Moses and two of the sweetest girls I know.

Breakfast cereal does not love us.  Especially if it contains oats.  Oats hate us. 

How to have a delicious breakfast “cereal” without sacrificing our gastro-intestinal comfort?  Well, I obviously had to come up with a delicious alternative.  We picked up a granola cereal at Big Lots that was chock full of oats and pumpkin seeds and flax seeds.  It’s really very tasty but quite easy to see that it’s high in sugar and carbs!  So, online I went in my search for a wonderful breakfast “granola” that would suit our palates!  I looked on many sites and ended up combining several different recipes.  Most recipes called for the addition of coconut flakes and dried fruit–which I despise!  Another hurdle, aside from the fruit and coconut, was how to give the granola the nice body and crunch that oats give regular granola.  Well, that turns out to be fairly simple.

Rather than continuing to talk about it, let me just show you the recipe and take you through how I made it!  First, some photographs of the finished product:

The recipe–>

3 cups whole raw almonds

1 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup pumpkin seeds

2 T (or however much you want) flax seed meal

1/3 cup raw honey

1/3 cup coconut oil

2 t cinnamon

1/2 t nutmeg–or more–as you like it

2 t vanilla

As you can see from the ingredients, these recipe is easy, easy, easy.  Pulse the almonds in your food processor until they’re chopped up into little bits.  The next time I make this, I’ve decided to chop 1/3 of the almonds pretty finely because the almond meal provides the crispiness of the nut and seed granola.  The other 2/3 of the granola can be as fine or as chunky as you like.  Do the same for the pumpkin and sunflower seeds.  Mix in some flax seed meal.  I put this dry blend into a cast iron skillet at this point, in readiness for the next step!

In a saucepan, melt coconut oil.  Add honey, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Bring to a boil and turn off heat after all ingredients are nicely combined.  When liquid has cooled somewhat, add vanilla.  Pour liquid mixture into nut/seed blend.  Coat nuts and seeds thoroughly and then spread evenly onto a cookie sheet/jelly roll pan.

Bake at 300 degrees for about 30 minutes.  I cooked mine for a little less and came *this close* to burning it–so do be careful!

Allow mixture to cool because these oils will burn your lips!  Eat with milk or by the handful!

And, since some of you may be wondering, it wasn’t an inexpensive recipe but I don’t think I’ll be able to eat much of it at a time!  We bought the ingredients at W*Mart and here’s what we spent:

2 lb bag of raw almonds: 9.97

1 lb bag of sunflower seeds: 2.98

1 lb bag of pepitas: 2.98

coconut oil: 6.99

honey: from our own dear beehives!

all other ingredients: staple items in the pantry

This recipe made two quart jars full and I have enough nut/seed ingredients to make another batch.

Related articles

• Grain-Free Granola. (lusaorganics.typepad.com)

English: Map of Narnian world as described in The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For a long time, this has been one of my most favorite passages from the Chronicles of Narnia.

From The Last Battle–

Seven Kings and Queens stood before (Tirian), all with crowns on their heads and all in glittering clothes, but the Kings wore fine mail as well and had their swords drawn in their hands.  Tirian bowed courteously and was about th speak when the youngest of the Queens laughed.  He stared hard at her face, and then gasped with amazement, for he knew her.  It was Jill: but not Jill as he had last seen her with her face all dirt and tears and an old drill dress half slipping off one shoulder.  Now she looked cool and fresh, as fresh as if she had just come from bathing.

Related articles

• Our Mighty Fortress (hedesignedme.com)
• We Are Family (craigkuehn.wordpress.com)
• Fiction Review: C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (19thlevel.blogspot.com)

Reblogged from Poor Richard's Almanac:

Sapindus saponaria (Photo credit: João de Deus Medeiros)

Who out there uses them?  Tell me about them!  Tell me what you like or don’t like.  Where you buy them.  Do you use something else?  I really don’t think I’m ever going to make my own laundry detergent!  I love that you can compost the nuts/berries after they’re spent!

Here’s what one ebay seller has to say about their product:

So, what’s a Soapnut?

Soapnuts are the seed pod of a macadamia-sized berry which is cracked open and dried in the sun, producing a sticky, dark golden shell. These shells (known as ‘soapnuts’) can be placed into your washing machine instead of detergent and fabric softener, and will leave your clothes clean, soft and without scent. The pods contain a very high percentage of saponins (Mother Nature’s soap), a surfactant which removes dirt and oils from clothing when contacted with water. Soapnuts can also be boiled into a liquid concentrate and used as a general purpose cleaner, shampoo, hand soap… the list is long and growing.

What can I use them for?

Well, just about everything. As a detergent, a personal cleanser and shampoo, a general purpose cleaner, car wash, pet wash, vegetable wash, carpet and upholstery cleaner…

Soapnuts are most commonly used as a laundry detergent. They are used instead of chemical detergents and fabric softeners. Soapnut shells are used simply on their own in a cotton bag or lone sock tied at the top and put into the machine with your clothes. They do not need to be removed during the rinse cycle as there is no harmful or irritating residue as is left over from normal detergents. The surfactants in the nuts cleans and softens your laundry in one economic and environmentally friendly swoop!

I’m waiting to hear your thoughts!

Related articles

• What is a Soap Nut? (arealfoodlover.wordpress.com)

Image via Wikipedia

With all of my talk about low carb and keeping my blood sugar at a respectable level and what-not, one would think that I would not subject myself (or you) to yet another cake recipe.  Unfortunately, such is not the case.  At least not when this delectable little fruit is part of the picture.  I’m not a chocolate girl.  I love lemons.  I love citrus.  Lemon ice box pie.  Lemon heads.  Lemonade.  All my favorites.  When my good friend Mrs. Teresa introduced me to the calamondin, it was love at first sniff.  This small citrus fruit has an amazing unique flavor and it’s highly abundant in our area.  I have made quarts of marmalade, juiced this fruit and made cakes, scones, cookies, and muffins that highlight the peculiar tang of the calamondin.

So, about nine o’clock in the evening I suddenly had to try this recipe.  So, so glad that I did.  I followed the ingredients to the letter, which is quite unusual for me.  The next time I make it, I will drastically reduce the amount of sugar.  And, this little pudding cake is even better the next morning for breakfast!  I love the sponge-y cake texture over the creamy pudding layer.  Even though the end product is kind of fancy, the actual preparation is super simple.

Here is the recipe:

Calamondin Pudding Cake

• 1/4 cup sifted AP flour (next time, I think I will sub unsweetened coconut flour)
• 1 cup sugar (holy moley, this is too much sugar!  1/2 cup would be plenty!)
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 cup calamondin juice, with a little peel
• 2 egg yolks, well beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 2 egg whites stiffly beaten

Combine dry ingredients.  Add calamondin juice, egg yolks and milk.  Beat egg whites until stiff in a separate container.  Carefully fold egg whites into the calamondin mixture.  Spoon entire mixture into custard cups and bake in a shallow baking dish that has about one inch of water.

Bake at 350 until cake is browned (or about 50 minutes).  We had our pudding cake plain but the recipe suggests serving with whipped cream.

If you love a bit of creamy tang, I think you’ll really enjoy this recipe.  If you try it, let me know!  Of course, you can substitute orange or lemon juice for the calamondin but I am super partial to this most excellent tiny fruit!

Related articles

• Little Bit O’ Sunshine Cake (brighthaven.wordpress.com)