Menu Plan Monday - June 7

Most weeks we do not get to half of what I plan for or what I think we will get through. Things come up, we have other cravings, meals last longer (more leftovers) than I plan for, etc. But looking back at last weeks plan I am amazed that we made/ate everything on the menu! Good times!
The granola was great as a breakfast item and snack item with yogurt, and I am finding the best way to get it crunchy (the way I really like it) is to do the amount of time suggested (or sometimes a little more) and then turn the oven off and leave the granola in the oven as it cools. Seems to work like a charm!
The butterscotch oatmeal was good, but I wouldn't make it everyday. I prefer to make baked oatmeal and have it ready for the week. I don't need much variety to survive (strange, since I love trying new things!).
We got a lot more lettuce again from our garden and we made meals out of salads 3 times. Salads are good for you and you can put just about anything on top to make it fun and exciting. This was one way.

And the rest of our meals were also good, and simple. The way I like it!

This week will be a "clean out the fridge, freezer, pantry" week before we leave for a bit (away at camp where our meals are planned for us and I don't have to think/plan at all...except for my toddler...). We have a few tomatoes right now that will make for good tomato sandwiches. Also have zucchini from our co-op that will make for some good muffins and maybe a side salad. And picked up some leftover hamburgers and hot dogs from a party that we will eat as well. And I will also be preparing some snacks for my toddler for the following week. Should be even simpler than this past week, but still enjoyable. What do you have planned for your week.

Head to I'm an Organizing Junkie for more great ideas!

Homemade Snacks

In my quest for saving money I have realized that snacks are greatly enjoyed in our house, but can also be the culprit of more money spent than should be reasonable for the benefit of them...
I have always loved making my own applesauce, and have recently enjoyed finding the best granola recipe. I have also been working on the perfect granola bar (another day, another post) but have also tried to make some other snacks recently.

My first was roasting chick peas. It sounded fun and interesting, I like crunchy, I figured it should be healthy, and a good change from nuts...I read many different ways to add spice and flavor (I chose sweet) and different ways of roasting, like adding flavor before vs. after roasting (I chose before). I would like to try again, adding the flavor after the roasting and see what this does. They took a lot longer than what I read, but were definitely best fresh. I made too many to eat them all fresh. Hubs was not that excited. Luckily my toddler was!

I also had my first attempt ever at making bread (besides making quick breads like this amazing apple bread that I love!). I don't have a fancy mixer or a bread machine or the time/patience for lots of kneading and rising, so I think I qualified for this recipe I found.

 (letting it rise while I found other things to do...)

I made it 100% whole wheat and was very excited for the result, especially when it was right out of the oven (and with a thin layer of nutella). I think I did it on a cooler day recently and had a hard time with the rising, but it eventually got there and it was good. And easy. And I am going to make it again. Soon.

Making snacks from scratch works for me! Got any homemade snacks you love and want to share?

Menu Plan Monday - May 10

(go to Orgjunkie for more meal plans)

I made more granola and granola bars this past week when we returned to town and a little bit to normalcy. I made "the best granola i've ever had" with some variations of course, and also these "superpower granola bars" (you have to scroll down the page a bit) with minor changes. Both were good. The bars were sweeter than any I have made thus far, and the granola was a crunchier one, which I like!

My husband made this orzo chicken and it was great! It said it served 4, but the first time we ate it there were 4 adults, and we had more left in the pot than what we ate! Guess our servings weren't as big, maybe since we had a salad with garden-fresh lettuce on the side! mmmm.

This week may be a lot of leftovers with the chicken dish and also making some meals with leftover beef tenderloin that my husband grilled for mother's day! It was fabulous, and I am thrilled we get to have more. If you have a great recipe that includes leftover meat I'd love to hear about it. I am thinking maybe a stir fry and maybe on top of another salad from the garden, but I am open to other ideas too.
We will hopefully enjoy a couple of salads, more strawberries and avocados, and corn on the cob that is coming into season now too, as well as simple grilling meals.

Quest for the perfect granola!

 I have been on a little bit of a quest lately for the perfect granola. For a long time I had no desire (or maybe I was just afraid to take the time and effort) to make my own granola. Once in a while I would buy it and enjoy it, but it was to expensive to buy on a regular basis, so I would just do without. Out of sight, out of mind.
But recently I have decided it would be good. and fun. and challenging. and cheaper to try out some recipes than to buy. I started searching for ones that looked like they had ingredients I would be able to find and I would be able to enjoy and also for ones that had good reviews and were somewhat healthy. And then I started saving them to my Evernote.
And then I started trying them out. Here are some that I have tried and my reviews (things I look for in a granola recipe: flavor, crunch!, ease of prep, and household approval):

Honey Crunch Granola (I like that this one has flax seed and wheat germ for added nutrition. i used almonds and did not have apple juice at the time. this was not my favorite so far, but was also my first, so I will give it another try)
Apple Granola (very simple and very few ingredients, but not crunchy enough for me. I added peanuts to have a little extra nutrition and flavor)
Honey Cinnamon Granola (enjoyable, but not my favorite. not as crunchy and not as much flavor as I would like...but still a good recipe and I like that it also has wheat germ in it)
Baked Granola (I've made this one twice, first time was very crunchy and with great reviews in my house...second time not so crunchy...must try again soon. I used applesauce instead of the oil and I did not have/use hazelnuts or cherries)
Mix-n-Match Applesauce Granola (I used less sugar, almonds for my nuts and cranberries/raisins for my dried fruit. very crunchy! and the ginger adds a new flavor I had not yet had with granola. A+)
More recipes I'd like to try soon:

Energizing Granola
Pumpkin Spice Granola
Peanut Butter Granola

Other endeavors? finding the best homemade oatmeal. and a bigger try at making granola bars... I've tried a couple of recipes, but these make me even more nervous than the granola for some reason...
Got a great recipe I should try? I'd love to hear about it!