Video and Website Postings: Food

If you know me, then you know I procrastinate when I feel I don't have time to do 110%. Hence the month lag between blog postings. Rather than give my usual narrative, I'm going to try to be techie. (I know, that doesn't go in sync with the old school Nokia cell phone that I was forced to give up last August. Man, I miss that thing....but I admit to enjoying my new "modern" phone's speaker phone and multi alarm features...) ANYWAYS....

**Part 1: The Eating

I invite you into our small dining room, where Caleb thoroughly enjoyed eating his pureed pears last week:

(Was it my cooking, Caleb????)

**Part 2: The Cooking

I invite you into my small apartment kitchen, where I enjoy experimenting with new recipes as well as baking and cooking familiar favorites. Two of my recent concoctions included some of the same ingredients (oatmeal, nuts, craisins).

First, a "happen to find" recipe for GRANOLA from the December 2007 edition of Cooking Light. My previous favorite granola recipe was Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa "Homemade Granola" at http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/homemade-granola-recipe/index.html., but it involved a long cooking time and expensive dry fruit ingredients. Plus, with 3/4 cup oil, it was fairly greasy. So, I like this "Chocolate Crunch" recipe much better--it's faster, cheaper, and healthier. Plus, who doesn't like a little bit of chocolate? It's great with yogurt and fresh fruit, milk, or even ice cream!

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1687651

Chocolate (Granola) Crunch

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 3 cups regular oats
• 1 cup oven-toasted rice cereal (such as Rice Krispies)
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (60 to 70 percent cocoa), finely chopped
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preparation

Preheat oven to 300°.

Cover a jelly-roll pan with parchment paper. Coat parchment paper with cooking spray.

Combine oats, rice cereal, brown sugar, chopped pecans, salt, and ground cinnamon in a large bowl.

Combine honey and canola oil in a small saucepan over low heat; cook 2 minutes or until warm. Remove from heat. Add vanilla and chocolate; stir with a whisk until smooth. Pour chocolate mixture over oat mixture. Lightly coat hands with cooking spray. Gently mix chocolate mixture and oat mixture until combined. Spread oat mixture onto prepared jelly-roll pan. Bake at 300° for 20 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes. Cool completely on pan; stir in cranberries.

Next, one of my mom's and my favorite oatmeal COOKIES (from one of our favorite cookbooks): Colorado Ranch Cookies. You'll find the recipe in the Junior League of Denver's Colorado Colore on page 270. They're moist, flavorful, and quick to make. Tips: I follow the"to enhance the flavor" direction at the end of the recipe. The almond extract truly makes the cookie, and I love the craisins even more when they've soaked up all that flavor. Also, I scoop the batter with an ice cream scoop to make the cookies even in size. I think the recipe calls for smaller cookies, so do what you want. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/COLORADO-RANCH-COOKIES-JUNIOR-LEAGUE-OF-DENVER-1249792

Colorado Ranch (Oatmeal) Cookies

Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups flour 2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup sliced almonds
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

preparation

Mix the flour, baking soda and salt together. Beat the butter, brown sugar and sugar in a mixing bowl until creamy. Add the flour mixture and beat until blended. Stir in the oats, cranberries, coconut, almonds, eggs and flavoring. The dough will be very stiff.

Drop the dough by heaping

teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until light brown. Cool on a cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool

completely. Store in an air tight container.
To enhance the flavor of the cookies, mix the eggs, almond extract and cranberries in a bowl and let stand for 1 hour before adding to the recipe.

**Part 3: The Evidence of the Cooking (well, kind of...)

I will only post evidence of my "cooking" for my son (actually my providing food for him via me or via pureed veggies and fruits).......I know it's not much, but I've just got to brag about the first signs of "pudge" on my little guy!!!!!

(Picture taken days before his 7-month weigh-in at 13 pounds, 13 ounces.)