forewarned. You will have a TON of these and perhaps you just might be nice and share a few with friends.

Thai Chicken and Noodle

This dish is not really Thai in style. In fact the only “Thai” thing about it is the noodles that are used in the dish. I used the leftover rice noodles that I had from making the homemade version of Pad Thai. I got the idea from Robin Miller whose show I used to watch a lot when it was on tv. I liked how simple it is and how she really takes care about nutrition as well. I changed it up in a sense I have a ton of condiments I need to use in my fridge. I used some leftover Szechuan sauce, and added some more soy sauce and sesame oil. It was a little salty so I used up a tiny bit of agave. I used frozen stir-fry vegetables to add more to the dish and I didn’t have enough chicken thawed out. The end result? Something yummy to eat, but definitely not really Thai. Lime juice really adds a nice tang so remember to not leave this part out. I guess the story goes if you have the right ingredients then the sauce is really going to make or break the dish.

Breakfast Sandwiches

Mornings have been really busy these last few weeks. Some mornings Im just not in the mood for milk and cereal. After perusing (ok really wasting time) on pinterest I saw the link for pre-making breakfast sandwiches a la that fast-food-chain style. This girl put up how she made her sandwiches then froze them to eat in the mornings. It was so simple, and clever, that you wonder why people pay all that money to get these things. It was so easy that I kick myself for not doing this earlier back when I had super early morning classes. For the eggs I baked them in my muffin-top tin and it fit perfectly on the english muffin.  (Yes there is such a thing and it is amazing. Everybody wants just the muffin tops!). Try these for those on-the-go weekday mornings!

Soba Noodle Salad

The weather is scorching down here. Amazingly this is considered a “mild” summer here. My AC bill and sweat glands beg to differ. The hot weather has made my appetite rather low these days. It’s one of those feelings where you know you are craving something, but can’t quite put your finger on what it is. I came across this in Harumi’s Japanese Cooking and I figured I should give it a try since I had all the ingredients except a cucumber. I like her recipes because they are for the home cook and not necessarily the fancy Japanese food that costs an arm and a leg to make and eat. I know there are mayo haters out there, but I use the japanese mayo (Kewpie) which tastes so different from the basic mayo. Actually I bet it tastes even better if you made mayo from scratch, but I didn’t have the patience for that today. This “salad” is simple with some tuna, onion, cucumber, and soba noodles. Add mayo, pepper, soy sauce to taste and mix well. This was really pleasantly surprising. Yes the raw onion was a bit harsh even after soaking in water, but next time I should be a little more diligent in THINLY slicing the onion. My gut is telling me it’s going to taste even better tomorrow after being chilled in the fridge. Truth? I’m still on the hunt for whatever it is I am craving, but this hit the spot for tonight.

Coconut Macaroon

Wow talk about some busy times. In truth with this hot weather rolling in my appetite has been going downhill alongside energy to piddle around in the kitchen. I have used the grill though! I hope Im on my way to better master the thing. These cookies were made though because I was craving something sweet and easy to make. Seriously this was one of the quickest cookies made aside from baking time. I got the recipe from The Splendid Table’s: How to Eat Supper . If you like coconut and the chewy texture then these are great to make and eat. Definitely a good one to keep the ingredients on hand.