Homemade Peanut Butter Granola

In an attempt to know what exactly was going into the granola we were eating, I set out to find a simple and tasty recipe for peanut butter granola. My husband is a peanut butter fanatic, so I knew I had to find a good one. Success! After combining and condensing two particular recipes, I came up with a super simple recipe that is 5 minutes prep and 15 minutes bake time! I make two batches at a time because it perfectly fills the glass jar we have in our kitchen. This recipe is so very flexible; you can substitute sweeteners as you wish and add nuts, dried berries, etc to suit your taste. We simply mix ours into our Homemade Vanilla Yogurt and eat it up! So, if you're looking for something tasty and simple, give this a try!

Peanut Butter Granola

Ingredients:
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup light agave nectar (you can substitute honey or pure maple syrup here if you like)
2 tbsp butter or margarine
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
3 cups Old Fashioned Oats (be sure to buy Old Fashioned and not Quick Oats)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Melt butter/margarine and peanut butter over medium heat in saucepan. Do not let this boil.
3. Mix in vanilla, salt and agave and stir on medium heat until well blended.
4. Remove from stovetop and thoroughly mix in 3 cups of oats. Mixture will be sticky.
5. Pack granola mixture evenly into a 9x13 baking dish.
6. Bake at 375F for 15 minutes. The granola will be a bit golden on the top.
7. Remove from oven and let this cool completely, as it will harden beautifully as it cools. Break apart from dish and store in a glass container. You may store it in a plastic, air tight container as well, but glass keeps granola fresh for up to two weeks!

Enjoy it in yogurt, a bowl of fruit, ice cream or simply as an easy, in-hand snack!

Post-Ella Freezer Project Complete!

(.......sigh of relief.......)

I am thrilled to say that I am finally done with the "Freezer Cooking Project" for Ella. Though I will probably toss in a meal here and there as the mood strikes, I am thrilled that I have the number of breakfasts, lunches, and dinners hoped for in the freezer for those many days that cooking won't be happenin'. I wanted to share with you what worked for us in the process of testing and freezing. I have shared some in the past, but wanted this to be a help to anyone who had any major life changes (be it new children, surgeries with long recoveries, etc) on the way and wanted to put dinners back so more focus could be put on the other necessities of life. I will post a link to each recipe as I could not have done it without the smart blogging women who have shared such wonderful recipes with many families worldwide!

We have been able to put back 60 muffins and 24 breakfast burritos and 8 mixed berry smoothie packets for breakfasts, 24 beef and bean burritos and 15 bbq sandwiches for lunches---these will be most helpful when Danny goes back to work, and finally, we put up 42 supper meals.

Breakfasts:

Double Chocolate Oatmeal Muffins: http://annejisca.wordpress.com/2011/06/22/double-chocolate-oatmeal-muffins/ - These are fabulous! When baking, I baked 2 dozen, a dozen for now and a dozen for freezing! Yum-o!

Fresh Blueberry Yogurt Muffins: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/blueberry_muffins/ - Thanks to some very sweet friends giving us a bunch of blueberries, I made 4 dozen of these. They are fantastic for those mornings where coffee is a MUST and muffins are a nice add-on. :)

Fresh Strawberry Muffins: http://nancysrecipes.wordpress.com/2008/08/25/fresh-strawberry-muffins/

Breakfast Burritos: The ones I like to make are simply sausage, egg and cheese burritos. Per 12, I use a dozen scrambled eggs, 2 cups of shredded cheese of choice, and 1 lb of cooked mild sausage. I mix all ingredients together and spice until satisfied. I simply wrap these guys in a flour tortilla, then in a paper towel, then in aluminum foil, then finally place several in a gallon freezer bag. When it's time to heat them, you simply leave the paper towel wrapped around the burrito and heat. The paper towel will hold in moisture.  This is a recipe you can tweak with different spices to get the heat you like. You can replace the sausage with bacon and also add peppers and onions. We've found that we like the simplicity of sausage, egg and mexican blend cheese with a bit of seasoning salt. These are perfect for having the baby in one hand and breakfast in the other! Very filling and full of protein!

Mixed Berry Smoothie Mixes: These are the Yoplait Smoothie mixes you can get on a deep discount at Publix if you hit the sales right. Ya can't beat 'em; strawberries, raspberries and blueberries with frozen yogurt and you simply add milk or juice (I love to add cranberry juice) and blend for a anti-oxidant packed smoothie on the cheap!

Lunches:

BBQ Sandwiches: My sweet daddy smoked a yummy boston butt for us and I shredded the meat and it made 15 sandwiches worth. We'll simply warm and toss on a bun with sauce and chips for a quick lunch!

Brown Bag Burritos: http://amysfinerthings.com/brown-bag-burritos - Delicious and packed full of protein! Filling for hubby's hard days at work! You can also alter this to your liking, but it's a great base recipe.

Suppers:

Mom's Chicken Pot Pie: This is a comfy and cozy family recipe that is perfect for those evenings in with family! One of those meals that refreshes the memory of how wonderful the blessing of family is!

Spinach Cheese (and Chicken) Casserole: http://www.tammysrecipes.com/spinach_rice_casserole I modified this recipe by adding 2 cups chopped, cooked chicken to make it a one-dish meal. It is so very yummy and filling!

Chicken Spaghetti: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/chicken_spaghet/ - This is by far one of our favorites to eat and reheat! It reheats beautifully! We preferred to leave the peppers and pimentos out, but it is such a creamy comforting meal!

Cheeseburger Pie: http://besteverrecipecollection.blogspot.com/search/label/cheeseburger - Some sweet friends of ours baked this meal for us one night for a get together and it was a total hit with us both, but Danny requested it again from me only two days later, so I just knew I had to learn to make it. Thanks, Jill for opening your home and for sharing such a wonderful recipe with us!

A few other things I've put away for suppers are quart bags of homemade marinara made from tons of grape tomatoes given to us by some of our church family, several packages of marinated pork chops and chicken for easy thawing and grilling and chicken and beef cut up for adding to stir-fry veggies and rice.

Our sweet moms will also be providing us with their delicious vegetable soup and chili recipes, as I'll never be able to make it quite like they can. This will make several hearty portions! So thankful for them! 

I hope these recipes will be a help to you if you are on a mission to create and put away some healthy (some not-so-much) meals for a busy time in life, whatever it may be!

I'm thankful for all the women, near and far, who were willing to share their recipes with me and make the transition to Mommyhood just a little bit easier. What a blessing!

Homemade Yogurt

Now for something homemade AND yummy! This is another favorite of mine. I stumbled upon homemade yogurt while looking for jams and jellies for the season. My wheels starting turning and I decided that I wanted to give this whole yogurt thing a shot. The benefits of making your own yogurt are:

·         Cost effective – By using the 7^th jar of yogurt as your “starter”, you end up using 42oz of the gallon of milk you buy for you family each week anyway, so it’s drops your yogurt cost exponentially!

·         You know what’s in it! – You choose all the ingredients that go into it and know that there are no preservatives in it.

·         Eco-friendly – No more throwing away container after plastic container!

 I researched different methods and recipes and decided on purchasing a yogurt maker and sticking with a simple vanilla recipe that can be made as sweet or as tart as you like. There are several methods to making homemade yogurt, but I chose the yogurt maker, because in the end it is most cost efficient (especially if your wonderful parents give it to you as an anniversary gift) and it is actually the easiest method. You can also make yogurt in a crock-pot or using an old glass bowl/towel method that requires the light of your oven.

The yogurt maker I chose to use was the Euro Cuisine YM80. It can be found on Amazon for around $30.00. The yogurt maker comes with 7 – 6oz glass jars with lids that can be used time and time again. You can also purchase the next step up, YM100. It has an automatic shut off on it so you don’t have to keep up with what time you started the yogurt. I chose to simply use my oven timer.

Okay, here’s the yogurt recipe I modified to mine and Hubby’s liking!

Homemade Vanilla Yogurt

42oz milk – this can be whole milk or 2%

1 – 6oz cup of plain organic yogurt – to get you started. Make sure you get the yogurt with active cultures.

3 Tbsp vanilla extract

½ cup agave nectar

½ cup honey (be mindful of this ingredient if you have children under a year old)

1. Set 6oz of yogurt starter out to come to room temperature.

2. Bring the milk to a boil, do not stir as the bottom will scorch and you don’t want the scorched milk mixing in with the good milk. Bring it to a boil (as it starts climbing up the side of the pot). Pull the pot off the eye and let the milk temperature drop to 95-100F. Letting it get to this temperature is very important. I use a candy thermometer to test the temperature. To speed up the process, you may drop the pot in an ice water bath. Otherwise, it will take about 30 minutes for the temperature to drop to proper 95-100F.

2. Mix your agave, honey, and vanilla extract together and pour into the heated milk. Whisk this together well.

3. Add in your 6oz jar of yogurt and whisk well.

4. Pour this mixture into a pitcher (for easy pouring into jars.)

5. Pour the mixture into each of the seven glass jars and place jars (without lids) into the yogurt maker.

6. Place lid on yogurt maker and turn on for 12 hours. 12 hours is the perfect time to bring the yogurt to the thickness that most yogurts we in America are used to. You may let it “incubate” for only 10 hours if you prefer the thinner, Kefir-style yogurt. Also, for a thicker “greek-style” yogurt, you can leave the yogurt in the incubator for 14 hours.

7. Once the timer goes off, lift lid slowly off the yogurt maker (being sure not to let the condensation drip into the yogurt from the lid.) Twist the white lids onto the glass jars and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before eating.

Note: The longer the yogurt remains in the incubator, the more tart it will become, as yogurt is a sour milk product.

There are a number of things you can mix with the yogurt to make it a great and filling breakfast:

·         Fresh fruits

·         Jams and jellies

·         Granola (we enjoy this the most!)

·         Blackstrap molasses

·         Finely chopped nuts and veggies

·         Cinnamon or nutmeg

So go out there and try your very own homemade yogurt! I’d love to hear what you come up with!

Corn Chowder

The first Sunday of each month my husband and I have our parents and siblings over for "Family Lunch." We are so blessed that our families love one another and desire to fellowship with one another. Today was February's "Family Lunch." A friend was gracious enough to share a recipe for Corn Chowder that is so very simple, yet so delicious! (Thanks, Jillian!) The recipe may be tweaked to your preference. I left out the celery and substituted celery salt and also left out the carrots. If you like a creamy and hearty soup, this one is for you! Serving it with a side of cornbread can't be beat!

Corn Chowder
1/2 pound bacon - sliced in small pieces
2 stalks celery - chopped (optional - may substitute celery salt)
2 small onions - diced
2 tablespoons butter
1 (14.75 ounce) can cream-style corn
1 (15.25 ounce) can whole kernel corn
4 cups chicken broth (2 14.5oz cans)
2 cups milk
6 small potatoes - peeled and cubed
2 carrots - chopped (optional)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Fry bacon in bottom of soup pot until almost done.

Add onions and celery and saute until lightly browned.

Add cream-style corn, kernel corn, butter and broth. Add carrots and potatoes. Cook for 15 minutes.

Mix together flour and a little broth from pot to form a paste.

Add milk and flour paste. (You may add more flour paste to suit how thick you prefer.)

Simmer for 30 minutes or until you are ready to eat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!