Good morning, beautiful bloggers!

I am currently sitting at my computer with a satisfied tummy full with my scrumptious breakfast. Yesterday afternoon my mom and I made a crapload of granola [recipe here]. So, obviously, after my 7-mile run with the girlies, I planned to eat fresh granola. What’s better than Greek yogurt and homemade granola? I don’t know, you tell me.

Brex:

• Plain 0% Oikos Greek Yogurt
• 1/3 cup Humboldt Honey Granola
• 1/2 banana

Sunday Game Plan:

- shower

- clean inside of mi coche

[insert another Green Monster for lunch here]

- fix a couple pieces of jewelry at the bead shop

Take it easy!

~ Hillary

day two started off well: oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar, coffee, bananas…it’s interesting…it’s not the meals that are the hardest, it’s the snack times when i would usually grab for the proverbial “snack drawer”  – full of fruit roll-ups and crackers and goldfish. it’s amazing to me how much packaged food we were eating during non-meal times as well…and how much i relied upon packaged foods for my sons’ lunches…i’m really having to think about what i’ll put into their lunchboxes tomorrow..i have two thermoses so that will take care of the no-juice-box rule, and i made homemade granola bars (so yummy)  – again from barefoot contessa

homemade granola bars

Homemade Granola Bars

2008, Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics, All Rights Reserved

A coffee and a smile from Richard Chase, Chasers Fresh Juice owner   www.chasersjuice.com

Chasers has an inviting juice-appropriate exterior. Orange trimmed for a sunny look and feel, with a tiny tiny sprinkle of trendy Queen & Bathurst. The two big comfy yellow Adirondack chairs are the perfect spot to enjoy your just- moments-ago-made fresh juice, and possibly, a brownie if you are in that sort of mood today. If not, you can try a brownie the next time you drop by.

Let’s look inside.

Richard is friendly. He takes an interest in everyone that walks in. He will remember your name, your favorite juice, and that you prefer granola bars with chocolate. With any luck, he may ask you to sample something new on its way to the shelves for the first time.  You will not get that tedious lesson in Renaissance Italian names for small vs medium glass sizes, instead Richard will catch up on news with you.

There is a juice menu on the wall to your left, goodies such as brownies and granola bars (sometimes with chocolate) directly in front of you, and to your right a fridge containing more goodies. Behind the front are various industry sized slicer dicer machines where the juice is made. They make a lot of juice. In one week Chasers goes through one skid of oranges, half a skid of grapefruits, one skid of lemons, one skid of limes and a lot of other fruit.

Richard is passionate about juice. He credits Chasers’ success to his attention to detail. Chasers juice is made with live fruit only. The dead kind (i.e. has been through cold/hot pasteurization) is without living enzymes and vitamins.

Richard’s crew is a team of clear skinned, fit, James Bond beauties, all energized by the important task of making juice. ”Everyone that comes on board gets a really cool energy kick.” There is very little turnover, most of the staff have been at Chasers between two and five years.  Staff bonuses are quite common.  So is loud music. “I’m a fun employer. I like to educate my staff in music from the 80s. We listen to a lot of music. ACDC steps up the speed of everything, it’s about getting everything out by noon. Everyone gets their work done.”  You can see as well as hear the band – there is a sound system complete with video monitor perched above everything. It all works beautifully as if knit together by a smiling Zen master.

Mention must be made here, as I am on the topic of music at Chasers, of Jimmy Buffett. Richard is a humungous Jimmy Buffett fan.

Future plans for Chasers? A collage will be painted, adding a little more artsy flavor. Follow me on this – beginning on the left wall the collage will form a path to the fridge then onto the fridge, illustrating the lifecycle of Chasers juice from creation through sales.

Richard is looking for a larger location. He needs more room for the fruit skids and comfy afternoon nap couches for his customers. As with all important steps in business, Richard has told the universe of his intention “find me a bigger space, I’m also looking for a retail partner. ” Is it really that simple?  “I put the intention out there. I need some really good people to work with. I’m very grateful to be able to find the right person/item/help. It’s a leap of faith, but it works.” Synchronicity is a popular topic amongst Richard and his staff.

For the holidays Richard stocks gourmet gift baskets, with things that you can not find anywhere else – healthy nuts, organic honey, Chasers’ granola (a must try, I’m hooked), 76% pure chocolate, and of a large variety of juice. Cranberry, peach, apple cider, and the regular staples from orange juice to combination drinks, such as my favorite spinach drink.

HOW CHASERS BEGAN

In 2001, while browsing through MSN Richard came across a partnership opportunity for a Toronto juice bar Mio Frio. It was a comfortable spot where people came in mid day for a juice and a nap on the big loungy couches; also the first WiFi coffee shop. Good as it looked the four locations lost money. Richard began looking for another juice revenue stream. On a hunch Richard approached Blowfish Restaurant & Sake Bar about an idea he got from his wife, Pamyla Love www.pamylalove.com. She wanted a nutritious non alcoholic drink served in a cocktail glass. It was a  success, paving the way for Chasers, four years ahead of the juice craze, to become the premiere fresh juice supplier in Toronto. This is a very cool rescue plan. Everything packaged up and in production long before anyone else understands the demand.

One has to wonder, what if Richard had not browsed through MSN on that day in 2001?

In 2004 Richard began supplying restaurants with a selection of fifteen juices. Chasers was the first juice seller to make fresh pomegranate, mango peach, pure ginger and mixed berry drinks. He expanded his menu to include cactus pear, papaya, lychee juice and passion fruit. In the first two months he had thirty restaurants on board and was working by himself. Five years later, Richard employs twelve people.  Chasers customers include: Mark McEwan ( North 44, Bymark, McEwan’s Gourmet Grocery), Blowfish Restaurant & Sake Bar, Ki Restaurant, Vertical, Hazelton Hotel, Holt Renfrew, Ruth’s Chris Stake House, Liberty Noodle, F.A.B Concepts (12 restaurants including Murphy’s Law, Mill Street BrewPub etc), and Joe Bidalli’s.

Not bad for a rescue plan.

So pretty much the world’s greatest gift for couples with a brand new babe who’s taken over their lives is food. The incredible Jen is thus the queen of gift giving, as we were home from the hospital for less than 24 hours when she arrived with bags – we’re talking five reusable grocery store bags, and those babies are not small! – of snacks and meals for the very, very grateful new parents. We’ve been dining and nibbling on the goodies ever since, and now that I’ve sampled all of it, I have to confirm that my favourite of all the deliverables was her homemade granola bars. So nutritious, so filling, and so yummy! Of course, given the tastiness factor, I had to ask for the recipe, knowing full well I likely wouldn’t be able to make it any time soon.

The babe hits his three week birthday tomorrow, and I’ve done no baking in the first weeks of his life – between feeding the voracious little hunger machine, doing endless laundry, and figuring out which cries mean what, it’s been a hectic time! (Though I must be clear – I’m not doing this on my own by any means. My super amazing husband is every bit as engrossed by this process as I am and I couldn’t ask for a better partner in this wee venture!) In any case, other than a few batches of holiday-coloured rice krispie squares (don’t mock!), there have been no treats crafted by these hands in some time. Thus, when the babe crashed for his morning nap today, I suspected it was time to hop back on the bandwagon and make these yummy granola treats my first foray back into deliciousness!

Jen But Never Jenn’s Homemade Granola Bars

• 2.5C rolled oats
• 1/2C brown sugar
• 1/3C flax seeds (she recommends ground ones, but I didn’t have any in the house)
• 1t cinnamon
• 1/2C white flour
• 1/2C whole wheat flour
• 3/4t sea salt
• 1C raisins (can also make part of this dried cranberries or other chopped dried fruit)
• 1/4C pumpkin seeds (she uses sunflower seeds, but I again didn’t have any in the house – she says hemp seeds are also good)
• 1/4C unsweetened coconut
• 1/2C chopped raw almonds (I used a combination of almonds, cashews, and walnuts)
• 1/3C semi-sweet chocolate chips (Jen uses the organic ones as they’re smaller, but again – I didn’t have any in the house so I used regular this time)
• 1/2C honey
• 1 egg, beaten (see my replacement note below)
• 1/2C sunflower oil (Jen says you can substitute applesauce for this if you want something healthier with more fibre, or you can go with canola oil or even peanut oil for a peanut buttery flavour)
• 2t vanilla extract

I just wrote out the entire baking instruction and, since I’d been running around taking care of the babes for a while, I’d inadvertently been logged out and they disappeared! In any case… preheat the oven to 350F and butter up a 9×13″ pan.

Mix together everything from oats to salt (I just realized I’d inadvertently dropped the salt, but it made no difference in the taste, so whatevs), then toss in the tasty stuff from raisins to chocolate chips. Make a little well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet stuff. I realized, however, at the final moment that my eggs expired on December 21. Oopsie. I substituted 2T arrowroot powder and a little extra honey and it was just fine.

At this point, the granola goes into the buttered pan and gets pressed down maniacally with a buttered spatula, making it as firm as humanly possible so it bakes solidly. Toss it in the oven for 25-30 minutes, and keep an eye on it during the last minutes to ensure the edges don’t get too dark, which implies the bars are going to be dry. The tiny one began his demands for food during the baking stage, however, so the husband was in charge of taking the bars out. Jen had warned me to cut them after they were out for five minutes as they could otherwise become too hard to cut, but even half an hour later, they were still okay, but I wouldn’t have left them much longer!

Going granola for 2010? Yum!

I love granola. This summer in New York I excitedly bought Early Bird granola which I had read about in the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/15/dining/151arex.html?emc=eta1

What makes this taste so different and so good is the use of olive oil instead of random other oils which creates a yummy saltiness to contrast the sweetness of the maple syrup.

It’s been several months since I finished the granola I bought and it’s more fun to make my own. Have been enjoying handfuls of my home-made in plain Greek yoghurt for breakfast.

Make your own or order from Early Bird’s site http://earlybirdfoods.com/. Either way your breakfast will never be the same again.

Whether you admit it or not, everyone makes some sort of New Year’s resolution — it may be a quiet, unspoken promise to be more kind to yourself, or, in an effort to make yourself more accountable, you may choose to declare your intention to the world to finally stop smoking — once and for all.

Most resolutions fail fall by the wayside as the “new start” feeling of the new year fades by mid-January.

I thought it would be fun to focus on a few food oriented resolutions for the WHOLE month of January, exploring new recipes and information to keep motivated on the path to permanent change.  (Ideally — reading it back to myself, I realize that it sounds a little altruistic — but throw me a bone here, I’m looking for a theme to kick off the new year…)

In keeping with my “moderation rules” approach to life, I’ve skipped over the more challenging resolves, like “Eat Healthier/Lose Weight” and “Spend Less on Take Out,” for a nice, easy start:  Eat Breakfast Everyday.

Bacon and eggs are good as a weekend thing, but not exactly heart-healthy everyday.  Store bought cereal?  Yummy, but expensive.  I am also increasingly resistant to any grocery store product that contains more than 5 ingredients.  It’s a flexible guideline, but the more I learn about mass-produced food, the more weary I become.  Besides, I make everything else…

Try my best-ever granola recipe.  I’d love to know what you think, and what resolutions you are making for the next year, decade, and beyond.

In our house, cereal is a snack — sometimes, but not always, consumed in the early morning.  And ever since I came across the original recipe in Cook’s Illustrated, this has been our house cereal.  The nuts and dried fruit may change, but the crunchy, sweet-earthiness is constant.  It has replaced the store-bought cereals that we used to buy, but now avoid — due to the insane price and questionable additives.

Try this recipe.  I always double it, otherwise, I would be making it weekly.  My use of Sucanat is relatively new — it began in an effort to make the recipe vegan, and resulted in a superior, not-so-sweet granola.  If you take this recipe as a framework, then change things up within it, you’ll always have a tasty start (or end) to the day.  And yes, granola is a perfectly acceptable ice-cream topping, thank you very much.

into the oven she goes

Best-Ever Granola Recipe

(adapted from Cook’s Illustrated)

C=cup   g=gram

1. Adjust oven rack to center position and heat oven to 325˚F. Mix first 6 ingredients together in large bowl.
2. Heat maple syrup, sucanat and oil together in small saucepan, stirring occasionally until warm.  Pour over dry ingredients and stir. Remove the mixture to a baking sheet with sides and spread into an even layer.
3. Bake about 15 minutes, or until granola is (very) light golden brown, stirring and turning mixture halfway through. Remove pan to a wire rack, stir in dried fruit and cool to room temperature.  Store in airtight container.  Will keep 2-3 weeks.

**Tips

• Sucanat is non refined cane-sugar.  I have also used honey and brown sugar, but I prefer the subtle sweetness that the Sucanat brings.
• Easily Doubled…use 2 cookie sheets and rotate on the oven racks after stirring and re-spreading to ensure the granola toasts evenly.
• Like I said, we use it for ice-cream topping, snacks by the handful and as cereal.  Howard uses plain old milk, but I prefer rice milk.  From organic, brown rice.  I can’t even taste the difference.

]]> http://seansandvik.wordpress.com/2009/12/31/learn-to-make-4-delicious-healthy-granola-recipes-here-starting-with-almond-granola/ Thu, 31 Dec 2009 10:39:50 +0000 seansandvik http://seansandvik.wordpress.com/2009/12/31/learn-to-make-4-delicious-healthy-granola-recipes-here-starting-with-almond-granola/

Here You Get 4 Granola Recipes, including Almond Granola, Simple Granola, Granola With Dates, and Swiss Breakfast for One

Click here to register for a FREE bag of Galaxy Granola.  (Offer expires 3/31/2010, or while supplies last.)

Well, it will be once this is posted and anyone reads it

Can you believe that 2009 is practically over?! Seriously, where does the time go? To think, one year ago I was still in my 20’s, working in my full time job, living on my own, doing the adult thing, and now I’m back at home, in my 30’s, back at school, and not always feeling like the adult I should be. Crazy!

How did I spend my 2nd to last day of 2009? Mostly in my pajamas!

I started my morning with some fantabulous oats.

Hello new tablecloth! And yes, this is another one my mom quilted. It’s one of my favourites, probably because it reminds me of ice and snow.

And what do we have sitting on top of the ice & snow? Matcha Green Tea Goji Oatmeal.

• 1/3 cup oats, milk, water + extra water
• 1 tbsp Ruth’s Chia Goodness cereal
• dried goji berries
• splash of vanilla
• 1/2 tsp matcha powder
• drizzle of agave syrup
• sprinkle of almond slices

With an icy looking glass of white cranberry juice, breakfast was delightful.

I’m not really sure what I did all morning. I interwebbed, harassed my parents, worked on the giant crossword, and was generally lazy. My parents went to an afternoon movie with my cousin and his wife, so I had the house to myself. Woot! I started off with lunch.

Total rainy day food – soup and sandwich. Chicken noodle soup, from a can no less!

And a plain ol’ cheese sammy – cheddar cheese on some toasted Silver Hills “The Big 16” bread. Yummy!

A couple of kahlua balls were the perfect dessert.

I then made my way downstairs, cranked up the tunes, and got my Wii on, featuring a little Dr. Mario. I also set to work on a few projects, made some lists, planned, and messed around on the computer some more. You better believe I was still in my pj’s.

Eventually my parents came home, proclaimed they were going out for dinner, and I was dressed in a flash. Off to White Spot we went, where I enjoyed Bishop’s Curry – Inspired by John Bishop, owner of award-winning Bishop’s restaurant in Vancouver.  Fresh BC chicken breast simmered with sweet bell peppers and mushrooms in a delicately spiced orange, apple and organic tomato coconut milk curry sauce over Jasmine rice.  Served with naan bread, mango chutney and cilantro. I had mine sans cilantro, and sans photo. But rest assured, it was one tasty dish.

We came home, did some digesting, then I made my way to the gym for a sweat session with the stairclimber. I ran a couple of errands, and wound up back where I started – at home and in my pj’s.

I was feeling a little peckish, but managed to pass on all the Christmas baking to have a more nutritious snack.

Yogurt with frozen blueberries and granola. I swear there is yogurt under there. See?

I think this tasted extra good this evening, because my body is starting to reject sugary Christmas baking. Is that even possible?!

Now I must find my way to bed – or at least a comfy chair to read. I’ll be waking up early tomorrow, as I’m catching a ferry to spend New Year’s over in Victoria with some of my friends back there. I’m so excited! Tomorrow will be filled with fun times, good friends, and RockBand! It’s been far too long. I’ll be gone until Saturday, and may or may not post. Have a safe and fantastic New Year’s everyone!

To all of you who asked, yes, we’re going to make that wine cork thang into a bulletin board.  Although I’m kinda not wanting to cover it up with papers-I like it too much!  We still have more corks too (not kidding!  there’s a lot of wine in our lives I guess) so I think we’re going to do trivets next.

As I told y’all yesterday, we got an awesome snowstorm here in Portland. I was loving it.  I settled in with some quality reading, tea, and yogurt in front of the fire

Oh!  I almost forgot-I made granola yesterday.  And didn’t manage to take a picture of the final product (whoops!) but check out my pretty new bowl and measuring cup!

I now have matching (bright, multi color) measuring bowls, cups, and spoons.  Pretty fab.

So playdate with Mama Pea, pretty snow, homemade granola to stuff my face with… Pretty great day.  The only problem?

My fiance works in Salem.  Google maps tells me it takes 51 minutes to go from his office to our house.  Normally, he takes a van pool, and I pick him up.

Yesterday, he left work at 4.  And got home at 9:30.

Turns out snow isn’t so awesome when you have a commute.

When the poor man finally got home (bus to Willsonville, train to Beaverton, car ride from there thanks to a stranger, walking the last few blocks) he was FREEZING.  I did my best to warm him up

Hot cocoa.  (Yes, massive amount of splenda.  Someone gave it to me.  Waste not want not.  And possibly get cancer someday.)

Homemade bread

And some turkey soup

(Made from the stock I cooked on the Little House on the Prairie stove! )

Since most of his office had similar commutes last night, they worked from home today. That meant we could hang out over breakfast

(yogurt, half a banana, and homemade granola)

It’s a lot nicer than our normal morning routine of me microwaving him some oatmeal to eat in the car.

Then we worked from home Target

(BTW it costs 1.25 for a fountain drink, or 1.50 for a drink AND popcorn.)

Christmas clearance for 75% off?  Heck yes.  But they didn’t have ANY sourpatch candy canes.  I cried.

And tomorrow is New Years Eve!  Weirrrd.  What’re you doing for New Years?  We’re going to see Pink Martini downtown.

Yes, I said it.

But first, yesterday. Nothing super special, aside from a day off from exercise.

Breakfast:

1/2 granny smith with cinnamon, 3 egg whites with LC Garlic & Herb on WW toast

Hummus and hot sauce quesadilla, steamed carrots and green beans with S&P

So simple but so so good. Steamed carrots are amazing. Fresh green beans are amazing. And all they need is a little s&p.

I also snacked on a clemmie on the way out the door to run some errands. Lack of physical activity + slight tummyache = late and comforting dinner.

Pumpkin Pie Parfait

Using Kath’s recipe as a base, I mixed 1/2 cup of pumpkin with 1 egg white with a tiny bit of TruVia and pumpkin pie spice and microwaved for about 4 minutes. I plopped a vanilla Chobani on top and then crumbled a Kashi Pumpkin Spice granola bar on top.

Now I’m watching Julie & Julia and loving it and wanting to go to Paris now more than ever. Plus i love Stanley Tucci.

The lobster scene is HILARIOUS. We actually did that last Christmas – steamed live lobsters. Well, my step-dad did. Grandma had the biggest problem with it, but she was also on her third cocktail so it may have been exaggerated.

“The day there is a meteorite rushing toward Earth and we have thirty days to live, I am going to spend it eating butter.” Yes, me too. Until then, I’ll cut back in order to live for that day.

Have a great day!

Help.  I don’t know if it’s the weather or WHATT but I’ve been soo hungry lately.  I blame my hormones and Jon Gosselin.

I had this Kind bar as a snack…my intentions were suppose to be half this bar but I ended up devouring the whole thing.  The dates in this bar=fantastic.

2 hours later I needed another snack….I had my vitamin in water then a pear….then…I busted out granola I bought the other day…

Whole foods…why are you so deliciously expensive?  I need to find a simple CHEAP granola recipe I can make at home!  This flavor was REALLY good though.

Perfection.  This finally calmed my appetite…till dinner time…

I love breadcrumbs but I’ve been dying to try Panko for awhile so when I found a whole wheat one I put my midget greedy paws on them.

I dipped tilapia in egg beaters, parsley, seasoning salt, pepper, and lemon juice first before I dipped it in a bowl of Panko. 

With some roasted yellow squash and green beans.  ZOMG.  So good and easy.  I’m already excited to try these bread crumbs in other dishes…Mmmm…

So New Years Resolutions.  I’ve always had a love and hate relationship with the New Year.  Good: “Fresh start”, new beginnings, the unknown.  Bad: Unrealistic goals.   I’ve been living in a different and more positive mindset in the recent months and I hope to continue this. See ya’ll tomorrow for a year end wrap up!

Get it?  Protein Ice Cream!

Tuesday (a WHOLE week ago!) pre-holiday craziness at work, an afternoon snack/dessert from lunch:

PROTEIN ICE CREAM.

Best thing since protein pancakes??! I don’t know…. but pretty darn good.  I basically eat drink this type of thing multiple times during the week (I’ve noticed this girl knows what I’m talking about!), but since the addition of  xantham and guar gums, it has made a WORLD of difference.  HEAB knows her stuff.  Heather, you must make protein ice cream in your new magic bullet- it makes it so good!

Protein Ice Cream: (How I did it.)

• 1 scoop vanilla whey protein
• 1/4 t xantham gum, 1/8 t guar gum
• 4-8 oz unsweetened chocolate almond breeze
• 1 t+ extra dark cocoa powder
• ICE
• Topped with a couple flavors Sunspire chips.

OMG! So good!

Wednesday lunch: Trout w/ green Tabasco, carrots w/ tahini, raw brocc salad.

Thursday snack: MORE PROTEIN ICE CREAM?!

YES.

This time topped with crumbled world peace cookie.  Maya sent me a little package with homemade baked gooodss which I’ve been nibbling on for the past six days. Oh my gosh, making the foodie in me HAPPY!  (Pepita brittle, homemade marshmallows, chocolate world peace cookies and jam thumbprints were included. They will definitely be popping in every now and then in my eats! Trying to savor them. )

Thank you Mayaa.

Thursday breakfast: egg whites with green Tabasco, toast with PB+drizzle honey+banana

Christmas early lunch (post family hike!): massage kale salad, trout with more green Tabasco.

*FWI, most of my trout lunches with broccoli or kale are cold/chilled/room temperature dishes.

Wednesday breakfast: Greek yogurt, homemade granola, frozen blueberries, a piece of frozen banana, a couple raw almonds- then all mixed up.

Tuesday lunch: chicken w/ tahini, carrots+cucumber+salsa+massaged kale salad.

Tuesday (last week) breakfast: OATS at Starbucks!  This was actually kind of good.  A “perfect oatmeal” w/ half of banana, the dried cranberries out of the dried fruit packet, a splash of skim milk, lots of cinnamon, vanilla powder, and half a packet of Almond Butter.

Enjoyed in good company with girlfriends from high school. So fun.

Well this post is like a week’s worth of recap, not including Christmas Eve, Christmas dinner OR yesterday and today.  BUT, its the first time in a while I feel ahead with the blogging game.  I have multiple posts lined up for you, all of which I’m very excited about, my Google reader is back to zero (getting to commenting now), I’m finally putting together a page dedicated to my blogroll, and I’m finally feeling at peace with myself since I’ve returned home from Texas.  The trick is being at peace even in the rough, tough, and dare I say fugly times, which I know will revisit time and time again throughout my life and each person’s life.  Another New Years Intention?  Sure.

Movies that have been watched:

“Up in the Air”- I think Madeline will agree with me- SUCH a good movie, and a lovely two hours of full on George.  God, I don’t think that man will ever get ugly.  Even when he is old.  Heck, Clooney is ALREADY old.  But he is damn sexy nonetheless.

A man after my own heart.  Aviators and espresso. YUM.
(George, not the espresso.)

“500 Days of Summer”- I really enjoyed this.  It’s a very nice, quirky story.  I watched it Monday night and I’m still thinking about the entire thing.  Deep thoughts too!  Ughh, I’ll say it again- can I just be like 25 already?

Going to watch “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” tomorrow.  Has anybody seen this?  Thoughts?

New Years plans?  Since I’m a youngin underage, relatively mature adult, I therefore cannot go anywhere where alcohol is served; unfortunately there is not much else to do in Tucson.  On top of that: my friends and I are already pretty laid back.  We go out to coffee for fun.  Naturally, we have no plans.  Really, the only reason I want to go out is to don a cute outfit and pair of heels!  Oh well.  On a different note- the countdown begins!  26 days till I leave for New York.

XO,

B

CCV’s Wild Bars Giveaway!

Monica’s Bar Giveaway!

Lil Veggie Patch Coconut Bliss giveaway!

Start the day with breakfast. Vanilla yogurt with a heap of strawberry granola from Archer Farms. I especially like the poppy flax seeds.

My appetite’s been weird lately. I think I’ve been overeating and consuming way too much junk food. Kim chopped up a ton of stuff for salads so I ate a small bowl for lunch with a roast beef sandwich. I am loving me some thinly slice roast beef lately.. As much as I love all animals of the earth.. I love their delicious tasty bodies too.

Emily and I finalised things for our first full length stop-motion animation this afternoon and I’m very excited about it. It’s pretty hilarious, and having watched it again and again, I can see so much we can do in the future with new movies. If you’re interested, head on over to Bee & Bean to check it out.

Afternoon coffee with a raisin lemon scone. Mmmmm!

See MixMyGranola on Rachel McAdam’s (yes- the one from the new Sherlock Holmes movie!) uber cool blog Green is Sexy!

Here is a little background about Green is Sexy: Green is sexy came about when three friends realized that exchanging quips & tips on ways to make an impact on the environment was becoming daily conversation. They decided that, with a bit of research and some help from their friends, they could spread the word to all sorts of people and really make a difference. green is sexy is about tiny changes, big impact. Nice!

New recipe, one which calls for coffee!

A morning granola perfect for before or after morning workouts.

• 2 1/2 cups organic rolled oats
• 1/3 cup brown rice syrup
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
• 1/2 cup grain sweetened chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup flax seed
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
• 1/4 cup evaporated cane juice
• 1/4 cup dark roast coffee
• 1tsp pure vanilla extract

1. Mix everything in a mixing bowl
2. Pour mixture into 9×9 cooking pan
3. Spread evenly, and press mixture down firmly
4. Bake 325 F for 20mins
5. Let cool for 30-40mins
6. crumble up!

325 F for 20mins

Let dry, and crumble!

Wishing you the Happiest Holidays!

Andreas, Matt and Raoul

MERRYYY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

Remember this breakfast?

aaannnnd

this dinner?

And this week’s Wednesday breakfast, (not yet blogged):

I present to you Beek’s COCONUT CHIA GRANOLA*!!!

*For lack of  a better term.

Bekah’s Coconut Chia Granola:

recipe adapted from the back of the Let’s Do Organic brand of coconut flakes:

• 3 cups rolled oats, gluten-free if necessary
• 3/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• 3/4 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2  cup pure maple syrup (I use Grade B.)
• Vanilla extract and cinnamon to taste. (I like a lot, probably 1 t of each, and then some.)
• 2 T safflower oil
• 2 T chia seeds

Mix allllll together in a bowl or directly on a cookie sheet, bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes, making sure to mix up the granola one or two times while baking, to ensure even coloring (NOT burning!)

I’ve also added wheat germ and coconut flour to different batches for an even nuttier texture and taste.  Experiment with whatever ingredients you like or have on hand!

So many uses too!

1. Straight out of the bag.
2. Sprinkled over yogurt.
3. Fruit+granola.
4. Late night snack.
5. On top of a smoothie or protein shake!
6. On top of acai.
7. Straight out of the bag, again.
8. Eat it for breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner or dessert.  Seriously- homemade granola can be eaten whatever time of the day.  It’s pacing yourself with this stuff that’s the trick!
9. Give it as a gift to your friends or neighbors or grandparents like I did.  (Using cellophane bags, zip-locks or recycled nut butter jars!)

What else have I been whipping up for little holiday goodie packages?

Averie’s vegan peanut butter cups!  I made a peanut butter cup tree!

But apparently, I didn’t follow directions close enough, because instead of looking like this:

they ended up like this:

Chocolate peanut butter stacks?  C’est la VIE.

Speaking of Averie, both she and Shelley in the past two weeks kindly honored me with the Beautiful Blogger award, in which every one of you who reads my blog is deserving of and/or have already received this!  So thank you ladies!.

Here are my seven facts:

1. I lift heavy weights. I talk a lot about my love of yoga and fitness on the blog- but a lot of people don’t know that I when I first started working out, it was all about the weight lifting! Ladies- call me crazy, but I’m 18 and I don’t have man muscles. Weight lifting will not ever make you look like a body builder! But to each her own. Every person is different with their workout of choice.

2. I’m 5′ 2″. Shortttie.

3. I’ll be 19 in February.

4. I’m a wiz with bulletin boards. I make them look really pretty in about 5 minutes flat. Too bad “bulletin board designer” is not a career choice.
5. I was/still am obsessed, and I mean obsessed with “Laguna Beach” ever since it came out when I was in the 7th grade. I still watch “The Hills” to this day. It’s been a long, and trying six years??? (OMG) watching Lauren and Kristin grow up. Bahahaha. I have a Laguna Beach scrapbook, I’ve visited Laguna and even ran into Morgan from first season there! Total freak out.
6. My last shot/immunization I received was when I was a baby. I almost never go to the doctor. TMI? Well, let’s just say- my parents were “eclectic” and I was a cloth-diaper wearing kind of baby.  I’m healthy, so I say so what?
7. I want to travel the world. I do want to share my life with someone someday (sooner rather than later!), but am in no hurry to either get married or have children.

I’m supposed to pass this along to seven other bloggettes- so if you haven’t done this award, and you read/regularly comment (you know who you are!) then I give it to you gals.

Hope you have wondrous and white  SUNNY holiday!  And a merry, merry Christmas.

xo, Bekah

I hope everyone that celebrates is enjoying their night :0)

Dinner part two last night was muy delicioso:

HUGE chopped fuji, Fage, Kashi Heart to Heart

Sooo good. I really liked splitting my dinner into two parts.  I got more in nutrient-wise and didn’t snack again before bed – my apple crisp kept me really satisfied the rest of the night.  I didn’t sleep any better though .

I woke up and waited over an hour to eat breakfast, which ended up being a shocker.

Just kidding.

Pomegranate Chobani with Kashi Heart to Heart

I waited til around 11:30 to head to the gym.  My quads were kind of tired this morning, and so was the rest of me, but I figured I’d get into it.  On my way over, I figured I’d do 4 miles.  However, I’m officially bored of the treadmill.  I ended up doing a circuit, per usual:

• 2 miles in 18:28
• 10 minutes walking at 3.5mph at incline 8
• 15 minutes on the stair mill
• 15 minutes on the elliptical

I was STARVING and cranky when I got home.  My quesadilla could not cook quickly enough.  It’s ugly, I warn you.

La Tortilla Factory wrap with 1/2 cup black beans, diced tomatoes, plain LC wedge, guacamole

Told you.  Is it too late to ask Santa for a quesadilla maker?

For next time: leave out the diced tomatoes, add back in the salsa, maybe Fage in the wrap?  And definitely some Frank’s.

My brother and I watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (again) while we waited for dinner .. 3 hours later.  I snacked on some fruit:

banana, grapes, clemmie

Christmas Eve dinner was so good!  I had a baked (in the oven!) sweet potato that tasted like it had butter and maple syrup on it – but not, just nature.  I might write an ode to the sweet potato one day …

Anyway, I also had some green beans with salt and pepper and Omaha Steaks scallop and crap stuffed sole.  YUM.  I heart seafood. No pic.

My step-dad picked up some French ice cream and sorbet dishes from a French bakery nearby.  Honestly, ice cream in the winter does not appeal to me at all.  There was vanilla and chocolate ice cream and raspberry and strawberry sorbet.  I had a taste of my brother’s vanilla – odd texture and way too sweet.  Almost chemically – ick.  Instead, I heated up some apple crisp – shocking, I know.

1/2 a fuji and a Kashi Pumpkin Spice Flax granola plank

I don’t know why I waited so long to try the Pumpkin Spice Flax flavor – it’s so good!  I guess I’m just in love with Honey Toasted 7 Grain.  I’m going to wait to taste it on its own before I do a full review.

Now I’m watching Love Actually per my self-imposed tradition and heading to bed.  Merry Christmas!

Good Life Granola is what was in my belly today. I tried it two ways as a snack and as a breakfast granola. This company I found with the iwearyourshirt.com community as they were a monthly sponsor of Jason Sadler’s Daily Live Show found here: http://www.ustream.tv/iwearyourshirt. The ingredient list again sings to me of normality: oats, pecans, almonds, brown sugar, maple syrup, canola oil , cinnamon, sea salt, and vanilla. The fact that I know and can read everything in that list is a plus. The one list I would like to see though is the nutritional information of the granola.

The taste was phenomenal it was sweeter than the last granola I reviewed and the nuttiness was still very prominent. The texture was very crisp and quite pleasant. When it was placed in the milk it sweetened up my milk and did not get soggy. Another thing that made this granola stand out more than the other granola I reviewed recently was they each piece of granola was separate and not in chunks like the other one which makes it a very got candidate for my new breakfast granola. Ill probably hit it with just a dash of extra cinnamon in my milk and nom on it when I purchase my next batch soon. Very happy with this product and remember it is a local product from Michigan that is just branching out into online sales located here: http://bit.ly/8D5nnA. So if you live in Michigan go out and find some today or order some online and you will you be very happy with this product.

TOTAL SCORE – 9.6/10

I call this Grandpa’s Granola because Grandpa says he can eat anything. Now as a family we smile knowingly as Grandma never cooked anything that Grandpa didn’t like. And 92 who is going to argue with him?

I recommend you serve this with heavenly banana.

Grandpa's Granola - Served with Heavenly Banana is a match, well, made in heaven

What you need:

• 10 cups Rolled Oats (not quick)
• 1 ½ cups Oat Bran
• 1 ½ cups raw Wheat Germ
• ½ cup ground Flax Seed
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 cups mixed unsalted nuts and seeds ( I use trail mix)
• ¾ cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup honey
• 4 teaspoons Vanilla
• 2 cups mixed dried fruits (your choice)

What you do:
1. Preheat oven to 350oF.

2. Thoroughly mix first five ingredients in a very large bowl.

3. In a saucepan heat oil, honey and vanilla until it bubbles. Pour into the Oat mix and stir thoroughly.

4. Add the nuts and seeds and continue to stir until it is well mixed.

5. Spread out on two large baking sheets (with sides).

6. Bake for ten minutes, turn granola in to the center then spread it out again.  Do this two or three times until the Granola is turning a golden brown and looks dry. CAUTION: Watch closely during the last ten minutes so it doesn’t burn.

7. Remove from oven and continue to stir (so it doesn’t clump) until it cools.

8. When cooled add the dried fruits and mix thoroughly. Store in a sealed container.

Christmas Morning Brunch Menu … to be continued

• Raspberry Razzmatazz
• Grandpa’s Granola with Heavenly Banana
• Mandarin Oranges
• Caramel Pecan Cinnamon Rolls
• San Remo Frittata
• Cranberry Nut Toast