Feeling Crunchy

Anyone else feelin' a little crunchy? This morning I channeled my inner hippie alongside trusty old Mark Bittman, and I made granola. I have been wanting cereal like whoa this week (crunchy, carby goodness), so this was a pretty good way of killing the craving. Cereal is up there with bread as something that I don't think should necessarily count as processed. Lucky Charms? Totally processed. Kashi Go Lean? Nah-ah. But if anything were going to turn me into a wholly unprocessed believer, it would be this granola.

I used the recipe linked here as a base, and for nuts I used walnuts, cashews, pumpkin seeds, and slivered almonds. As an afterthought I added a little PB, but next time I would swap out some of the nuts for more PB. It bakes up really nicely and helps make clusters. I think I cooked it almost 40 mins, which was just on the verge of too toasted, but I like that taste. Next time I would do like 35 mins. And, yes, there will be a next time.


So good that I had to have a taste before I even baked it.

And 40 mins later... voila! I wish I could post a link to a scent, because this was amazing. Toasty and nutty and coconutty... I still hadn't had breakfast, so I got to sprinkle some on my oatmeal! Oats, 1/2 banana, thawed frozen wild blueberries, and my homemade granola.

A hectic day at work (er, at the apt) combined with some baking, (and a lot of nibbling...), and the morning flew by.

Lunch:
- polenta
- hot cherry pepper
- tomato
- avocado
- blackened (by accident) Cajun shrimp skewer from WF
- drizzle of honey

Lunch with a side of Lotus Notes:

Snack time came a little bit later. I was craving something sweet (chocolate???? pleeeeease?), so I settled for an organic pluot and some yerba mate tea. I wonder what's more "natural"... an organic pluot or a conventional plum. I love pluots, but the idea of melding fruits is pretty un-organic, if you ask me.


And... I forgot to take a picture of dinner, but I had a pretty awesome salad:
- arugula
- tomato
- avocado
- red onion
- salmon baked with soy sauce and whole grain mustard
- olive oil
- balsamic vinegar
- lemon juice
- honey

Too many dressing flavors. Diane took a picture of her beautiful salad, also a Mark Bittman masterpiece, so I'll put up a picture of her dinner instead.

Mixed greens, blue cheese, raspberries, and walnuts! Yummm. I also made some sweet potato fries with olive oil, cumin, paprika, and chili powder. Best, easiest, feels-like-it-should-be-bad-for-you food ever.


Yowza. Long post! I was too busy to get to it earlier. I leave you with dessert: banana "soft serve"... frozen bananas tossed in the food processor. I also melted some almond butter to go with it. Totally felt like dessert. Success! Do you like my high bun look?



Off to bed now in preparation for Ariel's bday Brooklyn beer tour tomorrow morning! Woohoo! Gotta be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed! I foresee photo ops!