Granola Trials

I love granola!  I eat it almost every day in my yogurt as breakfast, or as a snack in the afternoon.  I've been meaning to experiment with making my own.  I chose 4 recipes that I found on www.marthastewart.com.  I made a sample of each, and did a taste test and nutritional comparison.

Here is my test kitchen:

From White Girl Gone Green

Here are my recipes:

1. Low Fat Granola

Ingredients

4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup toasted wheat germ

1/2 cup flax seed

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 cup unsalted sunflower seeds

1 cup chopped walnuts

5 tablespoons blackstrap molasses

1/3 cup canola oil

Directions

1. Heat oven to 300 degrees with rack in center. In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, wheat germ, flax seed, cinnamon, ginger, sunflower seeds, and walnuts. In a small bowl, combine molasses, oil, and 1/3 cup water, and pour over the oat mixture; stir until well coated. Spread evenly in two baking pans.
2. Bake, stirring every 20 minutes or so for even cooking, until dry and lightly browned, about 45 minutes. Let granola cool to room temperature, then store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.

2. Lighter Granola

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray

3 cups rolled oats

3/4 cup toasted wheat germ

3/4 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed

1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

2 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 cup dried cherries, raisins, or other dried fruit, halved or chopped if large (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Lightly coat a 9-by- 13-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Add oats, wheat germ, and walnuts, stirring to combine. Bake until oats are lightly toasted, about 25 minutes, stirring halfway through. Raise oven temperature to 350 degrees.
2. In a liquid measuring cup or small bowl, stir together apple juice, sugar, and oil. Pour over oat mixture; stir to combine. Return to oven, and bake until oats are crisp, about 30 minutes, stirring halfway through.
3. Cool in pan, about 25 minutes (toss with cherries, if desired). Transfer to a container with a tight-fitting lid.

3. Maple Nut Granola

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup chopped almonds

1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

5 teaspoons vegetable oil

5 tablespoons pure maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, toss together oats, pecans, almonds, salt, vegetable oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract.
2. Spread oat mixture on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through. Let cool completely.

4. Six-Mile Granola

Ingredients

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup light-brown sugar

1/2 cup brown-rice syrup or honey

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup water

4 1/2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup wheat germ

1/2 cup bran

1 cup raw cashews

1 cup raw almonds

1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut

2/3 cup dried cherries

2/3 cup golden raisins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 250. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add sugar, and cook until melted. Stir in brown-rice syrup or honey, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, and water. Add remaining ingredients, except dried fruits, and toss. Arrange in a single layer on two rimmed baking sheets. Bake, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and dry, about 1 1/2 hours. Let cool on sheets. Transfer to a bowl, and add dried fruits. Granola can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

Stay tuned for the results!

From White Girl Gone Green

Re-Usable Produce Bags!

I haven't written in a while because February turned into a busy month.  I was doing a bit of this....

From Puerto Rico Feb 2012

and got to witness this...

From Puerto Rico Feb 2012

When I returned to colder weather, I spent my time indoors working on sewing projects.  One of which was suggested to me by my dear friend Crystal.  She "pinned" this great idea for reusable produce bags at Daisy Janie.  So cute, RIGHT?

I don't know about you, but since I'm eating more fruit and veggies, I'm accumulating a lot more of those darn plastic veggie bags.  We have been using them to scoop poop, but I'm not sure that we should be using them at all.  These produce bags were EASY to make!

Here, you will see that I used some cute fabric to make just a few...

From White Girl Gone Green

I was afraid of what the cashier would say about the extra step they'd have to take (peeking inside to get the number).  I was pleasantly surprised at how she reacted.  She thought it was a great idea!  It was a great conversation starter.  I was able to talk about the small changes I'm making in my life to live cleaner and greener!

I felt like a proud mama walking out of the commissary with my produce bags filled up!

From White Girl Gone Green

What do you think?  Could you see yourself using these?  If you don't have a sewing machine, I would be happy to make a few for you!

Hitting the Sauce

I love pasta sauce.  Marinara. Tomato Sauce. Gravy. Whatever you want to call it, I want to share the love.

In my last post I talked about pizza night.  Part of pizza night usually includes a jar of my favorite marinara sauce by Newman's Own.  Recently, someone pointed out to me that jarred sauces from the grocery store have a lot more sugar than if you make your own.  The problem is that companies use tomatoes that are not yet ripe and add sugar to simulate ripeness.  The best solution to this sugar problem is to make your own!

Making your own sauce is a very good way to eat cleaner, fresher food.  It almost eliminates the processed part of your meal.  It's EASY to do!  (Trust me, I'm not Italian, but feel adopted into their traditions because of all the Italians I'm surrounded by.)

I know you are picturing Nona Rinicacchiocola stirring a simmering pot for hours.  But I say it doesn't have to be that way!  Here's a quick tomato sauce recipe that will take you 15 minutes!!!

Ingredients:

From White Girl Gone Green

1. Saute 1/2 onion and 3 cloves garlic in a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil. (5 min)
2. Once onions are translucent, add 2 Tbsp Tomato Paste.  Let them cook together. (2 min)
3. Add 15oz can tomato sauce*, 1Tbsp Dried Italian Seasoning, Crushed Red Pepper to taste (optional, but adds a nice little kick). Simmer. (7 min)

(*I usually prefer crushed tomatoes, but it's really your preference. Use whatever you have in the pantry.)

That's it!  It's so delicious!  I use this sauce for pizza and pasta.  Will you try it?  Let me know how you like it!  The longer is simmers, the better it tastes.

Great Grains!!

A new friend recently enlightened me about grain, specifically flour, and now I'm on my way to changing one more thing in my life which will help me eat cleaner!

Up until now, I thought that flour was a nutrition-less substance which was only good for making delicious baked goods and thickening sauces.  For a few years now, I've been using 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 white flour.  I thought I was doing a good thing, but I've learned that I could be doing better!

Let me drop some knowledge:

Wheat grains are made up of three parts:

Bran:  the outer layer where all the roughage that helps move unwanted poisons and toxins through your system is found. The bran also contains numerous vitamins, minerals, and proteins.
Germ:  the "health center of the grain", overflowing with vitamins B and E, as well as unsaturated fat and protein
Endosperm: the starchy white center

So, in its purest form, whole grains contains lots of things that are good for you.  However, when grain is milled into flour, if it's not refrigerated the oils from the bran and germ go rancid.  Because of this, the flour we buy in the store is made without the bran and germ, just the endosperm...which has no really nutritional value.  When you see "enriched" wheat on a package, usually that means some of the vitamins have been replaced (obviously this is not done naturally) but not the fiber or protein.

So, bread can be "good for you" she says??


I do say!  If you mill your own wheat you can make flour that still contains all the nutrients it was meant to have! O glorious day! The nutritious possibilities are endless... cakes and cookies with vitamins and minerals....pancakes that don't taste like cardboard, and contain nutrients that don't make you feel guilty.  (Dear reader, I haven't forgotten about the sugar content of these items, I just want to celebrate the small victories...)

Pizza Pie

Last night for dinner I made our usual pizza.  My homemade pizza has been a tradition for us the last two years.  It started because I am a pizza snob a.k.a. New Yorker and couldn't stand eating Dominos or Anthonys (military people, you know what I'm talking about).  I tried a recipe for pizza dough and it was delicious!  Last night, I made the same recipe, using fresh milled flour. Enter snazzy mixer....

From White Girl Gone Green

That beautiful machine was a Christmas present from my mom.  It is the best gift I ever received!  (Sorry, Chris, the diamond earrings were nice, but they can't knead dough for me.)

The pizza was amazing and so was the feeling that I was getting added vitamins, fiber, etc, and less (almost no) grease!  Stay tuned for my next post in which I make pasta sauce!! mmmm....

Source:http://www.homesteadharvest.com/article8.html