Killer Pumpkin Granola {Gluten-Free & Vegan }

Alright, it’s official. I’ve got a fever and the only prescription is more pumpkin.
I’ve caught a case of the pumpkins. It’s not hard to do. Have you been on pinterest lately? It’s like taking a visual pumpkin bath. I dipped my toe in. It was warm. Now I’ve taken off my pants and  am sitting in a full-on metaphorical bath of pumpkin puree and cinnamon sticks. I’m even thinking about turning on the jets and staying for a while (that visual might have gotten out of hand).  Seriously though, try not to crave something with cinnamon in it after trolling pinterest. Dare you. Also, just so we’re clear (and I don’t get a bunch of weird emails later) I’m only METAPHORICALLY bathing in pumpkin puree. I DO NOT in any way literally suggest you fill up your entire tub with a festive fall squash and then bathe in it. Unless that’s your thing. Who am I to rain on anyone’s pumpkin parade?! We all celebrate seasons differently. Press on, dear friends! But seriously, consider the clean up. That’s one heck of a mess. […]

Banana Nut Granola With Quinoa

I am in the weeds, Friends. I will admit this to you wholeheartedly. I am truly behind. My kitchen has taken a backseat to life lately. Surely you understand this. I can’t be the only one who gets overwhelmed by life and ends up drinking one kind of smoothie, slapping ham on toast and eating handfuls of spinach straight out of the bag. This is a thing right? Besides baking different variations of this bread to cart off to my family, I have not exactly flexed the muscles in my food brain. It’s losing muscle mass. It’s sitting there in a smoothie rut. Flabby. We can’t have this, right? Let’s tell my food brain to wake up and go for a walk.
On Tuesday morning this is exactly what I did. I sprung out of bed and decided it was time to create something that was not toast. Also, my husband had been not so subtly hinting  for a couple of weeks that he would be utterly thrilled if I would replenish the granola stash. While we were grocery shopping he decided he might get some sort of sugary cereal, I told him I didn’t like his moves, he told me that if I made granola he wouldn’t even be considering it. Touche. Point taken. There was also a week where the empty granola canister kept appearing on the counter magically as if to say “GRANOLA! NOW!” I am not sure how it got there. I did not put it there. I don’t think the cat or the dog have the dexterity to grab the canister from out of the pantry and place it on the counter. This only leaves one human. I am not going to point fingers, but I will give you a hint…I am married to him. […]

Just Hanging Out…

Happy Friday, Lovelies!  How was your week? Let’s take a minute to hang out, shall we?

My week was kind of a doozy.

Here is the picture of how it all went…

I managed to catch the flu. The middle of this week was spent on our couch watching TV programs that I had vowed never to watch.

I dipped my toe into the  program Totally T-boz , a reality show featuring Tionne “T-boz” Watkins made famous by the 90’s girl group TLC. As someone who once dressed up as Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes for Halloween (It was sixth grade, let’s just say I was (am) a HUGE TLC fan – like, life-size poster on the bedroom wall, subscribed to both VIBE magazine and Word Up magazine, mostly to cut out the pages and paste them on my walls. It was serious. These were my people.) it is awkward to see them out in the world, “chasing waterfalls” if you will, to save their careers. In my head I like to imagine T-boz still clad in silk jammies and a belt made of condoms, creepin’ somewhere, being fly. Instead, she is just like the rest of us, hustling to find work and baking pancakes at one in the morning because she can’t sleep. Reality is sometimes harsh. In the process of trying to find you some TLC reference photos/videos, I happened across this “The 40 best R&B videos of the 90s”  hoopla and I currently have the “No Diggity” video blasting as I write this. No apologies. […]

Cinnamon Spice Granola | Gluten Free

I am totally late to the granola party.

My invitation must have gotten lost in the mail. I now officially RSVP with bells on.

Why have I waited this long?

Making granola is so easy, it’s nuts. No really, there are a lot of nuts in this recipe. Literally. Wow. Granola jokes. I’ll be here all week. Tip your waitress.

All jokes aside, it really is super easy. A bunch of crunchy things meet in a bowl. You marry them together with a mixture of oil, spices and sweetness. You bake it at 350. You eat it by the handful.

I call this recipe Cinnamon Spice Granola… but honestly, I wont lie to you, there is a lot of stuff in here. I could have named it “Everything In My Pantry Except Sardines Granola” and it would probably be just as accurate. Sure, I spiced it with lots of yummy cinnamon, nutmeg and sweetened it with maple syrup. I also raided my pantry with the kind of greedy wild abandon that feels both shameful and wholly satisfying. A scoop of this, a dash of that, a whole lot of these, oooooh sunflower seeds? Coconut? Yes. Flax meal. Affirmative. There was not a lot of restraint. […]