Category Archives: The Foodie Life

Overnight Oats

Posted on by under The Foodie Life

I’m sorry I didn’t take a better picture of this for you, or even other pictures while it was in different stages of being made. The truth is that I was asleep while it was making itself and it’s ugly. It is downright tasty and hearty though. I threw all the ingredients into my crock-pot last night and woke up to delicious this morning. Enjoy xo.

overnight oats

Ingredients:

1 cup of steel cut oats

1/2 cup of large rolled oats

2 apples, cored, peeled, chopped

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cups of chopped pecans

1 tblsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tblsp brown sugar

2 tblsp agave nectar

3.5 cups of water

1.5 cups of whole milk

2 tblsp butter

 

1.  Stick all of the above in a greased crock-pot and stir well.

2. Turn on low.

3. Go to sleep.

4. Wake up to deliciousness.

 

I like to eat mine with a bit of brown sugar, splash of cream, and salted butter.

The Best Homemade Granola Ever

Posted on by under The Foodie Life

Gordo has been asking for granola all week. Luckily for him, I have had the last few days off of work for the first time in over a year, so I acquiesced 🙂

This recipe is easy; it is, however, time-consuming. It is also the absolute best, makes a shit-ton, and lasts in an airtight container for almost forever. In other words, it’s worth the time.

 

Ingredients:

1st Set:

4 cups of quick oats

2 cups of large old-fashioned flake oats

3/4 cup slivered almonds

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

3/4 cup pecans

3/4 cup sweetened coconut flakes

Granola 1st Set of Ingredients, pre-mixing

2nd Set:

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup coconut oil, liquefied

1/3 cup hot water

3/4 cup honey ( I usually use local, raw)

1/3 cup brown sugar

1.5 tsp vanilla ( I favor Madagascar Bourbon)

1 tsp cinnamon

Granola 2nd Set of Ingredients

3rd Set:

3 cups of dried fruit of your choice (for this one, I wanted a tropical taste and did pineapple, papaya and raisins)

Dried fruit in bowl

 

  1. Preheat oven to 325.
  2. In large bowl mix 1st set of ingredients.
  3. In medium bowl mix second set of ingredients.
  4. Pour honey mixture over oat mixture and stir well to evenly coat.

Granola after mixing wet and dry

 5. Spread out onto 2 baking sheets (line with silicone mat or parchment paper).

Granola spread evenly on 2 baking sheets

 6. Bake for 20 – 40 minutes stirring every 5 – 10 minutes. Watch carefully at the end. It can get burned quickly. Take it out when it’s a nice golden brown. When I stir, I also rotate the position of the baking sheets.

Granola in the oven

7. Once out of the oven, I stir in the dried fruits immediately and spread  it out again on the same baking sheets to cool into small clumps.

Cooling Granola

 

Then you can store it in airtight containers for a super long time. But first, eat yourself some warm, fresh granola on top of yogurt – mmmmmm!

 

It’s so easy to make this in different ways by just adding different fruits, nuts, seeds, etc. You just need to keep the measurements the same. I make it a bit differently each time! Enjoy! xo

 

 

 

Weekly Menu 3

Posted on by under The Foodie Life

Hi friends. Sorry it’s been awhile.  Last week was incredibly hectic and I didn’t cook a a single day (other than the odd grilled cheese, scrambled egg or reheated leftovers). This week is promising to be somewhat hectic as well and I don’t plan on cooking as much either. However, that’s hard on the pocket, so I will make less meals and we will eat them more times 🙂 The good news is that A.) you’re getting one of my fave recipes (mujadarra) and B.) these are all really budget-friendly meals!  Enjoy, and as always please let me know your thoughts if you try them!

Mmmm Mujadarra

Ham and Broccoli Quiche

Moroccan Chicken – this link will take you to the weelicious site for Catherine’s recipe. Just a couple of notes here – 1.) I make this in my slow cooker all the time and it’s fab and 2.) I at least DOUBLE all the spices in the recipe except for the salt.

P.S. Stay tuned peeps – you will be getting a real story at the end of the week, and it’s a good one!!

Weekly Menu

Posted on by under The Foodie Life

I’m always looking for ways to make dinnertime a bit easier.  Between homeschooling Gordo (6-year-old son) and almost constantly having to carry Bita (10-month-old daughter), along with all my other daily tasks, I feel like I have very little time leftover for preparing delicious meals. I find that the most anxiety occurs when it’s 5:30 p.m., Mr. Right is leaving work soon, and I still have no idea what I’m making or if I even have anything in my pantry/fridge/freezer to make.  Enter menu planning.

Once upon a time, I was a daycare provider.  One way to keep sanity in my household was through menu planning. It helped simplify the week, reduced anxiety, and helped me stay within budget if I just sat down every weekend and planned what I was going to make and bought only what we needed for the week. I have been struggling since Bita was born. Way more often than I care to admit we have eaten processed, sugar and salt laden, completely unhealthy packaged or ordered food because I haven’t had it together. I hope that in sharing menu plans with you, it will help you in some small way while holding me accountable for my families eating. You now know my situation a little better.  Easy is the name of the game.  You aren’t going to find anything fancy this week, or anything that takes more than 20 minutes of my time. In fact, four of these recipes use less than 5 ingredients (not counting common pantry items), three of them are slow cooker recipes, and the other two are one skillet wonders. Two of the dishes are vegetarian and two others can be made vegetarian. I should mention that, at my house, a weekly plan contains 5 meals.  I cook five nights, and we eat leftovers two nights. Here is what I’m feeding my family this week:

Sausage and Sweet Potato Hash

Shredded BBQ Chicken

3 Bean Turkey Chili

Slow Cooker Mac and Cheese

Mango and Black Bean Quesadilla

Healthy snacks are hard for me to come up with too.  This week my family will be snacking on nuts, dried fruits, fresh fruits, apple and kale chips, raw veggies, crackers and homemade hummus.

If this has been at all helpful to you or inspired you in any way, please let me know in the comments below.  Depending on the level of interest, I may make this a weekly Sunday post.  Enjoy 🙂