Poor man's granola

AKA "student loan granola".  Okay, so here is a very (and I mean very) basic recipe for homemade cereal.  Most people add lots of stuff to their own versions of granola.  I like mine very simple. And crunchy. And that's about it.



Basic Granola


You will need:

• 3 1/2 cups of rolled oats (not quick oats)
• 1/2 cup almonds, sliced or smashed
• 1/2 stick (4 tbsp) of butter
• 1/2 cup of honey
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Allspice

1. Melt together butter and honey in small saucepan over low heat.  Once the butter is melted and the mixture is warm, add vanilla.
2. Mix together dry ingredients.  I don't measure the spices; I just add them until they smell yummy.  I usually only give the nutmeg and allspice a few shakes, since they have pretty strong flavors.
3. Pour honey butter mixture over the oats mixture and stir well with a rubber spatula.
4. Spread mixture on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
5. Bake on 250 degrees for about an hour. (You may wish to stir the granola a bit at 30 minutes, but you do not have to do this.)
6. Remove from the oven and let cool 30-45 minutes, or until it crisps up.
7. Store in an airtight container for up to one week.

I like to put raisins over my granola right before eating it.  I wouldn't recommend mixing the raisins into the cereal in the container; this seems to make the cereal lose it's crunch faster.  This granola is also a delicious topping for yogurt.  Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Black Beans

This week I made a big pot of black beans.  My favorite dinner of all time is black beans and yellow rice (believe it or not), but as I've recently been trying a healthier diet, I realized I need to cut back on the amount of sodium I consume.  Typically I'd use canned beans and pre-packaged yellow rice, both of which have an enormous sodium content, so I was sad to have to cut those out of my options for a "healthy" dinner.  But then, I read Lisa Leake's post on making refried beans from scratch (which are really good, by the way).  I got excited as I realized that I could modify this recipe to make my own black beans from scratch and freeze any leftovers to have an easy meal later without using canned beans.  So, here it is, ladies and gents! Make your own black beans instead of using the canned stuff!

Slow Cooker Black Beans


You will need:

• 2 cups dry black beans
• 1 medium onion, peeled and halved
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 hot pepper, halved, or 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (optional)
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt, or 1 teaspoon of table salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
• 3 teaspoons cumin (can adjust to taste)
• 6 cups water

Combine all ingredients in the slow cooker.  Cook on high for about 6 hours.  Drain off unwanted fluid, and remove onion pieces if desired.  Enjoy!

That's it! Super easy.  Instead of serving the beans over yellow rice, I cooked up some brown rice, using homemade chicken broth instead of water for a richer taste, but still less sodium than using store-bought broth.  Feel free to add whatever toppings you think would go with black beans.  I like to top this dish with tomato, cheese and homemade "sour cream" (very thick yogurt).  These beans would also be good in a burrito, soup, omelet, and any other recipe that calls for canned black beans.  Enjoy your beans with less sodium!

All dressed up and ready to eat!

Go bananas for dessert!!

This week's post is dedicated to a fruit that makes up a big part of my daily diet: the banana.  I love that it's so versatile and yet so readily available and doesn't cost much at all compared to other fresh produce.  Also, I've recently discovered that frozen bananas when pureed take on a texture similar to ice cream or frozen yogurt.  This is quite refreshing for a snack or dessert during hot summer months, but of course you can also make these any time of the year since bananas are so easy to come by!  Here are 2 of my favorite banana "ice cream" recipes that I've tried so far.

Banana Frozen Yogurt

You will need:

• 1-2 bananas sliced and frozen (per serving)
• Enough plain or vanilla yogurt to cover banana slices (about 4-5 oz.)
• Food processor

Add ingredients to food processor and process until smooth.  Serve immediately.

Nutella Banana "Ice Cream"

You will need:

• 4 bananas
• 2/3 cup of Nutella hazelnut spread
• Blender

Blend bananas and nutella together.  Pour mixture into a freezer safe plastic container making sure to leave enough headspace to allow mixture to expand slightly.  Freeze 8-10 hours.  This makes about 14 oz.  If you wish, you may use peanut butter instead of Nutella, but when I tried it, the texture was harder when frozen. (I guess peanut butter doesn't freeze as smoothly as Nutella.)

I am not at a place where I can upload any photos right now, but I will update with pictures as soon as I can.  Until next week, keep cookin', friends. :)

Update (6/20): Added a picture for the banana frozen yogurt (above)! I can't seem to find my picture for the second recipe, but I will add one next time I make it.  ~B.

Apologies and Apple Butter

Okay, sorry guys.  I thought I'd actually keep up with blogging over my school break. Yeah, right.  I didn't do ANYTHING but sleep and spend time with loved ones.  Seriously.  I didn't even do laundry.  It was glorious.  But I suppose that was mean of me to taunt my readers with a picture of absolute deliciousness and then not share the recipe!  So without further adieu, check out this apple butter recipe. It sure is delish!

Start by peeling, coring and slicing the apples.

Then add your spices and tell those apples to cook, cook, cook!

Finally, blend the cooked apples in a food processor.

And you've done it!

You've now transformed that yummy fruit into a healthy and delicious spread!

Apple Butter


You'll need:

• 3 medium red delicious or gala apples, peeled, cored and cut into wedges
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• Dash of nutmeg

1. Place apples and spices together in a medium saucepan and cook covered for 1 hour over medium heat.  (I stir mine every 15 minutes or so just to make sure they don't stick to the pot.)
2. When the apples are cooked, they will be soft and there will be spiced apple juice in the bottom of the pot. Remove from the heat and let cool for about 15 minutes.
3. Blend until smooth in the food processor.  Or you could use a blender, but you would probably only be able to blend a small amount at a time.  Unless you have a really awesome blender that can handle all those wonderful spicy apples!
4. Store in a plastic container or jar with a lid in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks (if it lasts that long).

This spread is delicious on bagels, toast, peanut butter sandwiches, or as a mix-in for yogurt or smoothies.  It can also be used in the place of oil in baking recipes.

So there you have it.  Another yummy recipe for frugal foodies.  As always, if you have any ideas for recipes to try, let me know! See ya next week!

A quick sneak peek

Can't wait to share this week's recipe!! I've already been enjoying this tasty creation.  See you Friday!

How to Make Yogurt

So this week's post has turned from a Foodie Friday post to a Foodie Saturday due to a long and tiring (but very fun!) trip out of town yesterday.  I'm thinking next week will also have a Foodie Saturday, too, since I will be making the 6-hour drive home next Friday.....It's a shame, too, since I don't think Foodie Saturday has the same ring to it as Foodie Friday.  However, the recipe will be just as wonderful, I promise.

For this week, I'd like to share how I make yogurt at home in my crock pot.  I've made different variations of yogurt, but the basic recipe is from Stephanie O'Dea's post on her website about slow cooker recipes.  (I recommend checking out her other recipes, too!)  Here is the basic recipe for yogurt, followed by some texture and flavor variations I've tried.

You will need:

• 1/2 gallon of milk: I typically use whole, but since figuring out how to make Greek yogurt (below), I think I will switch to 2%.
• 1/2 cup of cultured yogurt: either store-bought or from a previous homemade batch
• A thick towel or a blanket (Or two regular towels. That's what I use ;) )
• Your handy dandy slow cooker

1. Pour the milk into the slow cooker and set on low for 2 hours.
2. Turn off slow cooker and let sit for 3 hours (to allow the milk to cool off a bit).
3. This is the most labor intensive step. Ready?? Okay. Remove about 2 cups of warm milk from the slow cooker; put it in a separate bowl.  Add the 1/2 cup of yogurt to the 2 cups of milk and stir until smooth. Add this mixture to the remaining milk in the slow cooker.
4. Cover the crock with the towel(s) or blanket to insulate.  Let sit for about 8 hours. (Try not to let it sit longer than 10 hours, because this will allow too much whey to separate from the yogurt. This is not a problem, however, if you intend on making Greek yogurt.)

After 8 hours of allowing the cultures to grow, you will have delicious yogurt in your slow cooker that is ready to go in the fridge!  There are a variety of ways to eat this yummy treat.  Here are a few:

1. Fruity yogurt: Mix in fresh or frozen fruit.  If you use frozen fruit, I would recommend using a food processor or immersion blender to mix the frozen pieces into the yogurt, so you don't bite into a freezing, hard piece of fruit.  Above is a picture from the first time I made yogurt at home, complete with fresh strawberries. Yum! 
2. Dessert yogurt: Mix chocolate or caramel ice cream syrup into your yogurt, or drizzle it on top if you want to be fancy.
3. Vanilla varieties: Mix in honey and a splash of vanilla extract.  Or you can make vanilla yogurt from the start by adding 1/3 cup of sugar and 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract to the milk in step 1 of the basic recipe.
4. Go Greek:  Make the basic recipe, then strain off the whey.  The best way to do this is by placing a basket shaped coffee filter in a colander which is placed over a bowl or container deep enough to hold all the whey that is drained off.  (See my Greek yogurt set-up below.)  Put the yogurt into the coffee filter and place the whole contraption in the fridge overnight.  Lo and behold, the next morning you will have thick Greek-style yogurt!!  It is great for eating plain or flavored, or it can be used in other recipes as a cooking creme, a oil (especially in some baking recipes), or in the place of sour cream.  And don't throw out that whey! It can be used in other recipes as well for a boost of protein. Some recipes that can use whey include soup (in the broth) and smoothies.

There are probably so many other ways to enjoy this homemade delight!  If you know of any yogurt ideas, please feel free to share them here!  Until next week, fellow food lovers....

Welcome to Foodie Fridays!

Over the past year, I've started to take an interest in cooking and putting my own spin on recipes handed down to me.  More recently, I've become more interested in cooking "clean" meals that include little or no processed foods.  As I've tried my hand at new creations in the kitchen, I've kept photos of many recipes I like and posted them to Facebook.  Surprisingly, I found quite a few of my Facebook friends seemed interested in cooking as well, especially when it came to healthy meals.  So at the urging of some of those friends, I've started this blog to share some of my favorite recipes.  Many times I find recipes I'd like to try on the internet.  When I use someone else's recipe, I will be sure to give them credit and include the link to the original recipe, even if the one on my blog is my own take on someone else's food creation.

One more thing about these recipes....they're specifically aimed toward the frugal foodie, like myself!  Since I'm living on student loans right now, I cannot go out and buy all-organic or name brand items all the time.  But I do what I can to create healthy dishes on a budget.

So, starting tomorrow (Friday!), and on every Friday after that, I hope to add one recipe that I've tried, and enjoyed.  If any of you has a recipe you'd like to suggest, please contact me through my blog profile.  I always love to try something new!  If you do share a recipe, I ask that it be relatively inexpensive, easy, and not full of processed foods.  I look forward to sharing ideas with you, my fellow foodies! See you back here, tomorrow!