Granola

While up in Lancaster, NH last weekend, we went to a great Farmer's Market. I didn't expect too much for such a small town, but their market really blew Nashua's Farmer's Market out of the water (sorry Nash, but you guys only have 7 or 8 stands and this one had well over a dozen). 

The market had a wide variety of goods for sale: fresh produce, eggs, meat, cheeses, lots of fresh bread and other bakery items, sheep's wool, sweaters, wood crafts, plants, etc. We were drawn to one of the bakeries that was offering samples, and ended up buying several of their homemade granola bars. They were really good and we snacked on them for the rest of the weekend.

I decided that I wanted to make my own granola bars, using these as inspiration, but leaving out the butter and  extra sugar. So I set out to make them...

Before we get any further, let me just say that this was not a total success. What I made turned out to be delicious granola, but the bar part didn't exactly happen. So if you want to make granola bars, you're going to need to do some tweaking.

...back to the granola.  I started by spraying a loaf pan with cooking spray and then dusting the bottom with coconut.

In addition to oats, I used the ingredients that were most appealing to me (and those that happened to be in my kitchen) but you can really use whatever you want.

Then I mixed in some wet stuff - vanilla, fig preserves, and agave syrup. 

And then I pressed it all into the loaf pan. I think if I had stopped there I might have been able to form these into bars (although I'll have to try again and let you know).

Instead I decided that it was a good idea to bake it. For 30 minutes at 325 degrees. (I removed the saran wrap first).

Needless to say, when it came out of the oven, it wasn't sticking together because the "wet" ingredients had dried up. So instead of granola bars I got...granola.

Homemade Granola

About 5 servings

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1 cup organic oats
• 1/4 cup craisins
• 1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
• 1/4 cup organic dried apple slices, chopped
• 1/4 cup organic almond slices
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp organic fig preserves
• 1 1/2 tbsp organic agave syrup
• cooking spray

Directions

1. Coat the inside of a loaf pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle coconut flakes on the bottom of pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine oats, craisins, apricots, apples and almonds. Stir to combine.
3. Add vanilla, fig and agave syrup to the bowl and stir until wet ingredients are evenly distributed.
4. Transfer to loaf pan and press down to compact. 
5. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes, or until desired doneness.

I used as many organic ingredients as possible in this granola. I also used agave syrup instead of honey or molasses because agave has a low glycemic index, which means your blood sugar doesn't spike like it does with many other sweeteners. Agave syrup is also sweeter than honey and sugar, so you can use less of it.

Even though I didn't get my bars, I was not disappointed with the taste.  Really good on its own, or in a container of Greek yogurt...which I'm having at my desk right now.

I'd like to have some with milk, and also try topping a smoothie with some of this.

Just a few more hours of work until a long weekend! What are your plans for the 4th of July?

Tonight I'm having a girls night with Whitney and Steph, and then Pat and I are going camping for the rest of the weekend (not sure where yet, I haven't been given any details).

36 Days and Counting...

Chrissy sent me a picture of a poster that is hanging on the wall at her doctor's office:

The caption:
Eat up the road.
Drink in the view.
Run like hell.

I love that!

Last month I committed to running at least one mile a day for 30 days. I began on May 18th, and today I realized that my 30 days must be up. They are! So far I've run at least one mile every day for 36 days! I'm so glad that I did this challenge for a few reasons:

• You don't have the opportunity to slack when you commit to something. There were some days that I didn't really feel like going for a run, and in the past I probably would have just skipped it and told myself I'd make up for it the next day. With this plan it was easier to get myself out the door, since the miles needed to be logged every day.
• Time Management. Summer is busy and I've been having a harder time fitting in workouts, especially on week days. I leave very early for work in the morning and most nights get home after 9pm. Since starting the challenge I've been better about scheduling time for a run, even if all I can fit in is a quick mile at 5am. Workouts don't get "forgotten" when you know that you have to do them every day.
• I've replaced some bad behaviors with good ones. The other day I brought my running clothes to work, but forgot my socks, so I couldn't go. That night we celebrated my brother's birthday and I didn't get home until after 9pm and was stuffed with pizza and cake. Normally I would have plopped myself in front of the TV to "relax" for a bit before bed (and usually mindless snacking comes with my mindless TV watching). Instead I changing into running clothes and went for a nice slow run, which left me feeling much better after the heavy dinner.
• I realized that I like running at night! I always thought I was a morning person and preferred to run then, but since I've been forced to run at night many times, I've really enjoyed it. Its a nice way to run off the stress of the day and helps get out extra energy before bed. I love running outside at night and breathing in the fresh air, but for my later runs I go to the gym. My gym is open 24 hours a day, which is helpful if you need to squeeze in a mile or two at 11pm.

Overall I wouldn't really say that my weekly mileage has increased very much (since there are a handful of days that I could only fit in one or two miles) but it also hasn't decreased, which is great. I think if I hadn't been doing this challenge I would have definitely missed a lot more workouts because I've been so busy. 

I know that rest days are very important parts of training and for your body to recover. On my rest days I just run one mile, and when my training program calls for cross training I will just run one mile and add biking/swimming/elliptical to that mile. 

I took a journalism class two years ago, and one of the articles I wrote for class was about running the Boston Marathon. I interviewed a man that lived in my hometown that had run the marathon for many, many consecutive years (I've forgotten the number but I believe it was over 20 years). He was a "streak" runner, which meant that he ran at least one mile every single day. He made it to 31 years and 364 days when he finally missed a day of running. "What happened?" I'd asked him. A few days before he'd been having some chest pains, but ignored it (like most men, from my experience) until his wife finally took him to the hospital. It turns out that he'd had a heart attack, and they kept him for a couple days to monitor him. He requested to be allowed to go outside for a run, or at the very least, for them to bring a treadmill to his room, but they would not allow it. Excuse my language, but if that's not badass, I don't know what is. Once he left the hospital he resumed his daily running, and has now been on a streak of over five years.

So I've decided that I want to try a running streak. I'm 36 days in, so now is as good a time as any. For more information on running streaks, or to apply for a membership, check out their website.

Lately my favorite snack to have before a workout or a run is a cold honey crisp apple, sliced, with 0% honey Chobani yogurt (I use about 1/2 container per apple). This provides fiber, protein and calcium to fuel my run.

Has anyone else been doing the 30 day challenge? 

 What motivates you to exercise?

5 Minute Meals

During the winter I love to spend time in the kitchen making big meals and rich desserts. In the warmer months I prefer to eat lighter foods, and would rather spend my time outside. After grocery shopping this week I realized that I bought a lot of food (fresh fruits and veggies mostly) but didn't really buy anything to make for dinners. I've been so busy that I haven't really had much time to make anything terribly exciting, but I was able to put together a couple delicious meals using what I had in my fridge - and they only took a couple minutes to whip together. Perfect for warm summer nights that you're too busy to fuss with a long list of ingredients.

Open-Faced Apple, Fig and Cheddar Sandwich

You will need:

* 1 slice bread

* 1/2 apple, sliced thin

* fig spread

* few slices cheddar cheese

Chrissy brought over some really great fig spread the other day to have with cheddar cheese - the combination of the sweet figs and sharp cheddar is really remarkable.

I used the fig spread in my open-faced sandwich.

Start by lightly toasting a piece of bread (I used a slice of crusty rye bread from the bakery in Concord).

Spread your fig preserves on the bread. Chrissy said that less is more when it comes to fig. I think more is more!

Add a layer of sliced apples.

Cover apples with sharp cheddar cheese slices.

Bake in an oven that's preheated to 350 degrees for 3-4 minutes, until cheese is melted.

For a side I heated up some veggies from a frozen organic vegetable medley I bought at Trader Joe's. I added some pepper and garlic powder and was done!

Voila - the 5 minute dinner:

This sandwich was really satisfying - the rye bread paired well with the sharp cheddar and fig spread, and the apple slices added a little more sweetness and a crunchy texture.

Goat Cheese, Berries and Greens Pita Pizza

You will need:

* 1 pita pocket

* goat cheese

* handful mixed greens

* handful berries

* balsamic vinaigrette

I don't have a step-by-step of this for you, but I'm pretty sure you'll catch on quickly! Bake the pita in an oven that's been preheated to 350 degrees for a couple minutes, until crispy. Spread (or crumble) goat cheese on the pita. Cover the pita with mixed greens, then add berries (I used blackberries and strawberries) and drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette. 

This pizza was so quick and really good. I'm sure this would be really good if you filled the pita pocket or made a wrap with the ingredients as well, but I especially liked the crunch of the baked pita. Although it is a little messy to eat, this is certainly worth getting your hands messy for!

Honey Vanilla Oatmeal with Fresh Fruit

I've been on an oatmeal hiatus for a bit now but made myself a bowl a couple days ago and it was really good, so I wanted to share. I made my oatmeal the way I normally do, and when the oatmeal was almost done cooking, I added half a scoop of vanilla protein powder and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Once finished cooking, I added fresh blueberries and half a fresh peach (chopped) and then drizzled with honey.

This flavor combination was great. Lately I haven't been able to get enough berries, peaches and watermelon. Everything tastes so good this season! The protein powder made this bowl of oatmeal more filling and I didn't get hungry for several hours (note - if using protein powder - add it towards the end, if you add it in the beginning it changes the texture of the oats).

Mother's Day Cake

Happy Mother's Day!

What better excuse to try a new cake? I saw Ina Garten make this on her cooking show last week and decided that I needed to try it ASAP. Its a gorgeous cake that looks like it would require several difficult steps, but it was really quite quick and easy to put together. A candy thermometer would be a helpful tool, but don't worry if you don't own one. I don't have one so I eye-balled it instead and was very happy with the results!

Peel, core and slice a granny smith apple. Arrange the slices in a pie dish.

Heat a small saucepan with 1 cup sugar and 1/3 cup water over high heat. It will come to a rolling boil - continue to heat until it turns a warm amber color (or if you have a candy thermometer - 360 degrees). Swirl, but don't stir!

Once ready, pour into pie dish over apple slices.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together butter and 3/4 cup sugar.

Mix in eggs, one at a time.

Add vanilla, stir to combine.

Add lemon zest, stir again.

Add sour cream and stir.

Sift together flour, salt and baking powder. 

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix only until combined.

Pour batter over caramel and apples. Smooth with a spatula.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool for 15 minutes, then invert cake onto a flat plate (put plate over pie dish, then flip over).

You may need to do a little plastic surgery - don't worry, it'll still look great - just replace the apple slices if they fall out.

Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.

Note that powdered sugar will absorb into cake, so powder just before serving.

Enjoy!

The lovely ladies I spent my Mother's Day with:

Pat's mom, my mom, Pat's aunt Lisa

Apple Cake Tatin

Recipe by Ina Garten

Ingredients

• 1 granny smith apple
• 1 3/4 cups sugar, divided
• 1/3 cup water
• 6 tbsp butter, at room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp lemon zest
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup plus 2 tbsp flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking poweder
• confectioner's sugar (optional)

Directions

1. Peel, core and slice a granny smith apple. Arrange the slices in a pie dish.
2. Heat a small saucepan with 1 cup sugar and 1/3 cup water over high heat. It will come to a rolling boil - continue to heat until it turns a warm amber color (or if you have a candy thermometer - 360 degrees). Swirl, but don't stir!
3. Once caramel is ready, pour into pie dish over apple slices.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
5. Cream together butter and sugar. Mix in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream - stir to combine.
6. Sift together flour, salt and baking powder.
7. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix only until combined.
8. Pour batter over caramel and apples. Smooth with a spatula.
9. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
10. Cool for 15 minutes, then invert cake onto a flat plate. 
11. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired, and serve!