Category Archives: Granola

Clustered Quinoa Granola (Kanrocksas)

Kanrocksas rocked!

For those of you who don’t know what it is, it’s a music festival similar to Lollapalooza.  This is the first year and it took place at the Kansas Speedway, which is a “state-of-the-art outdoor event facility that  hosts approximately 200 events a year”.

Kellen and I walked in not really knowing what to expect.  We drove up to the campground and saw everyone setting up tents and realized that we came a litttllleee unprepared.  All we had was my Ford Focus (with little baby seats) and a couple of sleeping bags.  A) There was no way we could sleep comfortably inside the car because B) It was way too hot (105 degrees) to be sleeping in a car with no air circulation and C) I couldn’t keep my car running all night. 

Buuttt, we weren’t going to let that get us down, so we wandered into the Speedway to check out the bands. We ended up watching 1) Fitz and the Tantrums (who we had never heard of before, but they did a great job!), 2) D12 (Kellen’s choice ;)), 3) Jack’s Mannequin (did a great job), 4) Kid Cudi (I don’t even like rap, but he did awesome and we got super close ‘seats’), 5) a little bit of Bassnectar (also a great performance), and last but not least on Friday, Eminem (super, super packed, a little overrated, but he put on a great show and the audience was really drunk pumped!)  I was a little sad because we were supposed to watch the Flaming Lips on the main stage right before Eminem, but apparently the schedule changed and they got moved to a different stage.  By the time we realized that, we were so wedged into the Eminem audience that there’s no way we would’ve been able to get out.

That night, we ended up being babies and sleeping at a friends house who lives close by.  (Thank you, Teresa!)  We got really lucky!

The next day, Saturday, we came a little more prepared… still no tent, but we knew to bring bigger water bottles!  Friday, we went through 6 water bottles and were still dying of thirst.  So, armed with 1 liter water bottles, we headed in for day 2 where we watched 1) OK Go (pretty awesome… Damian, the lead singer, sang in the middle of the crowd and also had someone from the audience come on stage and play his guitar), 2) Grace Potter and the Nocturnals (they did a fantastic job…Kellen and I both really enjoyed her performance), 3) Flogging Molly (I love Flogging Molly and they got the crowd so amped up… it was great!), 4) a little bit of Tinie Tempah (he was late, but what we watched of him was pretty good), 5) The Black Keys (awesome job), 6) Muse (it was really packed so we ended up sitting on the side, but it was a really good performance).

Overall we had an awesome, sweaty, fun, exciting weekend!

Here are a few videos I took (excuse the quality, they’re from my phone):

And to top it all off, I made some quinoa granola that I’ve been dying to make!! It was pretty good! I ate it today as cereal and it gave the milk a really great flavor. Plus, the recipe is so easily adaptable that you can make it taste however you want.

Quinoa Granola
adapted from: Hungry Hungry Hippie

Ingredients:
  • 2 cups whole rolled oats 
  • 1/3 cup quinoa (I used 1/6 cup each of of red and regular quinoa)
  • 1/4 cup flax seed
  • 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
  • 1/4 cup shredded coconut
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup dried Blueberry Craisins –my fav!
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1/2 cup cereal of choice (I used Frosted Wheat)
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

Directions:

1. In large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients (first 4 listed).

2. Chop nuts and add to the bowl along with seeds and coconut.
3. Mix well.
4. Add liquids (melted coconut oil and maple syrup).
5. Mix it all together.
6. Spread onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
7. Bake for 40 minutes at 30 degrees.
8. Let it cool and then break apart (you don’t need to actually break it, it crumbles pretty easily if you just brings the ends of the parchment paper together). 

Vanilla Cranberry Walnut Granola

This morning:

I wanted granola.

I looked in the cabinet and we didn’t have any granola.

I looked out the front door…

…and realized, I wouldn’t be going to the store anytime soon.  2012 is comin’, you guys.  I feel it.  Just kidding, I don’t believe that… that much.

I made granola.

I ate granola.

I stocked our cabinet with an essential breakfast cereal.

And now, I’m blogging and watching The Office.

And enjoying my snow day.

What are you guys doing on your snow day???

Vanilla Cranberry Walnut Granola
This is a very healthy granola. You can omit the wheat germ, flax seed, and psyllium fiber if you want, I just added it for the extra health benefits.
Ingredients
3 cups oats
1 tablespoon wheat germ
1 tablespoon flax seed
1/4 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup nut of choice
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup oil
1/8 cup egg whites, or 1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon psyllium fiber
1 teaspoon oil
1 tablespoon honey
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place a parchment paper lined baking sheet in the oven while preparing granola.
Mix together the first list of ingredients in a mixing bowl.
In a small bowl, mix together second list of ingredients.
Take out baking sheet and spread out the first mixture on the sheet.
Crumble the second mixture on top.
Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the freezer if you want granola to stay crunchy.

Vanilla Cranberry Walnut Granola

This morning:

I wanted granola.

I looked in the cabinet and we didn’t have any granola.

I looked out the front door…

…and realized, I wouldn’t be going to the store anytime soon.  2012 is comin’, you guys.  I feel it.  Just kidding, I don’t believe that… that much.

I made granola.

I ate granola.

I stocked our cabinet with an essential breakfast cereal.

And now, I’m blogging and watching The Office.

And enjoying my snow day.

What are you guys doing on your snow day???

Vanilla Cranberry Walnut Granola
This is a very healthy granola. You can omit the wheat germ, flax seed, and psyllium fiber if you want, I just added it for the extra health benefits.
Ingredients
3 cups oats
1 tablespoon wheat germ
1 tablespoon flax seed
1/4 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup nut of choice
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup oil
1/8 cup egg whites, or 1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon psyllium fiber
1 teaspoon oil
1 tablespoon honey
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place a parchment paper lined baking sheet in the oven while preparing granola.
Mix together the first list of ingredients in a mixing bowl.
In a small bowl, mix together second list of ingredients.
Take out baking sheet and spread out the first mixture on the sheet.
Crumble the second mixture on top.
Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the freezer if you want granola to stay crunchy.

Granola Bar Pie

When I wake up from naps, I’m always ravenously hungry.  Every time.  It never fails.  Is that weird?  I woke up from a nap a couple of days ago and had a serious craving for a granola bar.  We didn’t have any, so I decided to make some. 

I threw together some ingredients and right when I was about to put them in the oven, I remembered that my dad dropped my pyrex dish… with cinnamon rolls still in it… it shattered everywhere… Luckily I’m not bitter about it.  But anyway, I didn’t have a dish to put them in.  I was just going to put them in two mini pyrex dishes, but then I saw a pie plate and decided to get creative.

Leave it to me to take a perfectly healthy snack and turn it into a sweet, chocolatey concoction.  I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out, but I decided that you can’t go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter.  I was so, so right.  The “crust” was chewy and the center was gooey and the melty chocolate middle really accentuated the peanut butter in the crust.  Please make these.  It would make me happy. 🙂

 Put all ingredients in a bowl.
 This is the marketside vanilla dip
 Mix all ingredients together.
 Add the middle layers.
Add the top layer and bake.

Granola Bar Pie

“Crust”:
3 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup yogurt or Marketside vanilla dip (pictured below)
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

Filling:
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Combine all of the crust ingredients together in a bowl and mix until incorporated.
3.  Press half of the mixture into the bottom of a standard sized pie plate.
4.  Sprinkle chocolate chips and coconut evenly over the crust.  Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over the pie.  It may seem like a lot, but you’ve got a lot of crust.  It works, trust me.
5.  Lightly press the remaining half of the mixture over the pie.
6.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Cut once cooled. 

Granola Bar Pie

When I wake up from naps, I’m always ravenously hungry.  Every time.  It never fails.  Is that weird?  I woke up from a nap a couple of days ago and had a serious craving for a granola bar.  We didn’t have any, so I decided to make some. 

I threw together some ingredients and right when I was about to put them in the oven, I remembered that my dad dropped my pyrex dish… with cinnamon rolls still in it… it shattered everywhere… Luckily I’m not bitter about it.  But anyway, I didn’t have a dish to put them in.  I was just going to put them in two mini pyrex dishes, but then I saw a pie plate and decided to get creative.

Leave it to me to take a perfectly healthy snack and turn it into a sweet, chocolatey concoction.  I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out, but I decided that you can’t go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter.  I was so, so right.  The “crust” was chewy and the center was gooey and the melty chocolate middle really accentuated the peanut butter in the crust.  Please make these.  It would make me happy. 🙂

 Put all ingredients in a bowl.
 This is the marketside vanilla dip
 Mix all ingredients together.
 Add the middle layers.
Add the top layer and bake.

Granola Bar Pie

“Crust”:
3 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup yogurt or Marketside vanilla dip (pictured below)
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

Filling:
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Combine all of the crust ingredients together in a bowl and mix until incorporated.
3.  Press half of the mixture into the bottom of a standard sized pie plate.
4.  Sprinkle chocolate chips and coconut evenly over the crust.  Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over the pie.  It may seem like a lot, but you’ve got a lot of crust.  It works, trust me.
5.  Lightly press the remaining half of the mixture over the pie.
6.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Cut once cooled.