Muesli Bars and the Cherry Bus

So every time Logan and I venture to the LC (Leelanau County) we have to make a stop into Oryana's Natural Food Store in Traverse City. Logan gets tea and I get muesli bars. Nom nom nom. So we decided to give it a go on making our own bars, since Logan has already taken over the spare bedroom with "crops" tea is off the table for growing.

Muesli Bars

Ingredients:

1 cup of rolled oats
1 cup of unsweetened desiccated coconut
1/3 cup of wheatgerm
1/4 cup of sesame seeds
1/2 cup of sunflower kernals
1/2 cup of raw pumpkin seeds
1 cup of dried, unsweetened cranberries
1/4 of flax seeds
100 grams of butter (just under 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup of honey
1/8 cup of brown sugar
Baking or waxed paper

Directions

1. Grease and line a square baking tin with baking paper. Set aside.
2. Cook the oats, coconut, wheatgerm, sesame seeds, sunflower kernels and pumpkin seeds in a fry pan over low to medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes or until golden. Be careful not to burn the mixture. Transfer to a metal bowl. Set aside to cool.
3. Stir in the cranberries and flax seeds.
4. Cook the butter, honey and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly for for 3 to 4 minutes or until sugar has dissolved.
5. Bring to the boil and reduce the heat to low. Simmer, without stirring, for 5 minutes. Add butter mixture to dry ingredients. Stir well until combined.
6. Spoon the mixture into the tin. Use a large metal spoon to press the mixture down firmly and evenly.
7. Allow to cool and then cut into squares or rectangles.
8. The bars can be stored in a foil-lined airtight container for up to a week.

I found this one on  about.com (of all places) under Australian food (again of all places). So these little bad boys are pretty darn easy to make - plus you can mix up the nuts and fruit you are using to create variety, which is also a plus. Personally, I wanted to use dried cherries (go figure) but Logan still hasn't boarded the everything is meant to be made with cherries bus yet. But on a side note I did give him a kiwi the other day and they are his new favorite thing, apparently the boy had never had one? Oy! These bars weren't too shabby in the end. I wouldn't cook them until they are golden brown - maybe more of a light golden just because I could taste the cooked-ness of them. And I am going to experiment with liquid mixtures because although this one is pretty good it's not to the Oryana level yet. 

P.S. Please do NOT grease AND lay down parchment paper - that's just dumb. Pick one (I used parchment).

Would I Make it Again: With Changes - YES
Noming Score: 2.75/5

Roasted Tomato Guacamole Toasts

I really need to take the time to take better pictures so everyone can ultimately see the deliciousness happening in this house. But you try it. Make something awesome and then try to convince yourself to take the time to photograph it, all the while you smell it and drool because you can look but you can't touch! See.... this is why my iPhone is constantly responsible for the pics instead of my big heavy duty digital camera. There is no time people!!

This little beauty here is a go to in our house especially if we are getting worried about our avocados going bad on us. I kind of just made it up on the fly so there is no official recipe for this one - I know I'm sorry.

Roasted Tomato Guac Toasts

Ingredients:

Avacado

Red Onion

Cilantro

Lime

Cherry Tomatoes

Olive Oil

Balsamic Vinegar

Salt

Pepper

Artisan Bread

(also delicious with Garlic Hummus)

Directions:

Make Guacamole without the tomato. I have no recipe for this I just chop, smash, and mix. So I would recommend a Google if you are unsure about how to make quacamole. You can also skip the guac and just smash up an avocado in place of guac (we've done that too, I would recommend using hummus though if you omit the other ingredients normally in guac). 

Wash and cut your cherry tomatoes in half. Place in a bowl. Add ohhh maybe Tbl. of olive oil, and a splash of Balsamic Vinegar, (I love Balsamic, but it's intense don't go to crazy). Add some salt and pepper, toss ingredients, till tomatoes are nice and coated. Place them in a pan and add them to your nicely preheated 400 degree oven. It'll probably take them oooh 20 minutes to cook. Give 'em a stir half way. Watch for shriveling and browning - you know look for a roasted tomato to know it they are done. They should be very soft. 

Toast your bread.

Layer: Toast + hummus if using + guac/avocado mash + roasted tomatoes = HEAVEN!

Logan and I both LOVE this. It's very easy and lick the bowl/plate good. Usually while standing in the kitchen eating this (because we can't make it to the kitchen table we get so excited) all you will here is "Yeah" "Mmhmm" "Ya Buddy" "Ohhhh" What can I say we love the stuff.

Would I Make it Again: Try and stop me!
Noming Score: 4.75/5

Butternut Squash, Red Onion, Spinach & Goat Cheese Pizza

I love making homemade pizza. It's super easy and I don't have to worry about whether or not Logan will have enough to eat. Tonight's was a simple pizza adapted from Epicurious. Of course it came with a few changes, I'm not sure I could follow a recipe these days even if I tried. So here's the goods:

Butternut Squash, Spinach and Goat Cheese Pizza

Ingredients

2 cups cubed butternut squash (1/2-inch pieces)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 ball (16 ounces) store-bought whole-wheat pizza dough, at room temperature
2 cups chopped fresh baby spinach
4 ounces crumbled goat cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons cornmeal

 

Directions

Heat oven to 400°. Heat pizza stone on bottom rack (or use an inverted 11" x 16" cookie sheet, not heated). Toss squash with 1 teaspoon oil, 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. On a baking sheet, cook squash until soft and lightly browned, 25 minutes, stirring halfway through; set aside. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Cook onion (season with remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper), stirring, until light brown, 10 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons water; cook, stirring, until brown, 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Turn oven up to 450°. Sprinkle flour on a flat surface. Press dough into a 15-inch circle or 10" x 16" rectangle. Top with squash, onion, spinach, cheese and thyme. Dust stone or inverted sheet with cornmeal; place pizza on it. Bake until crust is crispy and cheese melts, 10 to 12 minutes.

I used pre-made dough from Meijer, it's the best I have found. It's called Tiseo's. I swear by the stuff. In turn I opted out of the cornmeal, it's not going to make or break ya. The other BIG changes I made were to cook my quash with thyme and ancho chile pepper. I also added herb infused olive oil to pizza before I laid the ingredients on top - just to give it some more flavor. Other than that I pretty much "followed" the directions/ingredients.

I will admit this was the first time I had cooked with squash. Sure I've had the sugar loaded fatten-ya-up squash at the holidays but I've never dealt with it personally. I also found out why. Squash is a pain in the ass to cut and peel. Honestly, carpal tunnel anyone? Then you have to get the goop out like it's Halloween and your scooping a pumpkin. I love squash, but man this is a relationship you have to work at.

All that being said I LOVED the pizza. The flavors were so yummy. You don't feel like you ate a heavy pizza afterward and it's not overly horrible for you - PLUS!

Would I Make it Again: Yeppers
Noming Score: 3.75/5

Homemade Mushroom Zoup!

So I may or may not have received some grief over the holiday season that I wasn't posting to my blog - and even concern arisen that Logan may not be being fed. Well, we all appreciate the concern, Logan perhaps more than myself, but not to worry everyone has been fed.

That being said here we are New Year and new recipe just for all you worriers.

Homemade Mushroom Soup

Ingredients:
300g or 2 cups fresh mushrooms - cleaned and chopped finely
1 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic - chopped
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 - 2 bay leaf
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 tbsp flour dissolved in 1 tbsp water
Salt to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
Dash of nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Fresh parsley or thyme for garnish

Directions:
1. Heat olive oil in a sauce pan. Add butter and lightly sauté garlic on medium heat.
2. Add in mushrooms, thyme, bay leaf and Worcestershire sauce. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, or until the moisture from the mushrooms disappears.
3. Add in chicken broth. Stir occasionally until broth boils, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
4 Add diluted flour in, and stir constantly (while simmering) until the mixture thickens. Season with salt and nutmeg. Taste and adjust seasoning.
5. Finally, add milk and heavy cream, and bring to a simmer. Turn heat off.
6. Serve hot in your soup bowl. Add freshly ground black pepper. Garnish with fresh parsley or thyme if you have them on hand.

I did make some slight changes to this recipe from Season with Spice. Mainly I added more garlic, used white and brown mushrooms, a little extra Worcestershire, and of course took out the bay leafs before serving.

 

Oh and one other change ...for some God-for-saken reason swear that the recipe called for over a pound of mushrooms when I was at the store. So........ I came home with a jumbo jumbo box of mushrooms, you know the size - the Sam's Club, Costco I dare you to eat all of me in a 24-hour period size. Well, I came home with him and a bag of brown mushrooms. Oops! So should I come home with a forest of mushrooms again I would recommend doubling the liquid in this recipe, but in case you are brighter than me and make it with 2 cups it requires I imagine the amount of liquid is just fine!

Even with a few extra shrooms this soup was AWESOME. We didn't have any left which was a huge disappointment to Logan who said at the table "I may just eat this all night," before I told him the awful news that he couldn't. 

Would I Make it Again: Yes DEFINITELY!
Noming Score: 4.5/5