Maple Nut Granola

God has given me a joy in cooking for my family and trying out new recipes. This one I got from my friend Heather. It is really easy and has a bunch of ways to tailor it to your own liking. Enjoy!




Maple Nut Granola


Preheat oven to 350.



4 1/2 cups rolled oats (I use Old Fashioned Quaker Oats -- DO NOT use the quick cooking stuff) 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1 cup nuts (Almonds, Pecans, Walnuts and Hazelnuts -feel free to mix and match whatever you have)
2 cups plain, puffed cereal (I use Kashi 7 Whole Grain Puffs, but you can make your own mixture at the health food store, or whatever you want -- you could probably even use Rice Krispies.)
1/3 cup vegetable or light/reg olive oil
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 T barley malt, molasses, or brown sugar (they each give their own subtle flavors, so experiment for the one you like best -- or use whatever you have on hand)


Place all dry ingredients in a great big bowl and mix well.
Put all the wet ingredients together (oil, maple syrup, and barley malt or other) in a separate small bowl, and stir very well until thick and completely combined.


Pour wet ingredients over dry and stir until completely coated. Lightly grease a sided cookie sheet/jelly-roll pan, and spread granola mixture evenly. Bake for 20 minutes until lightly golden and fragrant. Stir half-way through so that the browning will be even.


Remove from oven and put pan on top of cooling rack. Stir. Continue to stir every so often until cooled.


Add raisins or other dried fruit if you wish to the completely cooled granola, and eat!

NOTE:
Variations are endless. Substitute or add more/different kinds of raw seeds, vary up the fruit, add unsweetened or sweet flaked coconut, chopped dark chocolate or tiny chocolate chips. Whatever sounds good probably is. If you have a great variation idea, I'd love to hear it, so tell me all about it in the comments.

Wordless Wednesday

Warm Kitchens = Little Joys

This morning was a bit chilly and foggy. Coming in from my morning run with a red nose and cold cheeks something hot sounded good. So looking in the fridge to see what needed using up I decided to make some raspberry filled muffins. Thus using up the raspberry cake filling Natalie made for a cake that sadly did not end up coming to fruition. See picture.

We tried to salvage them but the bottom was doughy and the top was gum-chewy and...well we ate a bit of it but just couldn't stomach the rest. Needless to say I am still trying to figure out my European oven!!

Anyways, the recipe I came up with was Raspberry Filled Lemon muffins. I found a recipe on Allrecipes.com but did a bit of tweaking. Give them a go they turned out pretty well.

Raspberry Filled Lemon Muffins

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup plain yogurt (I used vanilla yogurt with strawberries in the bottom and just left out the strawberries)

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice (I put in about 2 T)
2 egg whites (I used one whole egg)
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract (optional) -(I left it out)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 cup frozen raspberries (instead I used the raspberry cake filling I had, the recipe for that is included below the muffin recipe)

2 tablespoons white sugar for decoration (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin tin, or line with paper liners.
In a large bowl, mix together the yogurt, oil, lemon juice, egg whites, and, if using, lemon extract. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and mix until just blended. Gently stir in the frozen raspberries. Spoon batter evenly into the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle remaining sugar over the tops for decoration, if desired.

**If you decided to do the cake filling instead, fill the muffin tins 1/4 of the way full, put 1 1/2 tsp raspberry filling on top of the batter then put more batter on top until the muffin tin is 2/3 full.

Bake for 17 to 22 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top springs back when lightly touched. Cool muffins in the tin on a wire rack.

Raspberry Cake Filling Recipe:

12oz frozen raspberries. partially thawed, but not drained

4 1/2 tsp. cornstarch

3 T sugar

Juice of 1 lemon

Puree all ingredients. Cook on medium low, stirring frequently, until filling bubbles. Simmer for 3-5 minutes, or until filling loses it "cornstarch" taste. Remove from heat, chill until cold and set. Makes 1 1/2 cups filling.

This makes enough for about 5 batches of muffins. This is also great in layer cakes with white chocolate frosting!

The Glories of Fall

This morning didn't start out as I would have liked. God, in His infinite wisdom, saw it fit to humble and reveal my sin to me once again through my amazing husband. I was shown just how selfish I still am (You'd think that after almost 4 years of marriage I would be at least a little bit better). After Luke left for work, God "worked" on my heart. Reading through "The Cross Centered Life" by C.J. Mahaney, I was once again reminded of my desperate need for The Savior and that like Paul, as he wrote in 1Timothy 1:13, I to have been" shown mercy" in my helpless state.

You are probably wondering by now, what does this all have to do with the glories of Fall? After I finished my quiet time I bundled up Annsley, put on the old Asics, and set out with Natalie and Annsley for our morning run. It was FREEZING and as we started running I really just wanted to turn around, go back in the house, make a cup of hot cider and curl up on the couch with a book, however, we pressed on and and I am so glad that we did because we were greeted with the most glorious site. Our running path leads us through a patch of forest and when reached that spot the sun was streaming through the branches making the autumn leaves of red and gold, shimmer and glow in the morning light. I felt my breath leave me (it could have also been the cold air but I like to think it was beauty of the trees) and I was filled with awe at God's handy work. His mercies are new each day! I had started the day off living for self and God in his mercy not only revealed it to me and forgave me, but also blessed me with one of the glories of Fall. His beautiful design of the changing seasons. Praise be to God and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit!

I later rode my bike back to the place and took a picture.