I love granola! Granola bars, granola cereal, granola people, I like them all! Today I decided to make my own granola instead of buying a box at the grocery store. Making it was so easy and awesome, I had to share!

2 and 1/2 Cups of old fashioned oats
1 Teaspoon cinnamon
1 Teaspoon table salt
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 Cup honey
1/4 Cup brown sugar packed
1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Cup of salted mixed nuts
1 Cup of raisins or dried fruit of your choice

Mix the salt and cinnamin into the oats stir until mixed.
Whisk together the wet ingredients in another bowl until totally combined, add to the oat and spices mixture. Stir it until all of the oats are covered and no more liquid remains.
Spoon and spread the covered oats onto a baking pan lined with parchment paper (This will save you sticky cleaning later.)
Bake the oats in a 325 degree oven for 15 minutes, stir and flip with a spatula one time in the middle of the 15 minutes.
Sprinkle the mixed nuts on top of the oats and put in the oven for 5 more minutes.
Sprinkle the raisins or dried fruit on top of the oats and nuts.
Quickly Spatula off the granola mixture off the parchment paper and put it into a air tight container, (let it cool before you cover it.)

That is all there is to it! Eat and repeat!
Now I know what I am bringing along on my canoeing trip!

I was watching a show one day about unhealthy trans fats in peanut butter. The partially hydrogenated oils that make the peanut butter never separate is unhealthy because it contains trans fats in small amounts. Trans fats are unhealthy because they raise your bad cholesterol, and lower your healthy cholesterol leading to potential artery blockages. Based on the serving size of peanut butter the trans fats might be labeled zero because it is less than .5 g of fat but there is always trace amounts. Trace amounts over a lifetime is not what I want to put in my kids bodies.

My kids love pb&j sandwiches and I have caught my daughter eating peanut butter with a spoon from the jar she loves it so much. I decided I should try to get healthier peanut butter for my family. I tried a few brands without partially hydrogenated oils and I was not overly impressed. They were boring, I decided to try making my own. I found a few recipes I thought sounded good and took parts from each to make this version.

This is a chunky peanut butter recipe with a shelf life of 4 weeks because there are no preservatives.
It is so good, I have a hard time wanting to waste it on toast, it is a treat in itself. My kids love this chunky peanut butter.

1 1/2 cups of dry roasted, unsalted peanuts
3 tablespoons of honey
3 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt

3 tablespoons of salted butter
4 tablespoons of peanut oil

In a food processor chop the peanuts to a chunky, chopped peanut size, not too small to make them grainy and not too big that you can’t spread them.
Put the chopped peanuts in a stand mixer.
If you use salted peanuts, half the kosher salt.
Put the honey, brown sugar and salt in the stand mixer.
Using the food processor again, combine the salted butter and oil, process the two together for about 15 seconds until they are completely blended and creamy looking.
Using a rubber spatula scoop the creamy oil mixture into the stand mixer.
Mix the ingredients on low in the stand mixture until they are well blended and creamy, use the spatula to scrape the sides in the middle.
Place the blended peanut butter into a sealed container. It will separate, stir it up before you spread it.

Today was a rainy and cool day that kept us from playing outside during the day. There is something about rainy days that makes me want to bake but I wanted to bake something for my kids that was not just chocolate and white flour ingredients. I decided to try to bake a recipe for Oatmeal Raisin cookies with whole wheat flour, rolled oats and raisins.

If you have ever stopped at Great Harvest Bread Company and tried one of their cookies you know how good they are and you don’t feel totally guilty because they are made with natural ingredients and whole grains. I searched and found an adapted recipe for Great Harvest Bread Companies Chocolate Chip cookies that I edited to make Oatmeal Raisin cookies.
They are fantastic! Mmmmmmmm!

2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
2 Cups Brown Sugar, Packed
1 Cup Butter, Softened
2 Cups Rolled Oats
2 Eggs
1 1/2 Tablespoons Molasses
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
1 Tablespoon Milk
2 Cups Raisins (I used Golden Raisins)

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees

Combine Brown Sugar, Molasses, Vanilla, Eggs, Milk in a stand mixer.
Combine Dry Ingredients and add to Brown Sugar Mixture and blend
Add Raisins and mix until well blended.

Bake at 350 for 12-13 minutes or until the edges start to turn golden brown. Cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes, remove and finish cooling on cooling rack. Makes 4 dozen normal sized cookies or if you want giant cookies, use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to measure 24 giant cookies.

One of my favorite grilling recipes for the summer is Grilled Bruschetta Chicken.
I have tried many variations of this recipe and this is my take on the recipe.

Grilled Brushcetta Chicken

4 Chicken Breasts, thawed
1/4 cup of Italian dressing
1 teaspoon of seasoned salt
sprinkle of pepper
1 can of Red Gold Diced Tomatoes, with Basil, Garlic and Oregano
1 tablespoon of Olive Oil
1 cup of mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup of shredded parmesan cheese
4 Tinfoil bowls, take sheets of tinfoil and roll in the edges to make a bowl so juices don’t run out.

Clean and trim the fat from the chicken breasts.
Marinate chicken breasts in the Italian dressing for a minimum of two hours.
Preheat grill to about 300 degrees.
Sprinkle the chicken breasts with the seasoned salt and pepper and place them on a preheated grill.
Grill the chicken breasts until no longer pink and the pretty grilled marks always look good!
Place one grilled chicken breast in the center of each foil bowl back on the grill.
Mix the Olive oil into the Diced Tomatoes.
Spoon on 1/4 of the Diced Tomato mixture over each chicken breast.
Sprinkle 1/4 of both the mozzarella and parmesan cheeses over the Chicken breasts and Diced Tomatoes inside of each foil bowl.
Close the lid of the grill and allow cheeses to melt and the diced tomatoes cook with the chicken breasts.
I like to let my cheese start to start to get golden brown where it touches the foil.
Carefully pick up the tinfoil bowls with hot pads, and slide the contents of the foil bowl onto four separate plates.

The chicken is so tender you can cut it with a fork! Grab a bit of cheese and tomato with each bite.

I like to serve mine with a dinner salad and some toasted garlic bread! Enjoy!

Feeding fresh produce to your family is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. The problem we run into with fresh fruits and veggies and other smooth skinned produce is the chemicals, bacteria, wax, preservatives and pesticides that are on produce. I wondered what was the best way to clean my produce and found this study. According to a study by Cooks Illustrated (and reported by NPR) they tested the different methods to cleaning your produce. They tested bacteria levels when produce was cleaned with a scrub brush, water alone, a Veggie Wash, and vinegar and water soak. They found cheap vinegar wash to be the best at cleaning your produce, it removed 98 percent of the bacteria from the produce!

So when you bring home your next grocery cart full of produce, give it a soak in vinegar and water (one part vinegar to three parts water), and then rinse it with cold water to get the vinegar residue off. Vinegar is safe for you, safe for the environment and is cheap too! Like I needed yet another reason for me to buy vinegar by the gallon!