Homemade Granola

Since I eat yogurt for lunch every day (I know I'm a creature of habit) I'm always looking for ways to change it up a little. So last night as I was standing in front of the granola at the grocery store, I looked at the prices and thought, "are you kidding me?" The prices were crazy expensive! I refuse to pay those prices for something I can make myself.

So when I got home I started searching for granola recipes. Can I just tell you there are so many recipes out there for granola that I had to stop reading, it was giving me a headache -haha!! So hopefully I'm not copying any recipes without giving credit, I just started with what I thought were the basic ingredients, a few texts to my sister, and guess what? I made granola!

You can use any combination of ingredients you want. I didn't feel like adding too many ingredients today, I don't always like walnuts or coconut in my granola, and I'd rather add my fruit separately because let's just say I'm not always in the mood to eat raisins or dried blueberries. Since I always have sunflower seeds and sliced almonds on hand that's what I used. I read on several blogs that you can package this in small bags and tie a little ribbon around them and give the granola bags as gifts. How cute is that! Well anyway, aside from the distractions, this is what I did:

Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats (I used the old-fashioned kind)

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup sliced almonds

1/4 tsp sea salt

I mixed these together in a bowl.

1 T melted coconut oil

1/4 cup honey

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Then I mixed this into the dry ingredients. I lined a cookie sheet with parchment paper and spread the granola over the paper. My oven was preheated at 320F and I baked it for 10 minutes. Take the granola out and flip everything over with a spatula and place back in the oven for another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on the pan for about 20 minutes (or until cool). Store in a sealed container. You can double the recipe, it makes the perfect amount for about 2 people. It's SO yummy and NOT expensive! I can hardly wait to make my strawberry yogurt parfait!

Love and peace.

~ Simply Tammi

Grandma's Bread Pudding and Caramel Sauce

I was trying to think of something for dessert last night and homemade bread pudding was my choice. Our Dad was not a dessert lover but bread pudding was one of his favorites. Our grandma made the best bread pudding, hope you like it! Ingredients : 5 cups slightly dried out bread, any kind. I used Italian bread. 1/4 cup raisins (optional) 2 cups milk 1/4 cup butter 1/2 cup white sugar 2 eggs 1 T vanilla 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1/2 tsp cinnamon Caramel Sauce Ingredients 1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup heavy cream 1 tsp vanilla Directions : Cut the bread in cubes. I cut some of the crust off (on about half of the bread). Place bread into a greased casserole dish or an 11x9 inch pan. Add raisins. Microwave milk and butter about 4 minutes on 60% power or heat in a saucepan over medium heat on the stove. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon. Slowly add the mixture to the egg and milk an...

Grilled Orange Roughy

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Homemade Goulash

Last weekend I made meals for the freezer. It takes a few hours but this will save you time during the week (in case you have nights like I do when you don't feel like cooking) and your family will love it! I adapted this recipe from Paula Deen (it's called Bobby's Goulash). I used organic ingredients but use the products of your choice. I would have liked to use fresh tomatoes from the garden but my tomatoes weren't quite ready. You can also make it gluten-free by using gluten-free elbow macaroni. It's so tasty - my family loved it! Ingredients : 1 pound ground turkey 1 pound lean ground beef 1 -2 small onions, diced ( I used red onions) 1 (28 ounce) can tomato sauce 2 (15 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice 3 cups water 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 T Italian seasoning 3 bay leaves 3 T soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce 1 T seasoning salt course ground pepper to taste 2 cups elbow macaroni (uncooked) Putting it together: Brown meat and onions in a lar...

Natural Homemade Living

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