Honey Granola

~ Taryn & Brendan's alterations of the recipe from "Breakfast Lunch Tea Rose Bakery" by Rose Carrarini. Thanks, guys!~


(pistachio granola image from Taryn and Brendan)

Prep time: several hours

*5 1/3 cups rolled oats
*2 cups chopped walnuts (you can use any combination: almonds or seeds or whatever)
*1/4 cup roasted ground flaxseeds (the original recipe calls for wheatgerm)
*1/2 cup vegetable oil
*1 cup honey
*1/2 cup water
*a few drops of vanilla
*a pinch of cinnamon (Taryn & Brendan caution: don't use more than a pinch!)
*1/2 teaspoon salt
*dried or fresh fruit to serve

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. In a bowl, mix together the oats, honey, nuts, seeds, ground flaxseeds.
3. Put the oil, honey, water, vanilla, cinnamon & salt in a saucepan. Bring just to a boil, stirring constantly, then pour over the dry ingredients & mix well.
4. If the mixture is too wet add more oats - there should be no excess liquid & it should be sticky.
5. Spread out evenly on a couple baking trays & bake for about 1 hour. Stir occasionally.
6. Reduce the temperature to 275 degrees & continue baking until the granola is golden, about 1 hour. Stir occasionally.
7. Switch off the oven & leave to dry out for at least another hour, or up to overnight.

Note: Taryn & Brendan say not to store the granola with raisins or other dried fruit because it makes the fruit hard.

Homemade Yogurt

~special thanks to Taryn and Brendan for this recipe~

Apparently this is really easy to make. The recipe is for plain yogurt, but it can be sweetened with honey or maple syrup after the yogurt is made. The recipe is called "Effie's Mom's Incredibly Easy Recipe for Homemade Yogurt"; it originally comes from the website No Impact Man & has been only slightly modified below.


Prep time: wont be ready until the next day

*milk (use your containers as your guide for how much milk to use)
*1 tbsp live yogurt (to get the culture going)
*you'll also need glass or plastic containers & 2 or 3 towels

1. Boil milk (Taryn and Brendan use 1% and say that you can use soy or almond milk; No Impact Man recommends whole milk) in a large pot until it boils and foams at the top. Shut it off before it spills over.
2. Let the milk cool off until you can keep your pinky finger in the milk for 10 seconds without burning it (No Impact Man says: "a temperature reading would have been great for this step but I don't think they had these back in Greece 70 years ago"... apparently Effie's mom is Greek and quite old).
3. In a small bowl that holds about 2 cups, beat one tablespoon of live yogurt until smooth. Slowly add one cup of the milk from the pot, stirring slowly until combined.
4. Transfer this mixture from step #3 to the pot of boiled milk, slowly pouring it into the pot while mixing the pot of milk (with a spatula or long spoon) the whole time in order to combine thoroughly.
5. Pour into glass or plastic containers and seal them.
6. Arrange the containers together and cover with 2 to 3 towels keeping them in a warm place of the house (No Impact Man says: "and no, you don't need some sort of a yogurt maker gadget to keep them warm"). Let them sit overnight.
7. In the morning place them in the refrigerator and they will get cold. Yogurt is done.
8. Do a dance!

Veggie Black Bean Soup

Prep time: 30 min
Servings: 4

*1/2 small onion, chopped
*1/2 cup chopped carrots
*1/2 cup chopped celery
*1 clove garlic, minced
*1/8 black pepper (freshly ground if you're fancy, regular black pepper if you're like me)
*2 cups vegetable broth
*2 cups fresh baby spinach
*14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
*1/3 cup chickpeas (out of a can), rinsed and drained
*1/3 cup low-salt black beans (out of a can), rinsed and drained
*oil or cooking spray

1. Heat a little bit of cooking spray or oil in a large pot. Saute the onion, carrots, celery, garlic, & pepper for 5-7 minutes or until the veggies are tender.
2. Add broth, spinach, tomatoes, chickpeas, & black beans. Bring to a boil.
3. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Calories: 95

Note: Of course, you can adjust the ingredients to your own liking. I usually forgo the onion and celery and put in zucchini and green bell pepper instead. I've tried it with corn, too.

Pear with Vanilla Almond Dip

Prep time: less than 5 min!
Servings: 1

*1/8 tsp almond extract
*1/4 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
*dash of nutmeg
*pear, sliced

1. Stir the almond extract & the nutmeg into the yogurt.
2. Serve with the sliced pear.


Note: This is unbelievably delicious. I can't explain it.

Chocolatey Nut Clusters

Prep time: about 20 min, plus one hour to cool
Servings: makes about 20 clusters

*6 oz semisweet chocolate
*2 tsp vegetable shortening
*2 cups unsalted mixed nuts (8 oz)

1. Mix the chocolate & the shortening in a medium-sized saucepan. Heat over low heat & stir occasionally until the chocolate melts (about 3 minutes).
2. Remove from heat & stir in the nuts.
3. Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Make clusters of the chocolatey nuts by spooning little heaps onto the wax paper with a tablespoon. Leave about 1 inch between the clusters.
4. Put them in the fridge for at least 1 hour to harden.


Note: These are messy, even after they've hardened.

"Meatball" Subs

Prep time: 5 min!

*sub rolls
*fake meatballs (look in the frozen foods section of your grocery store)
*spaghetti sauce
*slices of mozzarella cheese

1. Heat the meatballs according to the package directions.
2. Put 6-7 meatballs on a sub roll, pour spaghetti sauce over them & then put slices of mozzarella cheese on top.
3. Put the subs back in the microwave long enough to melt the cheese & heat the sauce.

Note: These are sooooooo easy to make and they're super yummy.

Easy Egg Drop Soup

Prep Time: 15 min!
Servings: 4-6

* 2 cans (about 30 oz) broth (chicken broth is traditionally used, but I substituted vegetable broth)
* 3 eggs
* 1/2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (regular soy sauce is too salty for this recipe!)
* 1/2 cup chopped green onion

1. Bring broth to a boil. Meanwhile, whip the eggs.
2. Once the broth is boiling, take the pot off the heat & add the soy sauce.
3. Stir in the eggs. As you stir, the eggs will separate into stringy pieces.
4. Add the green onion & stir.
5. Serve hot.