coconut granola

I'm really picky about granola. I don't like it when it has hard raisins in it, I'm always picking all the raisins out. Or things that are overly crunchy, and I don't like a bunch of seeds in it either. To give you some idea of my taste, I used to the love the Pumpkin Spice granola from Trader Joe's but the raisins ruined it for me. My next favorite is the Vanilla Almond Granola from Fresh & Easy, the most subtle one I have found without a bunch of stuff or dried berries that I don't want in there. 

So, I finally came up with my own which I think is super delicious. It's not overly sweet, has just a touch of salt, and I can bake it to my liking--still a little toothsome and not too crunchy. I started with an Alton Brown recipe and made a bunch of tweaks and this is what I came up with. 

Ever So Subtle Coconut Granola

from the kitchen of Tracy Flaming

This takes 1.5 hours

Ingredients

3 C old fashioned rolled oats

1 C unsweetened, organic shredded coconut

1 C brown sugar (not packed) 

1 C slivered almonds (or coarsely chopped almonds)

1 C pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped

1/4 t. salt

1/4 C organic maple syrup

1 T. vanilla

1/4 C coconut oil*

Directions

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. 

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients--oats, nuts, coconut, brown sugar, & salt, and mix well.  

In a separate bowl, or in a glass measuring cup, combine maple syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla. Pour wet mixture over the oat mixture and stir really well to combine. 

Pour mixture onto two sheet pans and bake for 1 hour at 250 degrees, stirring every 15 minutes. Bake 15 minutes longer if you like a crunchier granola. You can add a cup of dried fruit after baking, if you’re into that kind of thing. And of course you can change out the nuts to your taste, or use a GF oat to make yourself some GF Granola!  

*Make sure your coconut oil is in liquid form when you measure, or your measurements will be all off. I mention this because mine remains in solid form in my cabinet and I have to heat it to liquid. 

Allow your granola to cool and store in an airtight container until it's all gone. Around here that's not long at all. I tried giving some to neighbors, even put it in a cute little glassine bag, um, it never made it to the neighbors. I ate it all. 

This is seriously the best granola I’ve ever tasted. My husband likes it and he’s not even a fan of coconut. Warning: this is not a low calorie food. 2 Tablespoons = 3 Weight Watchers points. But 2T is all you need sprinkled over a bowl of non-fat Greek yogurt with sliced bananas and berries. I have been known to walk by and grab a spoonful straight from the jar. It is that good. 

I hope you enjoy it.  Let me know if you try it out and what changes you make! 

i want workshops!

If I had a job, I'd be writing up proposals to my boss to go to workshops all. the. time. I wish I had the budget to attend any or all of these. Or, you know, a job to send me to them. Oh, while you're at it, fictitious boss, I'll take a laptop in a cute carrying case to take with me to these fabu workshops, thanks!

The first one, and the most affordable, is this Poketo workshop with photographer Bonnie Tsang.

I've been following her on instagram for a while now, and I love her style. Her workshop is about visual social media, of which Bonnie is a queen. She's also one to watch on Pinterest. I'm actually thinking of spending my birthday money on this workshop. From what I've read about other talks she's given, she's a generous speaker, letting her audience in on lots of her photography secrets.

Another class I'd love to take is BLOGSHOP.  Blogshop is a two-day workshop on photoshop for bloggers. The one thing I've heard said over and over again about this workshop is how efficient you become; that Angela and Bri teach all kinds of tricks on how to do things faster. And time is the one thing that keeps me from blogging all these wonderful ideas in my head. I would love to be efficient in PS. I know how to edit photos, and that's about where my knowledge ends. I would love to work quicker, and learn how to make my graphic ideas come to life. This one is a bucket list item for me, and one that I'd like to do sooner than later. I mean, I want to be more efficient right this instant! I wish there were scholarships available, shoot I'd intern, or be on the clean up crew. Just let me in there!

(This class will set you back around $800. You also need Adobe CS5 and laptop, so in total, about $2,600 if you're like me and have neither of those things.)

I'd be hard-pressed to choose between Blogshop and Blogshop Video. This workshop will set you back around $500 and is a one-day course. 

blogshop video fun from blogshopla@gmail.com on Vimeo.

Ever since I saw this vacation video I've wanted to make more home videos of us. I have the super8 app on my phone, but often forget to shoot video. I have no idea how to edit video clips together, but love the feel, and the stories they tell. I have lots of good ideas that I don't know how to pull together, I would love to take this course. The documentarian in me wants to produce really cute moving picture memories. Childhood videos melt my heart. 

mexico adventures from Bri Emery on Vimeo.


In the home design realm, there is Design Camp. I have been following Anna Beth Chao since flickr days, somewhere around 2007. She teaches a mini one-day camp, and weekend courses, here's the Camp Schedule. I think this would be so much fun. One, because she has the cutest southern accent, and two, because I love her aesthetic. I haven't met a design of her's that I didn't like. Here's her Portfolio.

If anyone feels like sending me off to camp, I'm ready and willing to go. I'll pack my bags in two minutes.

I'm curious; are there camps out there you'd like to attend? I want to hear about them. Why not add to my dream list?

Happy Wednesday, everybody!

first day of first grade!

I am really excited for Chloe's school experience this year, for a number of reasons. One is that she got the teacher we were hoping for. She comes highly recommended, and Geoff and I were really impressed with her at Open House last spring. Her classroom was one that you just wanted to be in--colorful, interesting, warm and cozy, and inviting. Ha, but not too warm, she's in one of the few classrooms that has air conditioning. Air conditioning is a big deal during the first 6 weeks of school, we always have a heat wave September through October.  I remember that from my elementary school days because I wanted to wear my cute new fall clothes, and would sit and sweat in my cords when it was ninety degrees out. Not comfortable. We have summer weather for another six weeks at least, and we planned her uniforms accordingly.

This year is also better because it's not Kindergarten. Kinder was scary for me, going from a very protected, close-knit preschool to a BIG, NOT ENOUGH LOCKS AND SECURITY DOORS PUBLIC SCHOOL. They didn't let us in the class with them, I wasn't familiar with the campus, it was all too much for me. This year I already love her teacher from the postcard she sent out introducing herself, to the teddy bears each child gets to keep for the school year. Chloe was beaming as she looked through the door to show me her bear. (I'm pretty sure it was Smokey the Bear, whom she got to meet in person up at our family cabin this summer, so it was a pretty good fit.) I don't have the nerves that I had last year. I say that, but I did come home and chop up a lot of fruit, which is what I often find myself doing anytime I'm feeling anxious. I'm going to call it excited instead of nervous, because I am.

As always, I can't wait to pick her up and hear all about her day. She has requested a trip to Ruby's to tell me all about it, just like we did after her first day of Kindergarten. I can't wait.

And yes, I agree she is looking way grown up here. Grown up and lovely, with one big tooth and one tiny tooth behind her nervous/excited smile. Love her.

In case that video doesn't load, it's here.