Homemade Granola

I love me some good granola! I have been meaning to try making my own, and finally had some free time, so thought I would give the Barefoot Contessa's a whirl.

Here is what you will need:

4 C old fashioned rolled oats

2 C sweetened, shredded coconut

2 C sliced almonds

3/4 C veg table oil

1/2 C of "good" honey (she always says "good" as if someone would choose "bad"? LOL...)

1 C each of your favorite dried fruits (apricots, cranberries, figs, cherries, etc.)

1 C chopped cashews (she says unsalted, I say salted :))

Whisk the vegetable oil and good honey together. Then coat the almonds, coconut and oats, and spread evening on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes depending on how hot your oven is and also how brown you like your granola. It only took about 35 minutes for me. Stir the granola around about every 5-7 minutes so it gets a nice, even brown. Watch for burning!!! NO one likes burnt coconut.

Once cool, add the chopped dried fruits, mix, eat or put away in an air tight container.

NOTE: Mine did not stay very crunchy after a night in the air tight container. Still delicious, but any tips on how to keep crunchy, lemme know!

I like to put mine atop Greek yogurt... YUM.

Happy breakfasting.

Peeps

It's that time of year again for cream filled chocolate eggs, pastel colored M & M's and... PEEPS!

I loathe these little suckers. They have a weird name and taste like petrified sugar. My teeth hurt just looking at them. I guess they are kind of cute, but they mostly make me want to gag. Does anyone else share my angst for colored marshmellow sugar blobs that look like baby birds?

Dear Mom,

Please do NOT include Peeps in my Easter basket this year.

Sincerely,
Marge

Margesitting

I am so super excited to babysit this little guy and his baby bro this evening while their parents get out for a date night! (this photo makes me chuckle - Grayson is a pretty funny little guy).

I have not babysat little G since he was 1.0, and it was quite the experience. I ran out of things to entertain him with after about an hour and didn't realize that I was allowed to bring him into the bathroom while I peed, so held it for almost 2 hours until his mom and dad came to get him. Yikes.

Before that, I hadn't babysat him since he was just a few months old and that too was one for the books. His mother informed me and my co-babysitter that he LOVED baths... we quickly discovered this was not the case when he whaled as soon as we placed him in his baby boat/bath thing. His momma then shared that he had only experienced showers... thanks, would have been good to know ;)

They say third times the charm, so lets hope so. I have plans to make pizzas, maybe do a little dancin' to some J-Timby, and attempt to watch Disney's "Earth". I LOVE anything the Discovery Channel puts out i.e. "Planet Earth", "Life", etc. so thought we would give this a whirl. I also will be equipped with peanut m&m's and popcorn for a snack, and some Sounders & Seahawks schwag..figure he will remember me better if I bribe him ;)

His little bro is pretty easy... I say this now of course. I have NEVER seen or heard this kid cry and he is almost a year old. He is always smiling and his dad thinks he will be a politician. He is also a big cuddler and loves to nuzzle, which just melts my heart.

I love these little buggers to pieces and cant wait to get my baby fix on tonight! I will have a co-babysitter again (since I cant do anything by myself) but she has lots of nieces and nephews so I think we can handle these two. Wish me luck!

Late on the Lu...Lu That is!

After actively practicing hot yoga for about a year and half now, I only recently discovered what brand the little symbol on every one's clothing that looks like an outline of a 50's hair do belonged to...Lululemon.

You might be thinking: "Where the hell has Marge been?", or, "How can she call herself a yogini and not know what Lululemon is?" I too thought these very same things about myself. I'm embarrassed, I'm sorry.

EVERYONE in my yoga class seems to wear the Lulu so I was like, okay, this stuff must be pretty awesome, I need to look into it. I asked around and of course all my gal pals were like "What is wrong with you?". I immediately went to the web site to check it out and quickly realized why I do not own any Lulu... because it costs almost as much as my jeans and I hate spending money on workout clothing, which is in part why I am always dressed up (even on planes). Any who, I continued my independent survey, and everyone I spoke with only had awesome things to say about the line and how well it fits, and also that it doesn't fade or shrink. I started thinking... I go to yoga about three times/week and I am constantly washing everything so perhaps I should give the pants a whirl.

I decided to bite the bullet and go to the store to check them out in person. The only store I know of is at Bell Square (apparently there is an outlet up in Everett as well). I walked in and the best way I can describe this place is like a cross between jean shopping (different sizes/shapes/colors in cubbies) with a twist of Abercrombie and Fitch (good looking teeny boppers pretending to fold things whilst loud music thumps). I of course looked for a sale rack, but no such luck...hmm. I grabbed the Groove Pant with the white belt in a "Tall". I quickly found out that "Tall" is meant for abnormally tall people. I guess 5 8.5" is considered regular?

I looked around for some other goodies, but just couldn't bring myself to buy a sports bra for $52. The cool thing about this place is that they give you your purchase in one of those cute little red and black reusable bags, which I love for bringing breakfast to work, etc. And since everyone else has them, I can now be one of the cool people ;) Yay me.

I haven't worn them yet but I am super excited to try them out. They are VERY comfortable and make me look smaller than I am, which is always a good thing. I am running a 12K in April so they will be perfect for a Spring run!

P.S. I also recently discovered Hanky Panky's. One size fits all ... what a concept! I love em!

Cafe Juanita

Where do I start?

First, a BIG thank you to my wonderful mom and dad (G & F) for honoring my birthday request to dine here for my last dinner as a twenty-something. Its no Red Robin, so I feel very lucky that I was able to enjoy this amazing cuisine with my parents and boyfriend. And A.M.A.Z.I.N.G it was in deed...

I of course arrived on time and sat alone at the table for a good ten minutes while my bf and parents tried to find parking (I walked since I literally live around the corner). I felt like Carrie Bradshaw on her 35th birthday when everyone forgot about her special dinner. I thought about ordering the $417 bottle of red wine for the table but though F might not be too thrilled about that.

When they finally arrived, I took a chance and ordered a red wine I had never even heard of (they only had four choices by the glass). It was wonderful! Very buttery and smooth with very little aftertaste which I just love, and in my opinion, is a sign of a good wine.

Rosso Toscano '06 Aia Vecchia, Logone.

We sipped on our wine while we reviewed the menu, which I have to say, was no easy task. I honestly couldn't tell you what half of the items actually are. You know you are at a special place when they refer to game meat as "fowl".

We started with a bread plate that contained cheese crisps, a foccacia type bread, and other thin crackers with herbs. They serve this with butter and sea salt. We also ordered the prosciutto di parma. It comes very thinly sliced with a puffed cheese cracker. So good and salty just the way I like it! My family members are big fans of cured meats ;)

As a second course, I had the radicchio salad with a balsamic vinegar and freshly shaved Parmesan. I absolutely love anything with vinegar and Parmesan so this was just the perfect salad for me. My mom and BF ordered the avocado citrus salad and my dad had the Parmesan soup.

On to the main event! Just as F was about to order Thumper (aka the rabbit), the waiter presented the special, Trout. Not the kind you catch in the creek out back, may I add. I had a bite and although reminiscent of salmon with a slightly pink color, the flavor was so delicious and different! I had never had it before, so would definitely try ordering it myself sometime.

I was the odd man out and ordered the beef. OH.MY.GOD it was like the best steak I have ever had. If I recall, our waiter mentioned the beef came from Australia and it was aged so perfectly that it would be like butter. And... he was right! I barely needed a knife but was trying to maintain my etiquette and used it anyway. The steak was accompanied by Gorgonzola and a brown butter sauce with a bit a sage and also some of those yummy little pearl onions that had been caramelized. It was seriously to die for. I ate every bite (not that large of a portion, so I don't feel bad about myself).

For desert we all shared the very chocolate, and salted carmel gelatos. Super yummy and the perfect way to end a fabulous dinner.

I give it 4 stars! I would love to go back someday but definitely a place for a special occasion.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The Benefit of Turning 30...

You get to ask your parents to take you here.....

I am so extremely excited to eat a meal at this establishment, I can hardly contain myself. One of the Chefs, Holly Smith, will battle on an upcoming "Next Iron Chef"!

I. CANNOT. WAIT.

Girl Scout Cookies Continued...

So, I couldnt resist... my dearest friend Jamie made me Samoa Cookie Cupcakes for my birthday celebration. How amazing do these look? Well, they taste even more incredible.

Thanks James for making these very special treats for another Marge Madness (last year she made me coconut key lime cupcakes and they were TDF!).

Girl Scouts

Its that time of year yet again where cute, wide eyed little girls are mustering up the courage to ask "um, do you want to buy some girl scout cookies?".

They are pretty cute aren't they? But those little girls hold a lot of power.

It used to be easier for me to avoid them when they were just outside one of the grocery store entrances... I would just use the other one! But they have gotten smarter. Now they tag-team and cover all of the entrances, so that you have nowhere to hide! I had to pull out some of my "when dining alone" tricks like pretending someone is calling me or checking my Blackberry, digging around in my purse for nothing, looking around for a companion, etc.

I find it especially challenging to avoid them when I am participating in Lent. Its like they were put there to test me and my will power. Terrible timing. This year I gave up cookies.

They have also infiltrated commercial foods like Dairy Queen's Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookie Blizzard, and Dreyer's Girl Scout Cookie Ice Cream (Samoa - my favorite!). I mean, WTF? They are everywhere, even banks now (talk about the perfect local!). They remind me of those creepy little toe head kids with the red eyes in Village of the Damned but instead saying "cookies... cookies" whilst chasing after me in slow motion! YIKES!

So far I have successfully avoided the cookie brigade at two grocery stores and Bank of America. I wish you all the best of luck in your avoidance adventures and if you fall into their trap and buy "just one box", I wish you the best of luck.

Happy Thursday!

Blah Blah Blah & Recipe

I recently decided to acknowledge that I have neglected my little blog for lack of relevant content. I really haven't been cooking like I used to...

A) Because I live in a 600 square foot apartment that REEKS whenever I cook something
B) I have zero counter space (I want a house!!!)
C) Since I started yoga, have a small window of time during the week to make something decent

Since I love to write (and I do :)), I decided I would start sharing my daily trials and tribulations, in addition to writing about food!

My life can sometimes be pretty entertaining and absurd so what better way than to keep documentation (albeit online for everyone to see) of my daily mishaps.

Stay tuned!

I did want to share a recipe I stumbled upon while reading Women's Health in Mexico.

Cornflake Chicken
*This is a spin on fried chicken by Katie Lee. I didn't copy the entire recipe so had to improvise a bit.



Ingredients:
4 pieces boneless chicken breasts
2C Cornflakes
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
3 tbl good Dijon mustard

First, combine cornflakes with oregano, garlic powder and salt and pepper. You can ether smash in a zip lock bag, or put in a food processor. You want to get the cornflakes to a fine consistency. You'll notice I didn't do this for mine... I wanted to see how it would turn out in larger pieces.

Next, rub each piece with Dijon mustard. Then dip in cornflake mixture and coat each side generously. Place on baking sheet and back 20 minutes on each side at 425 degrees. My pieces were larger, so you may need less cooking time depending on the size of your breasts. Ha!

I served mine (to myself) with a BBQ sauce mixture. I mix my favorite BBQ sauce with a tsp of Dijon and splash of balsamic vinegar. It makes it a bit more tangy, which I really like.

Happy faux fried chicken!