Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 09:52 AM
Hello, blog world! 
Let me start off by telling you that I really loved this morning’s breakfast: my very own homemade granola + Greek yogurt + banana slices! Delish! 
The homemade granola totally made the meal! I’m glad that I added so many almonds and raisins to it! 
With breakfast, I drank some iced coffee with vanilla soy milk and agave nectar.
Last night, I made a batch of homemade granola, which was so, so, so easy to make– and probably a whole lot cheaper and healthier than buying it at the grocery store.
Here’s the how-to:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350*F.
2. Combine the following ingredients (except for the raisins) in a small bowl:
- 1 cup dry oats
- 1/2 cup almonds (or your favorite nut)
- 1/4 cup pumpkin (or sesame) seeds
- 1/3 cup shredded coconut
- 1/3 cup raisins
- 1 tbsp ground flaxseed meal
- 3 tbsp agave nectar
- 1 tbsp canola oil
- Shake of cinnamon
3. Stir well until agave nectar and canola oil are fully mixed in. It’ll start to get a little clumpy.
4. Spray baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
5. Spread granola on pan and bake for 15-18 minutes, stir occasionally while cooking.
6. Remove granola from oven and mix in raisins.
7. Allow to cool before serving.
8. Store in air-tight container.
Feel Great Weight
In honor of my recent and very indulgent trip to San Francisco, I wrote about carbs this week: No Carb Left Behind!
CNC FAQs
I finally organized my FAQ page! I added some new frequently asked questions, but please let me know if I am missing any.
Question of the Day
What food(s) do you make at home instead of purchasing at the grocery store?
Posted by: Tina
Posted in: Uncategorized, how to, recipe
Tags: how to make homemade granola
Sunday, April 5, 2009 at 02:03 PM
Mal and I have been enjoying a leisurely Sunday together. I love days like this that have no plans, no agenda, just a relaxing day spent together. The extra time this morning also allowed me to get crafty!
Lunch
After our grocery shopping for the week, Mal and I made a tasty lunch: roast beef sandwiches with tomato and wasabi horseradish. I had my sandwich in a whole wheat pita.
The wasabi horseradish had a serious kick to it! I spread a nice thick layer on my pita. It made my eyes water it was so spicy!
Along with my roast beef pita, I had a couple of pickles and some BBQ Kettle chips.
The BBQ chips ended up in my sandwich. I loved the BBQ flavor and crunch!
With pomegranate-lemonade…
My sweet treat after lunch was the usual. I’m addicted to this dessert combo!!!
Breakfast
I changed it up this morning and traded my oats for cereal and milk. I ate two bowls of Peace cereal mixed with Cascadian Farm multigrain squares and milk.
I also enjoyed an iced coffee with milk and agave nectar.
Bowl #2…
Hunger-wise, my two bowls of cereal didn’t hold me over like I had hoped, so mid-morning, I snacked on two Oatmeal Chocolate Peanut Butter cookies with a smear of peanut butter and chocolate and peanut butter chips on top. They were SO GOOD! The Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter cookies are pretty good, but they definitely need the addition of chocolate and peanut butter chips. They’re sort of boring without them!
Arts & Crafts
After breakfast, I felt a little crafty and created an earring holder out of an old 4″ X 6″ frame, some wrapping paper, and 2 hair ties. The earrings in my jewelry box are always such a tangled mess, so this hanging idea was the perfect solution.
Materials needed:
- 4″ X 6″ frame
- Wrapping paper
- Scissors
- 2 hair ties
How to:
- Remove back of the frame and cut wrapping paper to 4″ X 6″ to fit inside the frame.
- Place wrapping paper inside of the frame; reattach back piece of frame.
- Wrap hair ties around the length of the frame and adjust to your liking. The top hair tie will need to be higher on the frame for longer, dangling earrings; lower for shorter hanging earrings.
- Use stand on the back of frame to hold frame upright.
- Hang earrings on hair ties; adjust as needed.
I had a similar 4″ X 6″ frame and leftover wrapping paper, so I also made a “catch-all” for my random pieces of jewelry and mini-perfume bottles. The only difference for this project is that I removed the stand from the back of the frame. It was a cheap-y frame, so it came right off, no problem.
Matchy, matchy…
I’m off to play cornhole then I am going to a yoga class.
See ya later!
Posted by: Tina
Posted in: Uncategorized, how to, organization
Tags: earring holder
Sunday, March 29, 2009 at 10:38 AM
I get a ton of questions asking how I make my iced coffee, so here’s a little picture tutorial to demonstrate the process. To brew my coffee, I use a standard auto-drip coffeemaker.
- Start with 12 cups of water.
- For 12 cups of water, I use 7 tbsp of ground coffee. If you prefer stronger coffee, use more ground coffee (8 tbsp); less for weaker coffee (6 tbsp). If you have a 10-cup coffeemaker, you could easily adjust these measurements. A good way to determine the coffee grounds to water ratio is 1 tbsp of coffee for every 2 cups of water.
- I typically use heaping spoonfuls of ground coffee because I like my iced coffee strong!
- Brew coffee as you normally would.
- Pour coffee into a pitcher or thermos. If you do not have either of these, you can just put the coffepot itself into the fridge (once its temperature cools a little).
- Chill iced coffee in the refrigerator overnight.
- Pour over ice and enjoy!
Posted by: Tina
Posted in: Uncategorized, how to
Tags: how to make iced coffee
