Turn Off the Oven in the Heat: Trail Mix Treasures

Trail Mix Treasures

The story of when I decided to learn to bake is sad-funny. As I have discussed before I learned to bake from cookbooks, what I haven't talked about is when or why I started baking in the first place. It's a story that goes back to my great-grandmother's funeral. My mother was the oldest of 12 kids and was always close to her grandparents. We went up to visit every summer and my mom spoke to them on the phone a lot. After my great-grandfather passed away I was lucky to be given one of the metal donkeys that he crafted out of old bolts and screws. I still have it and my children have heard exactly where it came from and that one day it will be theirs. When my great-grandmother was in her 90's my mother decided that I should go and spend some time with her for the summer. I was 12 and she lived in a very small town in Eastern WA. So for a week I spent time with my 93 year old great-grandmother. She taught me to spin wool on a wheel, to weave with an old fashioned weaving board and to write. One of the most important things she taught me was that I should remember everything by writing it down. She gave me a journal to write all about my stay, and I did. I took pictures of her, I drew and I wrote. Not long after my trip she passed away. I was one of the last people to spend a lot of time with her and I cherish the memory. At her funeral there was a beautiful cake. It was a beautiful day and that cake was gorgeous. Until I took a bite, it tasted like rose water. Not a little bit, but entirely like rose water. My mother took a bite and burst out laughing. It was disgusting. We both decided that my great-grandmother would have hated it and would have probably said something sarcastic. She was very opinionated (something that I am glad to say I inherited). It was then and there that I decided I would learn to bake. Not a cake that tasted like rose water, but an actual cake. And so I did. Now days I bake for my kids. I tell them stories about the strong women in my mom's family (great-grandmother, grandmother, and my mom) that they will never be able to meet. I hope that through me they will learn a little bit about how to low to bake and cook and to love the family that they came from. Today I tried a new recipe for Trail Mix Treasures from the Ocean Spray website.

This recipe has 6 ingredients. I followed the recipe pretty closely to how it was written. Instead of using semi-sweet chocolate I used all natural dark chocolate chips. I prefer using dark chocolate in baking, especially if the recipe is already sweet. I sprayed the pan with non-stick spray in order for it to stop from sticking.

Since I was unable to find gluten free rice krispies at my local store, this became a treat for everyone, but me in the house. I did eat a number of chocolate chips out of the bag, I have a bad habit with that. While the dark chocolate chips were good, I think this recipe would also be great with white chocolate chips. White chocolate chips and dried cranberries seem to go hand in hand. I cut big pieces so I ended up with 12 pieces in total. My oldest son was not a big fan of the roasted pumpkin seeds, but my youngest disagreed. If your kids don't like pumpkin seeds roasted almonds or cashews would be great substitutes.

For the recipe go to Trail Mix Treasures.

Overnight Hot Oat, Dried Cranberry and Quinoa Cereal

My meal plan got thrown-out the window this week. With a Monday holiday and very cold weather, dinners haven't gone as planned. I utilized a lot of leftovers and baked a little more than usual. My youngest somehow ate an entire batch of brownies by himself. Luckily for me I was able to eat one before the rest went into his hollow stomach. Breakfast is still a struggle with my youngest son. He would rather eat anything, except something healthy. Oatmeal is the one breakfast food that I can almost always convince him to eat, he loves it. The only problem I have is that the steel cut oats that he loves take a long time to prep when he is hungry in the morning. Therefore I have been trying a variety of overnight oat recipes. Last week I made a new recipe from Bon Appetit magazine for Overnight Hot Oat, Dried Cranberry and Quinoa Cereal.

This recipe has 8 ingredients. It takes 10 minutes of prep, an overnight soak and then 5 minutes in the morning and makes 4 servings. I decided to double the recipe in order to have enough for everyone in my family. For the dried fruit I used dried cranberries. For the toppings I added pumpkin seeds, a small amount of vanilla and maple syrup. I have never been able to find cardamom at my local stores so I left it out. Make sure to rinse your quinoa very well. If you have never used quinoa before rinsing is a very important step. The rinsing gets rid of the bitter taste and without the rinse the quinoa will have a distinct bitter taste, that is not appetizing. Even if the brand that you buy claims that it is pre-rinsed, still rinse the quinoa again. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My youngest son and I both liked the idea behind this recipe. However, it needs a few changes. The taste of the quinoa was very strong. My husband wasn't a fan of the quinoa taste at all, so this recipe as written would have to be for somehow that really likes quinoa. I would suggest decreasing the amount of quinoa to 1/4 cup and increasing the steel cut oats to 3/4 cup. Adding additional fruit for sweetness might also help. The recipe suggests using barley instead of quinoa, which if you can eat gluten would be a great change and I think make the dish even better.

For the recipe go to Hot Oat and Quinoa Cereal.

Quinoa-Pumpkin Seed Granola

My normally good eating habits haven't been so great since Thanksgiving. The holidays seem to have gotten to me this year and my food choices have gone down hill. Don't get me wrong I still have cooked from scratch and enjoyed healthy dinners, but I have snacked more than usual and eaten more sugar. Luckily I haven't gained any weight, but I feel less than my normal self so I know that it's time to get back on track. One of the major things that I haven't been doing well with the last couple of months is breakfast. I have been good about eating breakfast since I had low potassium last winter. However, since Thanksgiving I have been skipping breakfast or not eating enough protein in the morning. This weekend I decided to get back on track and made some healthy snacks for the week. One of the new recipes I tried was for Quinoa-Pumpkin Seed Granola from the January issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine.

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 50 minutes of total time, 20 minutes of which is active and makes 13 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. I chose to use dried cherries for the dried fruit called for in the recipe. The recipe states to stir the mixture twice, but I forgot one of the stirs, so I only did a total of one stir half-way through the baking time. I kept my granola in larger pieces since I was going to eat it as a snack instead of with milk. I think I prefer the large chunks like I made. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My husband and I really enjoyed this granola. The quinoa was great, I loved how it was crunchy and the whole almonds were delicious. The cranberries provided a nice sweet contrast to the crunchiness of the nuts. My husband thought that it would be even better for adults with a small amount of cayenne pepper to have a sweet/spicy combination.

For the recipe go to Quinoa-Pumpkin Seed Granola. (registration required)

Taste of Home Seeded Butternut Squash Bread

I have been on a bread kick lately. Approximately five years back my mother-in-law gave me her old bread machine. I used it like crazy until I broke it after about a year of use. Instead of buying another one I taught myself to make my own bread from scratch. I quickly learned that kneading and baking bread can be very therapeutic and relaxing. Now I make bread at least twice a week and will never go back to buying store bought bread again. Since I make bread so frequently I am always looking for new recipes to try. The December/January 2012 issue of Taste of Home magazine had a recipe for Seeded Butternut Squash Bread which looked delicious and different than the usual bread I make.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 45 minutes of preparation plus rising and 20 minutes of baking and makes 18 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. I chose to use pepitas since they are now readily available in my area and everyone in my family loves the taste. The dough is very sticky and it is tempting to add more flour, but refrain, it ends up fine with the amount of ingredients specified. I did find that my bread took longer to bake in the oven than the suggest 18-23 minutes, I would guess approximately 30 minutes total. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I loved the butternut squash in this bread. It gives the recipe a sweet undertone without having to add a lot of sugar. My husband thought that the bread was a little too sweet for his tastes. After sitting in the fridge overnight this bread made a great breakfast with melted butter than both my boys and I enjoyed. This recipe would be a great side for a brunch with eggs or other breakfast foods. I will definitely add this to my Easter brunch menu.

For the recipe go to Seeded Butternut Squash Bread.

Bon Appetit Pan-Seared Salmon with Pumpkin Seed-Cilantro Pesto

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest I loved fish and ate it frequently. My family never had a lot of money, but luckily we lived in an area where fish was fresh, readily available and much less expensive than other places. One of my favorite types of fish was and still is Salmon. Smoked and fresh salmon are some of my favorite foods, I love them in just about everything. From the time that my two boys turned two they have been eating fish and love it as much, if not more than I do. As I was looking through the November issue of Bon Appetit magazine I came across a recipe for Pan-Seared Salmon with Pumpkin Seed-Cilantro Pesto, which looked delicious and a great way to showcase salmon.

This recipe has 9 ingredients and prepares 4 servings. The total time is approximately 25 minutes, with the full time being active. The ingredients are all basic and I had no problems finding any of them at my local grocery store. I was excited to see that my closest grocery store now carries pumpkin seeds in the produce nut section, which will save me from making multiple trips in the future. I was unable to find cracked coriander seeds, so I reduced the amount needed and substituted ground coriander seed instead. The salmon that I found at my local grocery store was a thinner fillet and took less time to cook than the suggested 3-4 minutes per side. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

A very simple and easy to execute salmon recipe. I love that the pesto is not traditional and uses toasted pumpkin seeds. The taste of the roasted pumpkin seeds is delicious and gives the pesto a nutty undertone. The following day after serving this recipe I used the leftover pesto to serve over rigatoni. The pesto re-heated well and my husband liked it even better as a pasta sauce. A versatile and easy salmon recipe.

For the recipe go to Pan-Seared Salmon with Pumpkin Seed-Cilantro Pesto.

Martha Stewart Living Smoky Sweet-Potato Soup

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. I love everything about it, the smells, the decorations, and most importantly the cooking and baking. One of the foods that I absolutely love to cook in the fall is soup. This week I decided to make a whole week of soup and chili. The first soup that I decided to make was from Martha Stewart Living magazine and the recipe was for Smoky Sweet-Potato Soup.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes a total of 40 minutes to prepare, 20 minutes of which is active. I was pleased to find that my local grocery store is now carrying both leeks and pepitas, which made me very happy. In the past I have been unable to find either ingredient. I used homemade chicken stock which I already had in my freezer. I did find that it took longer than the suggested 20 minutes for the sweet potatoes to fully cook, probably closer to 30-35 minutes. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

If you like spicy soup, you will like this recipe. It definitely has a kick from the chipotle chile. To cut down on the heat, you could always seed the chili before adding it to the soup. I like that this soup doesn't use heavy cream or butter, making it far less in fat than many soup recipes. My husband and two-year-old liked this recipe, my five-year-old ate too many cookies and didn't want to try any of the soup for dinner. Overall, a delicious, easy, and low-far soup, perfect for the fall season.

This recipe is currently unavailable on-line, but can be found in the October 2011 issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine. There is a recipe for Sweet Potato and Chipotle Soup and Roasted Sweet Potato Soup with Curried Apples, which use some of the same ingredients and would have some of the same flavors. These recipe can be found on the Martha Stewart website.