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! 

picnic in the park

You know how magazines will create a whole meal, but most times you only like one or two things from the meal they have planned?  So you still have to make a couple of your own sides or mix and match from different menus?
Well, this Real Simple Menu for a Concert in the Park is delicious, every ounce of it.  I have been cooking from this page in my magazine for three years now, so I had to share.

Real Simple Magazine June 2009

Yum.  I made it all this afternoon for a concert in the park tonight.  I even got the wine they suggested since everything else is so good.  And that's saying a lot because I am not typically a big white wine fan.  It's not the same vintage since the magazine is from 2009, but we'll give it a whirl.  Plus the label is cute, which is a requirement.  
So I made all this food, and Chloe passed out on the couch.  So she's snoozing, then Geoff calls from the office to say that he left his keys in his coworker's car when they played racket ball this afternoon. And the concert started 10 minutes ago.  Perhaps it will be a picnic in the backyard tonight!  I will miss the live music, but the food will be good, as will the company.  
While I waited for Chloe to wake and for Geoff to get home, I set up the table and took some photos.  

I made a couple adjustments to the recipes, of course.  I didn't make a whole chicken, I used all the rub on two chicken breasts, it is really flavorful that way.
I had majoram (I think) in the garden, so I threw that in the goat cheese--it's not one of the herbs they suggested, but it worked.  Geoff thought the goat cheese was super yum on the chicken as well.

The wine turned out to be great, I found it at Whole Foods.  The berry cobbler is so, so good. I use frozen raspberries because they are cheaper, and I used jam with seeds because that's how we roll. It tastes great the morning after warmed up with a scoop of greek yogurt on top, too.

Love this meal.











We had a great meal, then the sky turned pink and beautiful, and the fruit bats put on quite a show.  Video of the bats at the bottom of this post.
Twas a lovely evening even though it didn't go as exactly as planned.
I love summer. For its unpredictability and the freedom to bend with it.

luau

My friend Marisa threw a lovely birthday luau in honor of her mom's and daughter's shared birthday.  She also made a yummy luau punch, of which I drank plenty.  It was delicious.  I am trying to get the recipe--tequila, champagne, Triple Sec, Sprite, and some citrus slices,  but I don't know the ratios.  It affected my picture taking.  But I managed to get a few photos of some of the kidlets: there was no shortage of beautiful children.

    Ruby



My girl was there, too.  I'll add her in later.
Thanks Marisa for having such a fun party!