Tag Archives: Granola

I don’t have time for a King’s breakfast – Eats for the

You have probably heard the saying, “eat like a king at breakfast, a prince at lunch, and a pauper at dinner”.  Breakfast is so very important at any age. It fuels your body and mind, as well as starting your metabolism for the day.  Well, personal trainers and gurus of the wellness industry, I don’t have time for that!  That’s all fine and great, but what if you are NOT an early riser, morning person, or find yourself in an AM rush?  Well, I’ve got ya – these breakfasts are so easy, you won’t even have to wait for your coffee to kick in.

Shortcuts for sunnier mornings:

  • Stock up on Granola Bars (homemade or carefully store bought) for those mornings you oversleep or someone has a tantrum
  • Make a giant batch of breakfast burritos, wrap them up & put them in the fridge for a handy warm-up meal during the week
  • I like fruit & yogurt, yogurt and granola, eggs cooked every which way, oatmeal, smoothies, and trail mix.
  • Cereal is low in energy, high in sugar, and rarely lasts a child until lunch time, so I recommend avoiding cereal and saving it for a day you oversleep. This school year I banned cereal on school days, so we have cereal on Saturdays sometimes. It became a weekend treat. For a speedy cereal that has stay power, try oatmeal!

Chunky Monkey Parfait
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In a parfait glass or iced tea stem, layer in low-fat vanilla yogurt, your favorite granola, sliced bananas, toasted walnuts, and mini dark chocolate chips, repeat once.

Frittata Bites

You can customize these for the picky eaters in the family

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Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a muffin tin.

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Fill muffin cups halfway with veggies, thawed chopped spinach, ham cubes, ground sausage, crisp bacon, or whatever you choose for filling.
Break 6 eggs into a bowl and add in 6 tablespoons milk. Beat until fluffy. Pour egg mixture over the filling in the tins. Be careful not to over fill. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until set.

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Ham & Cheese Roll-ups
Another Man invented recipe.  I had just had our second child and requested sausage in a blanket one too many times.  Pretty easy. Pretty processed, so we only have these every once in a while. Preheat oven to 375. Separate out triangles of canned crescent rolls (I’ve had good luck with Immaculate Baking Company’s version), layer on a slice of ham and pinch of shredded sharp cheddar. Bake 20 minutes, until golden brown.

Check out my Pinterest board of yummy smoothies, sure to pick up any morning.

Click Here for more fast & easy breakfast ideas.  Also try making batches of pancakes or waffle sticks over the weekend – they freeze beautifully, and you can pop them in the oven or toaster for a quick treat during the week.

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Grab a kid-friendly smoothie:
Triple Threat
Gather & blend:
1/4 c yogurt
1/2 scoop protein powder
1 c milk (almond, coconut, or dairy)
3/4 cup organic frozen berry mix (black, blue & straw)
1 Tablespoon ground psyllium husks
1/2 Tablespoon flaxseed
Dash cinnamon

C Burst
2 cups cubed cantaloupe
1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 banana
1 scoop of ice

Other ones I’ve found, tried & would make again:
Banana Mango from Diethood

 

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What’s for Dinner? Borrow My Meals

Feel bored, overwhelmed, or just too busy to worry about what to eat this week?  No worries.  I hope you find some inspiration here.  When all else fails, borrow my meals.  Each week I will be posting What’s for Dinner? 

Everyday Granola 
As in, “I could eat this granola Every. Single. Day”.  The base recipe comes from My Gluten Free Kitchen.  I took Michelle’s advice and customize each batch depending on my mood.  I added toasted unsweetened flaked coconut to this month’s and served it with vanilla yogurt and fruit from our co-op basket.

Banana Bread Mini-Loaves adapted from 8 Weeks to a Better You Recipes

Stewed Cabbage & Tomatoes with Smoked Sausage
I had some stewed cabbage leftover from making cabbage rolls.  I added a little salt and pepper and reheated it over medium-high to high heat until the liquid evaporated.  Then I cubed smoked sausage (which I browned in another pan) and added it to the cabbage.  Serve it spooned over leftover rice, and that’s lunch in a hurry. Both boys commented they liked these little German bowls even better than the cabbage rolls.

Grilled Pork Chops with Grilled Spicy Garlic Bok Choy & Ginger Rainbow Carrots
For the bok choy and chicken teriyaki, I use tamari because it is gluten free and the brand I found is non-gmo.

Grilled Spicy Garlic Bok Choy
Gather:
5 heads baby bok choy
2 Tablespoons chili oil
2 Tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
2 Tablespoons honey
2 cloves garlic, minced
To Prepare:
Heat grill to medium to low heat (400-350).  Combine tamari, chili oil, honey, and garlic in bowl.  Slice bok choy in half length-wise, place on a rimmed platter, and brush with chili-tamari mixture.  Wrap tops of bok choy with foil.
Grill bok choy until slightly softened and charred (5 minutes or so on each side).  Remove foil and arrange on serving tray.  Brush with remaining chili-tamari mixture while hot.

Grilled Ginger Rainbow Carrots
Gather:
1 bunch rainbow carrots
½ X ½ inch cube of crystallized ginger
Salt, pepper, drizzle of olive oil
To prepare:
Clean carrots and cut lengthwise and crosswise once.  On a square of heavy duty foil, toss olive oil, salt, pepper, and ginger with carrots.  Fold to seal foil tightly.  Grill over medium to high (375-400) heat for approximately fifteen minutes or until desired tenderness.

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Tex-Mex Sweet Potato Skins
These may be my new favorite dish. Could you pack more good for you into four bites? Thank you! Thank you Tieghan at Half Baked Harvest for the inspiration! They are works of art.
Gather:
4 small organic yams or sweet potatoes, baked at 375 for one hour, halved lengthwise and cooled about ten minutes then hollowed out to make a potato skin
1 cup black beans
1 chicken breast, small dice or shredded
1 cup cooked or frozen spinach
1 cup Monterrey Jack cheese, divided
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons lime juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
2 teaspoons chili powder

To make:
Combine oil, lime juice, garlic, cumin, chili powder, and oregano to make a seasoned oil. In a separate bowl, combine chicken, beans, spinach, and half a cup of cheese to make the stuffing. Brush skins with seasoned oil, place on asking stone or lined baker, and bake in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes or until they begin to crisp. I added the remaining seasoned oil to the stuffing. Stuff the potatoes, top with remaining cheese, and bake for an additional ten minutes. Serve & listen to everyone rejoice at how yummy they are (including resident sweet potato hater). Decide Tieghan might be your new favorite food blogger.

Juice
Giada’s Rise & Shine Juice
If I make it again, I will add an apple because on the show the apples she demonstrated with were large and the ones in my co-op basket were very small and I will not add the carrot.

Cucumber Melon Juice
1 handful spinach leaves
4 cups watermelon
1 large cucumber, peeled

Smoothie Add-in:
Frozen honeydew melon

Snacky, Snacky:
Roasted salted almonds & pretzels
Plums, peaches, melon

Does this bangle go with my granola?

Posted in The Meals by

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I’ve been welcomed into “retirement” in various ways over the past couple of days. My house, a pile of what used to be my classroom waiting for sorting, trash, or storage in the garage. My mother (who hates that accolade), a rhinestone purple bangle (apparently in response to my previous post). My grandma, a beautiful rose-bush that made me think of the Janis Joplin ballad. My sons, rambunctious excitement over, well, I’m not sure they know other than change in routine.

Today felt like what I imagined it would. Meant to wake at 6:00 to have time for gardening, instead I woke at 7:00. Feed the baby, make breakfast, get everyone ready, clean up from breakfast, feed the baby, beeline to the grocery store, lunch, naps, handwriting practice, and a few minutes in the kitchen with Kiddo making granola for the week’s breakfast. It’s so simple to make, and a great starter recipe for kids who want to cook. Plus, once you find a base recipe, the variations are endless. Here’s two of our favorites. They both bake at 325, so that makes multi-tasking super easy. Save yourself some time during clean up – cover your sheet pan in parchment paper or foil with nonstick spray.

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Peanut Butter Granola from Peanut Butter Fingers

  • 6T creamy peanut butter (we use the natural kind)
  • 6T honey – Kiddo picked some up at the Farmer’s market this weekend
  • 1 t cinnamon
  • 1/2 t vanilla extract
  • 3 c oats

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a bowl, combine the oats and cinnamon. Combine peanut butter and honey in a microwave safe bowl and heat until peanut butter melts. Stir so honey and peanut butter mix well. Stir vanilla into peanut butter and honey mixture, and mix very well. Add to oats and stir until oats are completely covered in peanut butter mixture. Spread out oat mixture onto prepared cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until granola is slightly browned. Let cool completely before storing.

Homemade Granola from You Made That?

  • 4 c oats
  • 1/2 c flax meal
  • 1/2 c whole almonds, chopped
  • 6T canola oil
  • 1/2 c brown sugar
  • 1/4 c honey
  • 1/4 t salt
  • 1 1/2 t vanilla
  • 1/2 c of dried fruit of your choice – the boys always pick banana chips, but we’ve made it with chopped apricot and cranberries

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine the oats, nuts, and flax meal in a large mixing bowl. In medium saucepan, over medium-low heat, melt the oil, brown sugar, honey, and salt stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, add the vanilla, and stir well. Pour the sugar mixture over the oats and stir well until combined. Spread out oat mixture onto prepared cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until granola is slightly browned. Let cool completely before adding dried fruit and storing.

It should store in an airtight container for two to three weeks. Granola freezes well. One thing to keep in mind, granola is concentrated energy. A little goes a long way. I like to serve granola with yogurt, but I wouldn’t put it past me to use it with some of the berries we picked up for an impromptu blackberry crisp – or later in the summer, a peach one – or with apples in the fall. Oh! or the peanut butter one with some chocolate chips and mini marshmallows for s’more granola mix. It’s a great crunch of texture on top of hot oatmeal. You could throw it onto some greens, especially with a sweet vinaigrette. I know…I get a little carried away.

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Any way, back to cooking this afternoon with my son. Oats all over the kitchen – silly – delightful. I could take food writing classes (do they have those?) for years and could not describe food the way he does. Today’s was simply a, “mom, that tastes just perfect”. Not the best example. Then Man came home, little ones woke up, and except for a surprise dinner party, business went on as usual. I could get used to this. Btw – I think the bangle compliments my sparkly pink toenails.