Healthy Homemade Granola

My husband LOVES granola. I mean, he really loves it. I have tried buying almost every single kind of granola that is sold in stores and they're just 'okay' by his standards. It works because it's food and if he puts enough yogurt on it, who can tell? But as a wife, I wanted to have a granola for him that he just couldn't get enough of. And that's where my latest endeavor came in.

Homemade granola. 

And it wasn't even that hard. It took about 30mins to make and then I set it out to cool. And the best part: he loves it! I think my problem was that he grew up on homemade everything and store bought granola just isn't the same.

I started with a recipe I found from Kevin's grandma that she gave me at my bridal shower. And then I tweaked it. Here's what I ended up putting in:

6 C.       Gluten Free Oats
1 1/2 C. Chopped Pecans
1/2 C.    Sunflour Seeds
1/4 C.    Flax Seeds
1/4 C.    Sesame Seeds
1 C.       Shredded Coconut
2/3 C.    Honey
2/3 C.    Olive Oil
1 Tb.     Cinnamon
1 Tsp.    Vanilla
1 1/2 C. Raisins

First I put the oats and all the nuts and seeds in a large pan and baked them in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes. Then added the coconut, cinnamon, and liquid ingredients. Mixed it up really good and then put it back in the oven for another 15mins stirring it every 5mins. After that, I spread it out on parchment paper and left it to cool. Then added the raisins and put it in a jar. And voila! It's ready to eat.

It's not quite as crunchy as some granolas because I used honey instead of sugar, but it still tastes awesome. I think Kevin is secretly waiting for the yogurt I made to get done this afternoon before he really dives in, but I keep catching him pulling handfuls out of the jar and eating it.

Success as a wife = priceless!

Shanghai Stirfry

I don't think I've ever posted a recipe before, but we just ate this last night, and it was so yummy, I thought I would share it.  The recipe is called Shanghai Stirfry from the recipe book "Two Sisters Cookbook".  Well, the sauce recipe is from there.  The rest is just what I throw together.  Doesn't it look yummy?

To make the sauce, mix together:
*1/2 C. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
*1/2 C. Braags Amino Acids
*A chunk of Ginger Root a little bigger  than your thumb sent through the garlic press
*3 Garlic Cloves minced
*2 Tb. Honey
*1 Tb. Cornstarch mixed into 1/4 C. Cold Water

Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute until quite bubbly.  Then let it sit until you're ready for it.

I used a 3lb beef roast for the meat, cooking all of it, but only putting half into the recipe. The other half went in the freezer ready for next time.  I've made it with a venison roast before, and that is delicious as well.  Let the roast thaw in the fridge for a day so that it's still mostly frozen, but easily sliced with a sharp knife.  Slice the meat into thin strips. Pour about 1/4 C. of sauce into frying pan and cook the meat.  Then pull the meat out and set aside. 

Chop up whatever vegetables you have on hand or want in your stir fry.  I try to keep it to about 5 different veggies max.  Too many more gives it too many different flavors.  I like to keep it simple.  For this batch I used carrots, onion, broccoli, and cauliflower, but feel free to mix it up to suit your tastes.  Cabbage, and peas are two of our other favorites to add.  Cut them small so that they cook faster.  In the same pan you cooked the meat in, add another 1/4 C. (approximate - I just dump some in) of the sauce and cook all the veggies until they are the tenderness you like.  I cook them pretty soft so that the girls don't have any trouble eating them.  This usually takes about 20-30 mins. 

While all of this is going on, don't forget to cook some rice.  Time it to be done at the same time as everything else if you can. I made this meal last night, and from start to finish - slicing meat to ready to eat it took 1 1/2 hours.  But a lot of that time is cook time, so I got all the dishes washed and the kitchen mostly cleaned up during that time as well.  Then, enjoy!

Let me know if you give this recipe a try.  I'd love to hear how you like it!