Chia Almond Granola

Let's get talkin' about granola. The homemade kind, like, is there any other kind?!?! Not in my world. 

My kiddos eat it. Hooray. It turns plain yogurt into amazing, to-die-for, let's eat this whole bowl, and have second and thirds good. Double Hooray. My husband lines the bottom of his squirrel traps with it. Hooray? 

He has watched every single episode of Duck Dynasty (some more than once) on Amazon Prime and now he thinks I need to cook him some squirrel Miss Kay style. Eating squirrel is something I left behind in my 7-year-old girl days when my parent's were the boss of what went into my mouth. Now I'm the boss of what enters my mouth and I say no squirrel goes in my mouth. On second thought, I take that back. This blog could really get popular with culinary squirrel enthusiasts if I created a squirrel recipe worth preparing and eating. Hmmm. How I included squirrel recipes and granola in the same post is beyond me. Let's get back to the granola. Shall we?

Nutty Seed Bread

I'm talking about bread again? Haven't I talked about bread a lot lately? My last bread recipe included olives, ham, bacon and alotta eggs. And then about a week before that was a Swedish Rye Bread that had me considering the word "limpa". In the same month was Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls which I deem bread category material. 

Because we are facing the second day after two days of Christmas eating and drinking extravaganza-ness I think bread needs to leave my radar. My radar should be full of the kale in this cookbook I received as a gift. At least I have a guide and a place to start. Positive thinking.

Expect kale people. From now on. Until then you need to deal with bread. Maybe we can feel good about this bread because it's so seedy and nutty that it's comparable to eating 6 handfuls of nuts with every bite. Not really, but close.

Mac n' Cheese Bites

Since starting my blog a little under 6 months ago this recipe is going to be my second version of macaroni and cheese. If I keep blogging for, let's say 7 years, at a rate of 2 macaroni and cheese recipes per every 6 months, times 7 years, that will be: Ahhh.... Where's my calculator? 

Let's just say that is my type of math problem! 

Ok! Ok. I got it. It's 7 X 4. 28! That's almost 30 mac n' cheese variations my adventuresome boys get to consume like the guinea pigs I use them as. Lucky them. 

Oven Roasted Pork Roast

Small children, in my experience, are not always big meat eaters. The texture of meat for kids can be too chewy. I've watched my son as a two-year-old chew on a piece of chicken for what seemed like 10 minutes because he didn't know what to do with it. The piece of food was never getting smaller. What is wrong with this thing in my mouth? It isn't going anywhere. What do I do with it? How do I swallow it? Erm, I'll just spit it out. Splat.

No splatting with pot roast. Perfectly roasted pot roast melts in your mouth. And I've found it's one of the best ways to get my kiddos to devour meat. They almost always want more! I love those words. Yes, food is love.

Making pot roast is a very easy way to prepare an inexpensive cut of meat, feed a family, and it's a hands off way to make your house smell heavenly. Let's do it!

Sparkling Raspberry Gelatin

Did you grow up with Jell-o Jigglers? If you are a child of the 80's, most likely, you did. Do you know what is in Jell-o? It's in my nature to say: poison. My apologies to Kraft.... not really. 

I'd much rather eat my jello with health benefits. And this recipe does the trick. 

According to wellnessmama.com gelatin is practically a superfood! Gelatin is great for hair, skin and nails. Helps lubricate joints. Can help with digestion. Is a source of protein. And it's natural! MMMM. Let's make jigglers!

Ham & Olive Loaf

I'm not sure how I've lived my life up to this point without this bread in my recipe rotation. My life has been utterly meaningless. Life without bread studded with chunks of ham and salty olives of all colors is so boring.

The egg-y crumb of this bread makes me want to almost call it a breakfast bread. Who am I kidding? I shouldn't use the word almost. I should say: Yes, this was my breakfast for 3 straight days. Topped with butter and nuked in the micro, my life suddenly had meaning. 

My brain just didn't function correctly since the day I pinned a picture of the original recipe 5 weeks ago! That's 5 weeks of Bread Brain Fog. My poor family. They'd been wondering where their mother had gone. She's in her own culinary dreamworld. Alas! My dreamworld is a reality! And this reality is sooooooo good.

Italian Ravioli Egg Bake

Do you like egg bake? I'm wondering if it's a Midwestern thing? After a quick Google search on Midwestern quirks egg bake does not appear. I'd imagine I would need to dig further into a search using words like 'traditional Midwestern foods' or 'Minnesota regional favorites'. Alas, I didn't do that. 

However, I did briefly read some impressions on our funny speech characteristics and quirky personality traits. One brutally honest review caught my eye detailing our use of the greeting "How are you?". Which, to be honest, took me until 31 years of life to really fully accept that people don't want to know your emotional state they just want you to automatically reply "Fine, and you?". Well, Mr. Scathing Review - I have a way to combat the Fine How Are You. Egg bake. 

Rosemary Roll & Slice Shortbread

I have about 3 or 4 cookie recipes in my regular cookie rotation. Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chippers make it in about once or twice a year, Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies are made about 2 times during the zucchini months, the Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe from the back of the Toll House bag when I feel like washing dishes and eating 3 cookies after every meal and these crispity, crunchity, herby, buttery babies.

Any other cookie recipes from here on out will be completely experimental. You've been forewarned.