Granola

I bring yogurt to work for lunch or breakfast pretty regularly. Mainly because it is incredibly easy to grab out of the fridge when I don’t have any appealing leftovers or I forget to make smoothies or salad ahead of time. Granola makes it not as boring!

My new favorite Chobani flavor – Key Lime!

Yield: 2 ziploc gallon sized bags

Ingredients
8 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups wheat germ
1 1/2 cup oat bran
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 cup slivered/chopped pecans
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
2/3 cup honey
1 cup vegetable oil
2 Tablespoons cinnamon
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups dried cranberries

Instructions

1. Combine oats, wheat germ, oat bran, seeds and nuts in a large bowl. (Probably the largest bowl you have – I significantly overestimated the size of this mixture).
2. In a saucepan over medium heat combine brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, vegetable oil, cinnamon and vanilla extract.
3. Bring to a boil.
4. Pour liquid mixture over dry ingredients and mix to coat.
5. Line 3 cookie sheets with parchment paper (makes clean-up so much easier) and evenly spread mixture onto cookie sheets.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
7. Allow granola to cool then mix in dried cranberries.
8. Store in gallon sized ziploc bags. Lasts for weeks when kept in an airtight bag!

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Crab Dip

I went apple picking with some friends at Hartland Orchard a few weeks ago (one of the few dog friendly orchards I could find). The weather was fantastic – felt like a rebellious burst of summer at the end of September! The orchard was huge and had several different apple varieties. At the end of the afternoon we had picked 2 bushels of apples between the 4 of us. I also stopped in the market on our way out and bought a mason jar full of local honey, apple butter and apple cider. Yum! We had a great time but I think the happiest one there was Fiona. She ate roughly 5 apples and didn’t have to secretly steal them off the kitchen counter!

After a long day of apple eating and smelling this pup passed out in the back seat and snored the whole way home!

When we got home I put the gang to work peeling apples for homemade applesauce using Tarah’s grandmothers recipe.

I felt a little guilty making guests work so I decided to whip up some crab dip for us to snack on using the handpicked crab meat from our crab feast a few weeks ago. A big thanks to all my family that picked crab meat for me!

Ingredients:
3 cups of fresh lump crab meat
8 oz cream cheese (I would increase to 12 oz in the future, the dip would’ve been creamier)
6 oz Greek yogurt
3 Tablespoons mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon white wine
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon mustard
1 teaspoon Old Bay
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
loaf of French bread

1. Thoroughly drain any excess liquid from crab meat
2. Combine cream cheese, Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, white wine, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, Old Bay and sugar in a mixing bowl.
3. Fold in crab meat.
4. Spread into a 9 inch pie plate sprayed with olive oil and top with cheddar cheese
5. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes
6. Serve with sliced French bread! Enjoy!

Try to let it cool before digging in – I think we all burnt our mouths!

Spicy Pickled Radishes

Corey and I signed up for The Farm Table, a delivery fruit and vegetable service based out of Richmond, VA. On weeks of our choice we receive a box with a week’s worth of produce – each week has a different box. One of our vegetables this week was radishes. I had no idea what to do with them since I have only really seen radishes as a topping at the salad bar. We found a few suggestions online but decided on pickling them.

We have served them on top of spinach salads adding a new flavor punch to the boring side salad. I think they would be great on fish tacos too!

Ingredients

Small bunch of radishes
2/3 cup apple cider vinegar
3/4 water
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
3 cloves of garlic, minced

Instructions

1.  Slice off tops of radishes. Thinly slice (equal consistency). Add to a glass bowl (so smell is not retained).
2. In a small saucepan boil vinegar, water and syrup.
3. Add salt, red pepper flakes, black peppercorns, and garlic to radish container.
4. Pour boiling liquid over radishes.
5. Refrigerate for 24 hours then serve! Radishes will be good for weeks but probably won’t last that long!

Yield 6-10 servings

Adapted from Cookie and Kate