Homemade Granola ~~ Get-Out-of-Town Good!!

I am a granola bar junkie, but the commercial kind are not so great for us, so what's a girl to do? Yep make your own. I have actually made several different kinds and I'm always in the market for a new one to try, but this one is one of my fav's ~~ so give it a try. Go on don't be scared :0)

It's YUMMMY!!!



2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
½ cup raw sunflower seeds
1 cup sliced almonds
½ cup oat bran or wheat germ
½ cup honey or agave nectar
¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
1-ounce unsalted butter, plus extra for pan
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
6 1/2 ounces chopped dried fruit, any combination of apricots, cherries or blueberries

Butter a 9 by 9-inch glass baking dish and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, and oat bran onto a half-sheet pan. Place in the oven and toast for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, combine the honey, brown sugar, butter, extract and salt in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook until the brown sugar has completely dissolved. Once the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 300 degrees F. Immediately add the oat mixture to the liquid mixture, add the dried fruit, and stir to combine.

Turn mixture out into the prepared baking dish and press down, evenly distributing the mixture in the dish and place in the oven to bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

These are so yummmmy!! My hubby loves to take these in his lunch. So go on give them a try!!

Mushroom Miso Soup ~~ Go on try it ~~ it's good!!!

I love Miso soup. I first had it in a Japanese restaurant a few years ago. I generally cannot eat soups cooked in restaurants, they almost always have MSG in them. And I cannot eat Chinese out at all, but I found a Japanese restaurant in my area that not only has MSG free items on their menus, their Miso Soup is one of them. It was wonderful.

Well what exactly is Miso and where do you find it? Miso is fermented soy, and it is wonderful for you if you have hormone fluctuations. It helps to keep them stable. That is definitely a plus for me. And you can find it your local health food store. You can also get red, white or yellow. They are all delish. The red has the strongest flavor.

So onto this lovely soup.

I wanted a nice, warm and light soup on this ridiculously cold evening. I found a recipe that is similar to this one, but it used dried mushrooms and seaweed, so I modified not having either ingredient, and this is what I came up with. Delish!!!

Mushroom Miso Soup

3 cups veggie broth
2 tablespoons white miso
4 large button mushrooms

Warm broth in a medium pan and add miso. Stir until dissolved. Add mushrooms and cook for about 10 minutes.

Easy and delish. This is a low calorie, light and lovely soup.

I fixed a tofu sandwich with vegenaisse and romaine lettuce and had a lovely supper.

If you are watching your weight, this is a lovely soup and surprisingly filling when eaten with a tofu sandwich.

Hope you enjoy ~~

Happy and Healthy eating,
Dawn

Porridge, lovely Porridge ~~ A GREAT way to start your day!!!

This is one of my favorite breakfast concoctions. It keeps me satisfied for a long time and it is yummy!!

Yummy Breakfast Porridge

1/3 cup Bob's 5 Grain Plus Flaxseed Hot Cereal (or you can use oatmeal, but use 1/2 cup)
1 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder (I use Amplify Whey Powder)
1 tsp Agave Nectar (or honey)
1/4 - 1/2 cup milk (I use Soy, but Skim is fine)
Blueberries or Banana as desired

Make cereal according to package directions (I make mine in the microwave). When it is finished, add protein powder and milk and put in microwave for 20-30 seconds. Add Agave Nectar and blueberries or banana. Enjoy!!!

* Note: I also add a teaspoon Almond butter sometimes, but it's not necessary, but it is oh so yummy!!!