Birdseed Breakfast or Granola

I've had a few people ask for this granola recipe. I fondly call it my "Birdseed Breakfast."

I originally found this recipe on Pinterest (of course) but as always, I never can follow a recipe completely.  I keep a bunch of different grains/seeds handy, as I buy them in bulk from WinCo or Smith's.  I actually use them as a kind of a decoration.  I have jars and jars full of different grains, nuts, seeds, and beans.  Love me some dual purpose items.  

Anyways, I really love this granola, I've made it twice in the last 3 weeks.  Granola from the store is always so expensive!  Plus, you don't really get any good things in it (like nuts and fruits) and if you actually look at the ingredients...it's not really healthy for you either.  I always figure if I don't know what the ingredient is, I probably shouldn't eat it.  These ingredients are simple, and I know exactly what I'm putting in my granola.  

Now, I'm putting down measurements, but just be aware, I always change recipes around.  I feel that this recipe is a good put-whatever-you-have-laying-around.  Which, is kind of how I got to my recipe.  I just added this seed, some of this grain, some of these nuts.  You see what I'm saying?

 

Birdseed Breakfast Granola 

3 c. rolled oats (not instant)

2/3 c. nuts (I used pecans and almonds but again, I would use any I had in the house)

1 c. millet/flax seed/sesame seeds/pumpkin seeds  (I kind of mix these all together or if you really need exact measurements used 1/4 c. for each.)

1 c. coconut unsweetened (I've used chips/shredded.)

Pinch of salt

1/2 c. coconut oil

1/2 c. honey

1 tsp. vanilla (I was just thinking that almond extract would make this yummy too.)

1 c. dried fruit.   

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, except for the dried fruit.  In a saucepan melt the coconut oil, honey, vanilla and salt.  Pour over the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly until coated evenly.  Place on a cookie sheet and spread evenly.  Bake at 325 for 15 minutes and then stir. Bake another 15 minutes and then stir once again.  I've done this up to 3 times to get a nice golden color on the granola.   Allow to cool. 

Once it's cool I place it in different jars.  I like to keep my raisins and other dried fruit separate until I'm ready to eat some granola. The millet adds a nice crunch to it.  I've added bananas, craisins and raisins.  All delicious. 

*I have always doubled the recipe and get two cookie pans full.

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies.

So, once in a great while, like one a year, I make these chocolate chip cookies.  Mainly, to give away and also, because, my poor husband never gets cookies unless someone else gives them to him.  Trying to eat healthy is tough, trying to eat healthy while pregnant, even tougher.  

Nonetheless, I do believe they are the best recipe ever and feel that those who aren't quite as conscious about healthy clean foods would prefer them over a vegan cookie. 

I mean, just look at that dough consistency.  The dough, is just as good as the cookie. 

I've found through the years that I am super anal about the shape of my cookies. My mom always used an ice cream scooper, therefore, I use one. 

Because look at that shape!  

These cookies have just the right amount of crunch on the outside and soft/gooey inside.  I really haven't come across a cookie from any store that is quite as good as this one.  I find that while any cookie is good, they are usually too greasy, too hard, too soft, or something gross.  This recipe comes out perfect every time.  

I got this recipe from a church leader when I was like 14.  I know you see all those things on Pinterest about the best cookie and how to make the best cookies...blah blah blah.  If you have a crappy recipe, you will have a crappy cookie.  

Why not start out right with the right recipe?!

Suzette's Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 C. Crisco

1 C. Margarine (Room Temp)

1.5 C. Sugar

1.5 C. Brown Sugar

2 Tsp. Vanilla

1 Tsp. Water

4 Eggs

Cream all ingredients above.

5.5 C. White Flour
2 Tsp. Salt
2 Tsp. Baking Soda
1 Bag Chocolate Chips
1 C. Walnuts (optional)

Mix Together.

The dough is to die for.  
(I know, I know, don't eat raw eggs, you probably shouldn't, but I do, I leave that up do your own self to decide.) 

I know people sift things together...but I just put in some flour in my cup and then add in the salt and baking soda in the middle. Make sure to count well, I always have a hard time remembering how much flour I put in already.  Reserve the last half cup of flour for just in case you may not need it.  But, I generally always do.  Sometimes, when I'm feeling extreme in my baking I will leave out that last half cup and bake a few cookies to see how they come out.  If they are a little too flat looking then I add it in.  But, let's face it, I could count on two fingers how often I've done this.

 

Bake at 375 degree for 10-12 minutes. 
The first batch may take a little longer.  You just barely want a hint of gold on the tops...or maybe you like them cooked a little more.  But either way.  

Delicious. 

Also, I grew up on semi-sweet chips, while the husband grew up on milk chocolate chips.  I never knew the difference, plus I prefer the semi.  So make sure you pick the right bag, because your husband will know the difference.

 

In the past we've frozen these.  They are just as soft as when we baked them.  It makes a fairly large batch (I think I counted 6 dozen?) I really should have remembered to count that this last time. 

Hope you enjoy these!

Suzette's Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 C. Crisco

1 C. Margarine (Room Temp)

1.5 C. Sugar

1.5 C. Brown Sugar

2 Tsp. Vanilla

1 Tsp. Water

4 Eggs

Cream all ingredients above.

5.5 C. White Flour
2 Tsp. Salt
2 Tsp. Baking Soda
1 Bag Chocolate Chips
1 C. Walnuts (optional)

Mix Together.

Bake at 375 Degrees for 10-12 Minutes. 

Green Smoothies and Pooping. Part 1 to changing my body.

Often times, my conversation are steered towards people's bowel movements.  You'd be surprised (or maybe you won't be) about how many people have issues with their guts.  I find it makes the world go round.  My husband often gets embarrassed about this subject.  

"You've got to stop talking to people about pooping." he says.  

Well, he's just never had problems.  If you don't have gut problems consider yourself lucky, otherwise, read on about ones journey through their bowels. 

Because pooping is a big deal. 

This is just my story and each person's body is different.  

I have been lactose intolerant my entire life.  I didn't really realize it until I was in high school and seemed to suffer some serious gas pains constantly.  (Laugh if you must, but in high school, it wasn't cool.)  I should have known, my mom and most of my aunts are lactose intolerant as well.  (Most Asians can't tolerate milk well anyway.)  

I remember rolling on the floor because my guts her so bad.  My mom would tell me to stretch, so I would.  It didn't really work.  It was finally in college that I decided to cut out milk.  Instead I drank soy milk.  (Which I regret to this day, don't take soy, try almond, coconut, rice) Now, I've never been able to just sit down and drink a cup of milk, never have, and still don't like to drink anything but water like this.  It was mainly for cereal and cooking.  

Flash forward years to when I got married and started taking birth control.  Again, everybody's body's are different and mine DIDN'T like the pill.  I was constipated for years to come.  I went to doctor after doctor, trying to find someone that could help me poop.  I was told to take in more fiber, take miralax, take laxatives, drink hot water with lemon, take laxatives, take suppositories, drink more water.  I had a few laproscopes done.  The Doc found that I had an extra 5 inches of colon.  (This often happens to elder people as waste sits too long and stretches the system because it's took full.)    It seemed to be the same answers everywhere I went. 

 So for the first 2 years I was married and on birth control, my bowels were constantly flucuating between super constipated (like we're lucky if I pooped every 3-4 days) or I was sick from the latest laxative.   As a result, I lost 20 pounds (which I needed to loose anyway) but I was none the happy with my bowel system.   What does bowels have to do with my uterus?  EVERYTHING.  I stopped taking birth control and basically suffered 2 more years of not knowing what to do.  

After having too many miscarriages and not knowing what else there was, I decided to talk to a friend's dad.  

It. Was. Life. Changing. 

(He's a health fanatic (meant in the most serious, complimentory way) and has researched healthy eating and habits his whole life.)  I hadn't really ever had a conversation with him before, and awkwardly, I decided to talk to him about pooping.  After two hours talking with him, I had a new book to read (Tissue Cleansing Through Bowel Management: Bernard Jensen), Apple Cider Vinegar, Black Walnut tincture, my very own enema kit, a recipe for a gallbladder cleanse, magnesium and many other natural cleansers.

He actually went and lived with Bernard Jensen in Mexico.  You guys, this author is a big deal in the health world. 

We discussed in detail my diet.  He told me to clean out my system with the enema kit and stop eating anything that had "tose" in it. (Fructose, cellulose etc.)  Basically, stop eating all processed foods.  Stop using hydrogenated everything.  He promised that if I cleaned up my diet and got my guts cleaned out I would be able to have kids just fine.  

He was right.  It didn't happen over night, it took probably a good year to feel like a completely different person.  Between his advice, Green Smoothies (Everyday), Footzoning (see my tab in the blog), Essential oils, whole eating, our lives have been completely turned upside down.  In the best way ever.  I felt super healthy, I didn't have gaseous pains, I was regular, I was pregnant and I felt like I was who I should have been all along.  I may be considered weird, hippy, anal, extreme (which I'm not even close to what I could/should be) but I know my family is happy and healthier.  I may have to spend more time in the kitchen doing more work, but it's all worth it.  

Think it's too expensive to switch?  Well, we spend $15 dollars a week on our Bountiful Baskets, which you see above.  I don't really buy meat, so it helps keep costs down.  I buy chicken once in a great while, mainly if we are having guests.  We've always had a garden so we dehydrate and freeze everything we can.   You guys, really, I know it seems like a trend, but we've been going strong in this healthy trend for 3 years now and have seen awesome changes with all of us. 

Not sure how to start?  Just ask me.  Green Smoothies are an easy way to start...but that's another whole story.  I was originally going to blog about that too, but this has gotten too long already.   Since we've started green smoothies, almost all of my family has joined in, and then it's gone out to the extended family.  Above is the Juice pack for an additional $8.50 with our Bountiful basket.   Nothing ever goes to waste.  We always eat what we can and freeze the rest.  

I better stop now before this gets any longer. I'm just a little passionate about a happy life. 

Oranges

Now that I've been feeling oh so much better, we've been able to eat healthy food again.  So we've been doing Bountiful Baskets.  I always forget how awesome it is.  My only dislike is that pick-up is Saturday at 7 AM.  Which, yes, I am that lazy.  It's also a plus because then I can once again think about a budget for groceries.  

We've had SOOO many oranges though.  I can eat a few here and there, but it was getting overwhelming.  So I pulled out my hand juicer and made us some fresh orange juice. 

It was excellent. 

I've also been craving some delicious chocolate chips.  But, sadly, I don't have any chocolate chips in the house for this reason.  So I found this super easy clean cookie recipe on Pinterest here. 

But of course, in the usual Harmony fashion, i didn't even have all the ingredients for this either.  I had just used up all my coconut flakes in a dessert fluke and honestly, I'm kind of sick of coconut. It's in everything now.  So instead, I took out the coconut and the chocolate chips.  Instead, I made them into Cinnamon Raisin cookies. 

Original Ingredients:
3 bananas
1 cup oats
2 tbsp flax seed
1/2 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:
In a medium sized bowl, mash 3 bananas then add the rest of the ingredients listed above. Mix well. Cover an 8x8 baking pan with tin foil. Spray with coconut non-stick spray. Place dough on baking pan, then flatten out dough with a spatula to ensure a flat level of dough. Preheat oven to 350. Bake for 15 minutes. You may need to cook for 17 minutes depending on oven, but check at 15 minute mark.

Recipe here

Harmony's Ingredients:
3 bananas
1 cup oats
2 tbsp flax seed
1 cup of raisins (let's face it.  I didn't even measure these.)

2 tsp of cinnamon  (or these)

I know, they look like poop.  Nonetheless, Aiko and I really liked them and they had all good ingredients!  The husband asked if they were good, they are good, if you think of them in a vegan cookie way. 

Food for the missionaries

We fed the missionaries the other day, which, I feel makes me feel somewhat adultish.  I asked the husband what he wanted and he said "chicken."  To be honest, I rarely buy meat.  I only cook it when I know we are going to be feeding others.

Now that I've been in the second trimester for a while...I feel like cooking!  Hooray!  Trying out new recipes from my Pinterest board here.  (I didn't add the feta cheese but kept it separate.  I also added olives and sweet peppers...and quinoa and then decided some chicken in it was good too.   I tried super hard to follow the recipe but it's just so hard!)  

I was going to make this Blackened Chicken with Avocado...but then realized I didn't want heartburn and Auntie Mitsie doesn't handle the spicy well either...so we just made some cilantro chicken.  

Also, second trimester means I really have been craving fruit and veggies like crazy.  Started buying Bountiful Baskets again.  Over the holidays we went over budget like crazy on eating out and then groceries!  So we come back to your humbly Bountiful Baskets.  Usually we buy it throughout the year except for when our garden is going.  $15 bucks a week is a steal if you ask me. 

  

This was our haul last time (above).

This was our juicing add on.  I think it's only 8 bucks, but for all three of us with green smoothies, we need it.  I'm also going to be writing a green smoothie blog sometime.  We've been doing green smoothies pretty consistently for the last 3 years or so now.  As a Footzoner I recommend Green Smoothies to almost every client...

have you ever seen such a large green table?

went on a date the other night!  the oaks, up ogden canyon.   i even bought some new shoes for it.

somehow we got their biggest table and benches, but it was right next to the river outside, and it was lovely.

see the river down below? 

see what i mean by "benches?"  it was a huge table.

we weren't super hungry and decided to get the appetizer platter.  i saw all the veggie options and though hooray!  for some reason i didn't think they would ALL be deep fried.  they were good, until they suddenly became ungood when i felt my heart stopping.  (i j/k. but seriously.)

oh, maybe you are like me?  the person who always drips something on themselves? ALWAYS.  plus i knocked over my water cup too.  i sure know how to impress my man.

i never knew.

yo.  you tried Taggart's yet?

well, even though my mama didn't let me try anything, she did say it was delish.  she had the vegetarian enchilada's and really wished she'd gotten the portabello burger (minus the burger.)  my dad loved the chicken fingers and the auntie and uncles loved their pasta and pizza.  someday, maybe, i'll get to try it!

good theatre company

man, i just wish all of you could know the Alicia Washington.  she's extremely uplifting and makes me want to be a oh so better person in the community and THE WORLD.

she treated us to Lucky Slice Pizza on 25th Street in Ogden. 

which, i can't tell you the last time i ate a slice of pizza with cheese (lactose intolerant people), let alone a pesto potato pizza...IT WAS AMAZING. 

the lovely alicia owns Good Company Theatre on 25th Street.  i'm so proud of her!  i used to go watch all the school plays which usually included her being the lead.  she even got ME to be in musical. 

alicia always introduces me to new and beautiful things.  this time we got to see The Queen Bee shop.  they have a kids shop upstairs where i'm pretty sure Aiko needs these stacking blocks.

the picture on the right is for you hannah.

i love all these cards with texture and color!

i just want to buy all of these and frame them all!

we decided to try some chocolates from The Queen Bee. 

i assure you, we will be back. 

thanks alicia!