Yummy granola

The Noodle and I haven't done any cooking recently so when we got her latest issue of High Five and saw a recipe for granola, we thought we'd give it a whirl.

And here's the little chef herself, enjoying her granola after lunch!

 Do you have a favorite granola recipe?  How do you like to eat it--straight up or sprinkled over yogurt?

What's cookin'?

This is a yummy recipe that I use a lot. New Year's Day, weekends, friends over for dinner--you get the point. It is from a Bon Appetite magazine, but I don't remember the year (probably circa 2003-2004). It is easy and quite tasty.

Roast Pork with Cherry and Honey-Mustard Glaze
**the recipe originally calls for apricot preserves which is also really good

1 C cherry/apricot preserves
1/3 C chopped, seeded jalapeno chiles
1/4 C red wine vinegar
1/4 C country Dijon mustard
2 T honey
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 t chopped fresh rosemary
3/4 t salt
3/4 t pepper
1 pork tenderloin (EVOO, S & P to taste)

**depending on the size of your tenderloin, you may have some glaze left over. It freezes well.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk all ingredients except the pork in medium bowl. Set aside. Butterfly cut your tenderloin. Drizzle EVOO and S & P to taste. (Yuck...raw meat)



Cover tenderloin with glaze and pop into oven.



Cook for about 45 min. (again this will vary depending on tenderloine size). Spoon on extra glaze and serve. We had it last night with Indian flavored kale and brown wild rice. Delish!



What are you cooking for dinner tonight?

Banana dippers

One of the Christmas gifts the Noodle received from Uncle S and Aunt C was a subscription to Highlights magazine. Both J and I receive periodicals at home and now she has her own mag to leaf through whenever she wants. In the February issue, there was a cute picture recipe for "banana dippers". When she saw it, she decided she wanted to make it...immediately. I managed to convince her to wait until after she got home from preschool, had lunch and her nap and that THEN we'd make it for a snack. She agreed. The fact that she could "read" the entire recipe was certainly a highlight (pun intended) as was the fact that she got to practice her knife cutting skills on the banana (we've got a toddler knife and she's been working on that skill on easier foods like pancakes). All in all, I'd give the recipe 3 out of 4 stars--one star lacking due to the messiness of the peanut butter/honey in regards to fingers...not that she minded :)


Not sure which is more intriguing...the honey itself or the bear shaped bottle that it comes in....

Careful...careful
Mmmmmmm, delicious.

What's cookin'?

When I think of cold, snowy January, my mind frequently wanders to the warming pleasures of soup. Many a night finds us filling our bellies with some sort of liquid nourishment. I thought I'd share one of our favorites: Fisherman's Stew from this book

1 onion
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 1/4C fish stock
approx 12 scallops
1 lb cod fillet (or any kind of white, flake fish)
2T olive oil
1 large potato
fresh thyme sprigs, chopped
1 red and 1 green bell pepper
1/2C white wine
1C creme fraiche (I use plain yogurt)
approx 10 oz raw shrimp
3/4C grated sharp cheddar cheese
S and P to taste

** Tr*der Joe's has a frozen seafood blend (that is easy to use in this soup)
*** Sometimes I will add 1/2 lb. of hot sausage to give it a little kick

Cut the cod into large cubes, season w/ S and P and set aside. Cut onion into small wedges, heat olive oil in large pan and cook onion wedges for about 2-3 minutes. Slice potato and add to pan w/chopped thyme. Cover and cook for about 15 min. until the potato has softened. Dice the peppers and add to onion/potato mixture and cook for a few minutes. Stir in the fish stock, wine and creme fraiche/plain yogurt. Bring to just below boiling point then add cod and scallops. Lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the shrimp and simmer for a further 3-4 minutes, until all the seafood is cooked. Season as necessary. Spoon into bowls and garnish w/thyme sprigs and sprinkle w/cheese.

Eat and enjoy!

Advent Chain Day 11--Bake cranberry walnut bread

Over Thanksgiving, I decided to try a new recipe: cranberry walnut bread. I had recently bought some whole wheat flour and attempted to make the bread recipe on the back of the K*ng Arth*r sack but it turned out HORRIBLY. While it was a no-knead recipe, the yeast I used must not have been right because it didn't rise at all. In fact after I had cooked it the 90 minutes that the directions said, it didn't look much different from when I first put it in...and when I stuck a fork in it, it was still somewhat raw. I let it cook awhile longer, but then gave up. Also, the recipe called for powdered milk so I of course went out and bought some. Now I have quite a bit left...anyone have any ideas what to do with powdered milk? Yuck. When I found the cranberry recipe, I saw that it called for whole wheat flour and thought I'd give it a try. It ended up being really delicious. Much better than that whole wheat, raw brick from earlier!

I usually bake soda breads and hand those out at Christmas time, but I think I'll definitely add this to the repetoire. They freeze nicely and I always wish I had more on hand, so I thought we'd better get a jump start on production. As always, I had a great little helper who was more than ready to dump, stir, sprinkle and mix. I think they turned out pretty nicely, don't you?

Helping Daddy prepare breakfast

"Will this salad spinner spin me?"


Wow...this soup pot does hold a lot!

A while ago, I talked about how the Chinese Noodle likes to take things out of the cupboard and "help" us cook. I think she's taking it to a whole new level. This was what was going on behind J's back as he made the oatmeal this morning. When he turned around, he had to snap a few photos. And yes, I have gotten into the practice of washing all the pots/bowls/measuring cups/strainers/etc. BEFORE I cook with them. Too funny :)