Warm granola puts cold granola to shame. What have I been doing all my life that I hadn't learned this yet? So, MotherRunner is one of those friend of friend's blogs I read, you know, because she's awesome. On her blog she has this recipe for slow-roasted granola.
I was missing a few things, but as she notes on her blog, granola's forgiving.
8 cups rolled oats... or 4 cups of some oat/rye/barley mix that you use at oatmeal in the morning
1/2 cup sunflower seeds... or not because you don't have them
1/2 cup sesame seeds... or more because you don't have sunflower sea
1 cup sweetened coconut... or a little more because you can
1 1/2 cups chopped almonds... ish. I just hammered my whole almonds until I worried I might be too loud hammering at 11pm on a Sunday night
2/3 cup vegetable oil... or 1/2c since you don't have as many oats
2/3 cup honey... or a little more because you don't have any maple syrup
1/2 cup maple syrup... well you don't have it so how about some brown sugar
1/4 water or 4 egg whites*... I used a fair amount of egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla... or a little more because you like it
1/2 tsp. salt... or a little more because you poured too fast
1/2 tsp. cinnamon... or pumpkin spice because for some unknown reason you have pumpkin spice and no cinnamon
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Monday, November 21, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Pineapple Fried Rice [ish]
Welcome to Sara's Wonderful World of Incomplete Recipes!
(a regular occurrence when I've spent the time in the day post-shower, which I actually took at 10am today, in boy shorts and an old running t-shirt, and have finally decided to make something with more ingredients than oatmeal, but have come to find out I don't have all the ingredients,
and refuse to get dressed to go to the store or change my dinner plans. Run on fragment? Probably.
Oh! But it does usually involve one song you can dance to on repeat for as long as it takes me to make dinner. Cue tonight's song... "Bulletproof"
Last weekend I decided I would make chicken and rice for dinner. By the way, this blog entry is the longest way possible to tell you what I had for dinner tonight. This may not be the best way to spend your time, but if you're interested... read on. I had frozen chicken breast and a delicious new sauce I'd bought the day before. However, when I bought this rice back in September I had accidentally bought regular rice instead of instant. Given the amount of time between my body telling me it could be hungry and me becoming an intolerant bad word, the cooking time of the rice resulted in it never being an option for dinner. It'd been so long since I'd made the rice that I had forgotten why it'd been sitting idle. So, I heated up some water, threw the rice in and then read the directions. What?! 45-50 minutes. My chicken had already been in for 5 and wouldn't take more than 20 [already an eternity when you're only cooking for your own hungry self]. But, alas, I'd put all the rice in so there it was to stay. When it was finally finished over an hour later I'd offered it to my roommates and their friends, who were eating sushi, but, there was still a tubberware container left; I had no idea rice grew exponentially when it was cooked... forget fish and loaves, I'll bet it was rice. I put it in the back of my mind and the back of my fridge and went on with life.
A couple of nights ago, with 10 minutes before I had to leave I decided I wanted to make pineapple fried rice. My roommate nicely discouraged me from such an endeavor as it would take too long and I'd be late. I heeded her wisdom.
After waking up from a dinnertime nap I decided tonight was the night! I hadn't looked at the recipe yet, but I had rice, eggs, pineapple, and soy sauce. What else could you possibly need?
Anyone who has made pineapple fried rice is shaking their head at me. Depending what recipe you picked in your plethora of google results, the ingredient list may have looked something like this:
- 1 cup pineapple tidbits (fresh is better, but canned works too)
- 4 cups cooked rice, preferably at least 1 day old
- 4 Tbsp oil for stir-frying
- 2 shallots, thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 red or green chili (de-seeded if milder rice is desired)
- 1/2 cup roasted unsalted cashews
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- 1 egg, beaten (omit if vegan)
- 1/4 cup currants (or raisins)
- 3 Tbsp. chicken or vegetable stock
- 3 Tbsp. fish sauce (or substitute 3+ 1/2 Tbsp. soy sauce if vegetarian)
- 2 tsp. curry powder
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 3 spring onions, finely sliced
- 1/3 cup fresh coriander
- Prawns, Chicken, or tofu (optional)
http://thaifood.about.com/od/thairecipesstepbystep/ss/pineapplerice.htm
I regoogled pineapple fried rice adding "simple" in front of it and Everyday Vegetarian Recipes helped me a little bit. Note: A guy I worked with earlier this year told me that fish sauce is what really makes your pineapple fried rice taste authentic. But, I wasn't going for authenticity. I had two goals: Full tummy. Happy tastebuds. Not necessarily in that order.
I realize that most of the ingredients above aren't that rare, but I've been terrible about keeping veggie around. I borrowed some of my roommates' onion and mixed together the following ingredients:
- Canned pineapple tidbits. It was a 20 oz can so I just put some in so it looked like there'd be some in most bites... maybe 8 oz like originally instructed?
- All the left over rice
- Enough olive oil to cook the onions and garlic
- Some onions. I cut until my eyes started to water and my sinuses were acting up so that wasn't long
- 3 cloves garlic! Yes! One thing right!
- Chili powder. That's close, right?
- 2 eggs
- Handfuls of raisins. Nom nom nom
- 3 Tbsp. chicken stock [ish]. No really, I had some of this!
- 2 packets of soy sauce leftover from the Chinese restaurant. Thanks Lindsay & Cam!
- Salt & Pepper
Step 1. Unbury the wok.
My parents let me take one of the woks with me when I moved to NYC. Every time I find an excuse to cook with it I get excited, but you could do this in a large frying pan.
Step 2. Heat the oil in the wok/pan. Add the garlic, onions and chili powder. And maybe even some Cumin powder since it's the right color, but you can't find enough uses for it.
Step 3. Beat the eggs separately why that's cooking. Add the egg, but don't let it get omlet-y before adding the rice and mixing. Stir 'til it's mixed.
Step 4. Add the chicken broth and soy sauce. Add pineapple and raisins.
Step 5. Nom nom nom... nom nom nom... nom nom...
Step 6. Blog.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Nom nom nom
While looking over websites with cheap recipes I found a recipe for a bulgur-cashew veggie burger and thought it seemed simple enough. I went to the grocery story and low and behold there was no bulgur at the East Harlem Target. Instead of searching elsewhere I did a quick search for other veggie burger recipes and found that couscous is often used as the grain. I was also buying bread crumbs for another recipe so thought I could use those if need be. The first recipe required cashews, but another recipe suggested sunflower seeds. The container of sunflower seeds was $4 cheaper so that decision was easy. Some recipes called for lentils and some for pinto beans so I went with the one that would take up less space it the cupboard; there are limits.
So, home I went with a variety of ingredients that fit no recipes, but I figured it could only go so wrong.
I bought: Lentils, Sunflower Seeds, Couscous, Bread Crumbs, Eggs
I had: A tiny bit of left-over uncooked spinach, Garlic [that was added to the second batch], Onion, French Dried Onion [for the second batch when I ran out of onion], Frozen peas, corn, carrots, and beans, Cumin, Salt, Pepper
I cooked the couscous as directed and boiled the lentils. After pureeing the lentils, an egg and sunflower seeds in the ever-so-fabulous Magic Bullet until they were "a paste I added them to the couscous. I mixed in veggies and seasonings. Since I had cooked the whole box of couscous I just added bits of each thing until it looked like I could make patties. I made 4 and refrigerated them, waiting impatiently for them to be cool; I didn't want to use up the rest of the couscous until I knew they tasted deliciously.
The "recipe" was a success, but needed a little something so I added my safety ingredient: garlic to the second batch. By this time I was so full from snacking on the couscous and the first burger that I decided against making one from the second recipe... I'm optimistic for tomorrow.
Nom, nom, nom <3
So, home I went with a variety of ingredients that fit no recipes, but I figured it could only go so wrong.
I bought: Lentils, Sunflower Seeds, Couscous, Bread Crumbs, Eggs
I had: A tiny bit of left-over uncooked spinach, Garlic [that was added to the second batch], Onion, French Dried Onion [for the second batch when I ran out of onion], Frozen peas, corn, carrots, and beans, Cumin, Salt, Pepper
I cooked the couscous as directed and boiled the lentils. After pureeing the lentils, an egg and sunflower seeds in the ever-so-fabulous Magic Bullet until they were "a paste I added them to the couscous. I mixed in veggies and seasonings. Since I had cooked the whole box of couscous I just added bits of each thing until it looked like I could make patties. I made 4 and refrigerated them, waiting impatiently for them to be cool; I didn't want to use up the rest of the couscous until I knew they tasted deliciously.
The "recipe" was a success, but needed a little something so I added my safety ingredient: garlic to the second batch. By this time I was so full from snacking on the couscous and the first burger that I decided against making one from the second recipe... I'm optimistic for tomorrow.
Nom, nom, nom <3
Friday, June 18, 2010
Happy as a Clam
Last summer I decided to readjust my eating habits using Weight Watcher's point systems. I didn't join the actual organization, but rather used some of my friend's books to analyze and log what I was eating. I became more aware of my intake, while increasing my running, and lost a fair amount of weight without much stress. My mom has decided to join WW this summer and in only a week has done great. She has begun to seriously control her portion size and is already feeling better about herself. I decided with someone else in the house doing it and all the phone applications that make point tracking so easy, I might as well go on it as well. Every time I encounter a "stressful" situation I tend to gain weight and while the weight I'm currently at isn't terrible, I'm not stressed right now. If my body feels much bigger, I won't feel healthy.
So it has been 5 days and my biggest hurdle has been boredom eating. I still do it during the afternoons at work (and with candy! terrible...), but I at least recognize where my fall is coming in. If I keep on task I should, with the aid of activity points and my weekly allowance, be able to finish the week without exceeding the allotted points.
Along with losing some of the extra pudge, this summer includes a focus on trying out (fairly simple) recipes that are tasty and semi-healthy. Sometimes it is difficult to figure out things that you are creating from scratch or that lack nutritional information, but with some helpful cookbooks and handy internet sources I am on my way.
A few things I have tried are...
Low Fat Zucchini Bread (3 points for a typical sized piece). I left out the raisins and it was still very tasty. I have made regular zucchini bread many times before, but with the egg whites this recipe is healthier. There are also non-fat recipes out there, but I didn't have any whole wheat flour on hand... next time :)
Orange Pineapple Honey Chicken - I made this before the WW, but it's a great way to make a juicy, flavourful chicken, without adding too many calories or points for tastiness. I also did not make 8 chicken breasts as I was only feeding my mom and myself. I did a bit of division and then added a little more of a couple of a things until I felt it "looked right".
Parmesan and Prosciuto Loaf- I have had this small soup and bread cookbook for quite awhile, but hardly make any recipes from it. This was one of the "most okay" for you. It took awhile for the bread to rise (twice), but it turned out wonderfully and is definitely a recipe I'll keep for when people come over or if I need to take food to an event.
Fruited Brown Rice- This was one of the recipes in my Dad's new "501 Delicious Heart Healthy Recipes" book. Many of these recipes are low WW points since they are low fat. This recipe was a little fatty, but worth it. It involved:
1 c. brown rice- I used a slightly different rice with an extra grain or two, but it turned out. Make the rice first. My rice always seems to take longer than desired.
2/3 c. halved grapes- I used green, but it doesn't matter
1/4 c. chopped pecans- which were supposed to be toasted, but mine weren't and it was delicious
2 Tbs sherry vinegar or rice wine vinegar- I think I used rice wine vinegar. This may be the thing you're least likely to have on hand
1 t Extra virgin olive oil- every time I see "extra virgin" I make a lame joke about regular virgins being good enough
1/4 t Salt
1/2 t Black Pepper.
You make the rice.
It says to add the grapes and pecans, but I waited so the grapes didn't get soggy... and because my rice took forever
I put all the other ingredients in a bowl and at the last minute I added the grapes and pecans and then poured 'the others' over, stirred and served.
Green Beans With Caramelized Onions- great recipe in the "Heart Healthy" cookbook. We added the left overs to a salad the next day that made the salad AMAZING. Note to self: pearl onions are beyond difficult to peal. Leave time for crying breaks
Honey Garlic Grilled Eggplant- Mine looked pretty good, but nothing like the picture shown. Note: I don't know (but doubt) that these sites are the original location of these recipes. However, I am simply linking back to the place I found them. You do a google search with your primary ingredient, click on a few, and pick one that you have the rest of the ingredients for. This is the first recipe that I have messed up enough that I will remake it on my own again before making it for a non-related group. I adlibbed quite a few things, but my central mistake was how I dried the eggplant. I DEFINITELY over salted them when trying to dry them and have a bit more reading to do before I understand exactly what to do. I also cut the egg plant pieces too wide which made it more difficult for them to dry, which probably had a bit to do with the over-salting. I still ate mine and tasted it enough to know that it would have been delicious had I dried it correctly.
I have also made a few other things recipe-less, liked grilled yellow squash and grilled zuchinni, but for both I've just mixed together some olive oil and seasonings (lemon pepper, paprika, rosemary, a few other random spices my dad has around) until it smells like something I want to eat. Then I brush it on and grill until there are lines. It's rather unscientific, but I'm happy.
Now to start the list of cooking supplies I will need when I move...
-a sifter
-bread pans
-rubber spatula
-regular spatula
-grill
-a place to put that grill
Just dreaming about the grill bit, but truthfully, cooking's a lot easier with a stocked kitchen.
That must be an analogy for something...
So it has been 5 days and my biggest hurdle has been boredom eating. I still do it during the afternoons at work (and with candy! terrible...), but I at least recognize where my fall is coming in. If I keep on task I should, with the aid of activity points and my weekly allowance, be able to finish the week without exceeding the allotted points.
Along with losing some of the extra pudge, this summer includes a focus on trying out (fairly simple) recipes that are tasty and semi-healthy. Sometimes it is difficult to figure out things that you are creating from scratch or that lack nutritional information, but with some helpful cookbooks and handy internet sources I am on my way.
A few things I have tried are...
Low Fat Zucchini Bread (3 points for a typical sized piece). I left out the raisins and it was still very tasty. I have made regular zucchini bread many times before, but with the egg whites this recipe is healthier. There are also non-fat recipes out there, but I didn't have any whole wheat flour on hand... next time :)
Orange Pineapple Honey Chicken - I made this before the WW, but it's a great way to make a juicy, flavourful chicken, without adding too many calories or points for tastiness. I also did not make 8 chicken breasts as I was only feeding my mom and myself. I did a bit of division and then added a little more of a couple of a things until I felt it "looked right".
Parmesan and Prosciuto Loaf- I have had this small soup and bread cookbook for quite awhile, but hardly make any recipes from it. This was one of the "most okay" for you. It took awhile for the bread to rise (twice), but it turned out wonderfully and is definitely a recipe I'll keep for when people come over or if I need to take food to an event.
Fruited Brown Rice- This was one of the recipes in my Dad's new "501 Delicious Heart Healthy Recipes" book. Many of these recipes are low WW points since they are low fat. This recipe was a little fatty, but worth it. It involved:
1 c. brown rice- I used a slightly different rice with an extra grain or two, but it turned out. Make the rice first. My rice always seems to take longer than desired.
2/3 c. halved grapes- I used green, but it doesn't matter
1/4 c. chopped pecans- which were supposed to be toasted, but mine weren't and it was delicious
2 Tbs sherry vinegar or rice wine vinegar- I think I used rice wine vinegar. This may be the thing you're least likely to have on hand
1 t Extra virgin olive oil- every time I see "extra virgin" I make a lame joke about regular virgins being good enough
1/4 t Salt
1/2 t Black Pepper.
You make the rice.
It says to add the grapes and pecans, but I waited so the grapes didn't get soggy... and because my rice took forever
I put all the other ingredients in a bowl and at the last minute I added the grapes and pecans and then poured 'the others' over, stirred and served.
Green Beans With Caramelized Onions- great recipe in the "Heart Healthy" cookbook. We added the left overs to a salad the next day that made the salad AMAZING. Note to self: pearl onions are beyond difficult to peal. Leave time for crying breaks
Honey Garlic Grilled Eggplant- Mine looked pretty good, but nothing like the picture shown. Note: I don't know (but doubt) that these sites are the original location of these recipes. However, I am simply linking back to the place I found them. You do a google search with your primary ingredient, click on a few, and pick one that you have the rest of the ingredients for. This is the first recipe that I have messed up enough that I will remake it on my own again before making it for a non-related group. I adlibbed quite a few things, but my central mistake was how I dried the eggplant. I DEFINITELY over salted them when trying to dry them and have a bit more reading to do before I understand exactly what to do. I also cut the egg plant pieces too wide which made it more difficult for them to dry, which probably had a bit to do with the over-salting. I still ate mine and tasted it enough to know that it would have been delicious had I dried it correctly.
I have also made a few other things recipe-less, liked grilled yellow squash and grilled zuchinni, but for both I've just mixed together some olive oil and seasonings (lemon pepper, paprika, rosemary, a few other random spices my dad has around) until it smells like something I want to eat. Then I brush it on and grill until there are lines. It's rather unscientific, but I'm happy.
Now to start the list of cooking supplies I will need when I move...
-a sifter
-bread pans
-rubber spatula
-regular spatula
-grill
-a place to put that grill
Just dreaming about the grill bit, but truthfully, cooking's a lot easier with a stocked kitchen.
That must be an analogy for something...
Saturday, May 29, 2010
'Skitos, the worst part of summer
So I don't think it looks quite as delicious as it reads, but I'm in the mood to make something with rosemary.
I'm a bit behind on these blog posts. From the morning of the 9th until the night of the 23rd I was without a computer and the keyboard of my phone is just not enough for the sorts of stories I like to tell. I've been back in Ohio since the 23rd, but just getting loose ends tied up so I haven't been blogging. For the past couple of days I have been thinking about it a lot, but usually by the time I'm done thinking I either need to go do something or want to take a nap because I get to missing certain people and places and when that happens I either eat or sleep.
Today I got in trouble for eating cookie dough. My mother bought frozen cookie dough and so when I get a chocolate craving I either make chocolate milk or sneak some cookie dough. I made cookies today in hopes that she would think most of the cookie dough went to the cookies I made and not to my love for raw cookie dough. Earlier this evening we had been sitting on the back porch (or on chairs in the grass next to the porch because my dad had just stained the porch again) and some how the cookie dough came up and based on my wearing my emotions on my sleeves [yea, both of them] she asked if I had been eating the cookie dough and then went on a lecture about it containing raw eggs and not being good for me and not even having protein on it. Hold on! It has raw eggs... eggs have protein! This, of course, made her more frustrated... I don't see why... I'm on my own health insurance now (Well, sort of still waiting to be approved, but stil...). Perhaps I'll have to wait until September when I'm not living at home.
September is the plan. As long as I make a reasonable amount of money this summer I will move to New York in the end of August/start of September. So, if you or someone you know is looking for a new/additional roommate and your housing is reasonably priced, keep me in mind/in the know.
So sleepy. Why do I keep staying up til 2?
Night!
xo
I'm a bit behind on these blog posts. From the morning of the 9th until the night of the 23rd I was without a computer and the keyboard of my phone is just not enough for the sorts of stories I like to tell. I've been back in Ohio since the 23rd, but just getting loose ends tied up so I haven't been blogging. For the past couple of days I have been thinking about it a lot, but usually by the time I'm done thinking I either need to go do something or want to take a nap because I get to missing certain people and places and when that happens I either eat or sleep.
Today I got in trouble for eating cookie dough. My mother bought frozen cookie dough and so when I get a chocolate craving I either make chocolate milk or sneak some cookie dough. I made cookies today in hopes that she would think most of the cookie dough went to the cookies I made and not to my love for raw cookie dough. Earlier this evening we had been sitting on the back porch (or on chairs in the grass next to the porch because my dad had just stained the porch again) and some how the cookie dough came up and based on my wearing my emotions on my sleeves [yea, both of them] she asked if I had been eating the cookie dough and then went on a lecture about it containing raw eggs and not being good for me and not even having protein on it. Hold on! It has raw eggs... eggs have protein! This, of course, made her more frustrated... I don't see why... I'm on my own health insurance now (Well, sort of still waiting to be approved, but stil...). Perhaps I'll have to wait until September when I'm not living at home.
September is the plan. As long as I make a reasonable amount of money this summer I will move to New York in the end of August/start of September. So, if you or someone you know is looking for a new/additional roommate and your housing is reasonably priced, keep me in mind/in the know.
So sleepy. Why do I keep staying up til 2?
Night!
xo
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